In the "Ask the Doctor" column in the newspaper, a parent wrote in about
an 18-year-old son who has pigeon breast, a protruding sternum. He's
embarrassed by the condition and refuses to be seen without a shirt on.

The doctor recommended surgery to correct the condition, because "your
son has become so self-conscious that a correction is needed for his
psychological health."

What a crock! Why not encourage the son to develop self-esteem and
accept himself as he is. If others have a problem with his appearance,
then that's their problem, not his. And if he wants to always wear a
shirt, so what?

This doctor has also recommended surgery for teenage boys who have
gynecomastia, enlarged breast tissue, for similar psychological reasons.
Even though most boys with that condition will eventually outgrow it.

The underlying message here is disturbing, that conformity to society
and its norms of beauty is so important that non-conforming individuals
should have their appearance surgically altered to fit in.

Folks, there is no such thing as safe, risk-free, or low-risk surgery.
All surgery has risks from anesthetics, bleeding, and infection.
Hospitals are a breeding ground for drug-resistant germs, such as staph.
And there is the risk of drug dependency from reliance on painkillers
necessary due to the excruciating pain surgical procedures cause.

A few years ago a young woman in her early 20s died after a supposedly
"routine" tonsillectomy. She bled to death. The family sued the doctor
who performed the operation, but he got off. He is still practicing
medicine with this fatality at his hands unknown to his unsuspecting
patients.