Plastic Surgery and Younger People

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There was a time when plastic surgery was mostly reserved for people who wanted to lose the signs of aging, including:

• Wrinkles
• Sagging face and body parts
• Deep folds and lines
• Damaged skin

But if you look at the most recent statistics compiled by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), you’ll see that younger people are coming on strong.

In 2008, long before the usual onset of wrinkles and sagging, 228,129 patients between 13 and 19 had some sort of invasive or minimally invasive cosmetic surgery.

Leading the list were:

• Breast augmentation, (8,983) 18 and 19-year-olds only
• Male breast reduction (14,203)
• Nose reshaping (38,136)
• Botox (11, 663)
• Laser hair removal (63,545)

The numbers of plastic surgery patients in their early to late 20s is even more remarkable.

Between invasive and minimally invasive procedures, 1,021,119 young men and women received treatment from a cosmetic surgeon or a plastic surgeon during 2008.

The most popular procedures with this group mirrored the same treatments received by the 13 to 19-year-olds, with the exception of 2,160 breast implant removals, a procedure known as explant surgery.

Everybody wants to look good, have a healthy self-image and confidence but a couple of other – mostly unconscious — factors could be at work in young people’s desire for cosmetic plastic surgery

One, known as the “Halo effect”, involves reasons beyond ego and vanity and is more about why people naturally want to look good.”

Psychologist Edward Thorndike performed some experiments back in the 1920s, showing that good-looking people are automatically assumed to be:

• Smarter
• More capable
• Pleasant
• In better health

In job interviews, if everything else is the same, the better-looking person usually gets the nod.

We all buy into it – that’s the primary reason why stunningly beautiful models and celebrities are used to pitch commercial products.

Stop and think about it: do Bikini-clad models really have anything to do with John Deere tractors? Or motorcycles?

Remember the old saw, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”?

That’s true when the eye doing the observing is your own. If you are critical about any aspect of your appearance, you will be more sensitive to rejection.

That – fear of rejection – is a prime reason for young people seeking out a plastic surgeon, according to a University of Buffalo study on college students.

admin @ September 4, 2009