Emotional Considerations with Teenage Plastic Surgery in New Jersey

Under the best of circumstances, the teenage years are difficult ones. With hormones raging and usually a desire to be accepted by one’s peers, the goal is to stand out in a good way or, at a minimum, to fly just beneath the radar. If you have a physical characteristic that makes you stand out in a negative way or contributes to emotional feelings of inadequacy, this can make your teenage years that much more difficult.

Children and teens can be cruel to kids who don’t fit in. Although cosmetic surgery can’t change your IQ, it can significantly improve your appearance—things such as large noses, weak chins, protruding ears, significant breast asymmetry, overly large breasts, or no breast development at all. Even teenage acne can be improved with up-to-date IPL treatments. These procedures should improve your social life and self esteem in addition to allowing you to feel more comfortable with yourself and your appearance.

Teens sometimes crave plastic surgery to fit in. You may think a new nose will make you popular beyond your wildest imagination. Such unrealistic expectations about the surgery and its effects on your life can set you up for major disappointment. For these reasons, Dr. Parker and his team will spend a lot of time interviewing you to make sure you are emotionally mature enough to handle the surgery, are doing it for the right reasons and have realistic expectations regarding its outcome.

For teens and young adults who are emotionally and physically ready to undergo surgery, the benefits are often amazing. An 18-year-old girl with DD cup breasts is no longer subjected to catcalls, lewd nicknames and back pain if her breasts are made more proportional to her body through breast reduction plastic surgery. A 17-year-old boy can go to the beach and take his shirt off for the first time since puberty when he no longer has gynecomastia. These are just a few examples of using plastic surgery in New Jersey to affect a positive change in the lives of teens and young adults.

“These teenagers and young adults have replaced the negative thoughts with positive ones as they look in the mirror,” says Dr. Paul M. Parker, Medical Director of the Parker Center for Plastic Surgery. “It is very cool to see their emotional changes evolve over the course of the following year as we conduct our follow-up appointments.”