Can a 16 year old girl have Liposuction?

When I see my patients in consultation I emphasize that they need to be ideal candidates for surgery. This can mean many things like body weight and body mass index to having help after surgery. One aspect is age. My patients need to be fully matured physically and at 16 years old I would recommend that you wait until at least 21 so your body can fully mature.

Chrissyi understand your frustration, but you simply must find a way to lose the weight with diet and exercise. Ask your Mom or pediatrician about consulting a nutritionist, that will be helpful. Also try reading the article linked below in which I write about alternatives to liposuction, you might find it interesting. I know you can lose this weight Chrissy, so please try! Good luck!

There is no specific age restriction on having body contouring surgery, but as you are not legally an adult, this is something you would obviously need to consider along with your parents as their consent would be necessary. Liposuction is major surgery. Recovery can be lengthy and painful. There
are risks involved and potential complications. At the age of sixteen,
most young women are not physically mature. Is your weight stable, or are you still growing?.
Please know that liposuction surgery is a body sculpting technique, not a
weight loss tool. When performed on an individual whose weight is not
under control and stable, liposuction can result in disproportionality
when the areas of the body not treated continue to expand as additional
fat is deposited into fat tissue.Emotional maturity is also a
factor. Dealing with complications, pain, disappointing results or unmet
expectations can be difficult for an adult, even more so for a child.Liposuction
can be performed on a sixteen year old, but I would recommend
nutritional counseling and patience first. Find a well qualified surgeon
certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery who will take these
issues into account and keep your best interests at heart.
Together you can decide when you are ready.

Liposuction is not an alternative for proper diet and exercise. Rather it is a complement to these.Overweight individuals usually do best by loosing weight to within 10 or so pounds of their ideal weight and then discussing liposuction with their doctor.

Anyone can get liposuction but it doesn't mean they should.   At sixteen, your body is till undergoing changes that probably aren't best addressed by lipo.  Liposuction removes a limited amount of fat from certain areas to contour and shape the body.  But if the body is still changing these results are not likely to last for a long time.  Liposuction is also not a good replacement for a healthy diet and lifestyle.   If diet and lifestyle aren't corrected, then even with good liposuction  you will be back to where you started at 18 and several thousand dollars short.Your efforts and money are better spent at this time finding a good nutritionist and a trainer.  It will take more work, effort and sweat on your part but what you learn and the results will last you a lifetime.  Then, after your body looks much better but you have a few problem areas that need to be taken care of, then that is where liposuction will be most effective. 

There are two reasons I would suggest that liposuction is not the answer for you.  First, being 16 years of age, your body is going to experience some more changes and it is best that your body fully matures before seeking a procedure such as liposuction.  Secondly, liposuction is not a proper procedure for weight loss.  It is best utilized when you are at or near your ideal weight, and then its is used to achieve your "ideal shape".

Chrissy,Liposuction is not an appropriate intervention if your aim is to effect weight loss, as liposuction is simply not a procedure to solve excessive caloric intake relative to caloric expenditure. Instead, liposuction is a cosmetic procedure aimed at contouring shape in recalcitrant fat storage areas when near to ideal weight.  This is an important distinction, and a frequent misconception about liposuction. You need a concerted lifestyle change and may need dietary counseling as well as a structured support system, like Weight Watchers, etc. However, at 16 you need to discuss this with your parents to obtain appropriate support and assistance in the endeavor.  I hope that this helps.  Information regarding liposuction and contouring is found at the link below.