A long time ago in the dark ages of society, the side profile photo with fuzzy lighting from an Olan Mills studio was about as close as one came to a selfie filter.

Cell phones and social media applications, of course, changed the game. Now, individuals can playfully alter their appearance with dog ears, rainbow puke — or in some cases — create a “look-book” for their plastic surgeons.

According to a recent article by JAMA plastic facial surgery, a growing number of Americans are taking their cell phones to plastic surgeons to request a “selfie” look. Some in the medical community are coining this selfie obsession trend as “Snapchat dysmorphia.”

“This is an alarming trend because those filtered selfies often present an unattainable look and are blurring the line of reality and fantasy for these patients,” the article stated.

This “Snapchat” trend was first identified in 2017 and 55 percent of plastic surgeons said patients requested surgery to improve their images in selfies.

Anup Patel, a board certified plastic surgeon who works for the Orlando Plastic Surgery Institute, said he’s also noticed an increase in requests from patients to resemble unrealistic images on snapchat filters and he warns against the practice — especially if cosmetic surgery is being done by anyone who is not certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

“If you’re trying to get lips that look like a duck, they’re going to put a lot of filler in and that can become bumpy and it can cause hardness and lumpiness,” Patel said. “Furthermore, if you have people that get all of this stuff done and they’re doing it with people that don’t know the anatomy, you can get in trouble really quickly.”

Trouble like blindness. Injecting fillers in an area under the eye called the tear trough incorrectly can wipe your eyesight for life. Imagine losing the ability to see for the sake of beauty. Skin and soft tissue could also be compromised if procedures are done incorrectly.

Beyond the high-risk complications, why would anyone want to walk around looking like a bad Beverly Hills experiment?

“You have to determine whether or not you want to be that guy in town walking around with someone looking like a Snapchat filter,” Patel said. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”

This “Snapchat” trend was first identified in 2017 and 55 percent of plastic surgeons said patients requested surgery to improve their images in selfies.

Anup Patel, a board certified plastic surgeon who works for the Orlando Plastic Surgery Institute, said he’s also noticed an increase in requests from patients to resemble unrealistic images on snapchat filters and he warns against the practice — especially if cosmetic surgery is being done by anyone who is not certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

“If you’re trying to get lips that look like a duck, they’re going to put a lot of filler in and that can become bumpy and it can cause hardness and lumpiness,” Patel said. “Furthermore, if you have people that get all of this stuff done and they’re doing it with people that don’t know the anatomy, you can get in trouble really quickly.”

Trouble like blindness. Injecting fillers in an area under the eye called the tear trough incorrectly can wipe your eyesight for life. Imagine losing the ability to see for the sake of beauty. Skin and soft tissue could also be compromised if procedures are done incorrectly.

Beyond the high-risk complications, why would anyone want to walk around looking like a bad Beverly Hills experiment?

“You have to determine whether or not you want to be that guy in town walking around with someone looking like a Snapchat filter,” Patel said. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”