Does Social Media Enhance Rhinoplasty Desire and its Recovery Period: A Saudi Retrospective Study

Rhinoplasty, which reconstructs the shape and size of the nose, is the most frequently performed cosmetic surgery procedure. Research indicates that social media is the leading influence motivating individuals to undergo rhinoplasty. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the effect of social media on the desire for rhinoplasty and to establish whether (and if so, how) social media enhances the recovery period after rhinoplasty. A retrospective study was conducted on 322 Saudi rhinoplasty patients through a questionnaire distributed online via specific rhinoplasty groups and accounts on different social media platforms containing rhinoplasty patients. The questionnaire included participants' demographic details, the factors behind undergoing the rhinoplasty and their belief about the effect of social media on their desire to undergo a rhinoplasty, and how social media affected their recovery period after undergoing rhinoplasty. The collected data were then analyzed statistically with SPSS. The associations of different variables were found using the Chi-square test. The study included 322 rhinoplasty patients with nearly equal gender distribution. The results indicate that social media highly (mean = 4.07 +/- 1.07 out of 5.00, 81.4%) influenced participants' decision to undergo rhinoplasty, and it highly influenced the recovery period after surgery (mean = 3.59 +/- 0.67 out of 5.00, 71.8%). A statistically significant association was observed between social media influence and participants' education level (p = 0.018) as well as place of residence (p = 0.002). Most participants reported following social media advice to deal with unforeseen post-rhinoplasty symptoms that may have arisen during the recovery phase, which is theorized as the mechanism driving shorter recovery times.