Is zoom increasing the demand for plastic surgery

Patients are seeking plastic surgery in record numbers, citing their appearance on Zoom as a cause. Of particular concern are noses and wrinkles, according to Facial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Medicine.

"A life disproportionately spent on Zoom may trigger a self-critical comparative response that leads people to rush to their physicians for treatments they may not have considered before months confronting a video screen, a new phenomenon of 'Zoom Dysmorphia,'" state Arianne Shadi Kourosh, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, and coauthors.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed the frequency with which we are confronted with our own image. The shift to online work, learning, and even socializing has dramatically increased the time we have to observe ourselves," says Benjamin Marcus, MD, University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics, in an accompanying commentary.

Facial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Medicine Editor-in-Chief Travis T. Tollefson, MD, MPH, University of California, Davis, states: "It has always been incumbent on surgeons to understand the motivations that are driving individuals to seek plastic surgery in order to assure realistic goals that allow for successful surgeries. Now, more than ever, unique circumstances can be driving patient expectations that we should be taking into consideration."