Too much?

Let’s be honest, none of us likes getting wrinkles or sagging skin but what can we do about it? These are perfectly natural signs of aging and will happen to everybody at some point but, women especially, are constantly bombarded with media images that promote youth and beauty and therefore it is ingrained in many of us that we must strive to keep both for as long as possible. A healthy lifestyle, diet and exercise can certainly help keep the signs of aging at bay but, for some of us, that’s just not enough and so we turn to surgery. Many years ago surgery meant a facelift; pretty drastic and, if not done well, it can leave you looking like you’ve been standing inside a wind tunnel for too long.

Believe it or not these two pictures are of the same woman. Some of the facial changes will be due to aging but most are due to excessive plastic surgery. In the picture on the right hand side you can see remnants of the original face but it looks weirdly distorted and completely unnatural.

Her brow has less lines than in the original picture and her lips have more volume but, in the original picture, she was maybe 20 years younger. This is not how our faces are supposed to age and, because other signs of aging are evident, hooded eyes for example, the whole effect is just a little bizarre.

However, if the recipient of the surgery is happy who are we to criticise?

You don’t have to opt for face-lifts to look younger these days, you can go for Botox or fillers instead; they are far less drastic and don’t leave you in a darkened room for a fortnight whilst your scars heal. Botox, a toxin which is injected into the face and reduces lines and wrinkles by paralysing underlying muscles, is incredibly popular with millions of treatments administered every year. Dermal fillers are also injected but they are designed to plump certain areas of the face which lose volume over the years such as lips and cheeks. A good treatment should result in comments like ‘wow! You look well’ not ‘hmm you look different’

Unfortunately, as with everything else in life it’s easy to get carried away. You make a subtle change but then, for you, that becomes the norm so you make another change which may be less subtle but then, eventually, you become accustomed to that look and so it goes on.

If you decide to opt for botox, fillers or any kind of surgical enhancement, take the time to find the right practitioner and make sure that you have a consultation before undertaking any procedure, more than one if you are in any way hesitant about the process.

You can expect to pay between £150 and £300 for each session and it can be much more, depending on what you have done so make sure that you are clear on pricing before you go ahead. A good practitioner should be completely open and honest with you, explaining risks and potential results very clearly. The procedures can be uncomfortable (after all someone is injecting your face!) but they should not be painful as such. The practitioner should use an anaesthetic cream on the area before they start so that you are more comfortable.

With botox, the results are not immediate so you need to wait a few days to see the full effect but with fillers you will see the changes immediately. You may find that there is a small amount of swelling or bruising around the site but this will usually disappear within a couple of days.

Any kind of surgical procedure comes with risks so you need to do your research before going ahead but the results can do wonders for your self-esteem. Just bear in mind that the results don’t last forever so you will need to go back to see your practitioner maybe a couple of times a year