Teens Going Under The Knife
Most people are at their physical peek in their teenage years. Their bodies are just starting to develop and gravity hasn’t had the chance to ravage them with its devastating effects yet. For this reason, it may be difficult to understand why so many teens are undergoing cosmetic surgery.
Teenage Plastic Surgery
Last year, over 200,000 teenagers underwent cosmetic surgery of some kind. Cosmetic surgery is already a bit taboo because it exposes the patient to unnecessary risks for the sake of vanity. Of course self-esteem is important but where should parents draw the line?
Body image and physical appearance becomes important to teenagers at around the age of thirteen and it becomes a big part of their social hierarchy. Even still, it seems very extreme for a person who isn’t even finished developing to make permanent changes to their physical appearance. That’s like complaining about a meal while it’s still cooking.
If a morbidly obese teenager was to get liposuction to improve their quality of life and their health most people would probably be understanding and support the youth through the difficult process. Unfortunately, most teenagers undergoing cosmetic surgery are getting nose jobs breast implants and Otoplasty which is surgery to alter the shape of the ears. Someone’s ear shape will probably do little to advance or hinder their ability to live a productive life yet many parents consent to and pay for the process.
It’s a well-known fact that teenagers can be impulsive and they may get a procedure done that they regret for the rest of their lives. Shouldn’t the responsibility be on the parents to say no? Unfortunately one of the biggest factors leading to teens getting plastic surgery is the influence of parents that have had work done. There was once a saying that parents that use drugs have children that use drugs but apparently parents that have plastic surgery have kids that do the same.
Adult versus Child
What’s good for the parent may not be good for the child. A parent may have a few procedures done to restore their youthful appearance but what is a child supposed to be restoring? A teenager’s self-esteem issues go beyond their appearance many times and having a complex procedure done isn’t going to address the raging hormones which may be attributing to their desire to have cosmetic surgery.
Rhinoplasty or surgery on the nose is the most common type of cosmetic surgery among teens with 42% of them opting for this procedure. The next most common is a breast reduction for teenage boys at 17%. Apparently the world in which we live has become to vein to allow a child time to see if their face will grow into their nose or to see if a young man’s breasts are the product of a teenage hormonal imbalance. Many people opposed to teenage cosmetic surgery fear these teens may be headed for a lifetime of surgical procedures which may one day destroy the physical appearance they’re intended to enhance.