RUNNING HEAD: Teenagers under the knife: A literature review 1

Teenagers Under the Knife: A Review of Literature

Maribel Avila

University of Texas at El Paso

Teenagers Under the Knife

Teenagers under the knife 2

A controversial topic in todays medical conversation is the ever-increasing number of

teens having plastic surgery done. These procedures are done for reconstructive reasons or

cosmetic reasons ranging from correcting a birth defect, or even as a graduation gift. Whether it

is done for cosmetic or reconstructive reasons, it is becoming more common to see teens who

have had plastic surgery performed on them. Many surgeons perform on these teens only under

certain conditions, for example if the surgeons can see that there is a genuine benefit to be gained

from the procedure and that they are emotionally mature, then they are usually willing to do it.

However, there are risks involved in plastic surgery being done on minors. Since their bodies are

still developing, the results of their procedure may look great once its healed, but may look a bit

different a few years down the road and require a second procedure to readjust it.

Plastic surgery for teens is also an issue because it can be argued that teens may choose

plastic surgery in order to solve minor insecurities that are brought on by presentations of

extreme beauty standards in the media. In general, plastic surgery is becoming more

commonplace and culturally acceptable, so this may also be a factor in why more teens are

having plastic surgery procedures done. Whatever the case may be, there are several questions to

be asked about these procedures:

1. What specific risks are involved with performing plastic surgery on a minor?
2. Approximately how many minors receive plastic surgery per year?
3. When is a minor ready to receive plastic surgery?
4. What is the most common procedure performed on minors?

This review of literature will investigate the realities of teens who are receiving plastic

surgery, the social aspects of how it affects them and those around them, and provide answers to

the questions of fact, quantity, and interpretation listed above.

What specific risks are involved with performing plastic surgery on a minor?

Instructor: Lori Whitaker

Teenagers under the knife 3

As previously mentioned, one risk involved in performing cosmetic surgery on minors

includes the fact that their bodies are still developing. In an interview between Medscape.com

and Dr. Michael McGuire, President-Elect of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the

appropriate ages for certain surgeries are discussed. Dr. McGuire states that,

Nasal surgery should be performed after the nose is fully grown, which is

generally about age 14 in girls and 15 in boys... We generally don't perform

breast implants until at least 18 years of age, and silicone implants can't be done

until patients are age 22. It's unusual to perform breast reduction before age 15

(2009).

These age limitations are One thing to note on this statement is that these are the

physically appropriate ages that these procedures can be performed and does not take into

account other aspects that characterize a patient as ready to receive plastic surgery. These other

aspects will be discussed at a later point in this literature review.

Approximately how many minors receive plastic surgery per year?

Data collected from surveys conducted by the American Society of Plastic Surgery shows

that the total number of surgical procedures performed on patients who were eighteen and under

was 39, 709. The total number of nonsurgical procedures performed on patients who were

eighteen and under was 169,610. Surgical procedures typically involve incisions and anesthesia

while nonsurgical procedures do not. After further analysis of the statistics, there have been

209,319 cases of patients eighteen and under receiving plastic surgery in 2016. Also, they

account for 2% of surgical procedures performed among all age brackets in 2016, and 1.5% of

nonsurgical procedures performed among all age brackets in 2016. (ASPS, 2016).

Instructor: Lori Whitaker

Teenagers under the knife 4

2016 Cosmetic Surgery National Data Bank Statistics

It is unclear from the given data whether these procedures were performed for

reconstructive purposes or for cosmetic purposes.

When is a minor ready to receive plastic surgery?

It may be thought that plastic surgery would never be done for anyone who isnt

considered a legal adult, but because there are so many cases where a minor would benefit, there

are no laws against it in the U.S., although parental consent is a requirement. Things that a

surgeon take into account when considering a minor as a plastic surgery patient include that,

The teenager initiates the request The teenager has realistic goals and that the teenager has

sufficient maturity. (ASPS, 2017).

What is the most common procedure performed on minors?

Instructor: Lori Whitaker

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By revisiting the data collected by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, one would

come to learn that there are several procedures that are most commonly performed on patients

who are eighteen or under. These procedures, in order of most to least common by number of

procedures, include hair removal (by laser or pulsed light), microdermabrasion, chemical peels,

ear surgery, nose surgery, and breast reduction. (Cosmetic Surgery National Data Bank Statistics,

2016). Ear surgeries are typically performed on teens or children as young as six who are bullied

because of protruding ears. Nose surgeries are common in teens who have received a deformity

from trauma or a pre-existing condition. Breast reduction is performed in the case of teen girls

who have developed large breasts prematurely, or in girls where one breast is a drastically

different size that the other.

References

2016 Cosmetic Surgery National Data Bank Statistics [PDF]. (n.d.). New York: The American

Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Instructor: Lori Whitaker

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ABC News. (2010, November 23). Retrieved March 23, 2017, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0eKEVrkKC0

American Society of Plastic Surgeons. (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2017, from

https://www.plasticsurgery.org/

Ashikali, E., Dittmar, H., & Ayers, S. (2016). Adolescent girls views on cosmetic surgery: A

focus group study. Journal of Health Psychology, 21(1), 112-121.

doi:10.1177/1359105314522677

Byrne, M., Chan, J. C., & O'broin, E. (2014). Perceptions and satisfaction of aesthetic outcome

following secondary cleft rhinoplasty: Evaluation by patients versus health

professionals. Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, 42(7), 1062-1070.

doi:10.1016/j.jcms.2014.01.031

Kuldeep, S. (2015). Cosmetic Surgery in Teenagers: To Do or Not to Do. Journal Of Cutaneous

& Aesthetic Surgery, 8(1), 57-59. doi:10.4103/0974-2077.155091

Marx, P. (2015, March 23). About Face [Editorial]. The New Yorker. Retrieved from

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/23/about-face

Pesce, N. L. (2015, August 24). Teen plastic surgery peaks before heading back to school.

Retrieved March 23, 2017, from http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/teen-plastic-

surgery-peaks-heading-back-school-article-1.2335968

Steinhoff, H. (2015). Transforming bodies: makeovers and monstrosities in American culture.

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Teens and Plastic Surgery: An Expert Interview With Michael F. McGuire, MD, President-Elect

of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Medscape. Jul 31, 2009.

Instructor: Lori Whitaker