Teen Plastic Surgery: Doctor Shopping Book
Teen plastic surgery is hitting the news again. And it’s not surprising given the statistics.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) reports that 87,600 surgical operations were performed on 13-19 year olds in 2007, mostly for breast reduction in young males and nose reshaping. The teen surgeries represent 5 percent of overall procedures.
In an article picked up by Reuters, one doctor is trying to find a publisher for his book on teen surgery, and he isn’t finding any takers. A voice of reason (psychologist) steps in and basically says that we should be trying to encourage self-esteem building from the inside not the outside, while acknowledging that extreme cases may very well need medical intervention.
In the article it mentions that the doctor has given a breast lift to a child that “had breasts that sagged like a 60 year old”, and who consequently started acting out and developed an eating disorder. After her breast lift, reportedly the eating disorder disappeared. But before this comment it says:
“But he says surgery has made a profound difference to his patients, even in the controversial area of breast implants which are generally discouraged by the ASPS for the under-18s.”
Apparently breast lifts aren’t all he’s willing to perform on teens. And I’m guessing those teens that ended up with breast implants courtesy of the nice doctor, now report a higher self-esteem? Job well done, right? Let’s give those teens what they want for the moment, in the moment. And while we’re at it, let’s throw in a free pair for mom and make it a family affair; afterall, she’s the one who went to all the trouble of bringing the child in in the first place. Isn’t it nice when parents make the sale and you don’t have to?
Thank goodness my mom thought that I was fine just the way I was (when I told her I was getting breast implants at 19); too bad I didn’t.
~Kacey
Hello? This is ridiculous! Doesn’t anyone realize that even at 18, you aren’t always done growing yet?? What kind of doctor doesn’t know this? I grew a whole cup-size in college. And that applies to your face as well. People aged 13-19 getting nose reshaping??? Let your face grow into your nose before you go changing it!!!
We are such an instant gratification society. These kids will never build any character, or have any real inner strength if Mommy and Daddy go fixing every single little problem for them…and I thought I was spoiled…
Comment by Jennifer F — June 19, 2008 @ 8:22 am
I agree with Jennifer’s comment. What are we teaching our children when we let them and pay for them to fix every little thing they don’t like about themselves? We are teaching them that it is okay to hate your body, because afterall it can easily be fixed with a couple of grand, a plastic surgeon, a knife and a few weeks of pain, right? No!
Instead of teaching our children that what they were born with is wrong and needs to be fixed. Why don’t we start teaching our children to accept themselves, to love their unique bodies..flaws and all.
Comment by Krista — June 19, 2008 @ 11:02 am
This topic has always been a sore subject with me. I find it sad that we let men and the greedy media and cosmetic industry dictate our self esteem. Once we get past the manipulations of a shallow society and find the root causes of low self esteem, we won’t be concerned about the size of our breasts. I see women with fake breasts and don’t put them on the same esteem level of a woman that accepts what she was born with. Those women that succumb to the knife for enhancements are superficially dealing with their insecurities. I seriously doubt that they are truly secure. I would hate to rely on a man’s acceptance of superficial beauty for my self esteem. Those kind of men aren’t worth 2 cents.
Comment by Chris — June 19, 2008 @ 10:06 pm