How Does Cosmetic Surgery Affect Teenagers

In the article entitled "Teens Under the Knife" written by Kaitlyn Ali and Tiffany Lam readers are informed on the possible risks that are exposed to teens who have cosmetic surgery. Ali and Lam state, "There are many risks in plastic surgery, such as permanent numbness, infections, blood clots, and even death" (par. 9). The developing bodies of teens are still changing which could lead to altering the effects or future displacement of the surgical procedure. The article states, "Because teens ' bodies are still developing, what [teens] change now may not look the same in a year. What feels like a big nose at 11 might be perfect once the face is done growing. With surgery, it could end up looking worse later" (par. 9). This article helps identify that plastic surgery can potentially cause even more emotional and physical damage to teenage patients in the future. In order to fix this problem, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery should strengthen the guidelines for evaluating teenagers by requiring all potential cosmetic surgery patients that are under the age of 18 to be screened by professional psychiatrists and medical doctors to ensure physical and mental stability before proceeding with the desired surgical process. This is necessary because cosmetic procedures can interfere with the growth cycle of the developing body and the emotional state of teenagers which can cause serious health complications and possibly more surgical procedures in the future.

There should be an age limit to be able to get cosmetic surgery. The age limit should be 25 because at this point of time the brain is fully developed so they are not able to mentally make the decision. The decisions that are made are irreversible. Children are at a young age are not fully developed physically which could cause the plastic surgery to change with time. There are many risks with the surgery, and the risks are sometimes increases by age. The counterargument would be that there should be no age limit no matter what the risk would be.

In 2012, over 236,000 teenagers from the ages of 13-19 years old, went "under the syringe" to have a cosmetic procedure done (Gilbert, Web). Teenagers should never be able to have cosmetic surgeries because of the harmful effects the procedures have. Teenage minds and bodies are not fully developed until they are in their early twenties. Therefore, doctors are unable to fully comprehend the risks these procedures will have on the teenagers, since their bodies are still changing. Cosmetic surgeries are nearly impossible to predict the health risks of and the affects they will have on the still developing bodies of teenagers. Teenagers who get a cosmetic procedure done are not having it done to

Body image has become a topic of conversation, with girls as young as five years old. Their conversations consist of their freckled complexion, the color of their hair, and even worse, their weight compared to others. The fact that at such a young age they are already finding concern and dissatisfaction with looks, can be alarming. With images of unattainably thin and flawless bodies scattered all over the media, there is no wonder that our younger generation is questioning their beauty and image. These images appear all around; on bill boards, in magazines, on television

Teens who are in college have just as many problems with their body as people in high school. The media affecting people of all ages can consist of anything from people on social media, to celebrities on T.V., to the models who walk on runways. People who struggle with their body image are all over the world and are often closed off to other people. When girls look at magazines they see all of the models posing and then they compare themselves to them because the models are what society says is pretty, and they aren’t. Media is a great way for companies to get their products out there, but when adolescents compare themselves to models, they will start to have body image issues.

Consequences with high school graduates having plastic surgery as a graduation present can result in regret later in the teen's life when they become an adult. The teen has to understand the results and possibilities that could go wrong with the modifications. They need to understand that their bodies are still growing and will continue to under go many changes through out their life. Parents should also try to influence their children to be proud of the body they have and let them know that no matter what the girl or guy on TV looks like they are beautiful in their own way. Doctors should also teach the teen and parent, who comes in for modifications the medical concerns for getting such procedures done

Celebrities often change the perception of teenagers of how they should look. They portray this image that their value is based on their outward appearances and that they have to be thinner to be successful in life. If they are reserved and quiet they are boring, if they are loud and outspoken they are an attention seeker, if they are unique they are weird. It is difficult for them to then find a place to fit in in this world centered around outer beauty and the media’s idea of perfection. To them, thinness is idealised to be “attractive”. Standards of beauty of this have increased the teenagers’ desire to resolve to plastic surgery to fix their imperfections.

