Would you have cosmetic surgery?

I've been thinking about my attitude to cosmetic surgery.  If someone asked me if I would consider it, I have always said a categoric no, I'm too squeamish and my feeling has always been that interfering with nature is wrong.  

But since then I've had two c sections and some dental work.  All highly necessary medical procedures with nothing to do with vanity.  But the labours and their resulting emergency c sections made me realise my squeam threshold is higher than I thought.  Then the pain free dental work I had, to fix a tooth that cracked and died, made me realise that modern dentistry is truly amazing.

It was the dentistry that really got me thinking.  A year ago I went to see an orthodontist to see about having invisible braces.  As an 11 year old I made a flippant decision not to have braces which I have regretted at various points in my life.  It's mainly my left incisor that's wonky.  Everyone tells me it's part of my character.  Some days I feel that, others I absolutely hate it.  Especially when it's captured on photos at a bad angle.

The orthodontist's verdict was that I would have to have full on proper braces, for two years.  I'm still debating it, but the cost and the hassle is putting me off.

Back to the dentists.  The dentist warned me he might have to replace my cracked tooth if the crack was extensive.  The irony is, it was the perfectly straight equivalent of my wonky tooth that cracked, my second left incisor, as opposed to second right.  Had it been my wonky tooth that died, would I have told him to just whip it out and stick a straight one in?  Would I have felt I had lost a part of me?  I'm not sure.  In this instance he saved the tooth, but it left me thinking.  I'm sure people in the media glare do this all the time for vanity.

Media representations are half the problem here, we are drowning in airbrushed and cosmetically enhanced versions of beauty.  Growing older makes me wonder - it's 7 years since those wedding pictures were taken - will I be tempted to have procedures for vanity's sake?  Currently the answer is no, but I said no to braces at 11.  How will I feel in another 7 years, 14 years, 21 years?  I hope I will just feel more comfortable in my own skin.

Vanity seems a misleading term though, I know many people who have had cosmetic procedures would argue vanity is the wrong word.  Sometimes fixing something is about more than just your mirror image.  Some people opt to have surgery due to an illness such as breast cancer.  In these circumstances, women who have lost a breast may decide to have a breast enlargement to restore their body to how it once was before contracting the disease. In this sort of situation, cosmetic surgery may be helpful at restoring confidence and normality to their lives.

So that's where my head's at.  Wondering over a wonky tooth.  Where's yours when it comes to cosmetic surgery?  Would you or have you been tempted to fix what nature gave you, or what it takes away?

The Hospital Group asked me where I stood on cosmetic surgery, this is a sponsored post, but the views expressed are entirely my own.


Photo credits - Martin O'Neal