🪞 Don't harm your body just to change its appearance
This section is about a few ways of changing how you look by doing something to the body: going hungry, taking drugs, getting injections, and having surgery. The decision is usually made by comparing yourself with other people. The cost falls entirely on you, and a fair part of it cannot be undone. This section does not judge what anyone wants to look like. That is each person's own affair. For the same goal, you can look for a prescription, a qualified provider, and follow-up, or you can buy online, go to a beauty salon, and raise the dose yourself. This section only compares how far apart the risks of those 2 ways are. The account looks mainly at what actually happens to the body, such as blindness, a stay in hospital, and death. Those 2 items on cosmetic medicine also involve criminal liability for practicing medicine illegally.
English, Russian and Spanish use dlgrv’s unofficial translations. Newly revised entries appear in the Chinese original until a checked translation is available. The author’s latest Chinese text is authoritative. Translation revision: dlgrv/HowToLiveBetter · b25fa8a
People with anorexia nervosa (the illness of starving yourself past the point of health) are about 5.9 times as likely to die as people the same age. Follow 1000 of them for 1 year and 5.1 die, and about 1 in 5 of those deaths are suicide. People who diet are more likely to get an eating disorder. Students at 44 secondary schools were followed for 3 years, and girls who dieted severely were 18 times as likely to get ill as girls who did not diet. If you want to control your weight, exercise more. Do not eat so little that you are hungry.
Cost
No cost at all. In fact, it saves money you would otherwis…
Benefit
36 studies taken together. The people with anorexia nervosa had been followed for 166642 person-years in all (…
A needle, a knife, or a medical device that breaks the skin or goes into the body counts as medical care. It can be done only where the license lists "medical aesthetics," and the person who does it must be a registered licensed physician. Beauty salons, studios, and hotel rooms are not allowed. A person with no physician's qualification who does it is practicing medicine illegally. If they seriously injure someone, the sentence is 3 to 10 years. If they cause death, the sentence is 10 years or more.
Cost
There is no cost involved. Checking these two documents ta…
Benefit
Article 2 of the “Administrative Measures for Medical Aesthetic Services” defines medical aesthetics as “the u…
Of the people who went blind after a filler injection, more than half were injected in the nose, and next came the area between the eyebrows, the forehead, and the folds beside the mouth. More than 8 in 10 were given hyaluronic acid. Of the people who went blind, only 2 in 10 got their sight fully back, a bit more than 1 in 10 got part of it back, and nearly 2 in 10 also had damage to the brain. No rescue method works reliably right now, so avoid these sites beforehand.
Cost
No cost at all. You simply choose a different injection si…
Benefit
Data compiled from all published case reports worldwide show that from January 2015 through September 2018, 48…
These products are often found with a diet drug (sibutramine) added in secret. It used to be a weight-loss drug, and China stopped it in 2010. Overweight people aged 55 or older, who had heart disease or diabetes, took it for more than 3 years. Non-fatal heart attack risk was about 30% higher, and stroke risk was about 36% higher. The weight lost was only 1.7 kg more. By the time a spot check finds it, you have already swallowed it.
Cost
Zero. In fact, you’ll save the money you’d otherwise spend…
Benefit
The SCOUT trial involved 9,804 participants aged 55 or older who were overweight or obese and had cardiovascul…
Men who test positive on a gym doping check have clearly higher mortality risk than people the same age, and they go to the hospital more than twice as often each year. Acne, male breast growth, and trouble getting an erection each hit at least 1 in 10 of the people who use these drugs. In China these drugs are prescription drugs, and a channel that sells them to you without a prescription is itself breaking the law.
Cost
There is no cost involved;
Benefit
In this retrospective cohort study, Danish researchers matched each steroid user with controls of the same age…
A prescription drug has to be sold against a prescription. Selling it online also takes a real prescription and a real name. An online shop that ships without a consultation, or a beauty salon that comes to your home to inject, is usually supplying drugs of unclear origin, and nobody is responsible for the dose or for who should not have it. 1 year after the weight-loss injections stop, about 2/3 of the weight lost comes back, so count it as long-term treatment.
Cost
1 registration visit, plus the trip there and back. Tens o…
Benefit
The Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Drug Distribution and Use Quality say that a drug retai…
This does not discuss whether to use them. It only discusses how. Transgender women who use estrogen have clearly more blood clots in the vessels than people the same age, about 4 extra per 1000 people over 2 years, and about 17 extra over 8 years. This kind of risk has to be watched with regular follow-up. If you buy the drugs online and set the dose yourself, nobody is checking you.
Cost
Regular doctor visits and blood tests are required. Over a…
Benefit
Researchers examined electronic medical records from Kaiser Permanente, a large health‑care system. They ident…
About 15% of people seen in plastic surgery have body dysmorphic disorder, which means magnifying a flaw other people can barely see until it affects daily life. About 13% of people seen in dermatology have it. In both groups, more than 70% are women. Book 1 visit first, see whether this is your situation, and only then decide whether to have surgery.
Cost
A single visit to a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist…
Benefit
33 studies were found by the rules and then combined. Among people seen in plastic surgery, the rate of body d…
Clear aligners are Class II medical devices in China. Instructions must require use under a qualified orthodontic doctor’s guidance and regular follow-ups. The US regulator says it has authorized no aligners sold directly to consumers without a dentist’s prescription. Without an in-person examination, risks include an uneven bite, unintended tooth movement, pain, and even tooth loss.
Cost
Compared with buying online, you pay for consultations and…
Benefit
The Center for Medical Device Evaluation of China’s National Medical Products Administration stated in its 202…
A spot-fading whitening cream has to be registered with the National Medical Products Administration and get a «国妆特字» number before it can be sold. Spot checks have found spot-fading creams with mercury thousands of times over the limit. The package printed a «国妆特字» number, but the factory named on it had not made that batch. Mercury taken into the body from the face can harm the kidneys. Stopping the cream, plus treatment, gets most people better, but the treatment takes several months to 2 years.
Cost
No money. Checking a number takes a few minutes. The hard…
Benefit
Article 16 of the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics lists spot-fading and whiteni…
