January 31, 2010
Women have more help aging naturally
by Laura Elder
Victoria Homann is a firm believer in aging
gracefully. She exercises, eats nutritious foods and makes regular
visits to the League City practice of Dr. Elena Geppert, a plastic
surgeon.
But Homann, 48, isn’t ready for anything as drastic as a full face-lift. She hopes to avoid that for some time.
So
Homann, a grandmother who sells nutraceutical supplements for a living,
visits Geppert’s Harbour Plastic Surgery, 3033 Marina Bay Drive, for
minor procedures. Those include laser skin resurfacing and injectables
such as Botox, and hyaluronic acid fillers that help plump her face and
fill in lines. Homann said her favorite procedure is Sculptra
Aesthetic, a polylactic acid approved last year for cosmetic use, to
correct lines and folds. Sculptra is commonly referred to as the
“liquid face-lift.”
The recession hasn’t stopped U.S. consumers
from seeking professional help to turn back time. In 2008, doctors
performed 12 million plastic surgery procedures. But the economy has
changed the type of procedures in demand, observers say.
National
plastic surgery statistics for 2008, the most recent available from the
American Society of Plastic Surgeons, show surgical numbers dropped 9
percent and minimally invasive numbers rose 5 percent.
The
Consumer Guide to Plastic Surgery predicts this year would see an
increase in the number of nonsurgical cosmetic procedures.
Once
the pursuit of celebrities and the ultrarich, cosmetic procedures such
as Botox and fillers have gone mainstream, Geppert said.
“It is affordable for everyday people,” Geppert said.
The
costs of hyaluronic acids Juvederm and Restylane range from $350 to
$800 a syringe, compared with the cost of a face-lift, which typically
starts at about $6,000 and can be as high as $25,000, depending on the
patient, the surgeon and the type, industry trackers say.
Products such as Juvederm and Restylane can be used to plump and define lips and fill out hollow areas.
They
typically are used to fill lines from the nose to the mouth, from the
mouth to chin and above the upper lip, to correct frown lines and to
restore volume to cheeks.
Botox works differently than fillers
and is injected into the skin to relax a muscle or smooth skin creased
by facial expressions such as furrowed brows.
Botox injections at a medical office cost from $600 to $1,200, according to industry trackers.
Some
skin care centers or shops may offer lower rates, but consumers should
check the credentials of the person administering the injections.
While
Botox has a reputation for giving patients a frozen or surprised look,
dermatologists and surgeons who understand muscle movement can achieve
natural results, Geppert said.
Fillers, Botox and other
nonsurgical procedures, when done correctly and by people with
experience, can help delay the need for face-lifts until patients reach
their late 50s or early 60s, Geppert said.
Someone who begins
getting face-lifts too early may require more lifts later, resulting in
a loss of hairline and an overly “done” look, she said.
In
some ways, the economy has inspired a new set of consumers to seek
cosmetic procedures to freshen their appearance, plastic surgeons say.
Geppert and other plastic surgeons are noticing more men seeking a younger look to give them an edge in a tough job market.
Dr.
Nicholas Nikolov, a renowned Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, has noticed
that demand for such procedures as breast augmentation has been flat
during the recession, but the call for noninvasive procedures and
minimally invasive surgeries has been strong.
“We’re seeing a
lot more people that are in the workplace and maybe in transition,
changing jobs or have lost jobs and are looking for another one,”
Nikolov said.
More women and men are seeking Botox treatments
to soften lines in the forehead and around the mouth that make them
look angry, Nikolov said.
“I’ve heard a lot of business people say, ‘My staff thinks I look angry,'” Nikolov said.
The
wife of one of Nikolov’s patients urged her husband, who was at the top
of his company, to have procedures that would reduce lines that made
him look “grumpy,” Nikolov said.
For men and women, maturity and experience are important in their careers, but so is looking energetic, Nikolov said.
“They
just want their outside appearance to match the energy inside,” Nikolov
said. “When you’re looking for a job, you want to put your best foot
forward.”
Even in downtimes, Geppert and other surgeons still perform surgical face-lifts and eyelifts.
In
a conventional face-lift, the surgeon make incisions from the temple to
the ear on both sides, lifts the skin and tightens the facial muscles
before sewing the incisions closed.
In eyelifts, the surgeon
removes fat and excess skin from the upper and lower eyelids to correct
drooping or puffy bags that can make people look older.
When it comes to minimally invasive procedures, eyelifts can have a nice effect, Nikolov said.
“The eyes give away the age more than anything,” Nikolov said.
Years
ago, cosmetic procedures were a one-size-fits-all proposition. Now,
face-lifts and other cosmetic procedures are customized for each
patient, Nikolov said.
“It’s better to have the procedures fit
the patient than have the patient fit the procedures,” Nikolov said.
“It depends on what the patient needs to correct.”
More treatments are evolving that require less time under anesthesia, Nikolov said.
When it comes to removal of fat, consumers also are turning to less invasive procedures, area surgeons say.
Dr.
Efrain Soto is seeing more patients at his Friendswood practice, 1305
W. Parkwood Ave., who are interested in laser liposuction, which
doesn’t require general anesthesia. Soto uses a laser to liquefy and
remove unwanted fat.
Conventional liposuction in which
physicians vacuum out fat cells is a more invasive, complex surgery
that requires general anesthesia.
Without the costs related to
surgery, including operating room expenses and the anesthesiologist,
the cost of laser procedures is about 30 percent less than conventional
liposuction, and can range from several hundred to several thousand
dollars.
The price depends on which part of the body and size of the area targeted by the procedure, Soto said.
The economy hasn’t hurt his Park Lakes Family Medicine practice, he said.
“Amazingly
enough, in this economy, instead of people buying properties and
material things, they’re putting their money into their health,” he
said.
