When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Implants

People are getting plastic surgery to give them an edge in the bad economy. That’s exactly why we’re eating this chocolate.

So, according to the Sun, British plastic surgeons have seen an upswing in certain procedures, like “people wanting to get rid of thread veins and redness around the nose and cheeks.” Men’s procedures, like man-boob-reduction and hair implants, are also going strong, with male brow lifts alone up by 60% this year in Britain. Says a spokeswoman for one plastic surgeon,

We’ve been in business for 30 years and we have found that recessions are times when people still want to look and feel good, especially in a competitive work place…People want to look good and are willing to make cut backs on going out, shopping and luxuries like holidays in order to look good every day of the year.

One doctor explains that the redness around the nose can make a job candidate look “drunk,” while a hair transplant surgeon tells the LA Times, “If you have two people coming in for a job, and one of them is partly bald, you’ll think that the one with hair has more youth and vitality.” The perceived benefits of implants are, I suppose, apparent.

It’s not hard to see that, as in many things plastic surgical, the actual issue here is one of confidence, and I’m guessing most of these people would probably have made surgery a priority in any case. As such, it seems unfair for these doctors to play upon their insecurities to such a degree. On the other hand, anyone dwelling on perceived faults probably is hurting themselves in a job search …and, of course, the cosmetic surgery market’s hurting, so no one’s shocked that the docs are playing up the angle. But much as “The Economy” has given some people an excuse to drop gym memberships or cross cousins off wedding guest lists, surely it’s serving as a rationale for a few people who might have otherwise denied themselves…which goes to show that a) you can justify anything and b) at the end of the day, you really don’t have to.