For several years now, the fashion for smartphones, photos and social networking has been rampant. A fashion that today spares no one, women, men, girls and boys. And the small imperfections that were hardly noticeable before are now magnified and brought to the fore by selfies, in practice self-shots taken at very close range. So the first thought becomes to correct them, with the filters available on the major social networks in the first place and with aesthetic medicine and surgery in the end, for a definitive result.

If until a few years ago photo retouching was the exclusive prerogative of the stars, who in this way displayed ideals of beauty with practically no flaws, now this level of perfection is within everyone's reach, all you need is a smartphone. Young people, especially, are concerned with how they look, how they come across in photos, how much approval they can get. There is therefore an increasing recourse to the cosmetic surgeon to change one's appearance to correct one's flaws, to improve the quality of one's image in the imagination of others, in selfies and social network posts. The 'selfie face' thus comes to the surgeon to capture more likes.

In recent years, requests for treatments and interventions have exploded, especially from young people and with an exaggerated focus on the face, mouth, cheekbones, nose, by young people even in their twenties. These requests are undoubtedly influenced by the web. It is enough to see the photos of girls on social networks who for the most part strike unnatural poses to make their lips look fuller.

We are talking about a real trend that has its own name 'Snapchat dysmorphia', a term coined by researchers from the Department of Dermatology at Boston University School of Medicine, and which indicatesthe desire to look like a filtered version of oneself .So much so that many patients present themselves from the first visit, smartphone in hand, showing a photo of what they would like to become, a filtered photo of themselves. While people used to go to a cosmetic surgeon to look like a celebrity, a famous person, today many do so influenced by their own filtered, blemish-free image.

These procedures all focus on the face, the one in the foreground of selfies. So, fillers for the lips,Botox for the eyes and small retouches for the face, face lifts and blepharoplasty to look younger by eliminating wrinkles and other signs of ageing, higher cheekbones and a smaller or more proportionate nose with rhinoplasty, the most popular operation.

In all this, what is the role of the surgeon and the aesthetic doctor? it is a role that is becoming increasingly difficult and delicate. The cosmetic surgeon must be able to advise the patient on the most appropriate type of operation, but he must also inform him about the risks and the whole pre- and post-operative course. He must know how to advise and clearly indicate whether the operation or treatment can be done and do it without ever exceeding certain limits.theage of those who turn to surgery and aesthetic medicine is decreasing, the demands of the very young are increasing, and the surgeon has to deal with these new patients, who are more insecure, less prepared and less aware than adults.Hence the surgeon's job is, more than ever, to advise and guide towards the best choice, surgical or not.