The Letter

After reading Dr. Krau's blog about teenagers and cosmetic surgery I decided to write to him. 

Dr. Ary Krau

1143 Kane Concourse

Bay Harbor Islands, FL 33154

Dear Dr. Ary Krau,

            My name is Jordan Harris and I am freshman student at Stevenson University. Recently I have been researching the causes and effects of cosmetic surgery in teenagers and it is my opinion that teens should not be offered cosmetic surgery as a solution to their dissatisfaction with their bodies.

I am aware that you are a cosmetic surgeon that operates on teenagers and after reading your blog post Mom, My Nose IsToo Big! Is Your Teen a Good Candidate for Cosmetic Surgery? I realized that there are many points on which we agree. Essentially you said that not every teen is a good candidate for cosmetic surgery and there are many variables to determine this. One of these points is that teenagers have perceptions about themselves and others that change daily. I agree with this and also believe that their perceptions change daily because of their peers as well as what is presented in the media. An article entitled Teens and Cosmetic Surgery, published by Facts on File reiterates this by saying, “society constantly pushes the notion that beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, but in the eye of the media”. Their misleading impression of normalcy comes from images of their favorite celebrities that have also undergone cosmetic surgery. A teenage patient may regret his/her decision when all of the peer pressure and media pressure has subsided and they are less vulnerable to the notion that “beauty is in the eye of the media”. This is an enormous factor that could contribute to a teenager’s decision to “go under the knife”. You also said that you observe whether or not the teen has realistic expectations of surgery and if they have a decent level of emotional maturity. Emotional maturity is not a simple factor to measure and is not easily determined whether a teenager is emotionally mature or not. I would imagine it is easy to misread a young patient’s readiness for surgery and have the patient regret the decision they made as a child simply because they did not take the year to progress through puberty and embrace what makes them unique. Cosmetic surgery is defined by Diana Zuckerman and Anisha Abraham as “surgery to improve a “normal” appearance” in their article Teenagers and Cosmetic Surgery: Focus on Breast Augmentation and Liposuction. With a definition like this one it almost makes one wonder why cosmetic surgery is even a necessity at all. However cosmetic surgery is especially harmful to teenagers because they have not fully developed physically, they have a distorted idea of “normal”, and because it sends the wrong message about self-acceptance.

 Dr. Krau, I am writing to you to request that you no longer offer cosmetic surgery to teenagers. You may be thinking of the detrimental effect this could have on your business however in the long run it will be best for everyone and won’t ruin your practice. For instance, if a seventeen year old girl is requesting a rhinoplasty, she will still want the surgery when she is no longer a teenager if that is something she truly has considered. When denied by you, this girl may go to one of your willing colleagues for the surgery or she may actually wait and return to you for business when she is of age. Instead you could consider other ways for boosting your prospective patient’s self-esteem and in a world where “quick fixes” are so readily available, this is important. Making a change like this will affect your business for now but as time progresses more and more surgeons will consider and act on the negative side effects of teens undergoing cosmetic surgery. In conclusion I urge you to stop offering cosmetic surgery to teens. It will put you on the forefront of ethical leadership for cosmetic surgeons everywhere and it will be remembered that you took the risk to sacrifice business for the safety of adolescents.

Sincerely, 

Jordan Harris