A body image is a self-image of one's body as a whole or of the spatial relationship between body parts. In order for this image to be formed, the representation or spatial image (body diagram) that one has of one's own body in one's consciousness works, and when the body diagram is made conscious, it becomes a body image. Therefore, some people believe that body image and body diagram are synonymous. The body image is formed by perceptions and experiences related to one's own body, and each person has his or her own body image. Moreover, body image is not fixed, but fluctuates depending on the various influences that the body itself is subjected to. Changes in body form and function due to aging, surgery (mastectomy, hysterectomy, laryngectomy, colostomy, organ transplantation, etc.), accidents, diseases, and other dysfunctions (paralysis, burns, amputations, etc.), andlosswill bring about changes in the body image. The changes are age, education,livingEnvironment, support system, value,copeThere is a great deal of individual variation in ability and other factors, and correcting these changes can be time-consuming and expensive. The body image isself-conceptThe nursing professional will assist in reconstructing or modifying the body image, as it is one of the factors that form the

References
(1) Mave Salter (Author) / Atsuko Maekawa (Translator): Body Image and Nursing, Igaku Shoin, 1992.
(2) Emiko Namihira (Author): Karada no Bunka Anthropology: Henka suru Nihonjin no Shintai-kan (Cultural Anthropology of the Body: The Changing Japanese View of the Body), Taishukan Shoten, 2005.
(3) Mitsuko Matsuki, Tomoe Ogasawara, Yayuko Kume (eds.): Nursing Theory - Linkage of Theory and Practice - Let's put theory into practice based on nursing research findings, Nouvelle Hirokawa, 2006.