Selfies distort face's appearance, plastic surgeons warn

Selfies or self-photographs candistort the face and make the nose look larger than it is,according to plastic surgeons who say they've seen an uptick inrequests for cosmetic procedures from people who want to lookbetter in selfies.

"Patients under age 40 take out their phones and tell methey don't like how they look," said Dr. Boris Paskhover ofRutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark.

"They literally show me a selfie of themselves and complainabout their noses," he told Reuters Health by phone. "I have toexplain that I understand they're not happy but what they'reseeing is distorted."

According to a poll by the American Academy of FacialPlastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, 42 per cent of surgeons haveseen patients who want procedures to improve their selfies andpictures on social media platforms.

At that standard portrait distance of five feet [1.5 metres], everythingevens off.-Dr. BorisPaskhover

Paskhover and colleagues explain in JAMA Facial PlasticSurgery that the distortion happens in selfies because the faceis such a short distance from the camera lens.

In a recent study, they calculated distortion of facialfeatures at different camera distances and angles. They foundthat the perceived nasal width increased as the camera movedcloser to the face. At 30 centimetres away, for instance, selfiesincreased nasal size by 30 per cent in males and 29 per cent infemales. At 1.5 metres, however, the proportion of features is toreal-life scale.

Photographers know

"At that standard portrait distance of five feet [1.5 metres], everythingevens off," Paskhover said. "That's a classic portrait distance,which is fascinating. Photographers have known this fordecades."

Similar formulas can be created for other facial features aswell, Paskhover said. Men who want to emphasize a stronger chinor chiseled jaw, for instance, could position the camera acertain way up close. Similarly, women who want to emphasizetheir eyes or deemphasize their chin or forehead, for instance,should tilt the camera to accommodate the distortion.

"Some people offer advice and tips on these types of angles,just from taking thousands of pictures," he said. "Now there's amodel that can explain it."

Dr. Cemal Cingi of the Eskisehir Osmangazi University inTurkey, who studies selfies and rhinoplasty trends but wasn'tinvolved with this new research, told Reuters Health: "I talk topatients about asymmetries before surgery and literally havethem hold a mirror in their hands before we schedule aprocedure."

"If camera phones continue to improve, maybe it'll become [possible]for people to take photos a little farther off fromthe face," he said by phone. "That may helppeople who are displeased with how their nose looks bigger inthe selfies they take."