The Courier-Mail

May 1, 2006

Teenagers maxing out the plastic for plastic

By Bartsch

 

TEENAGE girls are using credit cards and securing personal loans for thousands of dollars to pay for breast implants and other cosmetic surgery.

 

For as little as $55 a week over five years, the teenagers -- most fresh out of high school with full-time jobs -- are paying for breast implants costing between $8000 and $10,000.

 

Nose jobs are also popular, costing between $4000 and $7000.

 

The "makeover mortgages" have made cosmetic surgery more accessible to young clients.

 

Over the past three years the number of women aged under 20 undergoing cosmetic surgery has increased by 30 per cent, says the Gold Coast's self-styled queen of cosmetic surgery Pamela Noon.

 

"The accessibility to finance has increased the younger market," she says. "You're talking thousands of dollars for these procedures and previously younger girls couldn't afford it."

 

Teenager Niki Johnson says she was happy to take out a loan to get bigger breasts.

 

"I've gone from a small B to a large C cup and I couldn't be happier. I feel a lot more confident," says the 19-year-old from East Brisbane.

 

She was 18 when she had the procedure in June last year -- only a month after having cosmetic surgery to remove a "hump" on her nose.

 

At the time, she was a personal assistant to Ms Noon.

 

"I did get a bit of discount because I was working there," she says. "But I still had to get a loan to pay for it. It's costing me about $50 a fortnight at the moment but it's definitely been worth it."

 

Ms Noon said: "Increasingly, we're seeing parents bringing girls in at the completion of high school.

 

"I've got quite a few mother and daughter patients who have had various things done . . . We've had girls as young as 16 having their breasts done."

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