Modern Family star Reid Ewing has revealed he suffers with body dysmorphia which has led him to undergo numerous cosmetic surgeries.
The 27-year-old actor, who stars as Dylan on the popular sitcom, spoke about his addiction to plastic surgery in a blog on The Huffington Post website and explained that his obsession began in 2008 when he first arrived in Hollywood at 19 years of age.
Reid Ewing in 2010
Ewing wrote: "I genuinely believed if I had one procedure I would suddenly look like Brad Pitt.
"I told the doctor why I felt my face needed cosmetic surgery and told him I was an actor. He agreed that for my career it would be necessary to get cosmetic surgery.
However Ewing added that he now regrets having so many surgeries and wishes it was possible to go back and undo them.
His first procedure was cheek implants and he woke up afterwards in severe pain. Ewing had to wear a face mask for two weeks after the surgery and he hid himself away in a hotel room outside of Los Angeles taking hydrocodone painkillers.
Reid Ewing in 2012
Once the swelling finally subsided, the results, he wrote, were "horrendous".
"I woke up screaming my head off from pain, with tears streaming down my face
"The doctor kept telling me to calm down, but I couldn't. I couldn't do anything but scream, while he and his staff tried seemingly to hold back their laughter.
Ewing is keen to make people aware of the risks involved when undergoing plastic surgery, such as addiction to powerful painkillers, the cycle of having additional surgery to correct mistakes made the first time around and unsatisfactory outcomes.
The actor also wants to highlight that body dysmorphic disorder is a mental illness and that there are exploitative medical practitioners out there who, in his view, take advantage of people like himself.
Reid Ewing in 2014
"Of the four doctors who worked on me, not one had mental health screenings in place for their patients, except for asking if I had a history of depression, which I said I did, and that was that,' he wrote on the blog.
"My history with eating disorders and the cases of obsessive compulsive disorder in my family never came up," he added.
"None of the doctors suggested I consult a psychologist for what was clearly a psychological issue rather than a cosmetic one or warn me about the potential for addiction.
"Now I can see that I was fine to begin with and didn't need the surgeries after all."
