Cosmetic Surgery for Teenagers

There’s no avoiding the fact that teenagers are in the media spotlight. Adults have noticed it, and so have kids. With what seems to be the ever-increasing peer pressure to look good on the outside, many parents are concerned that their teenagers are being held to ever-higher physical standards.

Adding to that, the media image of young girls molding themselves in the image of their favorite celebrities is prevalent. Television and magazines frequently feature young girls getting liposuction, facial surgery, breast enhancement, and other procedures as casually as they buy new shoes. Certainly, such as epidemic is enough to scare off any parent.

Studies, however, showed that only 5% of college-aged women have had any kind of cosmetic surgery. And of those surgeries, the most common is nose reshaping or rhinoplasty. The same study, however, showed that 60% of young women aged 17 to 25 have considered getting some form of cosmetic surgery in the future.

For many teenagers, cosmetic surgery can boost their self-esteem and their body image and make them feel more confident overall. For a small minority of those studied, a condition known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) caused them to focus obsessively on perceived defects in their appearance, making them poor candidates for surgery.

How do you tell whether cosmetic surgery is right for your teenagers? The best solution of course, is to contact a reputable cosmetic surgeon and have him or her make a professional assessment. The factors a surgeon will take into consideration include the following:

Physical Maturity

Children and adolescents grow at different rates, so it’s important to take into consideration whether the teenager is still in the process of growing into their new, adult body. For example, if an adolescent girl is still maturing, she may want to wait to see if nature takes care of her breast enhancement before having a cosmetic surgery step in.

Emotional Maturity

Before approving any elective surgery at a minor’s request, it’s important to establish what his or her motivations are, and how carefully it has been thought through. Adolescents are often subject to whims, so if the subject is constantly changing his or her mind about hobbies, appearance, friends, and other matters, it’s vital to establish that desire for a cosmetic surgery procedure is not a similarly passing phase.

Realistic Expectations

Cosmetic surgery, while often delivering stunning results, is not a magic wand. It will not make a shy child popular and outgoing. It will not solve all of life’s problems for a troubled teenager. It’s important to establish just what the teenager thinks will be accomplished by the procedure, and ensure that his or her expectations are realistic. Cosmetic surgery can have a positive effect on a teenager’s self-image, but it is certainly not the only factor.