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