Plastic Surgery Ladies?

I read this article in today's paper and cannot help but blog it.

AUSTRALIAN women are opting to undergo smaller plastic surgery procedures rather than plumping for the "full Monty" facelift.

Minimally invasive or small-incision surgery, often referred to as "stitch lifts" or "thread lifts", are becoming the plastic surgery du jour in Australia as increasingly younger women follow their US counterparts down the path of the scalpel.

The American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery has reported a 35 per cent increase between 2000 and last year in the number of women having these minimally invasive procedures, and Australian plastic surgeons meeting in Sydney yesterday said the figures here would be similar, though no official data exists.

Plastic surgeon Martyn Mendelsohn, who practises in the northern Sydney suburb of Chatswood, attributed a 40per cent increase in his business over the past few years to the television series Extreme Makeover.

"Facial rejuvenation is my most popular procedure," said Dr Mendelsohn, whose fastest-growing market is among 30- to 45-year-old women looking to combat early signs of ageing with minor procedures.

George Marcells, who practises at Bondi in Sydney's eastern suburbs, said he was regularly lifting brows, cheeks, jowls and necks of thirtysomething women.

Treatments range from injections of Botox, which cost a few hundred dollars and temporarily paralyse facial muscle, to stitch lifts, which start at $1500, though multiple lifts can cost more than $10,000.

California-based plastic surgeon Gregory Keller, one of the pioneers of the stitch lift, told the conference trends in cosmetic surgery tended to be global. "There's not an American look or an Australian look," he said.

However, Dr Keller did acknowledge a difference between his clients in Santa Barbara, who tended to prefer more subtle results, and his patients in Los Angeles where "a natural look isn't necessarily what some want".

"If everyone around you has a certain look and you feel that looks good, you want that," he said.

Dr Keller said that while the US industry had seen an increase in demand among politicians in Washington, who "don't want to look like they have had something done", he was also aware of US patients who had asked that they be made to look like Jocelyne Wildenstein – the pin-up for cosmetic surgery gone wrong, commonly referred to as "catwoman" or The Bride Wildenstein.


So ladies, how about you? If you had a few extra bucks, would this be a consideration? Personally, i wouldn't consider it, no matter how much extra dollars i had. If it were for health purposes then i may do. At this stage i am happy enoug to grow old gracefully.