More rhinoplasty through the SELFIE effect
Nowadays, many people see the world through their smartphones. Walking through the city, you see people standing in front of beautiful buildings or art, with their phones in their hands and their backs to the object. Then to be photographed together with the artwork, beautiful nature or building. This self-portrait is also known as the SELFIE.
Everyone reading this piece has probably made one before. In 2014, 93 trillion selfies were taken per day, and this number has only grown. Partly because of the advent of cameras on the front of your smartphone.
With a selfie, you actually take a picture of yourself up close. However, is this way of photographing yourself beneficial to the shape of your face?
Studies show that the selfie distorts your face. Researchers placed selfies and photos from further away side by side and measured the differences between different points on the head. Due to the much shorter distance between the camera and the face, the nose is relatively closer to the camera compared to the rest of the face. This makes the nose more prominent. As a result, your face distorts on a selfie. In this regard, the nose is as much as 30% wider in a selfie than in a normal photo. The nose tip appears to be 7% larger. Below you can clearly see the difference. Plastic surgeon
Michelle Feijen
and physician-researcher Joost Wolfs test it out for themselves. Below the results!
On the left is the SELFIE and on the right in a normal photo. Do you see the difference?
Increase in rhinoplasty
Other research indicates that in addition to the rise of selfies, there appears to be an increase in rhinoplasty. An annual survey of plastic surgeons in America asked how many patients requested surgery because of selfies and social media. This group increased from 42% in 2016 to 55% in 2017. This is said to be mainly due to taking selfies and the distorted image they give of reality.
So don’t be swayed by the shape of your nose on a selfie. This is a misleading picture. What are tips then, to avoid the distortion of your face, without the need for a rhinoplasty? Use a selfie stick or have someone else take a picture of you. Then the distance between your face and the camera is increased and your face is not distorted.
