Thanks to the pandemic, people across the globe have had to adjust to a new normal of working from home. Learning to navigate workflow with new lines of communication and a reimagined infrastructure was an expected struggle. However, the surprise side effect of teleworking that no one considered was how it would affect people’s self-esteem.
The Thumbnail That Changed the Game
When your face is on the screen in front of you for hours every day, it can be hard impossible not to fixate on flaws.
When you are in a video call, you do your best to start by focusing on others, maintaining “eye contact” and just being an active and engaged participant. But, inevitably, your eyes start to drift and focus in on your own image. Then you start to notice things like that slight curve in your nose, the extra lines around your eyes and the unevenness of your eyelids.
Some of those lines might be new, thanks in part to COVID stress. However, most of the things you are noticing have been there for a while, but you have never spent hours a day with your own image right in front of you before.
While many have enjoyed the perks of working and interacting with coworkers in their own space, they’ve also found that spending more time in video conference calls has decreased their self-image. And with more people concerned with how they look on their zoom calls, plastic surgeons everywhere are seeing an increased demand for plastic surgery during quarantine.
Pandemic Plastic Surgery
Although many people have stopped going out to restaurants, shopping at retail stores and attending social gatherings, they’ve continued to seek plastic surgery during quarantine. The reasons why people are choosing to have cosmetic surgery right now may have to do with a few different factors.
More Time and Money
This extra time spent at home has given men and women the opportunity to address their cosmetic concerns and focus on the necessary downtime for recovery. Not only that, but less money spent on extra-curricular activities means people have more money for plastic surgery.
High Safety Standards
Plastic surgery is performed in a sanitary environment. The prep, surgery and recovery spaces are all well sanitized, and most surgeries allow the individual to go home the same day. To further protect the patient and the medical staff, plastic surgeons are required to follow a safety protocol that reduces the risk of COVID exposure, which likely includes temperature and symptom checks, COVID testing and having the patient quarantine before surgery.
Many people have taken advantage of these benefits, which is why there has been a surge of interest in cosmetic procedures since lockdown began, particularly in facial plastic surgery procedures.
Should You Get a Little Something Done?
If you have begun noticing things you’d like to change, you might be asking yourself if you should hop on this pandemic plastic surgery bandwagon. If plastic surgery is something you are comfortable with and were open to pre-pandemic, this may be a good time to look into it. With that said, you should take the time to ask yourself if this is something you will still want even when you aren’t looking at your own image hours a day, or if Zoom has just dinged your self-esteem a bit.
If the idea is new to you, consider starting small with nonsurgical options, such as BOTOX or microneedling. And if you are ready to dive in, look into options like facelifts and neck lifts. It’s a new world and it’s the perfect time to focus on you.
Serving Davidson County since 1996, Plastic Surgeon Stephen M. Davis, MD, FACS, is fully committed to excellence in cosmetic surgery. At Green Hills Plastic Surgery, Dr. Davis specializes in breast augmentation, liposuction, tummy tucks, facial surgery, Botox and dermal Fillers in Nashville, and much more.
