Cosmetic surgery helps boost self-esteem

Just the mention of cosmetic surgery brings to mind any number of celebrities known for taking medical procedures to the extreme – Pamela Anderson’s implant-enhanced bosom, Joan Rivers’ overstretched face, and of course there’s Michael Jackson.

But in real life, far away from the cesspool of vanity that defines Hollywood, cosmetic surgery is quietly helping many people to just feel normal.

Take John Wilson (not his real name), for example.

Right around puberty, Wilson began noticing that his breasts were becoming just that — breasts. The condition is known as gynecomastia ­ a Greek word for “woman-like breasts” and affects an estimated…