Plastic Surgeons Say They Are Worried About The Number Of Young People Seeking Cosmetic Procedures

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) claims that younger peoples' self-esteem issues are resulting in increased demand for cosmetic surgery.

Surgeons at the body believe that younger people, including teenagers, are often unaware of the long-term consequences involved in getting common procedures including botox and breast implants.

BAAPS said its doctors carried out 50,122 procedures in 2013 - which represents an increase of 17 per cent from the year earlier, reports the BBC.

But while the statistics released by BAAPS do not break down depending on the age of the patient, president elect Michael Cadier claims that organisations are seeing more and more young people looking for procedures.

"They're still immature, vulnerable and it's too big an operation with too many potential life-long implications," he said.

"There are potentially other avenues they should be exploring."

According to the BBC, the cosmetic interventions industry was worth £720 million in the UK in 2005, but this rose to £2.3 billion in 2010 and is expected to rise further to £3.6 billion by 2015.

One particularly worrying factor for BAAPS is the increase in people needing both liposuction and fat transfer operations.

The number of patients requiring liposuction rose by 41 per cent in 2012, while fat transfers went up by 14.5 per cent in the same period.

Other popular procedures included breast augmentation (up 13 per cent), eyelid surgery (up 14 per cent) and brow lifts (up 17 per cent).

Breast enhancements were the most popular choice for women, while nose jobs where the procedure most often chosen by men, although it is not clear how many of these related to medical ailments including deviated septums and broken noses.

Cosmetic surgery remains a complex, controversial subject in the UK. While some believe it can improve self-esteem among people with mental health issues, others worry it distracts from more important traits like having a well-rounded personality.

Expert Opinion

There has been a change in attitudes in recent years and more and more vulnerable young people – both male and female - are being drawn to cosmetic surgery because of insecurities about how they look. <br/> <br/>“However we represent a rising number of people who have received poor quality treatments leaving them with serious injuries after surgical procedures have gone wrong. We’ve seen firsthand the horrific impact that poor treatment and practices can have on people’s lives not only physically but also psychologically which can often be more damaging. <br/> <br/>“It’s crucial that more is done to improve safety across the industry. This can only be achieved with proper regulation of treatments and procedures so that only specially trained individuals can carry out treatments which if not done correctly can cause harm to patients.” Mandy Luckman - Partner