What’s the Right Age To Have Cosmetic Surgery?

By Hema Sundaram, MA, MD, FAAD

Sundaram Dermatology, Cosmetic & Laser Surgery Center

. http://doctorhema.com

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What’s the Right Age To Have Cosmetic Surgery?

“Am I the right age for cosmetic surgery?” 

This is a question I receive often from patients, and it’s also frequently asked on social media. In fact, there is no “right age” to have cosmetic surgery because we all age at different rates and have different ideas of what constitutes aging gracefully. But there is a right time – when we’re ready to fix something that bothers us. There is also a right reason – when there is a need to balance how we look with how we feel.

Our faces send messages that impact us profoundly, both personally and professionally. For example, permanent frown lines can make us look angry when we’re not, under-eye bags convey tiredness, and a downturned mouth looks sad. Spider veins and sunspots make our faces look old and weather-beaten. And it’s the same for our bodies. These “error messages” are easily corrected by a dermatologist or plastic surgeon expert using today’s non-surgical technology.

Recent surveys show that more men and women are choosing no-downtime fixes to look good on Zoom as well as in person, to keep their professional edge, and to achieve balance so that how they look truly reflects how they feel. This inner-outer balance is important for both social and workplace interactions.

The most advanced dermatologists and plastic surgeons are doing cutting-edge research, publishing in renowned medical journals, and teaching globally how to combine state-of-the-art non-surgical techniques for the best results with no scarring and little or no recovery. This new, minimally-invasive approach is increasingly popular and, when properly performed, can give long-lasting results. More importantly, it gives natural results so that your face looks refreshed and restored rather than tweaked.

Ultherapy is a revolutionary new ultrasound technology to non-surgically lift your face and tighten your cheeks, jawline, neck and chest (decolletage). It can also lift and tighten buttocks, knees, arms and other body zones in preparation for summer. eMatrix and eTwo are innovative radiofrequency lasers that stimulate your skin through a unique process called sublative rejuvenation, producing new collagen and elastin to remove wrinkles and scars and tighten your skin.

The Exilis Ultra is another new laser technology that dramatically lifts and tightens the skin on your face and body by creating new collagen and elastin. This naturally lifts your face, including your eyebrows, and contours your body. The secret of Exilis Ultra is focused radiofrequency energy combined with ultrasound. This can simultaneously tighten your skin and remove unwanted fat from the chin, abdomen, arms, legs and other areas. In just a few quick and painless sessions, Exilis Ultra can take inches off your waistline, abdomen, buttocks and other areas, and can also improve cellulite.

The breakthrough Syneron Triniti laser system can rejuvenate all three layers of your skin in one session. The Triniti removes spider veins, sunspots, discolorations and wrinkles, improves prominent pores and tightens your skin. The CO2RE laser dramatically improves wrinkles, pigmentation, enlarged pores, scars and stretch marks for all skin tones from light to dark, and with minimal recovery time. The VBeam Perfecta laser treats birthmarks, rosacea, acne scars, leg veins, blood vessels on the face and body, sunspots, and even warts.

With summer approaching, the focus is also on hair removal. The newest and fastest hair laser is the GentleMax Pro. It is painless and gives rapid results for all areas of the body and face. Hair laser not only liberates you from razors, creams and other temporary hair removal, but can also free you of ingrown hairs and acne.

When expertly injected, the neuromodulators Botox, Dysport, Jeuveau, Xeomin or Daxxify safely smooth frown and worry lines, crow’s feet, and mouth and neck wrinkles, while preserving your normal facial expressions. For anyone who worries about looking unnatural with Botox, the key is to get your treatment from a real expert who understands how to reshape your face and preserve natural expressions rather than the dreaded Botox face-freeze or angry-looking “Dr. Spock” eyebrows.

Under-eye bags and lines around your mouth disappear, thinning lips can be restored, your jawline and neck lifted and your whole face can be subtly yet dramatically reshaped by new techniques with natural fillers like Voluma, Volbella, Restylane, Juvederm, Belotero, Radiesse and Sculptra. Your own natural fat can be added to replenish stem cells and transform your skin contour and radiance. The key here is to avoid an unnatural “filler face”. There is a world of difference between sophisticated and natural-looking filler techniques and overdone, over-plump lips and cheeks.

A new addition is the so-called “Vampire Facelift”, which combines platelet rich plasma (PRP) with micro needling to harness your body’s own powers of rejuvenation. Scientific research shows that PRP is also an effective way to treat hair loss.

The philosophy of total rejuvenation and better quality of life at all ages has now extended to feminine (vaginal) rejuvenation that can be done nonsurgically with advanced lasers and fillers. Studies show this can have important benefits including relief of mild to moderate stress incontinence (urine leakage when coughing, sneezing etc.), vaginal dryness, and restoring more normal appearance and function in conditions such as LS & A (lichen sclerosus et atrophicus). For feminine rejuvenation, the CO2RE Intima laser achieves rapid and long-lasting results and has been described as a more comprehensive and long-lasting treatment than non-laser devices like radiofrequency.

The American Board of Medical Specialties recognizes four specialties as having the right knowledge and training to perform cosmetic procedures – dermatology, plastic surgery, oculoplastic surgery and facial plastic surgery. Your dermatologist or plastic surgeon will be most expert if they are engaged in scientific research, direct sessions and teach at the national dermatology and plastic surgery academies, and have publications that can be found under their names on Pubmed at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

Your doctor should be able to offer you a wide variety of advanced procedures from which to choose, and create a customized plan to address your individual needs. Looking as good as you feel can bring a new appreciation of life, and how important it is to make the most of every day. The author Gertrude Stein wrote that “we are always the same age inside.” With the right technology in the right hands, we can reflect our inner youth and vibrancy, and empower ourselves to live life to the fullest at any age.