Cosmetic Surgery becoming a gift for Grads ?
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When Courtney Powers graduated from high school last year, she didn't
receive a new computer or a trip to Europe. The North Carolina teen got
a pair of D-cup breast implants.
"My breasts hadn't grown
since I was 16," says Powers, who underwent cosmetic surgery two days
after her 18th birthday. "I was a 36AA and my mom and dad knew I was
very self-conscious."
Powers earned half the money for the surgery by working at a bowling alley and baby-sitting. Her parents chipped in the rest as a graduation gift.
Although teens make up just 2 percent of cosmetic surgery patients in the United States, their numbers have grown. From 2002 to 2006, procedures performed on kids ages 13 to 19 nearly doubled to 244,124, including about 47,000 nose jobs and 9,000 breast augmentations, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
And it's become trendy for nose jobs, breast implants, teeth whitening, skin resurfacing and liposuction to top a grad's wish list, says Dr. Roxanne Guy, ASPS president.
She and other experts say the desire for teen cosmetic surgery has been fueled by television shows depicting extreme makeovers, as well as society's growing acceptance of plastic surgery in general.
"Teens certainly are more aware of plastic surgery options now," says Guy.
But if a teen wants a nip or tuck, should parents comply? And at graduation time, is a boob job or liposuction really an appropriate reward for years of academic achievement?
Living in the now
L.
Kris Gowen, an adolescent developmental psychologist at Portland State
University, says she worries that many teens aren't equipped to make
decisions that will potentially impact their health and the rest of
their lives.
"Adolescents generally ground themselves in the here and now and in more concrete thinking," she says. "They don't tend to think of the long-term effects or risks of surgery but, rather, just the concrete result of 'I'll look better.'"
And who can say if that Ashlee Simpson nose or DD chest will still be cute in 20 years?
As with any surgery, there are risks, including bleeding and infection. And a fair number of cosmetic surgeries - perhaps as many as 20 percent - must be revised.
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