Teen beauty trends: the ethics and impact of aesthetic medicine on adolescents

Dear Editor, The increasing prevalence of aesthetic medicine among adolescents poses critical ethical, medical, and psychological questions. Social media-driven beauty standards compel young individuals to seek treatments for their beautification [1]. The recent ISAP 2024 Survey highlighted the distribution of aesthetic procedures performed on individuals aged 17 or younger, revealing a notable prevalence of interventions at a stage of ongoing physical and psychological development. Rhinoplasty (i.e. non-surgical nose reshaping) emerges as the most common procedure, with 45,512 cases representing 4.2% of the total, followed by botulinum toxin injections (39,440 cases, 0.5%) and liposuction (22,959 cases, 1.1%). Additionally, breast augmentation (13,269 cases, 0.8%), non-surgical fat reduction (13,354 cases, 1.9%), and external genital surgery (7,097 cases, 1.9%) are also performed within this age group