Teenagers opting to Go for Cosmetic Surgery - Research Paper Example

?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 (Austin, 2000). 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 (Wansbrough, 2012). 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 (Egan, 2010). 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 (Boodman, 2004). 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 (Olding and Zuckerman, 2004). 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. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has taken no formal stand concerning plastic surgery among teenagers and has instead left it in the hands of those who would like to undergo the procedure and their parents. American Society of Plastic Surgeons, advices parents to consider their children’s physical and emotional maturity before giving their consent for the surgical procedure to be undertaken. However, there are some major guidelines concerning whether a teenager can have cosmetic surgery. Firstly, the teenager initiates the request to have the surgery because even though the support of this teenager’s parents is necessary, consent should not be given until they have proven that he or she really wants to undergo the procedure. Furthermore, the teenager should be considered only if he has very realistic goals concerning what he wants to gain from the procedure and if it is established that what he wants is only temporary, and then he should not be allowed to have the surgery. The teenager’s maturity is also essential because he has to be able to handle the discomfort and the temporary disfigurement that comes with the surgical procedure and it is not recommended for those who are prone to mood swings or are mentally unstable (Bermant, 2005). There are many cosmetic surgery procedures, which have become very common among teenagers and these include rhinoplasty, otoplasty, correction of breast asymmetry, breast augmentation, breast reduction, acne scar treatment and finally, male breast reduction. Rhinoplasty is a surgery that is performed for correcting the various perceived deformities on the nose (Ulene, 2009). This procedure is not normally performed until the nose reaches the adult size and this is between the ages of sixteen and seventeen for most teenagers and in the year 2010, rhinoplasty accounted for 50 percent of all the surgical procedures for this age group. Otoplasty is a surgical procedure whose purpose is to correct protruding ears by having the ears pinned back and it can be done for any teenager. In 2010, otoplasty accounted for about eleven percent of the plastic surgery procedures performed on teenagers. Correction of breast asymmetry has become very common among teenage girls who have a condition where one breast grows larger than the other does. This can be corrected through either the augmentation of one breast to the size of the other or the reduction of the larger one to the same size as its twin. Breast augmentation has also become very popular with teenagers and this involves the use of saline filled implants to augment the breasts. This procedure is only recommended for those teenagers who are eighteen years old or older. Many of the teenagers who would like to have their breasts augmented tend to have one breast, which is larger than the other one and the use of a saline filled implant on the smaller one makes it the same size as the other. Many specialists in this field recommends that teenage girls should wait for a little longer until breast growth stops so that it can be determined whether the growth of the smaller breast will catch up with the other. If it does not catch up, then it would be the right time to perform the augmentation surgery. Breast reduction can help a teenage girl with very large breasts to overcome both the physical and the psychological side effects that come with it. One of the physical side effects of large breasts is the constant back pain that a teenage girl might have and this may have a psychological effect on her. In such cases, it is always best to delay the surgical procedure until such a time as the breasts cease growing to achieve the best outcomes of the procedure (Shulman, 2008). Male breast reduction has also become popular among teenage boys who have large breasts since they are always very eager to undergo surgery to correct the problem. In the year 2010, this type of surgery accounted for over seventeen percent of all the plastic surgery procedures among teenagers. Hundreds of thousands of people in the United States, and a rising number of these being teenagers, have undergone cosmetic surgery without developing and complications but this does not mean that plastic surgery is free of risk. Since a teenager’s motivation for having any type of cosmetic surgery is often driven by the result of the procedure rather than the procedure, and teenagers are therefore advised to consider the following when they wish to undergo the procedure: certification, accreditation, and informed consent (Ali and Lam, 2008). The teenage patients and their parents should ensure that the American Board of Plastic Surgery (APBS) has licensed the surgeon who is to do the procedure. This is because all physicians certified by it have graduated from an accredited school and have not only completed six years of surgical training but also passed all the exams that they have been given. There is a requirement that all the surgeons who perform plastic surgery are accredited by a national or state recognized accrediting agency, which also makes sure that the surgeon is licensed by the state in which the facility that will be used for the procedure is located. The teenager should discuss their options with a specialist before making any decisions concerning whether he or she should undergo the plastic surgery procedure or not. Moreover, he should understand all the details about the procedure such as the surgical procedure itself, its benefits and consequences, the side effects of the surgery, and finally the potential risks involved in the procedure. 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 (Simons, 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. References Ali, K. and Lam, T. (2008). Teens under the knife. Retrieved from http://www.whslions.net/library/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Teens-under-the-knife.htm Austin, A. (2000). More teens opt for plastic surgery. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0830/p14s1.html Bermant, M.A. (2005). Ethics of Cosmetic Plastic Surgery in Adolescents. American Medical Association. Retrieved from http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2005/03/oped2-0503.html Boodman, S. G. (2004). For more teenage girls, adult plastic surgery; rise in breast implants, other procedures raises doubts about long-term effects. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62540-2004Oct25.html Egan, C. (2010). When is it OK for teens to get plastic surgery? Aol Family. Retrieved from http://www.parentdish.com/2010/03/30/when-is-it-ok-for-teens-to-get-plastic-surgery/ Olding, M. & Zuckerman, D. (2004). Cosmetic Surgery and Teens. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63931-2004Oct26.html Shulman, M. (2008). Teens Getting Plastic Surgery: Be Cautious. U.S.News. Retrieved from http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/articles/2008/07/01/teens-getting-plastic-surgery-be-cautious Simons, J. (2004). Teens turning to plastic; 'reality' shows fire desire for fantasy faces, bodies. Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-118453926.html Ulene, V. (2009, Jan 12). Plastic surgery for teens. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/12/health/he-themd12 Wansbrough, L.B. (2012). Bodies Under Construction: Teen Cosmetic Surgery. FazeMagazine. Retrieved from http://www.faze.ca/issue13/teen_cosmetic_surgery.html Read More