A study published in a plastic surgery journal last month discovered that going under the knife doesn’t make you look all that better – and only an average of three years younger.

This came as no surprise to me. Does anyone honestly think that facelifts, botox and lip injections make them look good?

Why, with it almost always completely obvious when someone’s had work done, and them looking worse for it, do so many go under the knife?

Why can’t we accept we’re never all going to look the same as everyone else, and that it’s a good thing.

People say they’re doing it for themselves, but I think that’s absolute rubbish. Whether they acknowledge it or not, they’re trying to live up to society’s unrealistically high standards of beauty.

Plastic surgery is supposed to be for reconstruction for those with disfigurements, for example burn victims.

What it’s not for is a quick fix for people with low self-esteem who have been told what the perfect body is (there is no such thing) and feel they have to strive for it in order to be happy.

There’s a reality show in the US called Bridalplasty 101 which consists of women cattily competing to win surgery before their weddings.

In a clip I watched, most of them said their future husbands loved them the way they are (and to be honest – if they don’t, why are you marrying them?).

They were all beautiful in my opinion, and it was frustrating and upsetting to watch. I know it’s a cliché, but inner beauty is what really matters. We come in all shapes and sizes and should embrace our differences.

Worryingly, more people are going abroad for cheaper surgery and end up with botched jobs. It’s dangerous. Is it really worth it for bigger breasts? Will those breasts really make you happier in the long run?

I look at women like Sophia Loren who used to be so beautiful when they were younger, but have now butchered their faces with surgery, and wonder why they couldn’t have grown old gracefully.

Mary Berry of The Great British Bake Off is a perfect example of an older woman that still looks good – at almost 80, she’s elegant and pretty. Yes, she has lines, but so what? Your lines are stories. One of them may have been gotten the first time you laughed with the love of your life. A frown mark may have been got from tears that taught you one of your most important lessons. Why remove them?

Then there’s the worrying trend of labiaplasty in which women risk losing their sexual pleasure for the sake of “looking normal” down there – whatever that is.

This is the problem, though; normal doesn’t exist. We’re all unique.

We were born the way we are and we need to learn to love ourselves. I know it’s easier said than done, but going under the knife is a temporary solution to a deeper problem.

Look, I’m all for choice – if you want to get plastic surgery then that’s your prerogative.

However, the fact is companies and the media are exploiting our insecurities to make money, and it’s not okay. So instead of pandering to that, realise what’s going on and work on your self-esteem from within.