The next time you get a breast enhancement or reduction, a facelift, or Lasik eye surgery, you could save a few bucks if you agree to have your surgery filmed and then posted on YouTube.

Some physicians offer discounts for posting videos because they serve as little online commercials for them.

When Michelle Wilder posted a video of her Lasik surgery, according to the New York Times, this is what she got in return:

Her physician offered either a free Botox injection worth $400 or a $100 discount on the $5,000 Lasik operation, which, unlike Lasik, doesn’t entail cutting a flap in the cornea.

“I thought it was a little odd, because I was wondering, ‘Who wants to see my surgery?’ ” Wilder, 25, a Manhattan accountant, says.

While thanking patients for endorsements with financial discounts or free Botox is legal, videos endorsing cosmetic procedures, posted on sites like Yahoo and YouTube, have raised concerns.

Physicians and patients have taken to online video postings with gusto. Type in the word “Botox” on YouTube and around 2,400 videos pop up. “Breast augmentation” garners more than 2,000; “Lasik” around 2,000 videos.

The videos featuring needles piercing furrowed brows and scalpels slicing are both disturbing and fascinating. Not all show gore.

More.

Source: New York Times News Service/New York Magazine