Flipping through a celebrity magazine, Allison Catalani is searching for the perfect body, one that she believes she could be happy with for the next 20 years. She stops at a photo of the actress Jessica Alba.
Catalani, a 21-year-old journalism student, was ready for her consult for a breast augmentation.
“I’ve been thinking about this since I was 19,” she said of her breast augmentation.
Catalani received the cosmetic surgery in January 2007, and paid for it on her own.
According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, or ASAPS, nearly 11.5 million surgical and non-surgical procedures were done in the United States in 2005. Twenty-four percent of plastic surgery consisted of people ages 19 to 34, with liposuction and breast augmentation being the top two surgeries.
Reality television shows that focus on plastic surgery may play some role in the plastic surgery phenomenon. There are many ways to go about getting the surgery, and many things one should know that may help before starting the process.
Hailey Innes, an SMU sophomore, had been thinking about getting a breast augmentation since her freshman year of high school. After she graduated in 2004, and three weeks before her 19th birthday, Innes managed to save up enough money from work and receive enough graduation checks to pay for the $4500 surgery herself.
“My parent’s would have never just given me a boob job,” said Innes.
Innes did her homework before presenting the idea to her parents. She had already made up her mind that this was what she wanted, with or without her parents’ support. Innes researched online for the perfect surgeon, she said. Finally she felt most comfortable with a surgeon who was a family friend in her hometown of Kansas City.
Innes was lucky enough to have full support from her parents. Her mom took her to the hospital and took care of her the two weeks Innes was out of commission.
“It was like a bonding experience with my family, because it is something a lot of parents wouldn’t be OK with, so it was nice having that support,” Innes said.
The day of her consultation, Innes was nervous. She had to look at before and after pictures on the doctor’s computer, and had to choose the size most comfortable for her.
“Three weeks after my consult, I went into surgery,” said Innes.
The only downfall for Innes is that she has to get the implants re-done in about 20 years. Implants have a life expectancy and have to be checked on every 15 to 20 years, said Innes.
Most common plastic surgeries for young women are rhinoplasties and breast augmentation. Sometimes women go in for surgery for medical reasons, but while they are on the surgeon’s table, fix or tweak an imperfection.
Kim Carner, a 25-year-old SMU law student, had a hard time breathing through her nose when she slept.
“I actually figured out I had a deviated septum by watching ‘Dr. 90210’ (a reality television show on the E! Network),” said Carner.
She had been unhappy with the bump in her nose since middle school.
Carner said the bump made taking pictures with friends very uncomfortable.
“My nose did not fit on my face,” she said.
“I wanted a nose that fit me.”
Carner’s insurance paid for about half of the surgery, and her parents paid for the remainder. This was Carner’s Christmas present in 2006.
“The surgery was no problem at all. I only took the pain pills for a few days, and it looked like I had been in a bar fight, but the pain was so minor,” said Carner.
Carner’s parents were on board, mainly because the surgery would fix her breathing.
She suffered sinus infections every two months from the septum as well.
As for the cosmetic part, Carner’s mom could relate.
“My mom was on board with getting the bump taken off because she has the same nose as me and has always hated it,” said Carner.
Carner loves her new nose. It was a minor change but one that made her happy. Not only could Carner now breathe when she slept, but she stopped worrying about bad angles when taking pictures with friends she said.
“I am so happy with the outcome!” Carner said.
Catalani just recently made the decision to get a breast augmentation. Her surgery was in January of this year. She, along with the others, searched online for the “perfect” surgeon and came to the Web site of Dallas surgeon, Dr. Fred Hackney.
“I had heard about Hackney from my friend that got it from him after college graduation and decided to look him up online,” she said.
Catalani had the surgery because she felt clothes did not look good on her. She had been thinking about it since she was 19 when she noticed she wasn’t getting any bigger. She couldn’t fit into extra small tops and wanted clothes to fit better.
Catalani also said that the media had somewhat of an effect on how she felt about her body.
“If anything, the reason I did it was because I am a big aficianado of reading US Weekly. I thrive on celebrity gossip. I love ‘The Girls Next Door’ ( a reality show in the E! network!). I think what they do is great,” she said.
Catalani had been saving money for several months for the surgery. She had decided to go through with it without the consent of her family.
” I am not a full time student right now, so they aren’t very happy with me as it is, so I was afraid to upset them even more,” Catalani said.
The surgery for Catalani was very easy. She said the surgery was at 7 a.m. and she was back at home in bed by 10 a.m.
“I had a friend stay with me the first night, we watched movies and stuff, but by the second day I was able to move around by myself,” she said.
Catalani went from a large A to a medium C cup. She spent time prior to surgery with Hackney looking at celebrity pictures, and pictures from past patients. Hackney even had mock bras that Catalani tried on to see what she would look like with certain sizes.
Catalani is very happy with her decision to go through with the surgery. The best part, she said, is looking in the mirror and buying real-size bras. Her mentality is much more confident, she said.
“If I could do it again, I would do it ten times over,” she said. “I’d probably go even bigger.”
With the plastic surgery phenomenon, it is important to do research. With the Internet boom, all it takes is a click of a mouse to get information on local plastic surgeons and their specialties. Log on to cosmeticplasticsurgerystatistics.com for more information.