If you’re like most people, you use Snapchat to send out filtered photos or find your one true love.
But more and more, it’s being used to give a look into the off-limits areas of life that Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter can’t — the operating room.
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For the past year, plastic surgeon Michael Salzhauer, MD — better known as Dr. Miami — has been snapchatting many of the breast augmentations, nose jobs and Brazilian butt lifts he gives to patients, many traveling for thousands of miles for the opportunity. And yes, they’ve all given consent.
“People have never seen these surgeries before,” Dr. Miami told Vanity Fair of why he does it. “I remember the first time I saw one, I was mesmerized. [Some people tell me] they get a little high from it. There’s actual joy from watching people getting manipulated. Some people like that feeling of getting grossed out and losing control, too.”
Many of us are naturally curious about the grosser things our bodies can do — it’s the same reason why dermatologist Sandra Lee, MD, has gained over 1.2 million YouTube followers for her pimple and cyst-popping videos.
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“Overall it seems like they are so popular because they actually make people feel happy and good!” Dr. Pimple Popper told the U.K. Daily Mail.”‘Like these pops squeeze out some endorphins in our own brains, and makes our hearts beat a little faster and puts us in a better mood.”
Some even say it helps alleviate anxiety. “I hear all the time, ‘This is gross but oddly satisfying’ and ‘I can’t stop watching these videos,'” she said.
Dr. Miami’s snaps (username: therealdrmiami) also give those wanting to go under the knife a real look at what it takes to go from natural to enhanced. It’ll go one of two ways: Either they’ll be more excited about the opportunity or turned off. And it turns out that he loves the rush — and the extra fame — that comes with being a Snapchat star.
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“It’s a very hard thing, getting something to go viral,” he says. “When it happens it’s like a hole in one. It’s such a cool feeling… this social-media thing gives me the same high.”
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