Beauty from the within out

I recently read a story about Heidi Montag and her obsession with cosmetic surgery. Looking on the before and after photos, it was hard to know why someone as beautiful as she was before surgery would ever wish to have cosmetic surgery. Did she really have body dysmorphic disorder; an obsession with some aspect of her appearance, real or imagined?

According to 2008 statistics from the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the preferred procedures for the age group 18 and younger were rhinoplasty and laser hair removal (total 160,283 procedures). In the age group 19-34, breast augmentation and laser hair removal were the preferred (total 2.2 million procedures). Studies have shown that if a patient with BDD undergoes surgery, their symptoms don’t go away.

I asked my 3 daughters, ages 11, 16, and 21, what they thought of cosmetic surgery for young people. While the 2 older ones extolled the advantages of laser hair removal over shaving, they told me that a few of their classmates had cosmetic surgery as birthday and graduation presents. All 3 agreed that in case you are usually not completely satisfied with who you’re on the within, you won’t ever be completely satisfied with who you’re on the surface.

What are your thoughts on young people and cosmetic surgery? As nurses, how can we help discover individuals with BDD and get them the assistance they need?