Cosmetic Surgery is the latest teen trend. Is your child ready?

By Shandley McMurray

Catherine Rabo always wanted a smaller nose. “It always kind of stuck out,” says the 20-year-old. Kids constantly teased her about it in elementary school. So, when she turned 19, and with her parents’ OK, she underwent a rhinoplasty that she believed would help boost her self-confidence. “I just thought, ‘I want to do this for myself,’” she said. And she couldn’t be more pleased with the results. “Since the surgery, I’m not always worrying about people staring at me because of my nose,” she says. “It’s not that I wasn’t happy before, but now I feel like myself.”

From average teens like Rabo to celebrities, young adults are flocking to plastic surgeons in hopes of nipping, tucking and enhancing their way to popularity. But is it smart to let someone so young make such a permanent decision? We asked experts Dr. Philip Solomon, facial plastic surgeon at University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital, and Dr. Sammy Sliwin, plastic surgeon at the Forest Hill Institute of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in Toronto, to explain the teen surgery phenomenon and tell us who should and shouldn’t get surgery.

Who’s doing it?
Last year, more than 200,000 cosmetic surgery procedures were performed on teens under the age of 18.

What they’re doing
Topping the list of surgical procedures are rhinoplasty, liposuction, breast reduction, correction of breast asymmetry, treatment of gynecomastia (enlarged breast tissue in teenaged boys) and chin augmentation. Trendy non-surgical treatments include chemical peels, microdermabrasion and laser hair removal.

Why they’re doing it
The main reason teens are opting for surgery is the same reason that their parents are going under the knife – lack of self-confidence. “I think they’re probably influenced largely by the media and self-esteem issues,” says Dr. Solomon. “Self-improvement is obviously a big thing in our culture today.” The fact that surgeries have become safer, more affordable and more accepted by society is also a draw for the younger generation.