DIET | DETECTIVE^®

1. To please a boyfriend or girlfriend
Boyfriends and girlfriends are temporary; the surgical alteration of your body is not. If your sweetheart doesn't accept you as you are and has the nerve to suggest cosmetic surgery, you shouldn't cut your face-you should cut him or her loose.

2. Because your favorite pop star did it
Imagine if Michael Jackson had been your idol, and you'd followed his every surgical move. You'd probably be hiding behind a surgical mask now, too. Even stars with loads of money and the best doctors in the world at their disposal can make bad choices.

3. To please your parents
If parents had cosmetic surgery themselves, they may push their teenagers to have the same things done. Parents who may have been too insecure to live with a particular feature may not understand how their child could be completely happy and satisfied with that same feature as is. If you're happy with the way you look, there's no reason why you should have surgery to change your appearance, and that's that.

4. To make your body more fashionable
Twiggy (a model who's boyish body really embodied her nickname) was all the rage in the late '60s. Pamela Lee's inflated lips and megacurves, once hard to ignore, are starting to look a little silly today. Who knows what will be popular tomorrow. Don't race out to get the latest breast implants, liposuction techniques and other surgeries done to make your body conform to a certain standard of beauty until you've lived long enough to spot a fad. Besides, the features that you're not quite comfortable with now might become your best assets later. When you're a teen, it's really too soon to call.

5. Because surgical techniques are more advanced than ever
This field is advancing so rapidly that in 10 years surgeries will be much safer and easier, and doctors will really be able to minimize scarring and complications. Why do what you can today when you can do it better tomorrow?

There is one exception. Plastic surgery is reasonable for teens when it's just that, plastic (intended to restore or repair malformations) and not strictly cosmetic (intended to improve appearances), says Lewis. If you have an abnormality that really makes you self-conscious, it might be in your best interest to have the surgery sooner rather than later. For example, teenage girls with extremely large breasts are actually better candidates for breast reduction surgery than adult women with reduced skin elasticity. Chemical peels or dermabrasion can minimize acne scarring during adolescence, reducing embarrassment later in life. A chin implant to correct an extremely weak chin can be done in conjunction with orthodonture, enabling teens to enter adulthood with a better bites and profiles.

In the end, very few surgeries are covered by insurance, and they all cost thousands of dollars. And, if you're under 18, you'll have to get your parent's permission to have any operation. Those are major deterrents, and it's good they exist. 

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