Our recent Chatroom brought up some interesting points of view about plastic surgery or as I prefer to use the term, cosmetic surgery. 'Plastic' surgery got its name from the Greek word "plastikos", which means to mold or to shape, which is exactly what cosmetic surgery does. It reshapes the face by eliminating imperfections.

It is a fair thing to say that when one chooses to alter ones appearance, the results may not always be what we expect. For example if you have long hair and decide to cut it and have a bob, how do you know it will suit you and more so, that you will enjoy your new look? It would be wonderful if we could see a computer simulation of the 'possible' outcomes of a nip and tuck. There are no guarantees and once the procedure commences, there is no going back.

A UK documentary discovered that middle aged women are feeling invisible, not attractive and under valued and the pressures to look younger are high. A survey was done by a UK television programme called 'Tonight' using 100 women aged between 35 and 69 who were given click machines and every time they had a negative thought about themselves they clicked the counter. The average result was 252 clicks over a 7 day period. One lady registered 1,400 negative thoughts and another over 3,000.

Women are constantly under pressure to look good and to quote one woman, 'thank goodness we don't go bald!' I cannot deny that a woman who had been interviewed certainly looked good after spending £15,000 on cosmetic surgery and her image was youthful but when she spoke, her voice and attitude gave her age away. So where does it end?

It is fair to say that if one decides on any cosmetic treatment, to do it for oneself and to work on that inner confidence... If you talk sense, people will listen, no matter what your age.