There have been a number of television specials on TV lately about plastic surgery. An ABC Primetime special titled Celebrity Plastic Surgery: Gone Too Far recently aired, and featured various patients that have undergone cosmetic surgery.

The show covered three celebrities that may suffer from body dysmorphic disorder and have taken their obsessions with plastic surgery to the extreme (Janice Dickinson, Heidi Montag, and Pete Burns). It also profiled two patients that needed revisional plastic surgery because they ended up with bad results after undergoing their primary procedures. Two teenagers that were undergoing cosmetic surgery were also interviewed for the special.

While the dangers of an unhealthy obsession with your appearance, choosing unqualified plastic surgeons, and undergoing cosmetic treatments that will permanently alter your appearance while you are still in your teens are important considerations for patients to make before undergoing the knife, the patients featured in the Primetime special do not represent the typical plastic surgery patient. Most patients desire subtle results with one procedure, select their surgeons carefully, and undergo treatment in their 30s or older.