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A plastic surgeon has revealed girls aged just 14 have had cosmetic surgery in order to escape being bullied at school.

Cosmetic surgeon and president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons Douglas McGeorge claimed he had adjusted a teenager‘s nose shape and performed breast enlargement procedures on other teens.

Mr McGeorge, who is a specialist in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, said some parents and children addressed him believing there were no other options to escape severe bullying. The surgeon did not think these procedures could be influenced by teenagers‘ wishes to look like celebrities they admired. ‘Children are very cruel and there’s a lot of stigma attached to appearance,’ said Mr McGeorge. However, charities against bullying claim that the bullies are the ones who need to change and not the ones that are bullied.

Mr McGeorge said he had already performed surgery on a 14-year-old girl’s nose costing around £3,500 after she was targeted over her appearance at three schools. Most plastic clinics do not agree to perform surgery on people who are younger than 18, but children are eligible to receive any medical treatment if their parents agree.

Mr McGeorge claimed that he was approached by the girl‘s parents as their last resort after none of the ways to stop the girl being harrassed had worked. The private surgeon said that the operation had completely changed the girl‘s life. ‘This was an unusual case, but the parents had been through every other option available before taking the decision,’ he added.

He said there have been cases when he was requested to perform breast enlargement procedures on young girls who were slower at developing sexually than other girls of the same age. They were given expandable breast implants to stop them from being harrassed.

To perform the procedure, the surgeons insert breast implants that work by slowly expanding the breast tissue. However, director of the charity Bullying UK Liz Carnell, said: ‘I don’t think bullying victims should be changing their appearance or anything about themselves to please the bullies. It is the bullies that have got the problem, not the victims.’

Director of children’s charity Kidscape Michelle Elliott was alarmed by the fact that young girls were requesting breast enlargement procedures. She said: ‘I can understand a child undergoing cosmetic surgery if there is something specifically wrong that needs correcting, regardless of the bullying, but not breast implants. That’s crazy.’

Last year, there has been a 150 per cent increase in teenagers demanding breast enlargement procedures.

Surgeons think that young girls choose surgical breast enlargement because of the influence of celebrities who have undergone plastic surgery in order to improve the  appearance of their bodies. Statistics gathered from three of UK‘s biggest cosmetic surgery companies reveal that just under 600 teenagers between 18 and 19 had breast implants fitted in the past year.

Just under a third of girls younger than 16 have claimed they would undergo surgery to look better.

In a survey conducted by Beat, an eating disorder charity organization, 40 per cent of girls under 16 said they were bullied due to their appearance.

Girls aged just nine and younger are promoted to look favourably at cosmetic surgery and diets on a website called Miss Bimbo. Young viewers can control the diet of online dolls as well as buy them breast operations and facelifts.

Jay Paine of Peterhead, Scotland, who is nine years old, had to beg his parents to remove a mole on his face surgically because of unbearable bullying at school.

Cosmetic surgery industry in the UK is predicted to reach a total of £1.81billion by 2011. A quarter of these spendings will be for breast enlargement procedures will for a quarter of that. Customers will soon be able to choose more natural surgery as stem cells research enables the use of body cells for cosmetic procedures.

A website received criticism for encouraging young girls to save money for breast implants.

Wake Up Frankie! is an online retail outlet specializing at selling clothes and accessories for teenagers.

But the US-based website has raised negative reaction among parents for offering buyers a pink piggy bank saying Boob Job on it.

The pink ceramic saving box, decorated with dollar signs, raised concerns because of the implication that the collected savings are going to be used for a breast enlargement operation.

Louise Colley, who is a mum of two, told the Telegraph: “I would never give this as a present to any young girl, it just doesn’t seem right.”

“Just because a girl is 13 or over doesn’t mean she should be encouraged to think about major cosmetic surgery.”

Breast enlargement operations are still a popular solution for young women who are not satisfied with their current breast size.

Women are often influenced by images of celebrities in glamour magazines.

Leading plastic surgery body BAAP condemned the media portrayal of teens undergoing cosmetic surgery.

They refer to the tendency for the media to take matters out of context and to sensationalise stories, including the portrayal of bullied teens deciding to undergo cosmetic surgery.

Douglas McGeorge is the President of BAAPS and a consultant plastic surgeon. He refers to a case where a teenager had rhinoplasty and the media coverage was disproportionate to the case

“These cases are extremely rare, and most BAAPS surgeons have seen no rise whatsoever in this type of patient over the last five years,” he said.

“Bullying is obviously a factor in quality of life but it is clearly not the only one, nor is it the only reason we would ever proceed with invasive surgery.”

He refers to reports that claimed that teenagers were being given treatment to improve their social life, which he claims are not true

“It is a great shame that isolated cases such as these, which have had huge benefit to the patient, are being portrayed as if any young person trying to ‘fit in’ at school is a candidate for this type of treatment,” he added. “We absolutely agree with the charities that state it’s the bullies that have the problem. Unfortunately sometimes the victim, such as this carefully selected and properly counselled patient, feels only a drastic course of action would do.”

A survey carried out by the association showed that over fifty per cent of surgeons had held less than five consultations with teenagers since 2007, with only two cases actually continuing through to surgery. It aims to put to rest the myths related to cosmetic surgery which is now beginning to gain wider acceptance in the UK.

As well as the mentioned reports from the media, there was also a report this year that claimed that flat-chested girls were offered breast enlargements surgeries simply because their breasts were not developing as quickly as their friends’. McGeorge claims this is unfounded, “One of the few times someone of this age group would undergo surgery is if they had a significant asymmetry – in this very specific case, a girl who had one breast that did not develop at all.”
Source: BAAPS Press Release