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Beauty
Newsletter
How young is too young for Plastic Surgery?
What
are the surgeries a plastic surgeon will and won't do on young patients?
For more than 20 years, Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr.Frederic
Corbin has been seeing young women concerned with their appearances.
He has been hearing girls revealing what they consider their beauty
flaws. Some say, my hips are too big, my nose has a bump on it,
my breasts are too small, my ears stick out, my stomach is fat,
my lips are too thin, my skin is bad…..
The
ideals of beauty are different from country to country and year
to year. These images are always changing and young patients are
always curious about enhancing their appearance. Dr. Corbin receives
E-mails and calls from parents and teen girls as young as 13 to
18 who what plastic surgery.
With images of young teen idols with flawless skin, cute noses,
full lips, beautiful features and curvaceous, fit bodies influencing
teens it is no wonder that some teens are considering a trip to
a plastic surgeons office.
When
a young woman comes in to my office with a photo of Britney Spears
or some other teen idol and tells me they want to have a nose like
Britney’s, it is my job to educate them on what can and can’t
be accomplished with surgery. If the patient is under the age of
18 the parents and I have a responsibility to do what is in the
minor’s best interest and sometimes this means no plastic surgery.
I have
had a parent bring in a 12 year old for liposuction and a 15 year
old for bags under their eyes. In both these cases I recommended
they wait until they are 18. And in the case of the young girl wanting
liposuction I recommended diet and exercise.
"No
one is perfect", says Dr. Corbin." I even see models who
are portrayed as the ideal images of beauty and they get little
beauty tune ups from time to time. Some patients get a little collagen
before a photo shoot or a breast augmentation to make their body
more proportionate which may also help boost their modeling career."
Generally,
Dr. Corbin recommends patients wait until they are 18 before they
make any major perm ant changes to their appearance. The only plastic
surgery he may recommend doing at a young age is, nasal deformities,
prominent ears, breast deformities, and a few other congenital deformities
like cleft lip and pallet corrections or other facial deformities.
Dr.
Corbin has operated on young women who have breast deformities with
one breast much larger than the other and through reconstructive
surgery he corrected the size difference. Reconstructive surgery
has changed many lives. These patients now feel good about themselves
and the way they look and are not ridiculed and teased because of
their physical differences.
Dr.
Corbin performs otoplasties (ear surgeries) on teens with ears that
were too big or that stick out. Sometimes after years of being teased
and embarrassed, ear surgery can have a dramatic effect on patients
self esteem.
Parents
have given their children a nose job or breast augmentation as a
graduation gift. Once the patient has turned 18. One parent says,
"I gave my daughter a nose job as a gift because I want her
to be as confident as possible before she goes off to college.Young
girls can be very self conscious about the way they look and I did
not want her to feel that way. When she first mentioned to me that
she wanted to change her nose I wanted her to wait until she was
older, but after several discussion we researched surgeons and made
an appointment with Dr. Corbin. My daughter is a good girl who works
hard in school and we want to give her every opportunity in life."
One
father paid for his daughter’s breast augmentation for her
18th birthday. His daughter says," I always wanted bigger breasts.
I used to get teased at school all the time. They called me the
president of the IBTC (itty bitty titty club.) They also used to
say I was a pirates dream, a sunken chest. These comments hurt my
feelings. I first went to see Dr. Corbin with my mom when I was
17. When Dr. Corbin told me that he would not operate on me until
I was 18 I cried. I waited until the day after my 18th birthday
to have my surgery. I could not be happier with my results! I feel
so fortunate that my family supported me. They are always there
for me."
Angela
a teen daughter of a doctor and nurse had her nasal deformity corrected
over her summer holidays. "My mom is a nurse and my dad is
a doctor so I understood that the decision to have surgery was an
important decision. I wanted my nose to look natural like I was
born with it. After healing over the summer, I went back to school
and no one knew I had surgery. It was nice to be able to breathe
and it was amazing how many compliments I got on the appearance
of my nose. People thought I changed my hair style and they told
me I look great, but they did not know I did my nose. I love my
new nose and I feel more self confident about myself."
If
a minor is considering Plastic and reconstructive surgery, Dr. Corbin
recommends they give it a lot of serious consideration, speak with
their parents and seek a professional opinion from a medical expert
like their family doctor.
Once
the young patient and their parents have educated themselves they
should consult a board certified plastic surgeon. In some cases
with patients under the age of 18, Dr. Corbin also recommends psychological
help before plastic surgery.
According
to Dr. Corbin, "Plastic surgery at any age is an important
decision. I try to give all my patients as much information about
their surgery and the risks involved so they can make an intelligent
and informed decision."
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