More than 200,000 teenagers had a plastic surgery procedure done in 2017, according to marketwatch.com. There are no age restrictions to receiving the procedure, but it requires parental consent under the age of 18… and parents are allowing it.
Breast augmentation (breast implants), rhinoplasty (nose reshaping), and liposuction are most common in teens, but none of these procedures are necessary. Under the age of 18, the body isn’t fully developed, so what’s the point of having something fixed that might fix itself?
All bodies are different. How will a teenager know if they will love their bodies in the future when they’re fully developed? They’re taking these risks at such a young age, but they don’t truly understand what the future consequences are. According to healthline.com, plastic surgery can cause hematoma, seroma, deep vein thrombosis, etc.
Several effects are hard to treat. These side effects can occur at any time after the procedure and if the surgery is done at a young age, the risks will always be there. Cosmetic surgery shouldn’t be allowed for anyone under 18, even with parental consent.
According to healthline.com, breasts don’t stop developing until at least age 18, so having augmentation before full development makes no sense. Social media heavily influences these decisions, because these kids yearn to ‘fit in’ with the models they see in pictures. They choose at a young age to get these surgeries based off other people’s appearances and will most likely regret their decision when they’re older.
Noses also grow with age. Several teens don’t understand this concept when going into surgery; all they notice is that it doesn’t look like the model they saw on Instagram, so they believe they must change their nose.
Liposuction, however, is the worst procedure a teen could have. They have their entire life to exercise and change their diet. There is no reason a young adult should make a weight altering choice through surgery. It’s a lazy way to get out of living healthily.
Some people say that plastic surgery is good because if they don’t love themselves, they should change something so that they will. Well, teenagers haven’t necessarily had enough time to learn to love themselves. The majority of teens are stuck in high school where everyone is judged in some way. Once they graduate school and experience more of the real world, if they still want the surgery, then they can. However, teens should not be allowed to have plastic surgery, with parental consent or not.