Who knew this many teenagers were going under the knife?!
A study published Tuesday in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (who knew?), revealed that in 2017 alone, more than 229,000 cosmetic procedures were performed on patients between the ages of 13 and 19.
Related: Girl Wakes Up From Surgery With Swollen Lips, Swears She’s Kylie
Furthermore, cosmetic and plastic surgery procedures as a whole jumped 11% in 2017, crossing the $6.5 billion line! Crazy!!
But it’s the data on teenagers that is most alarming to the journal — so alarming, that the study’s findings were the impetus for the journal creating guidelines — for the first time ever — on how to safely evaluate and treat teenage patients.
The guidelines are quick to note that some cosmetic surgeries on teenagers are perfectly understandable; nose reconstruction procedures after injury, for example, or operations on cleft lips.
And no doubt there is a portion of those whopping 229,000 procedures that are certainly advisable in examples like that.
But how many aren’t so, um, medically necessary??
It’s tough to pin down an exact number in the guidelines, but the study’s authors are quick to note that demand for procedures has only skyrocketed ever since the advent of social media:
“As the saying goes, ‘Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should,’ — this reflects the current dilemma presented to plastic surgeons. The demand for plastic surgery in adolescents has increased dramatically, despite the controversy over performing plastic surgery procedures in this population. The average millennial takes over 25,000 selfies in his or her lifetime, which is astronomical and one of the major reasons for the self-esteem issues in this age group. Moreover, the standard selfies have exaggerated lower facial features such as nasal or lip or chin problems, leading to increased interest in this age group for cosmetic medicine and cosmetic surgery.”
No kidding…
Also, 25,000 selfies?! What???
Social media plays a huge role for teens, here, too.
A survey of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery linked to the study found that 40% of plastic surgeons heard “looking better in selfies on Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook” was the main incentive their patients had for getting the the procedure done.
Related: On Kim Kardashian’s ‘Deformed’ Plastic Surgery
And Stafford Broumand, a plastic surgeon in NYC, revealed that patients (of all ages) routinely come to him with pictures from accounts they follow on social media as guidelines for how they want their surgery to look.
That, the academy worries, is only magnified with younger people who spend significantly more time on their phones than older generations.
Altogether, it’s an interesting study with some important new guidelines for teenagers and plastic surgery.
What a crazy world…
What about YOU, Perezcious readers?! How young is too young for cosmetic surgery? What if your teenager wanted to have a procedure done?
Let us know in the comments (below)….
[Image via Netflix.]
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