When a child is unhappy about his or her physical appearance, many parents contemplate consulting with a plastic surgeon that can fix a perceived imperfection. A qualified plastic surgeon will evaluate a child and inform the parents and child as to whether the procedure is advisable or even neccessary. However, what are some of the ramifications of undergoing plastic surgery at a young age? Should parents consider plastic surgery for their child?
Reconstructive Surgery: In case of an Injury
If a child becomes physically injured, he or she may want to fix the imperfection on his or her body. In this case, more parents may be willing to consider plastic surgery. For example, does the child have a cleft palate? Was the child injured in an automobile accident? There are many other types of injuries that may occur that were not necessarily the fault of the child. But what happens if a child wants to cosmetically change something on the body that was not because of a birth defect or accident?
Undergoing Cosmetic Surgery
Many children and teenagers want to consider changing aspects of their body to improve their overall look. For example, the child may want to undergo rhinoplasty to change the shape of his or her nose. Some older teenagers may want to get breast augmentation surgery to increase the size of their breasts. More and more children are unhappy with the shape of their ears while others choose to undergo liposuction to remove fat in a certain area. In most cases, a doctor will not consider these procedures until a child is at least 14 years old. However, in many instances even a 14 year old may be considered too young given the procedure. This is why parents should proceed with caution when considering cosmetic surgery for their child.
Undergoing Therapy: The Self-esteem of a Child
In many cases, many parents may want to consider enrolling a child into a therapeutic program when considering plastic surgery. If a parent is noticing that a child has some self-esteem issues, then plastic surgery alone may not help the situation. In fact, the actual procedure may bring on even more complicated issues because the child may not be comfortable with his or her physical appearance even after the procedure. In many instances, the child will want even more procedures after the initial one because they will see certain characteristics on their body that they will perceive as imperfections.
Popular culture and social media can really affect a child’s self-esteem. A young child may want to look like their favorite pop star and ask for plastic surgery to attain a certain desired affect. According to Dr. Kein Ha, in many instances a child will continue to grow even into their early 20s. This means that a parent may want to avoid undergoing certain cosmetic surgery procedures because in many instances, the child will outgrow certain imperfections. Also, in many situations, a child may want to learn to embrace their certain look instead of trying to eliminate it.
Consulting with a Qualified Doctor
Remember that, if you do consider plastic surgery for your child, then you should consult with various doctors who have experience working with younger children. Since an adolescent body is different that an adults, there are certain things doctors should consider when operating on a younger body. Also, the parent and doctor should be very honest with the child and inform them of what to expect after the procedure. After plastic surgery, many children expect to look dramatically different immediately. Actually, a child will endure a great amount of swelling and discomfort after the procedure and he or she may not be able to see full results until weeks after.
Plastic surgery for a young child can be considered but only after talking to a variety of professionals. A parent may want to consult with various plastic surgeons as well as a qualified child therapist before beginning any surgery. Most importantly, a parent should make sure that their child understands that they are smart and beautiful even if they do not undergo plastic surgery.