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Down Aging - Plastic Surgery

The signs of aging do not pounce on you, they creep up on you. One morning you look in the bathroom mirror and your grandmother (or grandfather) is staring back at you.

You are shocked! How could this happen? You take care of yourself. You eat well, you exercise, you are careful of sun exposure. How did you get to look so old when you are only… fiftyish? The culprit is our old enemy, aging, leaving its traces on your face.

1.      Your first reaction would be to lie in a dark room with a cold cloth on your forehead and plan to only leave the house after dark.

2.      The following alternative would probably be considered by men; stay the way you are and call the look “character”. That attitude certainly worked for the American actor Walter Mathau who made a fortune with a face once compared to an unmade bed.

3.      Reach for the Yellow Pages and look under the heading of PLASTIC SURGEONS.

In the last decade, great strides have been made in the science of plastic surgery. In order to answer the demands of a youth-oriented society, the surgeons have developed procedures designed to target individual problems, therefore cutting down on recovery time and avoiding more invasive surgery, such as the full facelift.

You have decided to go ahead and have one or a few nips and tucks Wait! There are a few things to consider before you plunge into the Fountain of Youth.

First, choose the best surgeon there is. Check the websites, the credentials, ask around. When meeting the surgeon ask to see “before and after” pictures. Make sure you feel comfortable with the surgeon, ask questions. If you do not feel completely at ease, see someone else. Shop around. When you have found a doctor you have full confidence in, forget about frugality, the best does not come cheap.

Also, make sure that you keep your expectations reasonable. Plastic surgery will not make you look forty years younger or solve your problems with your in-laws. However, when well done, it will make you look well rested, refreshed and yes… a few years younger.

Now, let’s get to the subject at hand. The most common offenders are the following: Horizontal lines, called furrows across the brow, vertical marks between the eyebrows called parentheses, deep lines running from nose to mouth called naso-labial folds. Poochy skin around the eyes particularly on upper lids, bags under the lower lids, double chins and creepy necks, no fancy names here.

With plastic surgery to the rescue, every item on the gruesome list above can be dealt with.

The forehead; if the lines are too deep and the skin has started to sag, a forehead lift may be in order. The skin is pulled up into the hairline and tightened, the incisions cut a few centimeters into the hairline are tiny and completely undetectable when the hair grows in (only a few clumps of hair are cut). For less severe cases fillers such as Perlane or Restylane are used to plump up the lines.

Collagen is also making a comeback, the substance fell out of favor a few decades ago when it developed the bad habit of “traveling”, it has since then been improved and has proven to be more stable. Where injections of the above-mentioned fillers have to be repeated every 3 to 6 months, injections of ones own fat are considered by surgeons to be more permanent, rejection proof, and for most of us in plentiful supply. Of course, there is always Botox, derived from the strain of the deadly botulism it paralyses the muscles so the forehead remains motionless and eventually becomes seamless. Seamless may be nice but do not overdo that stuff because- expressionless- is not too attractive. The same procedures of line fillers are applied to the naso-labial folds.

The eyes; the eyelift is almost as popular as the nose job. The procedure is simple, one incision is made in the fold of the top eyelid excess skin is removed and the incision, when healed, completely fades away, another incision is made on the bottom lid close to the lashes, the cushion of fat that forms the bag is removed the skin if tightened and as in the top lid fades away when healed. The recuperation period is rather short if there is no excessive bruising or swelling. After three or four days, the patient can use a cosmetic cover-up and return to normal life.

The chin and neck. If the damage is not too severe liposuction can be done in order to remove the fat. A small incision is made on the underside of tip of the chin; the fat is sucked out, the incision closed. No down time here, just a bit of tightness and maybe a touch of bruising.

If we are talking of serious turkey neck, things get a bit more complicated. The skin and muscle are cut, shortened and redraped to restore a firm jaw line and the skin of the neck is tightened. The incisions are behind the ears and on the underside of the tip of the chin, invisible when healed.

There is very little pain involved in any of these mini surgeries, none with the possible exception of the eye job requires general anesthetic. Of course a little discomfort is to be expected, but discomfort is a very small price to pay for beauty