Toes are the New Nose of the Cosmetic Surgery World

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We all have that pair of shoes that pinch in all the wrong places, squash your toes, cause major blisters but still wear anyway because they look amazing.

But how far would you go to change that?

An alarming new trend has emerged in the cosmetic surgery business. Coined “toe-besity” by New York-based podiatrist Dr. Oliver Zong, one of his specialties is slimming down people's fat toes.

Zong told a US source that a growing number of people are beginning to obsess over smaller details of their feet, like the width of their toes.

“Our business is booming," says Zong.

While the vast majority of patients are women, Dr. Zong says he has male clients as well. "They're embarrassed about wearing sandals because their feet don't look so good," he says.

Depending on the procedure, each toe could set you back anywhere from $500 to $3000. Procedures range from toe shortening to toe lengthening, adding extra padding to the bottoms of feet, slimming down pinky-toes to extreme cases of removing the pinky-toes altogether.

However orthopedic surgeons and conservative podiatrists are more concerned about what can go horribly wrong.

"I don't think it's ethical unless you're having pain," said Dr. Hillary Brenner, a podiatric surgeon in New York and a member of the American Podiatric Medical Association.

"You're undergoing risks -- there's the risk of anesthesia, infection, deformity of the toe if the surgery is not done right, a risk of reoccurrence and the risk of surgery in general," Brenner said. "It's trauma to the foot."

"Surgical procedures of the foot and ankle are generally performed for relief of pain, restoration of function, and reconstruction of deformities," the association said in a statement.

On the contrary, Zong believes toe surgery is the same as any other type of cosmetic procedures, helping patients who are embarrassed to gain self-esteem.

"I think it's the same as if you would ask for any kind of cosmetic surgery," he said. "They're very embarrassed by the situation and afterward, they gain self-esteem and feel more confident. Some people have said they're so embarrassed that their boyfriends have never seen their feet."

With sky-high heels and open toe sandals still very much on-trend in the fashion world, these procedures are sure to only get more and more popular.

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