— Do you ever think about changing the way you look? Many people turn to plastic surgery for help, but how young is too young to go under the knife?

Alex Hickman got a nose job when she was just 17 years old.

“I felt like my nose was like a potato on my face,” said Alex.

She described what prompted her to get the surgery.

“It just bothered me that like people were talking about it behind my back and stuff and the fact that they were saying anything at all.”

One boy, who wanted to remain anonymous, felt awkward around others too, but for a different reason. He had extra tissue in his breasts and said they just kept getting bigger.

“I knew it wasn’t normal,” he said.

He tried to hide it by wearing extra t-shirts.

“Having to wear t-shirts all the time, I got really hot.”

And at just 13 years old, he turned to plastic surgery.

“One time I went to my mom and was like, ‘this has got to go.”

Vicky, his mom, supported the idea.

“I was surprised, but I noticed that they were getting bigger, and he was getting taller and slimmer and that wasn’t changing, so we were all for it.”

With summer coming up, the surgery would help prevent a potentially uncomfortable situation.

“I just didn’t want to have to go into that summer and have to wear a t-shirt in the pool.”

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, more than 130,000 kids under the age of 18 got plastic surgery in the last year. Dr. Saied Asfa with Asfa Plastic Surgery says he’s seeing that increase of kids coming here in the Valley to get work done.

“It is okay to wait, but when something needs to be fixed and it’s the right time, why should kids suffer?” said Dr. Asfa.

He discussed what the most common surgeries for kids are.

“Rhinoplasty, nose job, fixing their ears, or reducing the size of the breasts for male and female.”

He also gave a few common reasons for kids to get surgery.

“It’s something that can change the social life for the kid. It can definitely change the way they’re going to live, give them self-esteem.”

April Howard, a school counselor, says plastic surgery is just one option to deal with self-esteem and that it’s up to parents to help a child decide what’s best and whether surgery is necessary.

“I think it’s important to explore all the other supports within the community that can be put in place to help a child as they make a decision like this, including counseling and parental support,” said Howard.

Many say it’s too drastic for kids and that it’s an extreme way to deal with bullying. Plus, it costs several thousand dollars, but for some parents, it’s not too expensive to help a child.

“You can’t really put a price tag on how your child’s feelings and confidence, so to us it was not,” said Vicky.

Her son says now he’s not embarrassed to be in front of other kids and he can buy smaller clothes.

“I got muscle tees and stuff like that now,” he said.

For Alex, it’s a matter of self-confidence.

“I don’t have to worry about the potato on my nose.”

It’s a quick fix that these teens say was well worth it.

“It’s frowned upon for younger people to get it, but if it helps your confidence, I don’t see what the problem is, and it really does help your confidence. If you find that you’re self conscience about something, get it fixed if you have the opportunity.”

At TruYou Plastic Surgery, we perform surgeries to help patients of all ages improve the way they look. Safety is always our first and utmost concern, so not all patients are deemed appropriate candidates. Call today for a complimentary cosmetic consultation Directions.

“MY MOTHER fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56. She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was.

We often speak of “Mommy’s mommy,” and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me. I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a “faulty” gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman.

Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average.

Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex.

On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved. During that time I have been able to keep this private and to carry on with my work.

But I am writing about it now because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience. Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people’s hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness. But today it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, and then take action.

My own process began on Feb. 2 with a procedure known as a “nipple delay,” which rules out disease in the breast ducts behind the nipple and draws extra blood flow to the area. This causes some pain and a lot of bruising, but it increases the chance of saving the nipple.

Two weeks later I had the major surgery, where the breast tissue is removed and temporary fillers are put in place. The operation can take eight hours. You wake up with drain tubes and expanders in your breasts. It does feel like a scene out of a science-fiction film. But days after surgery you can be back to a normal life.

Nine weeks later, the final surgery is completed with the reconstruction of the breasts with an implant. There have been many advances in this procedure in the last few years, and the results can be beautiful.

I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.

It is reassuring that they see nothing that makes them uncomfortable. They can see my small scars and that’s it. Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was. And they know that I love them and will do anything to be with them as long as I can. On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.

I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive. So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition. Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries. We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has.

For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options. I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices.

I acknowledge that there are many wonderful holistic doctors working on alternatives to surgery. My own regimen will be posted in due course on the Web site of the Pink Lotus Breast Center. I hope that this will be helpful to other women.”

Breast cancer alone kills some 458,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization, mainly in low- and middle-income countries. It has got to be a priority to ensure that more women can access gene testing and lifesaving preventive treatment, whatever their means and background, wherever they live. The cost of testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2, at more than $3,000 in the United States, remains an obstacle for many women.

Why the increasing trend? Several reasons likely account for this:  There is more awareness of breast cancer and women are fearful of developing the disease and “just don’t want to have to worry about the other breast.”  Also, with the improvement in breast reconstruction and the approval of silicone tear-drop shaped implants, more women are comfortable with the cosmetic outcome after their surgery is complete. In fact, some women without current breast cancer, but with high risk of developing the disease in the future, are electing to undergo bilateral nipple sparing prophylactic mastectomies to ease their fears while keeping perky reconstructed breasts instead.

Women need to understand their choices, see a genetic counselor, and speak with a board certified plastic surgeon who can help them make a wise decision. We are happy to discuss all the options with you and your family. Give us a call and schedule an appointment.  Read more about Breast Reconstruction on our website.

