They always ask me what is the ideal age for plastic surgery. Although the subject of plastic surgery may seem like a small topic, the variety of existing surgeries makes the subject extremely broad. We could divide the surgeries didactically into age groups.
The most sought after plastic surgery by young people, before pregnancy, are usually liposuction and breast prosthesis. After 30 to 40 years, the search for mammoplasty and abdominoplasty (associated or not with lipo) is often sought to correct the sequelae of pregnancies.
After age 45, when facial aging is already evident, eyelid surgery is frequent. Facial lifting is most sought after age 50 or older.
As our focus is on the elderly, that is, plastic surgery after 60 years, we can infer that rhytidoplasty (association of eyelid surgery and facial lifting) is the most sought.
This is due to the frequent age-related facial aging. On the other hand, patients who have bothered with some other body part, such as the abdomen and breasts, have probably had surgery when they are younger and are unlikely to seek correction after so long.
As with all plastic surgery, our first concern is always safety. It should only be performed with minimal risk, checked by medical history and exams.
Age matters less. Have I ever operated on an 80-year-old patient with a 96-year family history of excellent health, all normal exams and telling me? I don't want to live another 15 years like this. On the other hand, I have ceased to operate 45 years old hypertensive patients, smokers with heart problems.
The great advantage of plastic surgery over other surgeries is that it does not need to be done? That is, unlike a cancer that needs to be removed soon, an appendicitis that needs urgent surgery, plastic surgery can always wait.
This makes it possible to operate only at the lowest possible risk: if the patient has high blood pressure, he will check first. If your thyroid has problems, it will take medication until the exams are normal, etc. All to minimize the risks associated with surgery, making plastic surgery the safest of all surgical specialties.
Having the patient's health, minimal risk and the surgery can help improve what bothers, the surgery can be performed. Of course, examinations in elderly patients are more thorough, extensive, and cardiac evaluation is important.
More elderly getting plastic surgery (May 2024)
- Plastic surgery, Body
- 1,230
