How Young Is "Too Young" to Have Cosmetic Surgery?

How Young Is "Too Young" to Have Cosmetic Surgery?



It's almost impossible to turn on the television today without seeing perfect, surgically enhanced bodies showcased in clingy styles that show those bodies off to their best advantage. It is easy to see how a young girl with a perfectly normal figure could feel as if she is somehow abnormal for not having enormous breasts. In a world where girls sometimes get breast implants as a high school graduation present, there should be people asking the question, "How

young is too young to have this surgery?"

Part of the answer is based on physical reality. A girl should not have breast implants until she has finished developing physically. Typically that happens by age 17 or 18, though it can happen at younger ages. But changes such as weight gain or loss will often cause a girl's figure to continue to change as she leaves her teens and enters her twenties. Like any major life decision such as where to go to college, when or whether to marry, or when to have a child, choosing to have breast implants is a matter of maturity rather than strictly chronological age.

Whether a girl is emotionally mature enough to make that decision can sometimes be determined by talking to her about her reasoning for wanting a larger bust. Does she feel insecure about her boyfriend ogling other girls? Does she think that getting implants will help her get a steady boyfriend? Does she know the difference between getting attention for her appearance and being appreciated for who she is? It is fairly common for young women to believe that breast enlargement will change other areas of their life, such as self-esteem. Sadly, there are cosmetic surgeons that prey on those fears.

It is largely up to parents to help young women think through their beliefs and feelings about breast implant surgery. If your daughter starts raising the idea of having plastic surgery, it is important to listen to her. Don't brush off her feelings, tell her she's being ridiculous, or make light of the situation. Hear her out and help her figure out what her motives are for wanting plastic surgery. Offer your own insights into the subject. If you yourself have had breast implants, be prepared to talk to your daughter about the reality versus what you imagined it would be like before you had surgery.

In the year 2004, over 300,000 young people under age 18 had cosmetic surgery, versus nearly 9 million adults. Nearly 3,700 of those operations on under-18s were breast augmentation surgeries, according to statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. There are cosmetic surgeons - a lot of them, actually - who won't perform breast augmentation on those under 18, on the reasoning that the body and the self-image continue to develop after that age, if on a lesser scale.

The perceived need for cosmetic surgery has to be evaluated case by case due to the range in ages for physical and emotional maturation. Any cosmetic surgeon worth choosing will begin by finding out why a teenager wants the surgery. Wanting to look like a celebrity or addressing a deeply rooted psychological issue are very good reasons why a surgeon should not agree to perform cosmetic procedures like breast enlargement on teens under 18.