Digital beauty vs medical reality: Hyderabad youth chase insta faces; over expects cosmetic procedures for real-life edits

An increasing number of young adults in Hyderabad, especially those in their twenties, are walking into dermatology and aesthetic clinics with high hopes and even higher expectations. Heavily influenced by social media filters, influencer content, and the quest for “Instagram faces” or “Korean glass skin,” many seek aesthetic transformations that defy anatomical and medical logic. Doctors say patients now often arrive with digitally altered selfies and reference pictures that reflect unrealistic goals. “They are no longer coming in for improvement, they want perfection, even when it doesn’t match their body type or skin condition,” said Dr Rajetha Damisetty, senior dermatologist. Popular demands include lip fillers, skin boosters, jawline contouring, nose reshaping, and weight-loss solutions like liposuction, sometimes even in combination.Highlighting how emotional expectations often outweigh medical facts, a citybased plastic surgeon shared a recent case: A 28-year-old woman underwent liposuction to contour her body. While the surgery was clinically successful, the patient remained disappointed. She compared her post-surgery look with an old video of herself performing a belly dance and insisted, “I don’t look like that anymore.” The doctor, upon reviewing the video, found it had likely been filmed when the woman weighed less and was enhanced with flattering angles and filters.“She was chasing a digitally frozen version of herself. But liposuction isn’t a weight-loss tool, it’s a contouring procedure. Yet patients expect to be reshaped into virtual avatars,” said Dr Priti Shukla, senior plastic surgeon and member of the International Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (IAAPS).In another instance illustrating the growing disconnect between digital influence and medical reality, a 22-year-old engineering student approached doctors after undergoing ten laser sessions for a large facial mole. Though advised that further procedures might not yield a better cosmetic outcome and could potentially worsen the appearance, he insisted on a skin graft based on information he found online. “Even after showing him real-world outcomes, he remained convinced by internet theories that don’t apply to larger skin patches,” the doctor noted.