I’m all for plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures. Listen, if it makes you feel good in your own skin, then that in itself is a huge win. But some procedures, while they may make you look nice, might actually do more harm than good.
A while back, Reddit user Topgunner85 asked, “Plastic surgeons of Reddit, what body-altering surgery would you never get and why?”
1.“Iris depigmentation laser surgery. The risks of blindness or complications are quite high. And it looks bad.”
“I work with ophthalmologists (this would be oculoplastics) and ALL of them pretty much say the same thing. The procedure is dumb and 9/10 causes blindness due to induced glaucoma from the pigment.”
2.“My husband is an ICU nurse and sees men with penile implant infections all the time. He says the guys (and their S.O.’s) regret them in later years since they’re in and out of the hospital all the time.”
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3.“Honestly? Rib removal surgery — just to get a smaller waist or ‘Barbie’ silhouette. As someone who’s been around medical tourism and seen both great and terrible results, I’ve noticed that anything messing with internal structure like that is playing with fire. It’s not just about aesthetics — your ribs protect your organs. Removing them is risky, painful, and recovery can be brutal. I’ve seen people fly across the world for cheap procedures like this, only to end up with nerve damage or breathing problems.”
“Some surgeries just aren’t worth the risk, no matter how good the photos look online.”
—abdalkadermj
4.“As a nurse who has worked extremely closely with plastics, I would say BBL (Brazilian butt lift), 100%. From blood clots to sepsis, it’s just not worth it. If the fat travels into the bloodstream, it’s over. Not worth the risks.”
Zamrznutitonovi / Getty Images
5.“Buccal fat removal makes you look like a skeleton when you age and the rest of your fat goes away.”
—patpadelle
6.“I would never get a ‘nonsurgical’ or ‘liquid’ rhinoplasty. Most of the time, that’s just filler injected into the nose. There is a risk of filler in this location causing you to go blind.”
—boyyousaidit
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7.“Former surgical technician here, and the surgery I would NEVER get is interocular contacts. Had a patient who went to Turkey to have it done. They came back looking like something from a horror movie. They were in so much pain, all they could do was cry. When we removed the first one, you could feel the relief leaving their body. They had to wait two weeks to do the other eye. Leave your eyes alone!!!!!! Just wear GLASSES 🤓!”
8.“Leg lengthening surgery. Because this is one of the most traumatic and painful operations, with long recovery, risks of complications, and all for the sake of aesthetic or social conformity. The operation involves a bone fracture, its stretching with the help of devices, and months — or even years — of pain and rehabilitation. At the same time, the result may be unstable, and expectations may be inflated. For me, it would be too high a price for trying to meet external standards. I’d rather work on accepting myself and finding an environment where growth doesn’t matter.”
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9.“Laryngoplasty. I have a few LGBTQ+ friends who have taken most of the steps to physically transition from male to female (breast implants, vaginal augmentation, hormone therapy, etc). I found out that most will not attempt to surgically alter their voice, as it is a very dangerous procedure.”
—groovytoon
10.“One thing I’ve heard a lot — especially from people in their 30s and 40s — is that bone-cutting surgeries (like jaw or cheekbone reduction) are the ones they regret most later. Many say it affects aging, nerve sensitivity, and causes long-term discomfort.”
Danirom / Getty Images
11.“Hair implants. The implants are definitely visible, the donor area always gets rare, and if you don’t take finasteride (a drug that has impotence as a possible side effect), the hair between the plugs WILL fall. It may be a good procedure for some, and I know many people who are happy with the results, but I’d rather keep my penis functioning than my hair. And yes, I know, not everyone gets those side effects. But many do, and in some cases, they are permanent.”
—sinutzu
12.“In general, I would never get any facial fillers. They tend to look worse over time and migrate.”
—boyyousaidit
Sean Anthony Eddy / Getty Images
13.“I recently saw a post about ‘hunter eye’ surgery that had gone wrong and looked terrible. Basically, it’s trending with men who want to have smaller eyes that slant upwards so they look like hunters and not prey. So, they’re getting this surgery to alter the slant of their eyes AND DECREASE THE VOLUME OF THEIR EYEBALLS to get smaller eyes. It’s exactly as horrific as it sounds, and there are some incredibly questionable results from it. Some of them looked okay after, but it’s a wild reason to let someone suck the juice from your eyeballs, slice through the conjunctiva, slice through the outer corner of the eye, and remove a portion of the eye socket.”
—binglybleep
14.“Botox is used to treat spastic muscles in cerebral palsy, but as someone who already looks way younger than 31, why would you risk your life when you could just look your age?”
“It is a little hard to see your face age — I get it. Not everyone has enough self-esteem or good sense to let themselves age without intervention. If you’re gonna put money into preventing aging, do less risky procedures. Red light therapy, lasers, microneedling…there are definitely alternatives.”
—putzik47
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15.“I’m a nurse, but I’ll say liposuction. It’s horrible on the body with a high risk of infection, bleeding, and embolism. You get better results with diet and exercise.”
16.“360 lifts and abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), basically anything that involves removing large amounts of skin and tissue. It’s even worse if they combine it with liposuction. I gave this answer because I think the complications are serious enough to warrant very careful consideration from people that do need it. Just because a surgery can improve a person’s quality of life doesn’t mean we should ignore the potential risks.”
Related: 23 Women Opened Their Vault And Admitted Shocking Secrets They Keep From Men
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17.“I’d never get tongue splitting — it’s permanent, can mess with speech, and just isn’t worth the risk. I’d rather not gamble with how I talk or eat.”
—chiefecon
18.“I’d stay away from anything that involves going to another country to get something at a discount. One of the issues with surgery, any surgery, is that they often have complications. Good luck finding a surgeon to touch you when it isn’t his/her work, let alone it being done at some shady center outside the country. You could either find yourself paying insanity level money for correction, or simply live as whatever monster a shady butcher leaves you as.”
—Dr_Esquire
Luis Alvarez / Getty Images
19.And finally, “A DIEP flap for breast reconstruction. It’s a much bigger surgery than they expect, and it’s got such a difficult recovery that takes so long. My patients who opt for the tissue expander to implant instead have a much easier recovery.”
Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
To all the plastic surgeons, nurses, and practitioners out there, which body-altering procedures would you NEVER get, and why? Let us know in the comments, or if you prefer to stay anonymous, tell us your story in the form below.
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