Although difficult to point fingers at a single source for the reason eating disorders exist, it can be said that media, specifically, does have a negative influence on the amount of confidence in one’s self-image. On the other hand, media is not the only one to blame and therefore, media should not be overlooked, but other sources have proven guilty as well such as genetics, environment, and culture. With altered images being presented in formats of media such as magazines, commercials and social media, many teens find themselves pressured to look the same. Society has placed a standard of what a “beautiful” body looks like giving teens the idea that in order to be beautiful they must look like that too. This however, is a misconception as

Everyone at one point thinks about going under the knife,“there was an 80% increase in the number of girls 18 and younger receiving genital plastic surgery, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery”(Simmons, 2016,para.3). Male and female teens, form ranges thirteen to nineteen years of age, have thought or actually had done a plastic surgery on their bodies. Even though this procedure is overpriced and the recovery time takes long, at the end many patients believe that the outcome is worth it since they perceive themselves more beautiful. Plastic surgery has been getting popular among teens because is helping them raise their self-esteem, lowering their depression rate, and enhancing their beauty.

As a result of the pressures to obtain the image portrayed in the media, we start to develop low self esteem and body related issues. For instance, the models and movie stars on television all influence our mindset believe or not. We see their clear skin, thin physics and idealize them. Some become obsessed with the idea of “perfection” and start to alter their own appearance to reach it. Eating disorders have dramatically increased over the years due to the media’s effect on people’s minds. Examples of negative teen body image are everywhere. There are several forms of media; such as television, print, broadcast, radio, talk, and the internet. Social network sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and even YouTube are all outlets teenagers go to

This study took 314 fifth and sixth graders from two different elementary schools and split them into a control group, and an intervention group. The intervention group was exposed to an 8 week education program. This intervention program was asked question about body size, body satisfaction, and dieting habits along with bingeing and purging. After the eight weeks, it was found that there was a significant increase in body satisfaction in comparison to the control group. Moreover, after a three month follow up, the intervention group still had significantly higher test result in comparison to the control group. This is a perfect example of how the younger generations that are being exposed to increasingly altered and photo shopped media, are drastically unaware of what they should strive to look like or how they can alter their body in a healthy and positive manner. Programs like these are needed severely in the United States, and a simple change of location in this study could amplify the confidence and education of so many young, impressionable children. (Yeh, Liou, Chien,

A huge problem with young teens and young adults in today’s time is low self-esteem when it comes to body image. Today’s media and society are giving the false idea of a perfect body image to growing teens and young adults. Young teens and young adults have low-self-esteem resulting in health risks, suicidal thoughts, bullying, and mental issues. I believe there are two main solutions to this problem. We need to encourage parents to teach their children as their growing up that what society says is a perfect body image is false unrealistic body images. Another solution is to have society and the media change the idea of a perfect body. Although, the most common solution for raising self-esteem due to body imagery would be to have children raised

There was an interview conducted by SteadyHealth.com and Dr. Howard T. Bellin last year. In this interview many different questions were asked about self esteem and the appropriate age for plastic surgery. Dr. Bellin believes that a person’s self esteem can benefit significantly from plastic surgery. One of the major surgeries that he does would be the rhinoplasty. He does this operation on teens. There is a general debate about what age is appropriate to let your child have plastic surgery. Sometimes parents believe that their child may be too young or perhaps too immature to engage in surgeries that seem to be for adults only. Plastic surgery can fix some problems but is not a “cure”. Cosmetic procedures are becoming much more common among teens now a day and are helping them through everyday life and help them fit in. There will always be a debate on this situation but it is important to look out

Body image is a huge factor in advertisements. Many teenagers and young adults are drawn to how they look according to others. Between the ages of eighteen and twenty, people grow and build their own character. Advertisements for cosmetic surgery or other enhancers could greatly influence this group of people. Diana Zuckerman, Ph.D. states that in 2012, “more than 236,000 cosmetic procedures [were performed] on patients between [the ages of] thirteen and nineteen” (Zuckerman). That is a lot of surgeries for young adults who aren’t fully developed physically or mentally.

MedicineNet analyzes mental health risks as a result of unrealistic expectations of surgery. When a person engages in plastic surgery on the wrong grounds, they tend to be unsatisfied with their results. This causes stress and sometimes depression on the patient, which can also affect their physical health, due to delayed and/or prolonged healing time. It is critical for plastic surgeons to be specifically trained in psycho-therapy. During an initial consultation, the doctor must first determine whether the patient is emotionally stable. They look for things such as age, development, mental illness, whether the patient is realistic towards the outcome, whether the patient has recently undergone any sort of traumatic event, or any other factor capable affecting their mental health. Once this is assessed and the patient is cleared for surgery a whole new array of problems arise.