Over the past few years, statistics have shown that there has been an increase in the number of teenagers opting to go for cosmetic surgery. The most popular of the non-surgical cosmetic procedures among teenagers include laser hair removal and chemical peels, which have grown in popularity especially over the last two years. It has been stated that the most popular cosmetic surgery among teenagers has been cosmetic ear surgery, also known as otoplasty. Some experts in cosmetic surgery state that for some teenage patients, plastic surgery could have a very positive effect in their lives not only physically, but also in their emotional development. Moreover, cosmetic surgery has become so popular among teenagers that their parents are now bestowing them to their children as gifts for their birthdays or even graduations. Many surgeons state that they are seeing more teenagers than ever coming to their practices for the various cosmetic surgery procedures available to them. Despite the fact that many parents and their teenage children have been advised against turning to major surgical procedures as a fix for the teenagers’ self-confidence, the number of teenagers who have undergone these procedures has continued to rise. For example, the number of teenage girls under the age of 18 years who undergo breast augmentation procedures has nearly tripled from one year to the next. Teenagers undergoing cosmetic surgery have become a common phenomenon and it is no longer a procedure reserved for the rich as it has previously been.
In the initial stages before a surgeon can put a teenage patient in the cosmetic surgery procedure, he must assess whether this patient is suited for the procedure, otherwise, the entire procedure would be unethical because the surgeon will only be interested in the patient’s money and not their well-being. The most important thing that a surgeon must consider is whether the patient is physically mature this is because performing an operation on a physical feature, which has not fully developed could interfere with its growth and lead to or could have a negative impact on the surgery in the future. Secondly, the surgeon has to consider the emotional maturity of his patient and not only should he inform the teenager of the benefits of the procedure, but also its limitations and he should make sure that the patient is ready to live with the consequences of the procedure whether it meets their expectations or not. Lastly, teenagers and their parents should be made to understand the risks of undergoing the cosmetic surgery as well as the time it takes to recover from the procedure.
In addition, there has been a growing trend among teenagers towards undergoing cosmetic surgery to improve their appearance. From a handful of these procedures that were done some two decades ago on teenagers, today, a large number of teenagers in their hundreds of thousands, undergo cosmetic surgery. This number has kept on growing over the last ten years and it is actually becoming quite common. For example, the number of lipoplasty procedures for teenagers under the age of 18 years has continued to increase over the years and this has continued to be so despite the very careful selection by surgeons of the patients in this group. Furthermore, of the women who underwent breast augmentation procedures in the year 2010, about two percent of them were under the age of eighteen and this is quite a significant number. The reasons why teenagers go for cosmetic surgery to reduce or increase the size of their breasts, correct the balance between a pair of body parts and in this case mostly breasts and ears, correct the severe underdevelopment of some body parts and finally the need to increase their self-confidence in an environment where they feel insecure.
Many teenagers who wish to undergo plastic surgery are motivated by factors, which are very different from those that influence adults to do the same. Most of them want to improve the physical characteristics, which make them feel and look awkward; moreover, they believe that this awkwardness may pursue them for the rest of their lives. In fact, teenagers are always motivated by the current trends of the time and many undergo surgery just so that they can look similar to their friends or their favorite celebrities. This motivation is quite different from that of adults because they tend to undergo the cosmetic procedure not only to look different from their peers, but also to stand out. The most common physical characteristics, which teenagers often want to change for the better through cosmetic surgery include misshapen noses, protruding ears and either small or overly large breasts. After a successful procedure, many teenagers often regain their confidence because their perceived physical deformities have been corrected. In fact, this procedure if successful tends to make teenagers more confident in their social skills and this ensures that the social withdrawal, which had haunted them before is gone.
There are very strict procedures, which have been put in place to ensure that all teenagers who undergo cosmetic are well suited for it. The most common procedure that is supposed to be undertaken is to establish whether the teenager is mature enough emotionally and that this teenager understands the limitations of the surgical procedure which he is to undergo. Teenagers, and their parents, whose consent they need in order to have cosmetic surgery, have to understand that the effects of the surgical procedure on their bodies will be permanent and cannot be reversed and that they should therefore be very realistic in their expectations about what it will do for them. Moreover, the body of a teenager is more often than not fully developed and those perceived deformities that a teenager may have could be outgrown in time without the need for any surgery.
Many people believe that the increase in the number of teenagers undergoing plastic surgery is not a trend but an evolution, which has led to a new way of life. It is stated that one of the main reasons for this growth is the visibility of the procedure considering the fact that most teenagers are today growing up with parents who have undergone cosmetic surgery and they therefore have more knowledge about it. Media of all types has also made teenagers more aware of the procedures that one has to go through in a plastic surgery procedure and this awareness has ensured that their interest in it is whetted and it has become an acceptable thing among them (Janet, 2004). Teenagers have come to realize that plastic surgery does not only repair their physical appearance but it also boosts their self-confidence, something that they tend to require in the very competitive environment in which they live today. Plastic surgeons are also aware of the problems that teenagers’ face, which leads them to come to the decision to undergo the procedure and the surgeons, therefore, assess their psychological condition before putting them under the knife. Surgeons also recognize the fact that the surgical procedure may not do anything to help a teenager make an advance in their self-confidence and this is as a result of their prior experiences with celebrities who have remained very insecure despite undergoing so many cosmetic surgery procedures. Teenagers should be made to understand that although it is their right to have cosmetic surgery, they should be very careful in their consideration of whether to have it or not. They should realize that their wish to have the surgery should not be expressed lightly because the effects of this procedure will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Whether it is a trend or not, it has to be recognized that teenagers undergoing plastic surgery is something that is here to stay and that it should no longer be a surprising thing.
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