Cosmetic surgery can indeed make people look better, however this is only possible to a certain extent keeping in mind the various implications of such procedures.

The effects of most procedures last only for a certain period of time, after which they have to be performed again.

Using Botox to reduce wrinkles only lasts for three to five months. Fillers like Restylane, which are used to perform cheek lifts, last twelve to eighteen months, and then need to be replaced. Eye lifts, cheek and jowl lifts, and procedures to reduce eye bags can be performed; however, they last only about seven years, and do not stop the aging process, and may need updating. Similarly, breast implants using silicone last twelve to fifteen years, after which the surface of the implant develops hairline fractures and begins to harden, requiring replacement (Evans, 2009). After the effects of most of these procedures wear-out, the aesthetic effects are worse than what they would have been without surgery.

Anastasia Stephens underwent cosmetic surgery to remove her eye bags by scraping out bags of fat from beneath each eye. The immediate results were satisfactory (Figure 1A), but having the fat removed actually loosened the skin beneath her eyes, and in ten years, her wrinkles were much worse than what they would have been without the surgery (Figure 1B). This resulted in her getting laser procedures done to tighten her skin, and cost her a total of about 1500 GBP (Evans, 2009).