Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Teens and Plastic Surgery

Adults are not the only ones choosing to have plastic surgery today. Young people are catching onto the trend and are coming to see the benefits to them. Here we take a brief look at teens and plastic surgery.

Plastic surgery is not just for adults. It is fast becoming an area that is catching the attention of teenagers. What is interesting to note according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is that teenagers offer different reasons for wanting to have plastic surgery as compared to adults. Young people want to have it to fit in with the crowd and to be more like those in their clique. On the other hand most adults wish to have it in order to not just look better but also to stand out from others and look more uniquely like themselves.

More and more teenagers are choosing to go under the knife to make changes to their appearances. As reported by the ASPS in 2005 an estimated 333,000 individuals 18 years and younger had a surgical procedure of the cosmetic variety in 2005. This was up from the 306,000 junior high school and high school students that had cosmetic operations in 2000.

Plastic surgery can provide a means of correcting a defect on your face or body that is a source of embarrassment for you. Even if you do not have a defect you may simply want to change your look, such as having a nose job to give your nose a more attractive shape. It is very common for adolescents to not be happy with the way they look. This can also affect their self-esteem and how others view them. The most common procedures that young people opt for include acne scar treatment, nose reshaping, breast reduction (for males, known as gynecomastia), breast implants and ear surgery.