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Teenage girls of the twenty first century are in an “appearance” driven culture. The teens constantly are texting on the latest phone and clutching the most fashionable handbag. However behind the curtain, what we do not see, the girls are attempting to fit in by getting plastic surgery to fix their “flaws. ” The girls that receive the surgery do not fully understand that the surgery will not solve their problems that are more innate problems. When the teen makes the decision to go under the knife they are putting their life at risk.
Then, reports show that patients are truthfully unfulfilled with their looks when they receive a surgery. Also, information shows that teens are turning to cosmetic surgery to boost their self-confidence, but that is not always a good decision. Cosmetic surgery is not the way to take when looking for a short-term problem, turning to a long-term solution, is not the solution teens should be able to use. First, the cost of plastic surgery is strikingly high. A simple face-lift, for instance, costs about $4,600 to receive.
Parents in this time are beginning to believe that a cosmetic surgery is a suitable gift for teens for a birthday or a graduation gift. Almost 336,000 teens, 18 years old or younger, have received some type of plastic or cosmetic surgery. Most likely, the consumers must pay out of pocket for the surgery. Paying thousands of dollars out of pocket is not easily done, and it often puts a debt on them because they must borrow the money to pay for the surgery. It is seemingly impossible to imagine the amount of debt teenage girls that cause by getting the surgery done.
Obviously the surgery teens get the first time around may not be satisfactory to them, but they should not get the surgery if they are going to want another one and another one eventually because it will start a bad pattern in their decision making. Next, the teens getting plastic surgery are not always going to be happy with the results they receive. A study shows that nearly 50 percent of the patients that received plastic or cosmetic surgery have received more surgeries following it. The surgeons performing the surgeries often do several surgeries for each patient.
A plastic surgeon can make up to $1 million a year because of the costly surgeries patients receive. The teens are more likely to want to receive more surgeries ,when they are adults, to help fix or add to the surgical look they are getting. The reasoning for this can simply be found in the fact that teens do not understand the permanency of plastic surgery. Then, teens do not see the real risk of getting plastic surgery. In 2008, a cheerleader died on the operating table while receiving plastic surgery due to an uncommon hereditary disorder, called malignant hypothermia, which was triggered by the anesthesia.
This tragic situation rarely happens. However, many people have reportedly passed away on the operating table following a cosmetic surgery. Before the teens completely understand the consequences of plastic surgery, they are already signing themselves over to receive the surgery. Teens claim that they just want to fix a “flaw” they believe they have. The youth who receive the surgery are in love with their new look, and would not change their opinion on it. On the other hand, a large amount of the teens are presumably looking for a solution to a problem more in depth of a psychological problem rather than the physical problem.
Seeking a way out to deal with a poor body-image, the numbers have amplified higher in the past decade to nearly double the amount of teens going under the knife. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, teen surgeries have doubled in the past eight years. Many of the people that get plastic surgeries are more likely to commit suicide. In fact, a morality study recently done in Canada states that the suicide risks nearly doubled for the 16,000 that received plastic surgery. Plastic surgery is “becoming too accepted as a quick-fix solution for a poor self-esteem”, according to Carla Rice, who runs the Body Image Project.
Studies showed that about 6-15 percent of American plastic surgery patients suffer a disorder called body dysmorphic, or BDD. BDD is a disorder in which a person sees the least noticeable or inexistent flaws on them and obsess about them. Therefore, the answers the teens may really be looking for may not be with the plastic surgeon; they may be with a psychologist. A teen’s body image is more important than anything in most cases nowadays, and being in a judgmental society makes their self-esteem even harder to satisfy.
All in all, the risks teens put themselves into by going under the knife are not acceptable for trying to fit in or look “prettier. ” Teens may not be emotionally balanced to make the right decision, they may be costing their parents a load of debt, and they may not even be fully satisfied with their procedure. An age limit of at least 18 should be set for all plastic surgeries excluding surgeries to correct deformities such as cleft lip, tumors, or very minor fixes. Also, the regulations on physicians must be more defined and enforced.
In the article COSMETIC SURGERY: PLASTIC SURGERY–THE RISKS YOU TAKE, by Fred Schulte and Jenni Bergal, they talk about the facts of how plastic surgeons are often in their private offices and are not being closely watched by other physicians or nurses. That could cause a serious risk to teens everywhere. In short, plastic surgery is not a good decision in order to fit into a society driven by amazing exterior looks rather than astounding interior characteristics. WORKS CITED Brochu, Nicole. “More Kids Undergoing Plastic Surgery. Sun-Sentinel. 14 Mar 2011: B. 1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 21 Oct 2011. Unknown, and Francis R. Palmer, III, M. D. , F. A. C. S. “Should Teens (Teenagers) Undergo Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures Is an Issue Discussed by Francis Palmer MD a World Renowned Beverly Hills Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeon. ” Beverly Hills Cosmetic Surgery, Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon, Breast Augmentation, Facelift. Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery, 01 Jan. 2006. Web. 24 Oct. 20 11. . Betts, Marianne. “Nip and Tuck for Teens. Herald Sun (Melbourne) Australia. 09 Jun 2010: 19. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 25 Oct 2011. “Girls Under the Knife. ” Times-Transcript Moncton, N. B. , Canada. 20 Jan 2001: n. p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 25 Oct 2011. Schulte, Fred, and Jenni Bergal. “Cosmetic Surgery: Plastic Surgery–The Risks You Take. ” Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL). Nov. 29 1998: 1A+. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 26 Oct 2011. Davis, Robert. “Teens’ Cosmetic Dreams Don’t Always Come True. ” USA TODAY. 29 Jul 2004: n. p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 26 Oct 2011.