Cosmetic surgery demand driven by age discrimination?
It’s long been considered that a desire to look younger and more dynamic, particularly in an increasingly challenging employment market, is a driver for men and women seeking cosmetic surgery such as the facelift or eyelid lift. Now, research has been carried out that proves that the boom in anti-ageing cosmetic surgery in recent years has been fuelled by age discrimination.
A new study has recently been published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal that found that a significant proportion of patients report age discrimination – or the fear of it occurring – as the reason for undergoing anti-ageing procedures.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in the US surveyed 50 cosmetic surgery patients over a one-year period. The participants were mainly women with an average age of 50.
More than 30% of participants surveyed said they had experienced age-based discrimination and reported lower self-esteem as a result. They also were concerned about the possibility of age discrimination in the future. Twenty per cent had experienced age discrimination in the workplace and believed this was the reason for losing employment or being denied a promotion.
Anti-ageing cosmetic surgery
The main reasons given in the survey for undergoing cosmetic surgery and aesthetic treatments were to ‘look younger’ or wish to look ‘as young as I feel’. There are a number of facial rejuvenation procedures that can be performed as a standalone procedure or combined with or without adjunctive aesthetic treatments. Warwickshire cosmetic surgeon Mr Alan Park’s aim is always to restore are more youthful appearance without the patient looking drastically different or for surgery to be obvious.
The two most popular anti-ageing cosmetic surgery procedures are the facelift and eyelid lift. The latter because the eyes are often the first area to show the signs of ageing, with wrinkling and sagging skin on the upper lid and eye bags appearing below the eye. An upper or lower lid eyelid lift, known as a blepharoplasty, can either be performed separately or together to restore a more youthful appearance to the eye.
Results of an eyelid lift can be dramatic and scarring is usually well hidden, either in the natural contours of the eye or, in the case of the lower eyelid lift, by accessing the tissue and muscle structure from inside the eyelid, which is known as a transconjunctival approach.
The facelift remains an ever-popular cosmetic surgery procedure as it addresses the ageing changes that occur in the mid and lower face. As we age, we lose facial volume and the skin, tissue and muscles start to sag. As a result, the cheeks become flatter and folds appear around the nose and mouth and the jawline begins to lose definition; during a facelift, Mr Alan Park will lift and reposition tissue and muscles and then removing any excess skin, to produce a subtle and natural facial rejuvenation.
For more advice on what can be achieved with facial rejuvenation surgery, call 01926 436341 to arrange a consultation with Mr Alan Park.
