According to the National Clearinghouse of Plastic Surgery Statistics, the demand is unprecedented. The number of cosmetic procedures performed by the board-certified surgeons it surveyed surged in the '90s to more than a million in 1998. With 172,079 procedures reported in 1998, liposuction, the most popular form of vanity surgery, was way up from the 47,212 done in 1992. Liposuction isn't the only anti-aging procedure with possible dangers. Injected agents like collagen, which fill out wrinkles and smile lines, can shrink or distort your face.
Skin resurfacing with acids and lasers can go too deep and cause inflammation and discoloration.
Face-lifts can be overdone, creating a windblown look, or can go wrong, leaving scars, causing hair loss, or, as apparently happened in Nissenson's case, injuring nerves. Combining procedures multiplies the risk. However, some people take it to a place that's beyond reasonable. Some of Feldman's patients work out three hours a day, seven days a week, or regularly run 20 miles at a time, and end up with repetitive stress injuries. He was wrong.