New York — A New York nonprofit organization offers free corrective surgery to teens who have been bullied, reigniting the debate over whether parents should allow their children to undergo cosmetic procedures.
CNN recently featured a story about a nonprofit organization called Little Baby Face that provided funds for a $40,000 otoplasty procedure for a teenage girl who had been taunted about the size of her ears, SFGate.com reports. The surgeon also reduced the size of the girl’s nose and altered her chin to create a more balanced face.
According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the number of teens getting plastic surgery has increased by 30 percent over the past decade. Otoplasty was the most frequently performed cosmetic procedure in young people under age 18 in 2011, ASAPS reports, with 11,268 total procedures. There also were 4,830 breast augmentation procedures performed on women age 18 and younger.
The ASAPS has noted that most experts agree cosmetic procedures can be beneficial for the physical and emotional development of appropriately selected teenage patients.
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