Below is a recent article Published in MedScape about the safety and effectiveness of Labial reduction when performed by a trained, board certified plastic surgeon:
To learn more, visit our webpage: Labiaplasty

Labiaplasty, a procedure done to reduce the size of the labia minora in women, is one of the most common female genital aesthetic surgeries, says Jennifer L. Walden, MD, a plastic surgeon with a private practice in Austin, Texas. Dr. Walden, who has performed 25-50 labiaplasties per year since opening her practice 9 years ago, says that although the procedure can be life-changing, it is too often done by physicians unfamiliar with the latest techniques and with little experience operating on female genitalia. In this interview with Medscape, she reveals what she considers to be best practices for this procedure.

Medscape: How exactly is labiaplasty done?

Dr. Walden: It involves an excisional procedure to make the labia smaller and more cosmetically appealing. There are several ways to treat labial hypertrophy that have been described in the literature. The excisional techniques involving a wedge excision, such as a V-wedge or W-plasty, are the preferred techniques nowadays. They put the incision line on either aspect of the labia minora. An older method, which has largely been abandoned, is trimming the outer edge of the labia minora.

The V-wedge and W-plasty lead to less scar burden and to fewer problems, such as itching, burning, and painful sex, which were more common with the older procedures. They also preserve the natural border of the labia because the incision is down along the inner aspect of it, and the incision crosses and goes down the outer aspect of the midline of the labia minora.

Medscape: Is this procedure growing in popularity?

Dr. Walden: I’d say that it’s become more acceptable in the past decade, and that’s because techniques have improved, more doctors are now marketing that they do the procedure, and more doctors who specialize in the procedure have emerged. All of these things combined have led to it becoming less taboo and more accepted because it is not only cosmetically appealing, it’s functionally appealing, too. However, when anything gains in popularity, there are always going to be hangers-on who want to jump on the trend. There are people who are less qualified to do genital surgery who do it anyway, and that’s what gives cosmetic procedures a bad name. But there are a lot of very well-qualified people who are trained to surgically address these issues who produce nice results and change the quality of life for a lot of women.

Medscape: What are the main reasons why women seek this procedure?

Dr. Walden: Usually they are seeking it because they’re having local irritation of the area, problems with personal hygiene when going to the bathroom or during their menstrual cycle, interference with sex, and discomfort during cycling, sitting, or walking or with tight jeans or yoga pants. What we hope is for the labia minora to be housed within the labia majora because the labia majora have a different quality to the skin and are designed to protect the inner labia minora. When the labia minora protrude outside of the labia majora, it’s essentially a part of the female anatomy that’s not protected, and it can be very irritating. Therefore, one of the main benefits is just an improvement of discomfort.

Women can also have a general concern with the appearance of their labia, so they want it to look as nice as possible. And that’s OK. It’s not a bad thing for women to want to look as good as possible.

Medscape: Are these benefits documented in the medical literature?

Dr. Walden: There have been a lot of well-done studies on this procedure, and there also have been a lot of case reports and small series, not just in the plastic surgery literature but in the obstetrics and gynecology literature.[1-3] In many different specialties, this is a well-documented procedure.

My labiaplasty patients are some of my happiest patients because it’s a relatively straightforward and short procedure that’s done on an outpatient basis. Within about an hour, it can be kind of life-changing.

In a perfect world each of us would be judged solely on the content of our character and not on how we look on the “outside.” But obviously, we certainly don’t live in anything even approaching a perfect world, and looks do indeed matter to most people. That is particularly true—and definitely relevant—in the job market, where looks can (and do) influence not only IF you get the job, but also, how well you are likely to fare throughout a career.

The so-called “beauty premium”—the idea that “pretty” people, whatever their professions or aspirations, tend to do better than the rest of us mere mortals in nearly everything—has long been recognized as an important driving factor for success. Numerous studies have shown this to be true, and one of the more sweeping studies was conducted by Newsweek in 2010, right in the midst of the worst job market in over a generation. (Nothing I’ve seen during the last few years would seem to throw those survey findings into dispute, either.)

Here is just a sample of the Newsweek survey results*:

Fifty-seven percent of hiring managers participating in the survey said that qualified but unattractive candidates should expect to have a harder time landing a job.
More than half of the hiring managers advised job seekers to spend as much time and money on “making sure they look attractive” as on perfecting a résumé.
When asked to rank employee attributes in order of importance, managers placed looks above education. (Of nine character traits measured, looks came in third, with experience being number 1 and confidence being number 2. Education was number 4.)
Handsome men earn, on average, 5 percent more than their less-attractive counterparts (good-looking women earn 4 percent more). Over a career, these handsome men can expect to earn $250,000 more than less attractive men.

More Professionals Considering Medical Aesthetics

A growing numbers of both men and women are buying into just how important a role appearance (read: “good looks”) can (and does) play in the workplace these days. Even pre-recession, a 2007 survey of 700 people, conducted by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, nearly 8 out of 10 respondents said “appearance” is at least somewhat important when it comes to “getting ahead” in the workplace. And some of them are actually doing (or at least considering doing) something about it.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons . . .

Come in to speak with one of our Board Certified Surgeons about the best combination of age changing approaches to freshen your “look”. Cosmetic consultations are always complimentary at TruYou Plastic Surgery. Call today to schedule your appointment #904-638-5555.