Is There an Age Requirement for Plastic Surgery?

Generally, it's required to be a #legal aged adult who is able to make a fully informed decision to undergo plastic surgery. However, one exception to this is the requirement of parental consent for an #underage patient. Additional criteria may also be required depending on the state you live in. It's best to begin by seeking a plastic surgeon with #board #certification and experience in this type of procedure. You should feel comfortable with your surgeon and his or her office staff. They should be open-minded regarding your inquiry and concerns. It’s important for your surgeon to have an aesthetic eye for body contouring, you should be comfortable with the surgical facility that your doctor uses and it should be certified. The most important decision to be made before performing any surgical procedure is determining whether you are an ideal #candidate.

Ideal candidates for plastic surgery should be at least 18 years of age. Patients under the age of 18 should only be considered for plastic surgery after a full assessment of the risks and benefits. We require parental consent for patients under the age of 18.

Like any cosmetic procedure, parental consult is required for a patient under age 18.  There is no medical contraindication to operating on a patient under age 18, but the individual case circumstances would be taken into consideration. In order to avoid interfering with the development of a healthy body image or stigmatizing anyone's particular body shape or size, I would avoid operating on anyone for cosmetic purposes unless they were particularly mature and doctor, parents and patient were all in agreement. It is common to operate on teenagers for rhinoplasty, male breast enlargement, protruding ears because these issues are recognized as causing self image problems and decreased self esteem for some adolescents.In our society young women are unfortunately confronted with unrealistic body images in the media and may want cosmetic surgery as a result. Realistically, liposuction is to get rid of fat resistant to diet and exercise, so doing it to weigh less is not an acceptable indication and is always pointed out to patients so that they may have realistic expectations.

Thank you for your question.  We generally recommend that development of the body be complete prior to attempting cosmetic plastic surgery.  This may occur at different ages in different people - likely anywhere from age 15 to age 21.  Additionally, surgery performed upon anyone under the age of 18 requires parental consent.

Thank you for your question.  Generally speaking, there is no age minimum for a plastic surgery procedure and every case is evaluated on an individual basis.  It is important that a patient has matured both physically and mentally before an elective procedure is performed and this is part of the consideration when consulting with young adults for a cosmetic or plastic surgery procedure.  Parental consent is required for patients under 18 years of age.