Can a 17 year old girl get a breast augmentation?

Thank you for your question on realself. This is a common dilemma -- How early is too early for breast augmentation?This is a decision that needs to be made between yourself and your plastic surgeon. Your surgeon will be able to sit down and discuss your goals with breast augmentation surgery. This decision is based on a case by case basis. Given your brief history, I think you should qualify for breast augmentation surgery.Your surgeon may likely only be able to offer saline breast implants. Silicone implant manufacturers have recommended that women be at least 22 years old in order to consent for silicone implants. There is no age restraint recommendation for saline implants.Best of luck.- Dr. Bryson Richards

Hello! Thank you for your question. Breast augmentation is a procedure often sought by women to increase size, add upper pole fullness and projection along with improve shape and symmetry of her breasts. Women who have the breast augmentation done report increased self-confidence, self-esteem, and more comfortable with her body. In fact, it has been the most popular procedure in plastic surgery in the US for the past few years. Many surgeons use 18 years of age as the standard for when to offer the breast augmentation procedure to women. Maturity and the ability to make an educated decision for yourself of whether this procedure is the right one for you as well as factors regarding implant choice, size, incision placement, position of the implant, other adjunct procedures, etc are major factors. Having the maturity to understand all of the risks and benefits of the surgical procedure is also mandatory - thus, most are readily able to comprehend this at that age. 23 years of age is the FDA guideline for utilization of silicone implants. Good communication between you and your surgeon of your expectations is warranted - choosing your surgeon wisely is the first step. Consult with a board certified plastic surgeon well-versed in this procedure. Research your surgeon's education, training, as well as ability to perform this procedure. See postoperative photographs and most importantly choose the one who you feel most comfortable with and competent to meet your expectations. Discussion of your wishes and having an honest and open dialog of your procedure is mandatory (e.g, implant type, incision, placement, lift, etc). I have found that photographs brought by the patient is helpful to get a visualization of the appearance you wish for in terms of size, shape, fullness, etc. In addition, your surgeon's pre and postoperative photographs should demonstrate a realistic goal for you. Once this has been accomplished, allow your surgeon to utilize his/her best medical judgment during the procedure to finesse the best possible result for you after preoperative biodimensional planning and fitting the right implant for your breast width. Hope that this helps! Best wishes for a wonderful result!

The short answer is, yes, you can get breast implants at age 17 with parental consent.  Schedule a consultation with a plastic surgeon, and take your mother along.  But the real question is whether this is the best time in your life to get breast implants?  Are you still in high school?  If you get implants while still in high school, boys may mock you more.  In my practice, I typically counsel young women to wait until after they are out of high school before considering breast implants.  Remember--small breasted women are beautiful too!! and many times make the best fashion models!!

I am sorry to hear about your situation at school.  Every Plastic Surgeon is different on what age they would consider doing breast augmentation.  In a case like yours and with parental consent, I would perform a breast augmentation.You need to be aware, however, that you can only saline implants at your age.I hope everything works out for you.

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. It's terrible and definitely not something that you should be going through. This is bullying that you should report to school authorities, as schools have strict policies regarding it and they should take action to protect you. You shouldn't have to undergo surgery just to stop this abuse, as there is no guarantee that having bigger breasts will stop it. There may be another reason why they are bullying you. 

Hello and thank you for your question. I recommend scheduling  a consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon to discuss your options. You may bring your mom with you as well, as she is advising you to look in to this procedure.

Breast augmentation surgery is recommended for women over the age of 18 (saline implants) or 22 years or older (gel  implants) by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. This is the board that oversees board certified plastic surgeons and therefore board certified plastic surgeons will follow their recommendations. I would encourage you to wait until you reach 18 years of age and then proceed with saline augmentation with a board certified plastic surgeon.  It is certainly recommended that you to consult with a board certified plastic surgeon now so that when you do turn 18, you can proceed with surgery without delay. 

Yes your surgery is possible but it would be off label FDA operation. Since to have implant warranty for saline you must be 18 years and silicone must be 22 years. With your mom's written signed consent saline would be the best method. Fee in the $4,500 range... 

 I am very sorry to hear about the “bullying” that you have experienced.   However, with all due respect, I'm not sure that breast augmentation surgery is the answer. Given your description of self-esteem and depression issues, I think that you may be better off considering counseling… Prior to altering your body in a very significant way. This is not to say that you will not end up undergoing breast augmentation surgeon at some point.  Appropriate motivation and timing will be important. Best wishes.

The FDA guidelines say 18 for saline, 22 for silicone. But these are guidelines, and there are exceptions, and your objectives seem reasonable. You should be able to find a surgeon willing to discuss the issues involved. Best wishes.