Constantly bombarded by images of “perfect” bodies and faces on social media, kids as young as 13-years-old are undergoing elective plastic surgeries at an alarming rate to alter their appearances.
Some are so open about it that they’ve even posted videos of their procedures on their pages, NBC reported.
“There was actually a girl on our campus, she went on Snapchat and she filmed herself getting a live liposuction,” one young man told the news site.
In 2017, nearly 230,000 cosmetic surgeries were performed on teens aged 13 to 19. Among those procedures, lip augmentations, breast lifts and liposuctions are among the more popular.
“I think we live in the generation where we equate our self-worth and value with literally numerical value that’s on a page,” one young woman told NBC. “So yeah, we see who’s getting likes, who’s getting followers, and we assume that that’s the right path.”
Although the statistic may seem alarming or even vain to some adults, the decision that many kids make to go under the knife is one they don’t regret.
“In the past, I didn’t have the courage to stand up for myself,” 17-year-old Ryan Geter, who had his ears “pinned” back two years ago, said. “But after the surgery, I won’t let anyone mess with me.”
But for every success story is one of trauma — both physical and emotional.
Teens may fail to consider that many of these serious procedures can cause infections and other complications.
“They may get dependent on doing these things and it may create a body dysmorphia, a poor image of themselves,” Dr. Andrew Ordon, a plastic surgeon, said.
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