"I've had a bad body image my entire life,” says Julie, 17. “Even in kindergarten, I remember playing with a friend and thinking, 'Wow! My arm is as big as her leg!' My very best guy friend nicknamed me ‘Pork Rind.’ I think that's what really started my obsession with my looks. So when I was 16, I decided to have liposuction."
   
Julie is just one of thousands of teens opting for plastic surgery. In 2003, over 74,000 cosmetic surgeries were performed on kids under 18. In 2004, 42,515 teens got nose jobs (rhinoplasty) and 15,973 had ear pinnings (otoplasty)—the two most popular surgeries among teens. But there were also 3,841 breast implants—up more than 24 percent in a year.

Plastic Surgery Nation
"It's a sad fact," says Janice Styer, therapist at the Caron Foundation in Philadelphia, "but getting plastic surgery is almost as accepted as getting braces these days. Teens are usually trying to solve a deeper issue like low self-esteem." "But those kinds of problems can't be solved by changing your appearance. Nine times out of 10, it does nothing to help them on the inside," Styer continues
   
"I Want To Look Like Taylor Swift!”
When you're feeling blah about your looks, you might dream of trading in that bod for a new and improved one. "There is very little that teens like about their bodies," says Styer, "so they pick a celebrity or a model from a magazine who is airbrushed, and they say, 'I want to look like this.’”

"Exposure to sexy advertisements and TV shows makes plastic surgery look like an appropriate way of dealing with body image problems—when it isn't at all," says Dr. Steven Shelov, chairman of pediatrics at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Pressure to be Perfect
There's so much to deal with during the teens—school, relationships, popularity, boys—that it can overwhelm. Some teens figure that if they were to look a certain way—fix that bumpy nose or have bigger boobs—everything would be perfect.

So much so, according to Styer, that teens feel that if they don't look "good," they won't be successful in life. "A teen's appearance is how they determine their social acceptability,” says Styer.

Risky Business
Sure, plastic surgery appears to be a quick and easy solution to problems with your appearance. But aside from the costs of surgery—which can be seriously steep—there are many physical and emotional risks.

"As with any surgery, there are anesthesia risks and…it can lead to potential errors and even death. It's just ridiculous that a young, vital girl could die from something unnecessary like plastic surgery," reports Dr. Shelov.

There are also the risks since a teen hasn't stopped growing. Breasts haven't fully developed by around 17. So if you get breast implants when you’re young, you could end up with unexpectedly humongous breasts by the time you're a college freshman.

Though liposuction for teens is growing in popularity, Dr. Shelov is firmly against it. "When you're a growing teen, you are still depositing fat. Many changes seen with liposuction will be reversed with time. Then you'll be back where you started and feeling like a failure. There’s also the risk of your scars not healing, so now you actually could have a disfigurement due to plastic surgery.”

When Making Things “Right” Goes Wrong
Kasey, now 20, got breast implants at 18. "My best friend's mom worked at a plastic surgeon's office. I mentioned to her that I thought it would be cool to get implants. She told me that she could get them done at her office really inexpensively. She also said they were safe. Although my mom was against it, I told her I'd pay for it and, since I was 18, she really couldn't say much about it.

"When I got my implants they looked great. But after two months, I got a shooting pain up my arm. Finally, after an extremely painful year, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I felt like I was dying. I couldn't think straight and sometimes, I had to be spoon-fed since my jaw wouldn't open! It took another year for my doctor to link my illness to the implants.”

"Aside from rheumatoid arthritis, I developed other painful, incurable auto-immune diseases from having implants—like fibromyalgia, which is severe muscle pain; chronic fatigue syndrome, where I can sleep 18 hours a day; and arthritis of the spine. I had my implants removed and felt so much better—although, I'll always have these illnesses. Before surgery, I had no idea what risks were involved—and no one told me.”

Is Plastic Surgery EVER a good idea?
“For certain procedures—like nose repairs when there is a nasal obstruction and ears when there is disfiguration—surgery is appropriate at the right age, which is 16 or older. Otherwise, plastic surgery doesn't have a place," says Dr. Shelov.

But Dr. Glat has a different point of view: "I'm a proponent of plastic surgery for the right teen." And the right teen for him is someone who is mature enough to make this decision, has realistic expectations and is doing it for the right reason.

A recovering Kasey adds, “Once you realize that whatever you look like is OK, you won't have the need to risk your health—or life—to look 'beautiful.’” Kasey suggests girls wait until their 20s before even considering surgery. “Research everything,” she warns. “Plastic surgeons are only going to lead you to patients who are happy with their results. Actively seek out someone who has had bad results, like me. If everyone knew what I know about breast implants, I don't think anyone would want them."

By: Sandy Fertman Ryan