Cosmetic Surgery
Cosmetic Surgery is not recommended with BDD. There is the risk of increased distress if a procedure does not meet expectations. Often the focus of the BDD will move to other aspects of the appearance leading to multiple procedures.
Given that a person with BDD is preoccupied with a flaw (or flaws) in their appearance, it is only natural that people seek physical solutions to their appearance concerns. Many people with BDD consider cosmetic or dermatological treatments; sometimes a person with BDD may be satisfied with the results but their symptoms of BDD persist. Some procedures may be safer than others. Cosmetic rhinoplasty (“nose job”) is an especially risky procedure in BDD but other procedures such as breast augmentation may be safer, but it depends on the individual and their circumstances.
The majority of people with BDD are not satisfied after the outcome of their chosen procedure. This can lead to a preoccupation with further surgery to try to get a better result, which in some cases will do more harm to a person’s appearance than good. Even when sufferers are happy with the improvement to one area, the focus of their BDD often moves to another area of their appearance.
The key message here of course is that BDD is a psychological or psychiatric problem and thus needs psychological or psychiatric treatment. The best advice is to suspend, at least temporarily, any physical treatments, for say three months, to give yourself an opportunity to tackle your BDD head on with treatments that have been shown to work.
Follow this link to hear some inspirational stories of recovery from BDD.
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It is estimated that 2% of the population suffers from BDD. Luckily, tere is a wide range of support and treatment available for BDD, both in the UK and online.