PLASTIC SURGERY EMERGES AS TEEN TREND
BY SOO YEON NAM
Plastic surgery popularity has been increasing rapidly in
the medical field. Teenagers, especially adolescent girls,
have been exploring the new ways to enhance their
physical appearance, and not with just makeup. In the
past few decades, many people have been investigating
the consequences, positive and negative, of having
cosmetic surgery at such a young age and what exactly
is influencing this epidemic. as the others. Also, teens view plastic surgery as a way to
fit in and look acceptable to friends and peers. Parent
encouragement can be another reason. Nowadays, it is
very common that parents give plastic surgeries as their
child’s birthday or graduation gifts in Korea. Advantages
of plastic surgery are that it improves self esteem and
corrects physical defects. However many studies show
that there are risks with all plastic surgery.
Should teenagers be able to get cosmetic surgery at such
an early age? Ricalyn Sandoval, a junior at SLAS holds a
negative view of plastic surgery. She said, “Plastic surgery
is crazy. I’m never going to have plastic surgery in my life
because I’m happy about what I have.” She added, “The
consequences of plastic surgery are that there might be
side effects and their face might change a lot.” Some
teenagers think that plastic surgery is bad for them. There are concerns about plastic surgery on teenagers as
their body is still maturing. Infections are major problem
that faced teenagers. When things do not turn out right,
mostly teenagers might regret the surgery. Due to their
mental stress, some teenagers may end up with
committing suicide or having another plastic surgery in
order to correct it.
Over the years, plastic surgeons have been working hard
to improve a patient’s self esteem and appearance
through two main types of plastic surgery: reconstructive
surgery and cosmetic surgery. The most popular plastic
surgery for teens is cosmetic surgery, also known as
aesthetic surgery; a surgery that can alter undesirable
facial features or parts of body which a person is not
satisfied with. Liposuction(fat removal), rhinoplasty (nose
job), blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), abdominoplasty
(abdominal operation), & breast augmentation are the
top five cosmetic surgeries which teenagers have done.
There are multiple reasons why teenagers undergo plastic
surgery. Teens think that plastic surgery can help them
improve their self-confidence. They normally think of
plastic surgery when they think they are not as attractive
Yu Jeong Kim, a sophomore at SLAS discussed the pros
and cons of plastic surgery. She said, “Plastic surgery allows
the person to gain confidence in appearance and become
more optimistic. However, they can be addicted to plastic
surgery and regret having it.” So, plastic surgery can be
helpful and harmful.
How can teenagers make a right choice of taking plastic
surgery? Firstly, the teenager’s own desire must be clearly
expressed, and she or he must have a realistic goal and
also have sufficient maturity. Secondly, parents should
have face to face counseling with their children to know
what they really want. After this, teenagers should
continue to have counseling with a qualified plastic
surgeon before considering the risk of it. They should
undergo group of counseling before making decision as
this will affect their whole life.
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