To match doctored selfie, docs consulted

able to edit away any imperfections with ease.

“It’s remarkable,” said Vashi, who is also a boardcertified dermatologist. “What used to lie in the hands of ... celebrities and beautiful people who were innately beautiful made to look more beautiful, now it’s in the hands of anyone.”

On Snapchat, for example, the picture messaging application features upward of 20 different filters that users can toggle through by simply swiping across their phone screens. Aside from adding flower crowns or puppy ears, filters can give a person freckles, longer eyelashes, wider eyes and flawless skin, among other augmentations. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter also allow people to edit their photos in the application before uploading.

“Sometimes I have patients who say, ‘I want every single spot gone and I want it gone by this week or I want it gone tomorrow’ because that’s what this filtered photograph gave them,” she said. “They check off one thing, and it’s gone. That’s not realistic. I can’t do that. I can make people a lot better, but it will take me a lot more time than a week and it won’t be 100 percent.”

According to the annual American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery survey, selfies continue to be a major driving force behind people who wish to get plastic surgery done.

In 2017, the survey found that 55 percent of surgeons reported seeing patients who requested surgery to look better in selfies — a 13 percent increase from the previous year’s results.