In the year 2003, over 223,000 cosmetic procedures were performed on patients eighteen years old or younger. According to the “Journal of Ethics”; this number continues to rise as the years have progressed. This world of cosmetic surgery being so widely accepted by teens and new adults is often blamed on the rise of cosmetic surgeries among celebrities. One of the most famous incidents, 2015’s Kylie Jenner lip challenge, where young girls would put a small glass cup on their lips sucking the air out, often leading to the glass breaking, bruised lips, and even broken blood vessels. This was all in hopes of getting Kylie lips after she received fillers around the age of seventeen.

A topic often overlooked by teen girls and surgeons is that even at eighteen, the female body isn’t fully developed. Many of these girls aspire to get procedures like celebrities, often unconsciously promoting unrealistic beauty standards. There have been a few studies that have been done on long- term risks on adolescents’ bodies suggesting a risk like any other procedure. These risks can often be the economic cost of surgeries in the long term; for example, cosmetic implants, depending on type, last around 10 years This means a younger female would most likely undergo this procedure 3 or 4 times in her lifetime. With influence often being from the media and evolving trends, cosmetic surgery is affected by beauty ideals, which in the long-term causes mental health problems all stemming from these changing beauty standards.

The body modification young girls are willing to get, just to look socially more attractive is a sad truth of the toxic society we live in today, showing how media can affect young minds. Cosmetic surgery isn’t all that bad though, it often brings confidence to people who have struggled or disliked their looks in the past, it can reshape burn victims faces, and help with other deformities affecting both the lives of patients. But we must remember that the beauty industry is a world built on perfection, not realistic looks. To combat this, in the past year, there has been a rise of body positivity and diversity. However, as a society we still have a long way to go if we wish to change to a world of socially pressured cosmetic surgeries.