Beauty blogger's decision to live stream her breast augmentation condemned by experts

The procedure was streamed on Instagram on Friday afternoon

Sarah Jones
Friday 18 August 2017 16:18 BST
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Ashley Devonna says that live streaming the procedure gives her the opportunity to be honest and open with her fans
Ashley Devonna says that live streaming the procedure gives her the opportunity to be honest and open with her fans

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A beauty blogger has been criticised by two leading plastic surgeons in the UK after deciding to stream her breast augmentation live on Instagram.

Texas-based beauty blogger Ashley Devonna went under the knife for a breast augmentation on Friday and in true social media star style, the YouTube sensation chose to stream the entire operation online.

In a bid to connect more with her 220,000 followers on YouTube, Devonna says that the decision – which was approved by her plastic surgeon, Dr Farah Khan – gave her the opportunity to be honest and open with her fans.

“I’m going to get a breast augmentation, but not just that, we’re going to stream it live on Dr. Khan’s Instagram page,” she told her followers before the procedure.

And, while Dr Khan understands that this isn’t for everyone, she insisted that was the right thing for her patient.

“It’s a new experience,” she told Pix11.

“Nowadays we live our lives on social media and I think especially the younger generation, that’s how they communicate and they want to be open with their friends, their family, their followers.”

However, the operation came under fire by other experts in the cosmetic industry.

“As surgeons we use live streaming for training purposes all the time but something like this doesn’t give the whole picture and the magnitude of the surgery and risks associated with implants,” Consultant Plastic Surgeon and BAAPs Council Member Afshin Mesahebi told The Independent.

“Unfortunately most of these patients are given freebies and surgeons are simply doing it for nothing more than marketing purposes.”

Award-winning cosmetic doctor, Dr Esho, of the ESHO Clinic agreed, adding, “For millennials, the main source of information today is social media platforms.

“Tools like this can therefore be invaluable in delivering important information to these young individuals, but that information needs to be handled responsibly.

“If it is presented in a form which shows the benefits as well as the risks, if it is informative in terms of educating the patient and those who are interested in the procedure, then it is a very useful tool.

“However, if the individual’s intention is to sensationalise and simply create a buzz for themselves, this is trivialising a serious procedure which can potentially put many people at risk.”

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