Sad ruins of Michael Jackson: Doctors share the blame

June 26th, 2009, 6:14 am · 14 Comments · posted by Colin Stewart

See ‘R.I.P., chameleon and ruined man’ slide show

Photos: Above, Michael Jackson, age 50, in March, when he announced his plan for comeback concerts in London this summer. Below right, at age 46 in 2005. Lower photo, at age 13 in 1972, singing in his Encino home. (AP photos)

‘SMEAR ON OUR PROFESSION’

Yesterday’s death of pop superstar Michael Jackson completes a sad story that began with brilliant achievements and ended with financial and physical ruin, exacerbated by his addiction to plastic surgery and his other personal failings.

Jackson was a boy, then a man, who could bring to life the exquisite dance steps and melodies that he dreamed up, but whose face could not be transformed into his vision of what a face should look like.

The profession of plastic surgery shares the blame with Michael Jackson himself for his multiple plastic surgeries and the dismal result.

Michael Jackson in 2005 “He was a cordial gentleman of immense talent but had a completely unrealistic and disconnected concept of what his physical appearance was. It is a smear on our profession that there were so many people who did operate upon him,” said plastic surgeon Dr. Brent Moelleken of Beverly Hills Moelleken described himself as “one plastic surgeon of many who declined plastic surgery for Mr. Jackson.”

For plastic surgeons, the sequence of nose jobs that Michael Jackson underwent is a cautionary tale.

“There is seldom a plastic surgical conference where before and after photos of Michael’s unfortunate progression of rhinoplasties is not shown,” said plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Persky of Encino. “His rhinoplasty history emphasizes that the surgeon ultimately needs to take responsibility and only perform surgery that is structurally sound. I believe that Michael’s surgeon succumbed to letting Michael push for more changes through surgery. A surgeon must be able to say no, no matter how famous, no matter how much financial gain is involved.”

Plastic surgery John Di Saia of San Clemente noted that for Jackson “his normal features became distorted over time” as a result of excessive plastic surgery.

Complicating Jackson’s self-image and his medical care was the skin disease vitiligo, which caused his skin to lighten. The change in his skin color wasn’t just a choice that Jackson made, according to Dr. Christopher Zachary, chairman of the UCI Department of Dermatology.

“Michael Jackson suffered a form of skin disease which in Caucasians is insignificant, but in people of color can be devastating. For Jackson, who was in the public eye almost from birth, vitiligo must have been acutely embarrassing, a psychologically painful affliction, a curse on his public appearance. No wonder he tried too hard to improve what nature had given him,”

Zachary said doctors now can treat vitiligo more effectively than in the past, using lasers and pigment cell grafting techniques.

Facial plastic surgeon and nose-surgery specialist Dr. Payman Simoni of Beverly Hills, who did not treat Jackson, says the singer’s medically assisted abuse of his face may have been triggered by comments that his father made when Jackson was a boy.

In response to a query from “In Your Face,” Simoni submitted a history of Jackson’s many plastic surgeries, based on Simoni’s educated speculations and observations. This depressing history has been only gently edited:

He was born with cute African-American facial characteristics. However, his father reportedly nicknamed him “Big Nose.” That may have started his long battle with his nose.

People first noticed the changes with his nose during the “Thriller” era when he was just 26 years old. His nose seemed slightly narrower. At this time his nose was still proportional to his face and ethnicity.

Just one year after, Michael’s nose appeared to be even thinner. This could have been the normal progression of healing after rhinoplasty. His nose still looked good for his face.

Two years later, at age 29, Michael seemed to have another nose job and cheeks implant. His dramatic facial changes in conjunction with whiter skin got people talking. He blamed his change in skin color on a medical condition called vitiligo. However, the uniform skin color on his face and neck could hint at the use of skin bleach.

His famous little teeny nostril triangles and a sharp razor bridge of the nose popped into pictures three years later. This was the nose surgery that he really should not have done. Or more importantly his doctor should have refused.

To make matter worse, he now had a manly cleft in his chin and a square jaw.

Most probably, he was not satisfied with his last nose surgery at this time but there was no point of return. In a couple of years, in 1993, his legal allegations and loss of some important advertisement contracts had probably made him more dissatisfied with himself. He probably took out his anger on his nose and underwent another rhinoplasty that devastated his nose to the max. This time his nose was at the worst of his life; an extremely upturned nose with a super-sharp tip. …

In 1997, he shows up with a larger chin implant that made his nose even less in balance. This is the part that is difficult for me to comprehend. We have someone who is extremely “unlucky” with his nose procedures. Now some plastic surgeon decides to go ahead and go extreme on his chin too. This should be warned to plastic surgeons on their first day of their training.

Michael celebrated the new millennium with an eyelid surgery. At 2004, Michael had a reconstructive surgery on his nose by a German plastic surgeon. No significant change was seen but it was definitely somewhat improved.

It is obvious that Michael consistently wanted a thinner nose through his life. Was it his father’s remarks at early age that created his wrong self-image? We would never know. But the lack of complaint on his part against any of his plastic surgeons could indicate that he may have blamed himself throughout.

But equal blame should be placed on those plastic surgeons who blindly did what they were requested.

Michael Jackson, rest in peace, finally.

Related links:

Links to past coverage:

Slide shows:

Share this post:

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

haminator says:

June 26, 2009 at 9:47 am

No matter what you want, you can find someone who’s willing to let you pay them to do it. Very sad.

