How old can plastic surgery be?
'05.02.2019'
Source: Columnist
Changing an annoying flaw in her appearance in just a couple of hours seems like a very attractive prospect. Indeed, modern surgery hones more and more new skills and becomes more accessible. But still not everyone can take advantage of the wonders of almost instant transformation.
Especially for Browser Vasily Pinchuk, MD, professor, surgeon of the highest category, president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, talks about age nuances.
For plastic surgeries, as well as for any other, there is a list of well-founded medical contraindications. They are absolute and relative. The absolute are general diseases of the body that threaten the life of the patient. Relatives include diabetes mellitus, skin diseases, a slight increase in blood pressure and so on. But for some procedures there are also age restrictions.
I am often asked: at what age can plastic surgery be performed? I always answer this way: it all depends on what the situation is in each specific case and what indications for plastic surgery the individual patient has.
First of all, operations need to be differentiated between those that are performed for the sake of aesthetic improvement, and those that are done for medical reasons. In the first case, as a rule, patients at an adult age, that is, upon reaching adulthood, resort to improving their appearance.
But there are exceptions. Take, for example, lop-earedness. This problem is actually found in 5% of the world's population. Plastic ears is preferable to perform at preschool age, before the child sits at the school desk and may become the object of ridicule classmates. In my practice, this is the most common cause of aesthetic plasticity until adulthood. True, there can not do without the permission of the parents, because a person can independently decide on surgical intervention only with 18 years.
It is also important to remember about the other side of the medal of such a procedure: children are not always ready to undergo an operation morally.
Therefore, parents should discuss this issue with the child, so that the operation is not some kind of psychologically imposed procedure, before which the little man has not yet matured. And here is another counterargument: children themselves at an early age calmly treat flaws, and their appearance begins to worry them already at puberty, somewhere in 12 – 14 years.
Another conversation, if plastic surgery is needed for reconstruction. In this case, it can be done even in early childhood. From my experience I would say that a popular reason to use the services of plastic surgeons in childhood is the omission of the upper eyelid. As a rule, this is a bilateral pathology, but it is also often unilateral. With such a pathology, the eyes are actually closed, in order to see something, the child must lift his head upward and try to see the world around him through the narrow eye slit.
Of course, in such a situation, the operation is done in early childhood. Depending on the degree of omission of the upper eyelids, it can be a year or two. After all, if you do not fix the problem in time, there is a risk of blindness. The question can be postponed if the situation is not critical and there is only a partial omission of the eyelids. In this case, the operation can be performed in 12 – 16 years, when it is easier to establish contact with the child and he perceives the process more easily.
With regard to the upper age limit, the restrictions exist primarily on breast augmentation. So, after 50 – 60 years, I do not advise doing this operation, because the tissues have already lost their elasticity.
The second problem is that at this age menopause occurs, and against the background of hormonal imbalance, various breast diseases can develop. Therefore it is better not to provoke this process and refrain from surgical intervention.
As for anti-aging operations, the presence of restrictions is determined primarily by the state of health of the patient. The same procedure cannot be done by someone in 50 years, but by someone else in 80. It all depends on blood pressure, tests and other factors. I want to say that if a person is relatively healthy, there is no age barrier.
And one more important point: let's not forget about the psychological state of a person. There are patients who make unfounded claims about their appearance. For example, they ask to do "cat's eyes" or Mongoloid eyelid surgery. This suggests that such a person has some mental characteristics.
With such a patient, it is necessary to carry out work and send him to a psychologist in order to perform a psychological correction instead of plastics. After all, most likely, after the operation, he will remain dissatisfied and will go for further steps to change himself. So if I see something like this, then I refuse. This is an ethical question, there are no prohibitions as such.
Therefore, I want to summarize the main advice that I give to all my patients: before you decide on a plastic surgery, weigh the pros and cons. Take this event in your life responsibly, and then the result will only please you!
