Cosmetic surgery

Ingrid Müller is a chemist and medical journalist. She was editor-in-chief of for twelve years. Since March 2014 she has been working as a freelance journalist and author for, among others, Focus Gesundheit, the health portal ellviva.de, the publishing house living crossmedia and the health channel of rtv.de.

More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.

Would you also rather have a nose without bumps, more breasts or the fat off your bottom, stomach, hips? Then you are not alone, because a flawless and perfectly styled body is extremely important for many young people. Celebrities like the singers Beyoncé and Lady Gaga or TV series like Heidi Klum's "Germany" s Next Topmodel "show you how: only those who are beautiful and slim can make it to the top correspond to the common ideal of beauty that they know from television, advertising and glossy magazines. Especially if you are still in puberty and looking for your role in life and with friends, you are particularly receptive to such ideal images.

Hit list: ears, noses, thighs

At first glance it might look really tempting for you: sucking off fat in a few minutes instead of starving yourself down laboriously for weeks or exercising, wearing silicone cushions in your bosom instead of bras with filling or an inconspicuous snub nose instead of the character piston. Some young people - even if not the majority - would prefer to have the ugly parts of their body beautified through operations.

According to a survey by the children's barometer of the LBS initiative "Young Families", 20 percent of 9 to 14 year olds would like to have cosmetic surgery. However, more girls would go under the knife than boys. In the United States, some teenagers even get a breast operation when they graduate from school.
Corrections to the ears, noses or thighs, the redesign of the eyelids, lips, breasts, labia and penis are right at the top of the hit list.

Expensive and can make you sick

But: cosmetic surgery is surgery on a body that is healthy and not sick. And things can go wrong, because every operation, no matter where, carries risks and side effects. The result doesn't have to be what you imagined. Such interventions are also quite expensive - the health insurance usually only pays for breast reductions for medical reasons, for example if you have back pain or if you are mentally unbalanced as a result. The same goes for big ears.

What is beautiful?

Everyone answers this question differently. Some like tall, slim girls, others like it more when there is "something" about their partner. Of course, this also applies to female preferences. Not everyone likes a washboard abs, but neither does everyone like a paunch.

What is clear, however, is that advertising has a major influence on the body cult and ensures that you get an unrealistic image of a perfect body and see it as an ideal.This can also be dangerous - think of the many girls with eating disorders or the muscular men who consume doping drugs just to get more muscle.

Everyone loves something different, and you don't have to look like a model to make a friend.

How old do you have to be

There is currently no minimum age for plastic surgery for children and adolescents. However, if you are under the age of 18, both of your parents must give their consent for surgery.

Your body is not fully developed at a young age. The European Union has therefore recommended to its members not to perform any cosmetic surgery before the age of 18. This applies, for example, to breast operations, especially breast enlargements. And many qualified and responsible doctors in Germany see it the same way. Although this recommendation is not a law, it is generally respected and complied with.

Find out reasons

But even at the age of 18 you are not necessarily mature enough to make such a far-reaching decision. Whenever you want to have cosmetic surgery, it is important why you are really so dissatisfied with your body or certain parts of the body. Perhaps you seek detailed advice from a psychologist? Many doctors ask for this before the operation anyway. You should also take sufficient time to think about your decision. Because sometimes you still manage to make better friends with your body and do a cosmetic correction by yourself.

But cosmetic surgery is definitely a good thing for problematic cases. Anyone who has walked the world with big ears for years gains self-confidence and self-confidence if not everyone stares at the blemish and smiles at it. But it would also be wrong to believe that an operation will beautify you just like a visit to the hairdresser. Nor will it make you completely new or solve all of your problems.

It is important how you see yourself, because an old saying goes: Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder and is not necessarily what the advertising and media play for you. Every person is unique, in all of their visual and human facets - and beautiful too!

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