Professor Kirwan says that the number of women between 35 and 40 years who have cosmetic surgery every single year for 5 years has risen by 5%.

He says that most young women opt for ‘liquid lifts’, injections of facial fillers, which typically consist of hyaluronic acid, a gel-like substance that occurs naturally in the skin and helps retain moisture to make cheeks look fuller and lift sagging jaws. The ‘liquid lifts’ together with Botox freeze the muscles to lift drooping eyebrows by interfering with nerve transmission.

Younger women tend to choose a short-scar facelift (SSFL), whereby the skin is pulled upwards and then pulled back over the bony structures of the face, whilst fat pads that have dropped with aging are repositioned into their proper place. This new and nonintrusive procedure only has a maximum two-week down time costs about £10,000 ($16,000) with results lasting for as long as 10 years.

The first facelift was performed in Berlin in 1901 by surgeon Eugen Holländer.

According to Medilexicon’s medical dictionary, a rhytidectomy is:

“Literally, excision of wrinkles. Usually used to designate rejuvenative surgery of the cheeks and neck performed by tightening the facial supporting structures and excising excess skin; face-lift.”

The facelift procedure
The traditional facelift. An incision is made in front of the ear extending up into the hair or hairline. The incision stretches downward in front of the ear, comes under the ear and then upward behind the ear. It then ends in the hair or hairline behind the ear. If necessary, the deeper tissues of the face can be tightened. The excess skin is removed.

The incisions are then closed with sutures and staples. In some cases a drain is placed under the skin behind the ear to drain off any excess blood and fluids. This drainage tube is removed a day or two after the procedure. Then bandages are applied.

American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) President Malcolm Z. Roth, MD commented that :

“The chin and jawline are among the first areas to show signs of aging. People are considering chin augmentation as a way to restore their youthful look just like a facelift or eyelid surgery … We also know that as more people see themselves on video chat technology, they may notice that their jawline is not as sharp as they want it to be. Chin implants can make a dramatic difference.”

The article in plasticsurgery.org goes on to cite the example of Lizette Stephens, who said she does regular video conferences with people all over the world, and while the technology makes her life easy, it didn’t make her look the way she’d hoped. She said that online photos of herself and watching herself during video chats, made her begin to feel self conscious about her double chin. She wanted more definition.

Stephens underwent a chin implant with Darrick Antell, MD, an ASPS Member Surgeon based in New York City.

Dr. Antell, who has studied the profiles of many CEOs, said :

“We know that CEOs tend to be tall, attractive, good-looking people. We now know that these people also tend to have a stronger chin. As a result, people subconsciously associate a stronger chin with more authority, self-confidence and trustworthiness.”

Patients who received PIP implants either for primary or secondary breast augmentation, between January 2000 and August 2005, were studied to determine implant failure rate and other complications. Results found that 7 to 12 years after implantation the failure rate for PIP implants is in the region of 15.9-.8%.

“Previous studies have typically reported failure rates of between 2% and 5% and these estimates have been based on secondary data. In this study, all participants were scanned by ultrasound, which provides conclusive indication of rupture, rather than clinical examination which is typically used. Most previous studies were based on multiple surgeon, multiple technique, with a relatively small number of patients and shorter follow up time span,” commented Mr. Jan Stanek, lead author of the study.

Concerns about the durability of PIP silicone breast implants have been expressed for several years prior to their formal withdrawal from the UK market in March 2010. Although precise details of what elements were at fault remain unclear, concerns have been raised about both the elastomer (the outer cover of the implant) and the filler gel.

In this study PIP implants were used by the plastic surgeon for both primary and secondary breast augmentation. A database of patients was constructed and each