Cosmetic surgery seems to be the latest "big thing." Everyone wants to have a little taken off here, or a little accentuated there. And everyone knows that all surgery carries risk. A bit lumpy? Liposuction will help, but the risks include formation of fat clots or blood clots and damage to skin or nerves. Looking for twin peaks? Risks of breast implants include changes in nipple/breast sensation, necrosis, tissue atrophy, and unexpected milk production.

Throughout history, women and men used various methods to alter their bodies, and, like the present day, they have employed, often, dangerous techniques to change or accentuate libidinous areas such as the lips, eyes, breasts, or genitals.

Medieval women swallowed arsenic – a toxin, which can cause nausea, vomiting, sore throat, and death – to freshen their complexions. They also applied lemon juice (the proto-facial acid peel?), and less pleasant substances such as bats' blood and young boys' urine, again, to freshen their complexions. I don't know about bats' blood, but we all know what urine does to a baby's bottom.

During the Renaissance, Queen Elizabeth I applied a lead paste over her face, neck, and breasts to cover her smallpox scars and to appear fair-skinned. Clearly she didn't know that lead poisoning can contribute to high blood pressure, damage the reproductive organs, and cause listlessness, incoordination, and bizarre behavior – even death. She also used vermilion (a poisonous red crystalline mercuric sulfide) to redden her cheeks and lips and applied harsh abrasive powders to whiten her teeth and freshen her breath.

Other women in Elizabeth's time used corrosives like lye to lighten their hair, or sulfuric acid to darken the hair. Presumably they were careful not to touch the skin. Women used drops of belladonna (also known as deadly nightshade, a poisonous plant that can cause hallucinations or death) to increase the size of their pupils, and thus create the fashionable dreamy-looking eyes. Wealthy women used mercury facial peels to improve the complexion. The nervous system is very sensitive to mercury in all forms, and mercury vapors are most harmful because they reach the brain and can cause permanent damage to it as well as to the kidneys and to developing fetuses.

In the 17th century, bodices that were originally designed to cover women's curves, developed into the corset, which, by thinning women's waists to a drastic 13 inches, emphasized the breasts and hips. No wonder the women of the time were perceived as delicate and prone to fainting at the least excitement: they couldn't breathe! On the other hand, 17th century Spanish girls wore lead breastplates to stunt the growth of their breasts.

Women in the Restoration wore harmless, but bizarre, genital wigs, called merkins or muggets to disguise the fact that their pubic hair had fallen out as a result of venereal disea