Your Makeover Options: An Age-Appropriate Checklist

With the New Year comes new resolutions. And looking fit and feeling better is probably the most common New Year Resolution in the world. A healthy diet you’re inspired to follow, an exercise regimen you promise you will keep – and if you’re interested in physical transformation or age reversal, then a cosmetic procedure you won’t regret.

But which cosmetic procedure is right for you? And are you even a good candidate?

With so many new options out there with both surgical and non-invasive procedures, it can be extremely confusing to wade through all that information to find the perfect fit for your custom needs.

To demystify cosmetic/plastic surgery so you get exactly the information you need, we decided to break down your choices by age group. These lists are not mutually exclusive of course, but it should give you a fair idea of what your options are:

 

Age 35 +

Once upon a time, people chose to undergo a cosmetic procedure when they were far more advanced in age. These days, women are realizing there are many benefits to taking the bull by the horns and getting their procedures done earlier in life. Plus, with all the amazing non-surgical options out there to correct and improve pretty much any part of your face and body, there is no reason why women in their thirties shouldn’t be thinking about aesthetic intervention.

SculpSure Body Contouring: SculpSure is the first clinically proven FDA-approved breakthrough treatment that uses light-based energy to reduce stubborn fat in problem areas such as the abdomen and love handles, helping you achieve a slimmer, more natural-looking appearance. There is no surgery or downtime.

Breast Augmentation: Breast augmentation, also referred to as augmentation mammoplasty or breast implants, is a procedure that gives you a larger, fuller size, change in shape, and improved breast contour.

Breast Reduction: The opposite of augmentation, a breast reduction procedure is for women who have excessively large breasts that hinder their day-to-day lifestyle and cause psychological stress from a compromised self image.

Injectable Fillers: These minimally invasive procedures use injectable dermal fillers to plump thin lips, enhance shallow contours, soften facial creases, remove wrinkles and reduce evidence of recessed scars.

Botox®: Injections of small amounts of a highly purified, concentrated protein into very specific parts of facial muscles. The result is a softer, relaxed and refreshed appearance to your facial expression, and lines and wrinkles can be diminished or even erased over time.

Photorejuvenation IPL: The gold standard in treatment for reversing pigmentation (red and brown) in skin with minimal down time using intense pulse light (IPL.) This targets and reduces the signs of sun damage, treats rosacea, broken capillaries and stimulates collagen to reduce the appearance of fine lines on your areas of concern.

Microdermabrasion: A mechanical exfoliation using a gently abrasive wand with a surface like an emery board. It gently scrubs away the outermost layer of dead skin cells to stimulate collagen and reveal the soft, youthful layers below. Gives a fresh, tight, smooth texture to the skin and helps diminish sun damage, fine lines, wrinkles, light scarring and decreases enlarged pores.

Micro-Needling (Collagen Induction Therapy): Treatment for appearance of fine lines, acne scars and repairing the skin’s texture, tone and color.

Chin Contouring: Using Kybella® (the first and only FDA-approved injectable treatment) to improve the appearance of moderate to severe fat beneath the chin. Kybella® is a prescription medicine that physically destroys fat cells, eliminating the “double chin”.

Chemical Peels: Ideal for mild wrinkles, fine lines, acne scars, enlarged pores, uneven skin pigmentation and sun damage.

Eyelash Treatment: Thin lashes are a telltale sign of aging eyes, and there is a noticeable difference that begins in your thirties. Lash extensions can be done, but they require maintenance every other week, and many people are becoming allergic to the adhesives used to glue the lashes to your eyelids.

 

Age: 40 +

As a general rule of thumb, people who undergo a facelift during early to mid forties get a far more enhanced result than those who choose to do it when they are older.

Breast Lift: Over time, skin begins to lose its elasticity from many factors such as aging, genetics, gravity, pregnancy and nursing. Any one of these things can cause your breasts to lose their shape and droop. Breast lift (Mastopexy) is the plastic surgery procedure that raises sagging breasts up on the chest by changing and modifying the size, contour and elevation.

Tummy Tuck: Also called an abdominoplasty, this is a surgery that provides a solution to patients who are looking for a toned, flat belly after child-bearing, extreme weight loss, age or other contributing factors.

Face Lift: There are several short-term solutions to aging, sagging skin, but nothing gives you as amazing and as long-lasting results as a face lift that is carefully customized for your unique face.

Liposuction: The liposuction procedure is popular among both men and women due to its ability to target large or small areas of the body that are persistently unaffected by dieting and exercise. Because the results are immediate and long-lasting, it is widely used for sculpting virtually any area of the body.

 

Age: 50 +

For older patients in the 50+ age group, treatment options are customized to take into account a variety of age-related skin and general health conditions.

Secondary Facelift: A Secondary or `refresher’ facelift may have better results than your initial facelift. This procedure is ideal for older patients (fifties and sixties) for whom the natural process of aging has decreased the effects of a previous facelift.

Fat Transfer: Fat transfer, also called fat grafting, involves harvesting fat cells from certain areas of the body and injecting them in other areas to fill in hollow or sunken areas of the face, soften lines and wrinkles, and give an overall smoother, fuller appearance. Highly purified fat injections can even increase blood circulation in the skin tissues, stimulating new cell growth.

Eyelid Lift: Eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, can be done on its own or at the same time as a facelift or browlift, to remove excess skin and fat from the area, opening them up again for a much younger and refreshed look.

Got some ideas about what you want, and ready to explore them? If you live in Bellevue or the Greater Seattle area in Washington, give Dr. McIntosh a call to set up an initial consultation!