In the news: Teen Plastic Surgery

The NY Times' Skin Deep series turned its attention to teenage plastic surgery on Thursday, with an article by Camille Sweeney, as well as the popular blog Jezebel. Our colleague Dr. Rick Lukash weighed in along with Dr. Alan Gold to say that it's acceptable for teenagers to have cosmetic surgery, as long as they are medically and mentally able to handle it.

From the article:
"The latest figures from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery show that the number of cosmetic surgical procedures performed on youths 18 or younger more than tripled over a 10-year period, to 205,119 in 2007 from 59,890 in 1997. This includes even more controversial procedures: liposuctions rose to 9,295 from 2,504, and breast augmentations increased nearly sixfold, to 7,882 from 1,326. ... Dr. Frederick Lukash, a plastic surgeon in New York City and Long Island who specializes in treating adolescents, said: “Unlike adults who may elect cosmetic surgery for that ‘wow’ factor to stand out in a crowd, to be rejuvenated and get noticed, kids have a different mantra. They do it to fit in.”

In my experience, almost all teen plastic surgery patients and their parents that have consulted with me have been very reasonable. Most common request is rhinoplasty at age 16, which is acceptable since the nose has mostly stopped developing by then.



Requests for breast surgery are mostly due to marked size development abnormalities. For those 18 and 19 seeking augmentation, the patients generally want to be "normal," and are seeking small implants and a cup change from A to B.

It's the moms who want the larger implants for themselves.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Jason Pozner
Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center

Dr. David J. Goldberg
Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center
Skin Laser Surgery Specialists NY/NJ