Advantages and Disadvantages of Cosmetic Surgery

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.

Besides Photoshop, plastic surgery is a permanent way to change any physical characteristic. There are things one can change, without having to go through any knife or injection— the way they dress, hairstyles, and working out. When it comes to our image plastic surgery has provided an easy yet dangerous solution to fix what one considers their imperfection/ flaw. It is not only adults; teens are also getting cosmetic surgery which only is deteriorating the youth. Stated in the article Pretty Unreal, “Last year in the United States, more than 300,000 teens are 18 or younger had some sort of cosmetic surgery done” (Mehta, Sparling. 288). An increasing number of teens are getting cosmetic procedures done; plastic surgery has become common with in different age groups and families. Personally in my family I know many teens and adults that have gotten plastic surgery, liposuction, nose jobs, to butt jobs. I believe that teens my age should not be worrying about getting procedures done because there are many risks involved. Adolescence is taken away due to constantly worrying about physical image.

In the past few years cosmetic surgeries popularity has increased, with wanting to look a certain way, the way that the media perceives body image for women, usually they use Botox, aesthetic surgery, and a reconstructive surgery; to fix facial features and body parts after a horrible accident. However the controversy begins is, how it can be harmful to every ones body and minds. Most people do not realize the damaging side effects with what is being injected into their bodies.

     First of all, teenagers expect that plastic surgery will improve their self-confidence, but does it? Teenagers think that their new appearance will be great, but they may get different looks from their friends. For

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.

As Beauty trends and societal standards become increasingly less realistic, more young adults are feeling pressured to commit to cosmetic surgeries in order to appear “normal”. Dr. Thomas Romo and Ann Kearney-Cooke, director of the Cincinnati Psychotherapy Institute,

Many girls have low self- esteem during their teen years when they start to grow into their “imperfect bodies”. Most girls start comparing and contrasting their bodies with other girls, so they start developing the thoughts of cosmetic procedures to maintain a high self- esteem. Sweeney (2009) argues that teens are seeking plastic surgery to look “normal” and feel “like a woman”. Even though most teen girls are not fully developed, they are eager to do some cosmetic procedures on themselves. Kristen of River Edge, N.J. said that she has been wanting breast implants since she started puberty. She felt uneven and unattractive because she grew curves but her breast did not grow along. Once she had the procedure done she felt “like a woman “ and her self-esteem

Surgeons state that as teenagers grow up and develop,body parts will develop at various rates in different people. Is the discomfort that brings up the chance to transform a teenager with low self-esteem and a crooked nose into someone with self-confidence is often justified because a well-timed operation could prevent destructive behaviors, including eating disorders, bullying and self-mutilation (Sweeney) . Since we live in a society where celebrities are everywhere showing off their beautiful contoured faces,big and full lips and small nice contoured

On the contrary, they are encouraged by the “drop two-sizes” and the “7-day detox plan” headlines on the fashion magazines that intrude every grocery store check-out lane. We no longer think it is unorthodox that in 2012 alone, teenagers underwent over 236,000 cosmetic surgeries (American Society of Plastic Surgeons). Instead, teenage girls who wear brassieres size 30A or do not have protruding cheekbones are seen as defective beings, and if they do not spend their first paycheck—or their parents’ savings— attempting to replicate the so-called-perfect-image, will remain physically—and socially—inferior to the women the media considers beautiful.

Also body image has a huge role on the impact upon a young women’s experiences. There is many pressures for young people to look like all these celebrities, they want to change their body image and looks just too known as a prefect girl. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has the most relevant research for young women who has had some plastic surgery done, for example from their statistics 236,356 cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed on 13-19 year olds in 2012. Nearly half of all cosmetic surgical procedures performed on teenagers are nose reshaping procedures. More than 8,500 breast augmentations were performed on 18-19 year olds in 2010, up 3% from 2009. These statistic are shocking as these young girls are seeing

In a society so consumed by the ideology of beauty, it makes sense as to why so many women these days undergo cosmetic surgery. The definition of beauty has long been obstructed and changed. In the past, if you look at the woman, you will see they are curvy, during this era being thin meant you were poor where as a beautiful and wealthy woman would be plump because she could afford fine dining. As society has changed, being slender has become the new trend, creating the idea that in order to be truly beautiful one must be thin. The movie stars in Hollywood, although most people realize the beautifying changes that are made to the pictures, this idea of 'beauty ' and 'desire ' still lingers in the mind of whoever comes across it. Our society is bombarded with several different ideologies of beauty but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The beauty standards that have been set should not be what are shaping people around the world and influencing them to go through with plastic surgery. The use of plastic surgery has changed from a medical procedure used to reconstruct the wounded or people with birth defects to reconstructing something people do not like about themselves. Plastic surgery was used during WWI in 1910 and after the war, skin grafting grew. The first training program in the United States was in 1924 thanks to Dr. John Davis. In 1950-1959, plastic surgery was used broadly to repair cleft pallet. It wasn’t until about

Famous actress and model Patricia Heaton once said “Plastic surgery is like the big elephant in the Hollywood living room,” (Brainy Quotes). For celebrities, a plastic surgery operation is just another trip to the doctor’s office. After all, in this day and age, image is everything. We see this in high profile professions, and in large cities across the country. However, recently in Beverly Hills, California, girls as young as 16 are getting nose-jobs as a “Right of Passage” to fit in. This is a trend that has moved beyond the big city, and with 250,000 teens getting cosmetic surgery a year, it’s becoming all too normal. Bullying, media, and just plain vanity are causing children and teens everywhere to go under

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.

Are you aware of the risks and disadvantages of cosmetic surgery? Cosmetic surgery can be very risky and dangerous if you are not aware of the outcomes. If you are thinking of going through a procedures you need to do a lot of research of what the pros and cons of the procedure you are about to undergo. Cosmetic surgeries are done all over the world and the pricing varies depending on the surgeons, and it can be very expensive. The outcome of the surgery won’t always come to what you wanted but still you have to pay the price. Not only that you have to leave with it and you will want another procedure which you’ll have to pay another amount of money. Why go through all that when? We should be happy with who we are and appreciate what you

Messages within the media indirectly contribute to the rising rate of plastic surgery. Desires to meet the idealisms of media representations are often so consuming that people demand plastic surgery despite all of its associated risks and controversies. To compensate for this up and coming surgical trend, technology has developed more reasonable and attainable options for the public. Millions of operations are now able to be performed on those wishing to fulfill specific gratifcations toward their own personal appearance and/or self-esteem. This is a serious problem in that people are unaware or just simply