The 37-year-old UK Celebrity Nicola McLean the star and former glamour model knows what it's like to go under the knife, having had a boob job and, more recently, vaser liposuction to remove five litres of fat from her torso.  She recently shared her thoughts on cosmetic surgery for young women.

nicola maclean has had cosmetic surgery
Nicola Maclean

With a wealth of cosmetic experience behind her she offers a warning to the latest crop of reality TV lovelies who might be tempted to improve on their natural assets.  She is concerned about offers of free surgery from Turkish clinics saying the women are too young to make these life-changing decisions.
In an interview with ‘The Sun ‘ Newspaper she says “These places in Turkey – that I would never go to personally – offer all this stuff for free to these 20, 21-year-old girls and the girls do it because it's ‘Oh my God, it's amazing getting all this free stuff!' “People feel like they can't say no and that's the danger, the fillers are free, the Botox is free.
Her words of wisdom make an important point, cosmetic surgery is a very popular pursuit amongst young women and there has been a lot of criticism about the exploitative side of the plastic surgery business.
In fact  Nicola makes quite a profound comment to the tabloid audience.  She points out that there is an addictive quality whereby you get progressively used to the changes you allow to your body.

botox girl
Mirror, mirror on the wall..

“”Then you've got to remember you see your face every day so you get used to it, so then you start pumping more s*** into your face and I just really feel like we need to be more honest about the fact these companies are offering this s*** for free to girls who are way too young to be doing it.”
Even more so, because the TV companies arrange these procedures with the clinics in exchange for publicity the girls get the cosmetic surgery for free..
“I think they take it way too far but it's because it's all for free, if they had to pay for it would they do it? No.” Say Nicola.  Although some argue that young girls go under the knife to deal with self-esteem issues, Nicola dismisses this argument..
“I know some people have issues with self esteem but I don't think it's mainly that, I think it's those companies giving them things for free.”
Nicola had her latest round of implant surgery carried out in London by the renowned surgeon Dr Riccardo Frati, explained the reasons behind it all, saying: “Implants don't last for a lifetime, when these girls are getting them done so young they're going to have to have them done again so many times as they don't last.”  In fact a close  friend of mine recently needed her implants redone after having her first child and she regretted her youthful folly in having the implants in the first place.
Botox is treated as no more serious than a spa facial by many young women who casually have injections often from poorly qualified practitioners. I have spoken to girls in their early 20's who will have dermal fillers and botox injections as ‘treats' before a big event such as a wedding party or starting a new job.

Amy Childs has expressed regret over undergoing plastic surgery at the tender age of 18.

cosmetic surgery problems
Amy Childs

In a new BBC documentary, I’ve Been There, the TV personality, 29, detailed the dangers of cosmetic procedures as she attempted to discourage two young women from going under the knife.

“I honestly look back at pictures now and I look like a freak”, the media personality reflected on her past “addiction”, which led her to have a boob job, botox, lip fillers and veneers.

In her teens, Amy boosted her bust by three sizes, going from an A-cup to a D-cup, before jumping to a 30EE for a second boob job at the age of 23.

In May last year, the mother-of-two underwent an eight-hour operation after experiencing pain in her chest following a rupture in her left implant, and a month later, doctors discovered a lump had formed in her breast tissue from leakage.

 

But things can go badly wrong for the ‘Instagram generation. ‘  Sia Cooper, an Instagram fitness influencer with 1.2 million followers, had a difficult and traumatic experience with cosmetic surgery. She had a breast augmentation back in 2011, in her twenties, because she wanted something to boost her self-esteem. But she told INSIDER that although her new body helped her confidence initially, it became a burden on her health for the next seven years.
Ms Cooper suffered from a whole range of unexpected symptoms, such as autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and hypothyroidism, swollen joints, rashes, and pain. No healthy 29-year-old should be getting these things, but there seemed to be no explanation.   Eventually the mystery seemed to be  resolved when she heard about breast implant illness from her Instagram followers and a support group on Facebook that she thought her surgery could have caused the problem. This highlighted the risks of cosmetic surgery for young women.

The diagnosis seemed to be confirmed when, after removal, of the implants her health returned to normal.  This does not suggest for one moment that there is any large degree of risk in the 2 million breast augmentation procedures carried out each year  but that just because it is ‘routine' as an operation does not mean that it is actually risk-free.  Certainly we would advise any young person considering a surgical procedure to discuss the pros and cons with a specialist and make a decision that is not based on impulse or fashion. Cosmetic surgery for young women is certainly is topic we will return to again.