Have you ever heard of the old saying “trying to draw blood from a stone”? Unfortunately for many women this has a lot of weight when trying to remain youthful in their appearance. Studies have shown that even when such methods have failed to make them seem any younger, women will be more persistent in using creams, diets, botox and plastic surgery. Conducted on 297 women from ages 25-65 by researchers Professor Brett Martin and Dr Rana Sobh, the test showed that women were trying to avoid was what called a “feared self”, essentially an image of themselves looking wrinkled and old.

 This fear of ageing is primarily what drives them to seek out and continuously use cosmetic surgery and creams in an attempt to postpone this fate. However, paradoxically, whenever they believed such measures begin to fail the test subjects kept trying, whereas when they succeeded they became more relaxed and stopped trying as hard. According to results from the University of Bath, 73% of women wanted to keep using products they found were not working, whereas of those whose products and techniques were working, only 45% wished to continue.

As implications go, this can be thought as being somewhat positive. As Dr Sobh commented, “This study is more evidence for the belief that when someone is thinking negatively of themselves and they try and fail to improve their situation, they will be motivated to try again.”

That is these women were not willing to give up and let failure put them off their goals. This suggests, in some ways, remarkable resilience when faced with set backs and a strong commitment to improving one’s image, undoubtedly something to be admired. Picking oneself up and trying again is generally healthier from a psychological perspective than giving up.

However it is also a double edged message, for on the other hand it shows an almost unhealthy obsession with appearances. Under the rigours of 21^st aesthetics, women seem to be under more and more pressure to adhere to the ideal image of feminine beauty. This can cause all kinds of stress, self-confidence issues and psychological pressure. While some can find plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery a great boost to their self-confidence and self-image, others may find it better to try and ponder on what is more important -- how other people see them or how they are most comfortable being.

For more advice and information on cosmetic surgery Dubai, whether to help you decide whether it’s really for you or because you’ve already decided, please visit www.younewclinic.com