At 18 you legally become an adult. At this age, you are legally entitled to vote, marry or divorce legally, purchase property, and complete other important life tasks.
However, certain health factors should discourage liposuction or any other plastic surgery procedure from becoming necessary for you. These include:
Weight
Liposuction can provide a lasting improvement to body contours in areas like the thighs, hips, buttocks, abdomen, neck, and face. Women and men who struggle with stubborn fat deposits despite following healthy diets and exercise regimens will find liposuction an invaluable solution to their problem areas.
Patients seeking this procedure must be within 20-30 pounds of their ideal body weight and in good overall health to qualify. Pregnant women or those suffering from serious medical issues such as cardiovascular or blood-clotting diseases cannot qualify. Smokers must refrain from smoking several weeks before surgery as smoking increases the risk of complications like skin necrosis.
Patients considering liposuction surgery must set realistic expectations, as the results of treatment may become less dramatic after certain ages. As long as patients are not actively gaining weight and possess adequate skin laxity, liposuction can generally be performed at almost any age.
Body Shape
Body shapes can alter over time as we progress through puberty or pregnancy, due to changes in activity levels or weight gain; however, typically body types remain stable over time.
An hourglass figure, defined as one with equal bust and hip sizes with a narrow waist, has been linked with a lower risk for health issues compared to other body types, such as apple shapes that feature fuller stomachs.
Women who exhibit an apple shape may be at greater risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes; additionally, this body shape increases their likelihood of breast cancer. Fat that accumulates around the tummy doesn’t just sit underneath your skin – it also forms visceral fat in your abdominal cavity which poses health risks that are harder to address than subcutaneous fat that accumulates elsewhere on your body such as arms and legs.
Health
Before considering liposuction surgery, it’s essential that patients be in healthy weight and overall physical condition, which is why most states require individuals be 18 or over before elective cosmetic surgeries like liposuction are available as options.
Patients also require sufficient skin laxity to enable successful liposuction procedures, but age, previous pregnancies or surgeries can have a profound effect. For instance, older women typically possess less elastic skin that won’t recover as easily after liposuction treatment.
Liposuction should not be undertaken by teens as it can result in emotional trauma and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). BDD is a mental health condition in which an obsession develops over appearance; this may interfere with normal growth and development processes and interfere with an individual’s capacity for proper growth and development.
Age
No age limits exist for liposuction candidates, though maturity should be sufficient in handling surgery and setting realistic expectations about their procedures. Liposuction should not be seen as an alternative way to shed pounds but more as an effective means of body contouring stubborn pockets of fat that don’t respond to diet and exercise alone. Liposuction can also help treat conditions like lymphedema (when fluid accumulates in tissues causing swelling) and gynecomastia (where male breast tissue accumulates beneath men’s breast tissue).
Conclusion
Children and teenagers should avoid liposuction due to its potential risks of complications like hematomas and venous thromboembolisms (blood clots in deep veins of pelvic area, lower leg or thigh). Brooke Bates serves as an example why teens should focus on healthy eating habits and exercise before considering plastic surgery. Older patients may have less elastic skin which doesn’t contract properly following removal of fat which could alter results of treatment, says our plastic surgeon.
