Plastic Surgeons' Concerns About Operating On Children

Plastic surgeons generally operate on adults with needs that lean more on the aesthetic side of things. There are also some with reconstruction as their primary goal and they operate on both adults and young children when necessary. Many of these doctors have concerns regarding operating on children especially on the younger ones. Cosmetic surgery procedures are usually reserved for young adults who are past the age of consent but there are also some cases where younger children might undergo operations to correct or treat some conditions that may have occurred while they are still young. Some parents also give their consent to have specific cosmetic surgery operations done on their children.

The age of the child and the maturity of both mind and body are among the chief concerns of plastic surgeons when it comes to performing operations on minors. The age of the child can be a hindrance when it comes to operations that are based solely on aesthetics. Many of the doctors in the medical profession are concerned that doing surgeries which are completely for the sake of aesthetics might leave the child with the impression that what he was given naturally may not be good enough and will always need to be changed or improved. Not only will these thoughts promote the need to continually changed appearances in the guise of improving them but it can also undermine the confidence and mindset of the child. Of course, some parents may argue that correcting a deformity or an abnormality can ultimately help their child deal with peer pressure. There are certain limits to the deformities and abnormalities that plastic surgeons will deal with while the child is still very young. Maturity of both the mind and the body is important in many ways.
Being of sound mind means that the child should be able to understand why he or she is undergoing the cosmetic surgery procedure. Reconstructive operations tend to return both the form and function of body parts that is why it is imperative that the operation be done. The child will basically understand why he or she undergoes this kind of surgery and will learn to appreciate the return of form and function. Children develop fast and this development can help with the changes that the doctors might hope to achieve as the child matures. Many children who need reconstructive or cosmetic operations need to be at a certain age in order to hope to achieve the desired results. Too young can mean that the healing may turn out differently because of the disturbance in the body. The skin can turn bumpy as the child develops physically and scarring might even occur. Plastic surgeons usually wait for around ten years of age before certain reconstructive operations are performed. For aesthetic based procedures, a doctor will usually tell the patient and the parents to wait a bit until the child in in puberty or is ending it. 
These are most of the concerns that doctors usually have when faced with young patients. If the operation can wait, they usually request a certain age before the child can undergo operations of this kind.