Cosmetic surgery for children may not seem like something that happens often, but there are many children in the world today who before the age of eight years old have experienced their own form of cosmetic surgery. Unlike adults, the main use of cosmetic surgery in children is for the correction of trauma wounds and birth defects. However, the latest figures to emerge from Scotland indicate that school ground bullying is at the root of some of the requests by children for cosmetic surgery.

While the official Government line is that cosmetic operations are only carried out on children suffering from severe psychological problems due to their appearance, some senior surgeons have commented that some of the youngsters were referred for surgery after suffering taunts at the hands of bullies.

One consultant plastic surgeon, John McGregor, now retired, said: "The few breast enlargements I was involved in during my career were usually youngsters who were suffering from a severe asymmetry or were suffering an element of bullying at school. However, surgery may be unnecessary, because in many cases characteristics such as small or asymmetric breasts will become less noticeable as the youngsters' bodies develop.

However, bullying aside, young children who have had to endure some sort of traumatic event in their life and experienced wounds or scars of some kind can turn to cosmetic surgery to correct these injuries to regain their natural features again. The most common form of cosmetic surgery for children is vascular malformations and craniofacial deformities. Because of the high demand of child plastic surgery for these reasons, there has been an amazing growth in the pediatric plastic surgeon field in the past five years.

Although the main reasons and need for cosmetic surgeries in children are for birth defects and trauma corrections, the world is putting pressure even on children to look their best. There are many children in the world who are now receiving breast implants for their grade eight graduation presents. The girls in elementary schools are feeling the pressures of the world just like the women of today by reading magazines and comparing themselves to the movie stars in Hollywood.

The President of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, Adam Searle, warned against carrying out cosmetic operations on children when they are too young. He said: "There are obvious situations in which plastic surgery may assist a teenager with obvious deformity, for example marked asymmetry of their breast or correction of a substantial nasal deformity.  The complex mix of adolescence, self esteem, peer pressure and surgical treatments, however, carries potential for problems. With the media pressures on teenagers to look good there may be an increase in requests for plastic surgery in the future."

Young girls tend to be more prone to these pressures than young boys as young boys take a lower level of interest in their appearances or even the opposite sex at this point in their lives. GPs are beginning to see an increase in the incidents of children reaching 11 or 12 years old and beginning to worry about their appearance and seeking fixes for their apparent defects with forms of cosmetic surgery. Some say that it is unfortunate that parents are condoning this type of mentality and giving their children the cosmetic surgery they are asking for. Many health workers say that what parents should be doing is creating a greater sense of self esteem and confidence in their children to help them understand that appearance does not mean everything. Dr. McGregor commented, "I would urge caution to parents about going down this route until their children are older. This is a time that is difficult for children and it might not be absolutely right."

"We saw a few girls aged 14 and 15 who had big bumps on their noses and had reductions because they were having difficulty studying for exams due to bullying. I am a little bit surprised that these types of cases are having operations while so young when they are likely to still be developing.”

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