Looksmaxxing: A Plastic Surgeon on What Surgery Can and Cannot Change

What is looksmaxxing?

Looksmaxxing is an online subculture, popular on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Reddit, built around maximising physical attractiveness. It comes with its own vocabulary: mewing, mogging, canthal tilt, hunter eyes, “face card”, softmaxxing and hardmaxxing. Faces are rated on invented scales and features are picked apart in comment threads.

Some of the advice is sensible: sleep well, exercise, eat enough protein, treat acne, get a haircut that suits you. Some of it is not: crash dieting, anabolic steroids, bone smashing, DIY fillers and pressure to have major surgery in your teens or early twenties.

Softmaxxing vs hardmaxxing

	Softmaxxing	Hardmaxxing
Examples	Sleep, skincare, grooming, exercise, diet	Steroids, surgery, bone smashing, unregulated injections
Reversible	Mostly	Often not
Typical risk	Low, unless taken to extremes	Moderate to serious
Evidence	Good for general health and skin	Varies; some trends have none
Medical advice needed	Rarely	Yes, before anything invasive

Which looksmaxxing trends are harmful?

• Bone smashing. Hitting the face to “grow” bone can cause fractures, nerve damage and loss of facial fat. It does not sculpt the jaw.
• Anabolic steroids and “SARMs”. These can cause gynecomastia (gyno), acne, hair loss, infertility, mood changes and heart problems. See gyno from steroids.
• Crash dieting and dehydration for a “lean face”. These can cause fainting, hair shedding and, with rapid weight loss, a hollow look.
• DIY or salon fillers and “skin boosters” from unqualified injectors. A filler that enters a blood vessel can damage skin and, rarely, cause blindness.
• Tanning to extremes (“tanmaxxing”). This increases sun damage and skin cancer risk.
• Constant mirror checking and face rating. This can feed anxiety and body dysmorphic disorder.

Which softmaxxing habits are worth keeping?

Not everything in looksmaxxing is harmful. Some everyday habits have good evidence behind them for health, skin and energy:

• Sleep of seven to nine hours a night.
• Sun protection, which slows skin ageing and helps acne marks fade.
• Treating acne early, with a doctor’s help if over-the-counter products are not enough, to prevent scars.
• Regular exercise, including strength training, at a pace you can keep up.
• Eating enough, including protein, rather than crash dieting.
• Not smoking or vaping, which affect skin, healing and lungs.
• Good grooming and a haircut that suits you.

These are worth doing for their own sake, not to hit a score.

What can surgery change?

Cosmetic surgery can change specific, physical features when the concern is clear and the person is a suitable candidate:

• Nose shape and breathing: rhinoplasty can change a hump, tip or width and, with septal surgery, improve breathing.
• Stubborn fat: liposuction can reduce fat under the chin, on the flanks or chest.
• Male chest: gynecomastia surgery removes enlarged breast gland and fat.
• Full cheeks: buccal fat removal reduces a deep cheek fat pad in selected faces.
• Hair loss: a hair transplant moves existing hair; it does not create new follicles.
• Scars: acne and other scars can often be made less noticeable, not erased.

What can surgery not change?

Expectation	Reality
“Make me look like this filter or celebrity”	Surgery works with your own bone, skin and proportions
“Change my bone with exercises”	Adult bone does not reshape with mewing or bone smashing
“Give me hunter eyes”	Eye shape is set by bone and eyelid anatomy; this is not a medical goal
“One surgery will fix my confidence”	Studies show some people seeking cosmetic surgery have body dysmorphic disorder, where surgery rarely helps
“Results never change”	Faces and bodies keep ageing and change with weight

Myths about looksmaxxing

• “Everyone online has had work done.” Many images are filtered, edited or taken at flattering angles.
• “Your face is your destiny.” Attraction and success depend on far more than a jawline rating.
• “Hardmaxxing is just faster softmaxxing.” Invasive methods carry risks that cannot always be undone.
• “A good surgeon will do whatever you ask.” A responsible surgeon will say no when surgery is unlikely to help or the risks outweigh the benefit.

When should body image worries be taken seriously?

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental health condition where someone spends a lot of time worrying about flaws that others barely notice. It is most common in teenagers and young adults, affects men and women, and is treatable with talking therapy and sometimes medicine. Research suggests BDD is more common among people seeking cosmetic procedures than in the general population, which is why surgeons ask about it.

Consider speaking to a doctor or counsellor if you:

• spend more than an hour a day thinking about one feature;
• check mirrors or photos repeatedly, or avoid them completely;
• skip college, work or social events because of how you look;
• have had a procedure and still feel the same distress.

In India, the free Tele MANAS helpline on 14416 offers confidential support.

When should you see a plastic surgeon?

A consultation is reasonable when you are an adult, the concern is specific, it has bothered you for a long time rather than since a recent video, and you understand the risks and limits. A breathing problem, an injury, a lump, a painful scar or chest swelling after supplements are also good reasons to be seen.

What should you ask a surgeon?

• What exactly can this procedure change in my case, and what can it not?
• What are the risks, and what happens if I do not like the result?
• Is there a non-surgical option, or a reason to wait?
• Are you a qualified plastic surgeon, and where will the surgery be done?

For a checklist on choosing a surgeon, read how to choose a plastic surgeon. For one of the most requested facial procedures, see rhinoplasty, and for all options see cosmetic surgery.