US popularity of non-surgical procedures
The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) notes that statistics gathered over recent years point to a decrease in the overall number of cosmetic (aesthetic) surgeries of teenagers (those 18 years and younger) having cosmetic surgery.
It notes that nonsurgical procedures, including laser hair removal and chemical peels, are the most popular procedures among teenagers (2010). The runs counter to the perception, based on claims in the media, for example, that teen cosmetic surgery is rising significantly.
‘This is not supported by authoritative statistics compiled by ASAPS,’ says the Association.
By way of proof, the Association claims that in 2010 in the 18-and-under age group, there were 125397 procedures (representing 1.3% of the total). This compares with 203308 procedures in this age group in 2009 (2%) and 298704 procedures in 2001 (3.5%).
While the most frequently-performed cosmetic surgical procedure for this age group in 2010 was otoplasty, the number of US lipoplasty procedures performed has remained low (down by 28%, to 1798 procedures in 2010).
And as to breast surgery, ASAPS notes 4153 breast augmentation procedures were performed on women aged 18–19 years, for the following reasons:
- Cosmetic bilateral surgery, 47%
- Severe asymmetry, 19%
- Congenital absent breast, tubular deformity, and severe under-development: each accounting for, 10–11%.
Sense of perspective
The recent US case, if anything, serves to show only that cosmetic surgery is more widely accessible to all age groups, who are increasingly better informed and tend to opt for surgery for the right reasons.
It may also be tempting to draw ill‑founded conclusions about the incidence of emotionally-damaging bullying of schoolchildren and uncontrolled rises in cosmetic surgery. But neither theory holds water. And ASAPS says its figures clearly refute the latter assertion.
The clearer message to draw is that, in appropriately-selected teenage patients who have reached the accepted growth and physical maturity milestones, cosmetic plastic surgery can have a positive impact on physical and emotional development. Their duty — and that of their parents — is to view plastic surgery as the ‘real surgery’ that it is, and that, as such, it carries some risks.
Nevertheless, it is available for all, within the voluntary constraints applied by the surgeons themselves, and thus not just to adults. But it does call for a grown‑up outlook, and a dispassionate review of what are the motivating factors for surgery.
The US schoolgirl’s case (above) was doubtless distressing, but she was personally gratified by the outcome of her surgery (leaving aside the fully unwarranted source of such problems). The cosmetic surgery industry, too, can be pleased with how this particular episode was concluded, as it has allowed it another opportunity to show that it holds patients’ interests uppermost in its aim to provide lasting benefit.
