Cosmetic surgeons the USA are reporting a disturbing increase the number patients seeking and having facial procedures to look their Snapchat selfies. The surgeons have termed this alarming new trend "Snapchat dysmorphia". This term derives the condition body dysmorphic disorder - a mental disorder where the sufferer is obsessed the idea that part their body or appearance is severely flawed and in need drastic measures to fix it. The surgeons described the condition the journal Facial Plastic Surgery. They wrote that 55 per cent plastic surgeons reported an increase in the number of patients wanting alterations to their face to look like they do using Snapchat filters.
Snapchat and other social media apps provide filters to allow people to "enhance" photos their face to look "cuter". The professors say this is fuelling an obsession younger people, especially teenage girls and women, the "perfect" face. Doctors say many the requests are physically impossible to perform surgically. They wrote: "This is an alarming trend because those filtered selfies often present an unattainable look and are blurring the line reality and fantasy these patients." They added: "The pervasiveness these filtered images can take a toll one's self-esteem." The most common procedures being requested include thinner noses, wider eyes and fuller lips.
