# Plastic Surgery question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-surgery-question/537504
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 27, 2010, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-surgery-question/537504 "2010-04-27T09:45:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@AllFreedomUnlessDefyingScience](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllFreedomUnlessDefyingScience)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2010, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-surgery-question/537504/1 "2010-04-27T09:45:11Z")
Occasioned by a TV show discussing plastic surgery I had a question. If anyone knows the answer I’d appreciate the straight dope. Can you add and/or remove epicanthic folds (the things that give Asians and certain other ethnic groups their distinctive eyes compared to westerners) with plastic surgery? Considering the horrible ways they have to alter people these days I wouldn’t put it past them.
Thanks for any replies,
AllFree
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2010, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-surgery-question/537504/2 "2010-04-27T10:23:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Some young Asian-American women are just saying no to the eyelid surgery so many peers are undergoing. They see the painful and expensive procedure–even more widespread in Korea and China–as an offensive alteration of ethnic identity.
> **[Asian-Americans Criticize Eyelid Surgery Craze – Women's eNews](https://womensenews.org/2004/08/asian-americans-criticize-eyelid-surgery-craze/)**
>
> Some young Asian-American women are just saying no to the eyelid surgery so many peers are undergoing. They see the painful and expensive procedure--even more widespread in Korea and China--as an offensive alteration of ethnic identity.
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2010, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-surgery-question/537504/3 "2010-04-27T10:27:52Z")
Evidently removing the epicanthic fold isn’t necessary part of such alterations:
> **[Epicanthoplasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicanthoplasty)**
>
> Epicanthoplasty is a rare eye surgery to modify the epicanthal folds. It can be a challenging procedure because the epicanthal folds overlay the lacrimal canaliculi (tear drainage canals).
> Although an epicanthic fold can also be associated with a less prominent upper eyelid crease (a feature commonly termed "single eyelids" as opposed to "double eyelids"), the two features are distinct; a person may have both epicanthal folds and an upper eyelid crease, one and not the other, or neither. Si Epica...
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### Author:  [@lshaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lshaw)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-surgery-question/537504/4 "2010-04-28T01:54:14Z")
Yes. Here are some [B&A pictures](http://www.wishclinic.com.tw/service_a3-4_en.htm) of epicanthoplasty + asian blepharoplasty results from a popular plastic surgery clinic in Taiwan. The eyes have changed a lot, but I wouldn’t say that the “after” results have lost their distinct Asian look. They still look pretty Asian to me.
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### Author:  [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-surgery-question/537504/5 "2010-04-28T05:06:58Z")
With proper Plastic Surgery, you can be “ugly as you wanna be”. Witness Michael Jackson… 🙂