Francis, too, has performed many rhinoplasties on teens whose bone development was complete, but whose noses were out of proportion to the rest of their features. But with the constant advances in technology, cosmetic surgery for teens no longer just means nose jobs. Although statistics aren't available, surgeons such as Zubowski say increasing numbers of teen-age girls are undergoing breast reductions for abnormally large breasts. And Bolton says requests for liposuction have increased. He now performs about a dozen a year on teens.
Doctors say they carefully screen their teen patients before agreeing to such surgeries.
Teens tend to be impulsive and deserve extra pre-operative counseling so that they won't have something done today that they will regret in a few months. A good candidate for liposuction is a teen who is fully grown and has localized fat deposits that can't be eliminated through diet or exercise, Bolton says. He cites a recent patient who was anorexic. When her hips were reduced by liposuction, she gained a different image of her body and was no longer anorexic. For that teen, he'd recommend dieting and exercising and would refuse to perform liposuction.