Rhinoplasty is one of the most common cosmetic procedures performed globally. The advent of social media and video conferencing platforms such as Zoom have increased the number of people interested in above-shoulder surgery, with rhinoplasty being the most common.
During the COVID pandemic this trend exploded.
Social media usage is known to contribute to concerns about appearance and consequently leads to cosmetic surgery. The ‘selfie’ social media phenomenon resulted in an increase in patients reviewing their facial features at different angles, highlighting potential imperfections, and has also contributed to an increased awareness of plastic surgery and patients seeking treatment, especially male patients.
According to surveys carried out in the United Kingdom in 2017, approximately 55% of facial plastic surgeons stated that patients in their cosmetic practice were motivated by a desire to appear better in selfies, compared with 13% in 2016.
In this context, a total of 64% of individuals who had rhinoplasty between 2015 and 2020 were wholly or partially motivated to do so by social media, which accordingly has been shown to have a significant impact on surgical procedure participation. Interestingly, men made up 58% of those influenced by social media sites.
As to whether social media usage by rhinoplasty patients has led to a recourse to rhinoplasty has been questioned, with observers stating higher rates of social media addiction in patients seeking rhinoplasty. No evidence supports this view. However, a study by Furnham and Levitas found increasing media exposure, poor self-esteem and life satisfaction increased the likelihood of patients undergoing cosmetic surgery.
Since its founding in October 2012, Instagram has grown to over 1.4 billion users. Many surgeons worldwide use social media to raise public awareness, interact with colleagues, attract new patients and establish careers and reputations. Instagram can also function as a patient-centric platform, where prospective patients can review aesthetic surgery results and previous patients can communicate their results, outcomes, and perspectives of the procedure.
Essentially, Instagram can act as a powerful customer-review site, which can affect prospective patients’ desire to undergo aesthetic procedures with specific surgeons. Recently AHPRA has amended the guidelines for Australian practitioners and surgeons using these platforms, clamping down on the rogue use of social media. It has focused on controlling testimonials, reposts and comments, ensuring that standardised medical photos are used and reducing the number of sites which portray unreasonable expectations to the patient.
New AHPRA guidelines state that all patients seeking rhinoplasty surgery must first have a GP referral before seeing a specialist plastic surgeon. All these measures have been implemented to improve patient safety and transparency of care. However, rates of cosmetic tourism to countries such as Turkey, where the most rhinoplasty surgeries in the world are performed and where plastic surgeons do not have to adhere to regulations relating to social media use, have increased exponentially.
Australians now spend around $1 billion on cosmetic surgery annually, making it more popular per capita than the United States. Turkey is visited most for cosmetic surgery and rhinoplasty the most common surgical procedure.
Preservation rhinoplasty, a surgical philosophy developed in Turkey, championed by Teoman Dogan and Baris Cakir (both plastic surgeons), has improved results for rhinoplasty patients.
Preservation rhinoplasty is a scarless endonasal approach to reshape and preserve as much anatomy of the nose as possible. It reduces the number of dissection planes resulting in less post-operative swelling and maintains the natural contours of the dorsum of the nose to give a more natural look.
No splints are used externally or internally, and patients are discharged on the day of surgery. It is the no-scar, minimal post-operative swelling and natural look that is attracting rhinoplasty patients in 2024.
Key messages
- Increasing use of social media and video conferencing platforms has led to patients being more socially conscious of their appearance
- Preservation rhinoplasty is a new technique offering patients a potentially scarless and more natural result
- While the techniques continue to improve the philosophy remains the same – to preserve and to reshape existing nasal structures.
Author competing interests – nil