How Young Is Too Young to Have a Nose Job and Breast Implants?

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New York Times

(2004-09-28) P. F5; Duenwald, Mary

Cosmetic surgery is growing in popularity with young people, as more children and teenagers seek breast augmentation surgery, nose jobs, and procedures to flatten protruding ears. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there were 74,233 cosmetic surgeries performed on people 18 years of age and under last year, which represents a 14 percent increase from 2000. However, experts maintain that cosmetic surgery should only be performed on young people when there is a justifiable reason, and surgery should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis because children develop physically and emotionally at different paces.

Researchers at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands found that the young people who felt more self-confident after having cosmetic surgery were those who viewed their body part as less deformed than their surgeons did. Plastic surgeons will not enlarge or reduce a girl's breasts until they have stopped growing, which is as early as 17 for many girls. Nose growth ends earlier, with abnormalities showing up at age 10 or 11. Dr. Steven J. Pearlman, a facial plastic surgeon in New York and president of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, adds, "By the age of 6, kids can participate in the decision to have surgery and understand why it is being done."