Doctors need to be ready to respond to young patients’ questions, as more and more teenage girls seek cosmetic breast and genital surgery, according to a Medscape report.
In fact, requests for these types of cosmetic surgeries have grown so much that members of the Adolescent Health Care Committee of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) put together a committee opinion that was published last month to guide doctors. The document encourages ob/gyns to educate teen patients about normal differences in anatomy, growth and development of breasts and genitalia.
Doctors have seen an increasing number of young girls who during their appointments discuss an interest in cosmetic surgery on their vulva and breasts, Julie L. Strickland, M.D., lead author of the committee opinion, told the publication.
Many teen girls have unrealistic expectations and worry about the appearance of their breasts and genitals, says Strickland, a professor in the Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, who estimates clinicians in her practice get questions about cosmetic surgery about once or twice a week.
The guidance from the ACOG committee urges doctors to teach and reassure patients, suggest alternatives to surgery that may alleviate discomfort and screen them for a psychiatric disorder that causes obsession about perceived physical defects.
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