Auckland surgeon Stephen Mills says there has been a prominent increase in young women seeking cosmetic surgery in New Zealand. While body insecurity has always run rampant among teens, Dr Mills attributes this growing desire for surgery to the information age. He says young people are seeing cosmetic procedure results shared online so are more aware of what is available and “less prepared to put up with issues, especially when there are possible solutions”.
“[Young people] are so focussed on the here and now that they don’t always give sufficient consideration to the future, they can also be very sensitive to negative comments. Without being patronising, it is important for a surgeon to be aware of these issues and always maintain a sensible position.”
