In 2003, more than 74,000 people younger than 18 underwent cosmetic surgery. That’s a 14% increase in 3 years. Add cosmetic procedures such as botox, microdermabrasion and chemical peels, and the tally rockets up to a frightening 336,000, an increase of more than 50% in one year. Last year 42,515 teens got nose jobs (rhinoplasty) and 15,973 had ear pinnings (otoplasty). 3,841 had breast implants (a 24% increase in a year) and thousands underwent liposuction.
We are conditioned to believe that we have to look beautiful; that our lives will not be a success unless we achieve ‘perfection’. Plastic surgery is more widely available than ever before and is seen as an acceptable means of achieving this. Hit reality TV shows like The Swan and Extreme Makeover make plastic surgery look like no big deal, not taking into account the slow and painful recovery times or the sometimes potentially fatal risks. Parents often put pressure on their progeny to fulfill unrealistic dreams and more and more medical experts, dermatologists and paediatricians, looking to increase their revenue are only too happy to encourage the trend.
The Emotional Costs Of Cosmetic Surgery
Teens are trying to solve deeper issues such as low self-esteem and not fitting in. This cannot be done through changing your appearance. When you are so focused on the outside, you cannot develop on the inside. 9 times out of 10, surgery doesn’t help with this. Plastic surgery can lead to depression, not just in teens but across the board. More people are spending greater amounts on new techniques formulated to slow down/hide the ageing process but many are disappointed by the results and end up depressed because they can’t turn back the clock. According to Dr Eileen Bradbury, “Increasing numbers are seeking multiple procedures and become addicted to the hope of what these treatments offer…The problem lies with those for whom such treatments are a substitute for developing their own strategies for happiness and well being. The more remarkable the treatment, the greater the psychological risk to vulnerable individuals.”
The Physical Risks Associated With Plastic Surgery Anaesthesia, if administered wrongly can induce blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, brain damage and even death. Surgery can result in asymmetry, where the outcome looks crooked, only fixable through more operations. Other irregularities such as dimples and puckers can occur either through a doctor’s error or simply your body’s reaction. Damage can be permanent. Numbness occurs when nerves have been cut,causing you to lose all feeling in that area, either temporarily or permanently.
Breast implants can lead to rheumatoid arthritis and other incurable auto-immune diseases such as fibromyalgia, which is severe muscle pain,chronic fatigue syndrome, where sufferers can sleep up to 18 hours a day, and arthritis of the spine.
Liposuction is a procedure that uses a suction device to remove excess fat deposits from specific areas of the body. It is very popular among teens despite the fact that when you are a growing teen, you are still depositing fat and many changes seen with liposuction will be reversed with time. It is also very dangerous. One in 5,000 patients die. Death can result from specific causes: blood loss, lidocaine (a numbing agent) toxicity and fluid overload. During liposuction, nearly a quarter of what is removed is blood. When too much blood is removed, the blood level is so reduced that the patient doesn’t get enough oxygen, which can cause a heart attack or respiratory failure.
Lidocaine is quite safe in small quantities but when used in too large a dose, it can stop the heart. Three times as much solution as fat expected to be removed is infused into the patient. This procedure is intended to reduce bleeding but if a doctor misjudges and too much fluid is administered, the patient literally drowns.
Before undertaking plastic surgery, one should seriously consider the consequences. It seems absurd that a 17-year-old girl should risk her health or even her life merely for the sake of social acceptance. Wouldn’t it be a more positive step forward to learn to accept yourself for who you are? Likewise, those considering liposuction might be better consulting a physician or a nutritionist and planning a diet/exercise program. There is always another way.
By Jodie Farlington
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