MJ Fan says:

June 26, 2009 at 10:09 am

Michael Jackson was one of the greatest performers of our time. While he had his legal troubles his music is basically the soundtrack to my life. The troubles he had legally are now between him and GOD. Rest in peace…

gameon says:

June 26, 2009 at 11:05 am

If Disneyland knows whats good for them they WILL bring back Captain EO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AstW05bDiQU

Megan says:

June 28, 2009 at 11:00 am

I am actually seriously hoping for this. Many think Captain EO is ‘outdated’, but who cares that much about the Honey I Shrunk the Audience show? They should have never taken out Captain EO, in my opinion.

sandra says:

June 26, 2009 at 11:25 am

Grew up listing to his Music.. .
To bad he didn’t open up Neverland Ranch to the Public
like they did with Graceland… to help with his Money problems…

Richard says:

June 26, 2009 at 5:59 pm

Altho it is unfortunate when anyone passes, and his was surely un-timely. People never speak ill of the dead. His music may have been one thing, but what is the core of what Michael taught us?
No matter how much money, fame, or glamor a person has, true happiness is always a stones throw away.
I honestly think Michael never truly liked himself, which would explain the surguries. A true role model should be someone who is happy, comfortable, and true to themselves and their heritage.
I liked his music, and loved THRILLER, but that was over 20yrs ago. People change, as did Michael Jackson which this article so clearly points out.

What is the main question here? Which side of the fence do you lie on?
Icon or child molestor?

We all know money can get you a get out of jail card at any time.

Citizen Kay says:

June 27, 2009 at 10:06 am

whoever wrote this article should be ashamed of themselves. for god’s sake the man is dead…. you think now people could stop saying terrible things about him….

Jane says:

June 27, 2009 at 1:16 pm

You can’t blame him! He did not put a gun to the head and force them!
He had a naive and childish mind and a lot of money. add the two and every fraud out there will take advantage. They were selfish and took advantage of the poor fool. And maney people are taken advantage of every day by witch doctors: AKA plastic surgeons!

Bob Holt says:

June 27, 2009 at 8:27 pm

Now that a lot of his help is unemployed your going to see book deals on the secret life of Michael Jackson, some good some bad.

Renee says:

June 27, 2009 at 10:36 pm

Vitligo is a “form of skin disease which in Caucasians is insignificant”

I beg to differ! As a (white) person with vitiligo I seriously take offense to this. I developed vitiligo as a teenager while living in a part of the world where tans are highly prized and beach trips a daily teenage voyage. Going through puberty and having vitiligo I felt every stare and was stabbed by every question about my “problem”. Even today I get questioned often as to my skin spots, mostly people asking if I have been burned. I grew to handle my spots without feeling emotional about them. I do need to watch my sun exposure, wear not just sunscreen but protective clothing. Beach trips are occasional but I have to go a few extra steps to protect myself from sever burns - so severe I have been admitted to the hospital for second degree burns. Now as for my skin being different from darker skin, it is true that the spots are much more pronounced on darker skin. When I see someone with dark skin and vitiligo I do know what they must be going through albeit my level is not as great. But I certainly would not call my experience insignificant.

dan says:

He admitted to convincing 12 year old boys sleep in his bed and he gave them “jesus juice” or wine….yet…

He could sing and dance…so it was OK…he ENTERTAINED ME…he was wonderful……I have so many memories of his songs from my youth…….

What a crock of bull. The guy should have died in prison!!!

Sandra says:

June 28, 2009 at 5:59 am

I really feel for his Mom, who dearly loved Michael. I’m not sure if his Dad ever loved him, but just saw Michael as a money maker for the family. Now that he is gone, will there be enough money to sustain his family? Those poor, innocent kids. All they know is their Dad and never knew their Mom, how sad is that? If she gets custody of them, I believe their lives will really be in turmoil. I would like to see Michael’s Mom get custody of the kids, as she really needs them now and they need her.

As for the rest of the family, I don’t know if Janet contributes to the family and I never hear about the other brothers. I don’t believe they had the talent like Michael. This would be interesting to know how the dynamics of this family works. I don’t know if Michael ever abused those kids, but my understanding is this: Michael never had a regular childhood, because his father pushed the boys to be sucessful, unlike himself. I think over time, Michael was just trying to be a kid and have little kids around him to make him feel loved. The public loved Michael, but what about his family?

My favorite video is Smooth Criminal, but like most people “Thriller” is a great video. VH1 has been playing his vids in tribute to his life.
Rest in Peace Michael. We have enjoyed your talent that you brought to the world.

spicybabes says:

July 2, 2009 at 12:51 pm

His music was great but unfortunately it didn’t reflect the persona of what Michael was really….Michael was a SEEK man Michael was a PEDOPHILE..He couldn’t careless about his fans only when it suited him that’s all, as for his skin he didn’t have “vitiligo” he bleached his skin to deaf.

I worked and livedl at Neverland ranch which is a magnificent property and I can surely say my husband and I have enjoyed more the property then he did, he was too much absorbed by the little boys, Michael should have been locked in psychatric hospital and the parents of those little boys should be in jail.

July 7, 2009 at 12:15 am

Thank You! People need to see him for who he was, and he was a flat out sicko! Did you hear what the congressman from NY said this morning?
I could not agree more, The media should be ashamed of it’s self for displaying this much attention to this pervert and not to the unsung heros across the pond fighting for our freedom. No matter where you lie on the subject, I would rather morn a soldier, fire fighter, police officer, hell even a bus driver more, who died in the line of duty, rather than Michael Jackson!