In the past, getting students ready to go back to school meant buying items such as notebooks, pencils and backpacks. These days, going back to school can involve cosmetic surgery to achieve a new look at the start of the school year.
What do the Numbers Say?
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 66,347 teenagers had cosmetic surgical procedures in the year 2016. The overall ages of the patients ranged from ages 13 to 19. In addition, a total of 163,204 cosmetic minimally-invasive procedures were performed on the same age group. Overall, this was almost a three percent increase and almost a one percent increase, respectively, from the year 2015.
The Most Popular Surgeries
Surgeons across the country have seen an increase in procedures such as lip fillers, breast augmentations and rhinoplasty. These same surgeons say teens are looking to “enhance” their appearance during the summer before the start of the new school year. High school graduates undergo surgery in the hope of changing their appearance before college begins since their current appearance is not known at a new college.
When it comes to cosmetic surgical procedures, rhinoplasty and breast augmentations were the most popular while laser hair removal and laser skin resurfacing were very popular minimally-invasive procedures.
There are some teens who want to have surgery to correct functional issues such as not being able to breather properly through the nose or they are suffering from back pain because of the large size of their breasts.
However, doctors have noticed a growing number of teenagers requesting plastic surgery on their face because of a combination of social media, bullying and celebrity influence. In a recent interview with Daily Mail Online, Dr. Norman Rowe, a plastic surgeon based in New York City, said the number of teens he sees has grown over the years. He used to see about two students per week during the school year and five to six during the summer. He currently sees five to seven per week during the school year and 12 to 15 during the summer.
Celebrity Influence
Surgeons have noted that millennial patients often view celebrity selfies on social media and want to copy the features of their favorite stars.
One example of this was the 2015 trend involving the hashtag #kyliejennerchallenge. This challenge encouraged teens to increase their lips to rather large proportions using a bottle or shot glass. The goal was to swell the lips to emulate the famous bee-sting pout of Jenner. An untold number of teens, both girls and boys, shared the results of their experiment on social media. The final results often included severe bruising around the mouth.
Dr. Rowe added that teens are “not just addicted to Instagram but about looking their best all the time.” He said that he discourages teens who visit him wanting surgery to emulate a celebrity.
Why Teens Should Wait for Plastic Surgery
Doctors say there are multiple reasons teens should not go under the knife. These reasons include the fact that the bodies of teenagers are often not fully developed until they are in their early twenties. In addition, they are often not mentally developed enough to process and completely understand the risks associated with undergoing plastic surgery.
For example, girls continue to develop their breasts until around the age of 21 or 22. If they have surgery on the breasts before they are fully developed, they might need a revision surgery because of the changes brought about by the continued growth.
Many doctors do point out that there are some teenage patients who will benefit from having surgery at such an early age to correct a deformity or abnormality. Functional reconstruction can help female teens with a condition such as congenital breast asymmetry or a teenage girl with extremely large breasts.
According to Dr. Alan Matarasso, a Clinical Professor of Surgery at Hofstra University/Northwell School of Medicine, and the President-Elect of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, “Nose surgery can usually be done after female patients have had their menstrual cycle. Breast reduction depends on the stability in breast size of the patient. On rare occasions, there can be some regrowth but this is not a regular occurrence.”
Dr. Matarasso added, “In general, the most common procedures female patients have done, thanks to the help of their family, is rhinoplasty or breast reduction.
Different Ways of Thinking
According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, in New York, the brains of adult and teens work differently.
Adults think with the prefrontal cortex. This is the part of the brain critical for good judgment and the ability to be aware of long-term consequences. On the other hand, teenagers process information using the amygdala. This is the part of the brain that links emotional perception and experience. In other words, teens are still developing the connection between the emotional part of the brain and the decision-making center.
Research shows the prefrontal cortex is not fully developed until age 25 so teenagers are making a decision due to an emotional response and not taking the long-term consequences in account.
MA
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