Cosmetic surgery has also become a fashion among young people, with many teenagers turning to a surgeon to modify certain parts of their bodies. In an image-driven society, teenagers, often still too insecure and vulnerable, choose to modify themselves and their bodies in order to conform to the prevailing beauty standards in the media and especially on social media. Hence the rush to the scalpel of young people exposed to the narcissistic pressures of our times, in which it is forbidden to have imperfections.

Behind these particularly insecure children are parents who are prepared, sometimes with excessive superficiality, to please them in everything, as long as they feel more secure. Parents who often, in turn, have already undergone some kind of intervention.

Interventions by the youngest

But what are the interventions most requested by young people? They range from small, minimally invasive aesthetic medicine retouches to actual surgery.

The most important retouches in women concern hips, legs and breasts, while for men muscles and nose.

Reducing acne, hair, stretch marks and cellulite, on the other hand, are at the top of the list of aesthetic medicine treatments.

The risks of cosmetic surgery on young people

The image that a boy or girl sees reflected in the mirror is usually not the real one. They tend to exaggerate flaws and get an accurate idea of how they would like to be rather than learning acceptance or trying to change through more 'traditional' and perhaps 'strenuous' methods. Moreover, the body of a young boy is still in transformation, in development, at least until he comes of age. That is why surgery is in principle not recommended on young people.

Breast surgery

With regard to breast surgery specifically, the law is clear, and prohibits the implantation of breast implants for cosmetic purposes only for girls under the age of 18. The need for such regulation arose from the desire to protect teenage girls against the spread of widespread unawareness about access to breast implant surgery. This is because the very young do not always have the ability to make decisions with the right amount of awareness and maturity and free from conditioning. What they may not like at 17 may instead find its aesthetic value just a few years later. Moreover, the body of a minor woman is often not yet fully formed, and perhaps a small breast at 17 can suddenly blossom in no time at all.

On the other hand, surgery in the case of cancer is of course still feasible.

Cosmetic surgery on children

As far as children are concerned, the areas of intervention are definitely restricted but not completely non-existent. Purely cosmetic operations mainly concern the correction of so-called'floppy ears'. Generally, surgery is carried out around thepatient's eight years of age, at which stage the development of the ear is almost complete with otoplasty. This is a special operation that tends to be performed early precisely because the ear, unlike other organs, has already reached 90-95% of its final size by the age of eight. early correction is therefore possible, especially to prevent the patient from having psychological problems and insecurities. Outside this, plastic surgery in children is mostly reconstructive, as for example in the case ofcleft palate (the so-called harelip) or in the case ofcongenital abnormalities that impair normal organic function.