Dr Amy Chahal says women in their 20s shouldn’t be getting cosmetic surgery

Australian women as young as 18 are turning to cosmetic surgery in droves with doctors blaming social media for normalising the invasive procedures for self-conscious teenagers.

Australian women as young as 18 are turning to cosmetic surgery in droves with doctors blaming social media for normalising the invasive procedures for self-conscious teenagers struggling with low confidence and anxiety.

The alarming trend has prompted one of the nation’s most in-demand cosmetic doctors to tell young women to spend their money elsewhere while a renowned psychologist has called for young cosmetic surgery seekers to get mandatory psychological testing.

Dr Amy Chahal, founder of The Centre for Medical Aesthetics in Surry Hills, said people in their twenties should not be looking at surgery.

“I think when it comes to young people, that money could be better spent,” Dr Chahal said.

Cosmetic procedures don’t come cheap with common procedures such as lip fillers costing “anywhere from $500 up” and requiring upkeep.

Dr Amy Chahal. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Skin rejuvenation treatments have a monthly cost of $100-$200, and face lifts and other “bigger procedures” start at a $1000 minimum.

“Someone in their 20s should be spending that money on quality skin care and skin treatments,” Dr Chahal said.

“If they look after their skin from the beginning, they will have a good base when they start to lose collagen in their 30s and 40s.”

“My philosophy is if we come up with a complete management plan and we do the right things in the right stages, in the right layers of the face at the right time, people can look really great throughout their 40s, 50s, and 60s, without needing surgery.”

From 2010 to 2018, cosmetic procedures and surgeries in Australia almost doubled, from 117,000 to more than 225,000, with the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine also finding Millennials are having more surgery than any other generation.

A concerning 16 per cent of Australian women aged 18 to 29 have already undergone cosmetic surgery procedures, according to recent research from the University of South Australia.

16 per cent of women aged 18-29 already had cosmetic surgery. Picture: Supplied

The damning findings also showed that young women who regularly engage with social media are “excessively self-judgmental,” and “more likely to consider cosmetic surgery” than those who don’t.

More than half of the 238 young women who participated in the study said they planned to have surgery in future.

Psychotherapist Dianna Kenny said the gobsmacking statistics demanded stronger interventions in the industry.

“There are predatory advertisers out there who entice people to think they are deficient in some ways. Not every young person is susceptible to these messages,” she said.

“People with relationship trauma are more susceptible to low self esteem and more likely to be susceptible to these kinds of messages.

Fillers are one of most common cosmetic procedures. Picture: Supplied

“The cosmetic industry is huge and there is a huge market out there of vulnerable young people who are susceptible to the message that if you make yourself more beautiful it will solve your issues of social anxiety and self esteem.”

Dr Kenny is calling for mandatory psychological testing of young people who are wanting to get cosmetic surgery.

“There should be some form of psychological testing of young people before they take a knife to their body. We need to have better gatekeeping of that industry.”

Clinical psychologist Professor Adam Guastella said common mental health issues like social anxiety needed to be managed psychologically but with easy access to cosmetic surgery, young women were turning to filler over therapy.

Psychologist Dianna Kenny. Picture: Toby Zerna

“Self doubt and social anxiety are the most common mental health concerns in young people, particularly girls, often this needs to be managed psychologically or people need to develop their confidence as opposed to getting a quick fix with surgery,” he said.

“You don’t want people to be doing cosmetic surgery to fix self esteem issues.”

Dr Guastella agreed that celebrities and social media had glorified cosmetic surgery.

“Young people look to their role models and a lot of role models glorify cosmetic surgery and make it look exciting and interesting and something that is easy to do. They often emphasise the glamorous aspect of it,” he said.