Hannah

Hannah

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Plastic surgeons warn about "Snapchat dysmorphia"

While body dysmorphia is a condition in which people obsess over their perceived physical flaws, experts are now warning of Snapchat dysmorphia -- which has people willing to go under the knife to look like their filtered selves.

While nobody yet is apparently asking for the social media platform's "puppy face," Snapchat filters and apps like Facetune can magically erase a user's flaws, or exaggerate or enhance their faces' natural features.

A group of doctors published a warning about the trend, in the journal JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery.

Selfies act as "portable funhouse mirrors," according to a study from earlier this year, shrinking chins and noses, and widening eyes to near anime character proportions -- and unfortunately, some people are turning to surgery to try to ape what they look like on Snap.

"A little adjusting on Facetune can smoothen out skin, and make teeth look whiter and eyes and lips bigger," notes the piece written by doctors from Boston University School of Medicine's Department of Dermatology.  "A quick share on Instagram, and the likes and comments start rolling in. These filters and edits have become the norm, altering people’s perception of beauty worldwide."

The paper continues, "This is an alarming trend because those filtered selfies often present an unattainable look and are blurring the line of reality and fantasy for these patients."

The filters, the doctors say, "make one feel inadequate for not looking a certain way in the real world," triggering dysmorphia with some people.

The paper's authors recommend that clinicians bone up on, "the implications of social media on body image," to better counsel their patients.


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