Young teens and plastic surgery

 

Your daughter, son, niece or nephew may consider undergoing plastic surgery to enhance their appearance because of social media platforms. As social media continues to attract new and younger audiences.

The conversation is becoming more serious as teenagers and young adults question their appearance because of influencers on social media. It has created a new trend called Snapchat Dysmorphia. 

An app called FaceTune allows users to go beyond Snapchat filters by letting them mask acne, enhance the size of their breast or buttocks and plump their lips. Even men are using it to create a better-defined body structure.  

 Monica DellaValle is a nurse at Medical Cosmetics in Windsor and is familiar with Snapchat Dysmorphia. She has had patients come in for procedures to be altered to look like their filtered self or celebrities they admire. 

“People do bring in photos and say, ‘this is what I’d like my lips to look like’ or something along those lines,” said DellaValle. 

The office for National Statistics in the UK published a report in 2015 that more than a quarter of teenagers who use social media for more than three hours a day were found to have problems related to mental health.  

Madison Dunphy is studying child and youth services at St. Clair College and uses social media platforms often.  

“Me and my friends all use filters. I’ve never really thought of it being anything more than just a filter,” said Dunphy. “It’s crazy to think people my age are considering plastic surgery, I could never.”  

Doctors in the mental health department of Windsor say one way to find out if your child is dealing with underlying mental health issues, or is considering undergoing cosmetic surgery, is to have open conversations about these social media platforms. It is important to explain that most people you see on television or the computer screen do not always look like that.