Plastic surgery decisions are not easy

Decisions about plastic surgery are not easy and are highly personal. On one hand is an argument that if you are not happy with something, if you can afford to have plastic surgery, then why wait? Just do it as soon as you can so that you have many more years to enjoy your beautiful body. On the other hand, a lot of people struggle with the superficiality of it all. Plastic surgery merely changes how you look and might improve your image and self esteem but that is such a small part of you. The bigger you is inside you and that does not change with cosmetic surgery.

Martha, who is only 20, and lives in the capital of plastic surgery Los Angeles, writes, "I have been fighting self happiness versus media perfection for years now. I have a small cup size (34A). The images we see on television and the people surrounding us tell us that we must have a certain body type to be beautiful. Men and women tell me I'm gorgeous, yet because I lack the perfect 36C cup size, I feel ugly. For years I've been secretly dealing with my issues. Until one day, I snapped and poured out my emotions to both my mom and boyfriend. After making their jaws drop, I added I wanted plastic surgery to "correct" my "problem." My boyfriend of 4 years gave me the best reaction I could have asked for. He cried. I realized then that his words were true. He loves me and wouldn't change me for anything. I always thought all guys were the same. Bigger is better. He is the one thing that has kept me from turning to surgery. He assures me that if I ever got any procedures done to change myself, he'd leave me. So although I still battle every so often with my appearance and am tempted by plastic surgery, I remember his words and how stupid it really is to change yourself to satisfy society. I am a good looking woman with or without fat in all the right places. I hope other girls and women will look at myself, and many other women like me, and realize that you can be beautiful on the outside as well as inside even if you don't have everything perfect about your body." (Related article: Women must make their own decisions about plastic surgery)

Ashley couldn't agree more. She is also a teenager and does not think that plastic surgery is the solution to more fundamental problems in a woman's personality. "I honestly think, being a teenager myself, that having plastic surgery at this young age is just not right. People who desire to change their bodies to fit society's image of the ideal human body, really need to take a look in the mirror and realize, that they are indeed beautiful as they are. It's best to be who you are, than to turn yourself into a plastic doll, i.e. Barbie. And to anyone who is under the age of twenty desiring plastic surgery, rethink it. If it's only to attract a guy, think about this, "Does he alter his appearance to appeal to you?" NO! I may not look like a Paris Hilton, but you know what, she's plastic as well. Just look at her pictures from a few years ago. You cannot go from dark roots, brown eyes, and a different face to what she is now. There is no possible way for that to happen in nature."

So what should young people do if they are tempted to have plastic surgery?

• It is good to wait, at least till you are 18, or maybe even 21. And I am talking only of elective surgery here; not reconstructive surgery for which your doctor is the best person to listen to.
• Try to get to the root of the problem. Are you sure that plastic surgery will make a fundamental difference in your life? Will you be truly happy?
• Is it not a good idea to workout, eat right, and deal with your personality issues first before jumping on the surgery table.

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