Boomers Put New Face on Aging Dr. David J. Demko, Professor and Editor-in-Chief AgeVenture News Service You can't stop the aging process, but you can face it in a youthful way. No, I don't mean a youthful attitude, I mean a more youthfully constructed face. More than 10.2 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed in the United States in 2005, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). That's an eleven percent increase over year 2004. Does anyone see a trend here? “For many, cosmetic plastic surgery is the new take on growing old gracefully," says ASPS President Bruce Cunningham, MD. Then again, what's graceful about hiding one's aging behind a "store bought" face. Consider meeting someone who wears a "hair piece." What's the first thing that comes to your mind? "Is that a rug?" Hmm. "Is it a good rug (natural looking) or a bad rug?" Now consider cosmetic surgery. What's the first thing you think of when you see a photo of Cher or Joan Rivers? Here's the point. Anti-aging remedies may inadvertently make you "look" younger, but "appear" older. In case you're wondering, the top five surgical procedures were liposuction (324,000), nose reshaping (298,000), breast augmentation (291,000), eyelid surgery (231,000), and tummy tuck (135,000). This is the first time in six years facelifts did not make the top five surgical procedures, says the ASPS. “The facelift is still a highly sought after procedure, nearly 109,000 were performed last year,” noted Dr. Cunningham. “However, the fact it didn’t make the top five surgical procedures can be attributed to increased consumer demand for minimally-invasive injectable wrinkle fillers and fighters as a remedy to combat facial aging.” Minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures jumped 13 percent to nearly 8.5 million procedures performed in 2005. The top five minimally-invasive procedures were Botox® (3.8 million), chemical peel (1 million), microdermabrasion (838,000), laser hair removal (783,000), and sclerotherapy (590,000). This is the fourth consecutive year that these minimally-invasive procedures have been ranked in the top five. Reconstructive plastic surgery, which improves function and appearance to abnormal areas of the body, remained relatively stable in 2005. The top five reconstructive procedures were tumor removal (3.9 million), laceration repair (344,000), scar revision (181,000), hand surgery (172,000) and breast reduction (114,000). If there's a lesson here, then maybe it's this. Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a younger looking face, which means you are definitely unhappy about the way you look. Face it. These days, anti-aging is putting a new face on maturity. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons is recognized as a leading authority and information source on cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. ASPS comprises 94 percent of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States. See related articles in the AgeVenture archives. AgeVenture Topics and Trends AgeVenture Lifestyle Features AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com BACK TO TOP