A controversial topic, teenage plastic surgery is often dismissed as unnecessary and should not be performed. However, Houston board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Fred Aguilar states, " Teenage plastic surgery is not a bad thing. Frequently, we have a lot of children, as I refer to them, ages 12-15, that do need plastic surgery."
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Popular facial plastic surgery that Dr. Aguilar may perform on teenagers include:
- Chin Implants
- Otoplasty or Ear Pinning in Houston
- Rhinioplasty
"Whether a male or female, a teen's jawline may be so short that they actually look quite feminine or imbalanced," states Dr. Aguilar, "And when they do that, they can't have the confidence they need to face the general public." In this case, a chin implant may be added to the face to offer more proportion and balance.
Dr. Aguilar refers to this subset of teenagers as "children" because they are less developed and more youthful than an 18 year old patient but it is just as important to realize they have significant aesthetic issues that can be fixed without stunting further development. "For example, ears that stick out are almost always an object of ridicule. And people who have that problem hate to face their peers, hate to wear their hair in ponytails because the ears are exposed and this bothers a lot of people," explains Dr. Aguilar. In this case, an otoplasty or ear pinning can greatly improve the patient's self confidence without harm to any developing tissue.
"Sometimes we have children who are growing abnormally so the nose may be completely crooked on one side, and they're not breathing well as well as the aesthetic issues," describes Dr. Aguilar, "Or the nose is leaning far to one side or it has an S shaped deviation. There is no reason for them to wait until they're in college to do this type of corrective surgery because we can correct these issues without destroying growth centers and actually help them become who they could be in the high school years and that is very important."
