Dubai’s plastic surgeons have disclosed that they are performing a vast number of cosmetic enhancements on youngsters, with one revealing that he performed a breast reduction surgery on a patient aged 12.
Encouraged by social media and peer pressure and often even supported by parents, surgeons say more teenagers are asking for surgeries like cosmetic enhancements ( lip fillers ) and nose jobs.
A surgeon at MMC Sheikh Manaa Polyclinic, Dr Luiz Toledo, “The age at which individuals are looking to have cosmetic surgery is becoming younger.”
“People are more conscious about how they look by frequently taking selfies and examining their faces on their smartphones.”
These days filters hugely inspire youngsters to have plastic surgeries, as they are provided with various tools through which they can remove blemishes, whiten teeth or even reshape their facial features, which encourage them to look like that in real life.
This is often referred to as “Snapchat dysmorphia,” this can bridge a gap between real and fake life and creates an unrealistic obsession with correcting body flaws and can lead to a “reality check when teenagers look at themselves in the mirror,” explained Dr Toledo while revealing that around 15% of his patients are teenagers.
The youngest patient on which he performed the surgery was a 12-year-old-girl who had a breast reduction with some lift.
Although, it is against the guidelines of the Dubai Health Authority, which states that procedures on patients under the age of 18 should be performed only when there are serious medical reasons, while “nonsurgical cosmetic procedures such as facial Botox and fillers are not allowed” for those in the same age group.
The trend is the same in other clinics in Dubai as well.
A surgeon and the chairman of Cocoona Centre of Aesthetic, Dr Sanjay Parashar, “Teenagers know much more about different procedures and come to us with clear objectives.”
The doctor further said that he could earn between 2,000 and 4,000 dirhams ($540 to $1,100) every month for “injectables” like fillers and up to 30,000 dirhams ($8,200) a month for surgical enhancements for teenagers.
“I see 40 to 50 teenagers a month who usually ask for lip enhancement, rhinoplasty, ear corrections, nose correction with fillers, and body piercings. Girls between the ages of 14 to 18 years are coming seeking to enhance the shape of the nose.”
But, many surgeons in Dubai do not feel comfortable operating on teens.
A dermatologist and founder of Skin Experts Polyclinic in Jumeirah, Dr Dany Touma, said that he gets almost six to seven patients asking for cosmetic enhancements every month, which are often supported by their parents.
“Lip enhancement is the most normally asked procedure; the lip defines much of the beauty of the face, and teen girls are usually anxious to get fuller lips,” he says.
“They often come with their parents. My thoughts on it are, what would I do if this was my child?
“I spend a lot of time making these kids understand that they look amazing just as they are and should appreciate their individual characteristics.”