At What Age Can You Get Cosmetic Surgery?

Cosmetic surgery used to be just for the rich and famous, but now everyone seems to be doing it, or at least would like to do it if they had the money.

Those most likely to undergo plastic surgery are those who spend a lot of time in the public eye and are conscious of their looks.

For example, models tend to undergo the most amount of plastic surgery, although increasingly business professionals have been going under the knife to give themselves a bit of extra confidence whilst at work and to help hold back the signs of aging.

However, not everyone chooses to undergo plastic surgery. There are some people who are perfectly happy with the way they look, whether they think they are attractive or unattractive.

Other people choose not to have cosmetic surgery because their religion frowns upon it. Still, there are some people who would like to undergo cosmetic surgery but cannot because they have diabetes or are heavy smokers.

So although plastic surgery is becoming increasingly more popular each year, it is unlikely that we will ever reach a stage where everyone has had some kind of cosmetic procedure done to change the way they look. But those who don’t undergo cosmetic surgery, may very well one day be in the minority.

What Age Is Best For Cosmetic Surgery?

If you are thinking of having some “work done” then you will be pleased to learn that you can change the way a part of your body looks at virtually any age you want.

There are however, some disadvantages and limitations as to what can be done during particular age goups, and in this article we will look at some of those to help give you a better idea as to what you can expect.

Please note however, that this information should be considered as a general guide. Individual circumstances are likely to affect what type of procedure can be done on you, and only a surgeon will be able to tell you this by examining you and your medical history.

Women (ages 30-60)

Around 80% of cosmetic surgery procedures are carried out on women, perhaps suggesting that women are more insecure about their looks than men.

Women tend to go for breast enhancement or reduction, facial surgery or liposuction as their most common cosmetic surgery procedures.

Ages 30-60 can be quite a good time to have cosmetic surgery as by this stage of your life you have likely established a career for yourself, you may have a family and may have some money saved up in the bank which you can use to pay for your procedure without having to worry about getting into debt.

Signs Of Aging

As you approach the mid and later ages of this age bracket (i.e. ages 40-60), you may find that the signs of aging are starting to show.

Typically, this will most evident on the face, as by the late 30s some women start to notice fine lines, wrinkles and sagging skin on their face which, slowly but surely, starts to make them look older with each passing year.

Generally, premature aging will occur if you received a lot of unprotected sun exposure during your youth, drank excessive amounts of alcohol and are a smoker. In which case, you may start to notice these signs of facial aging in your mid 30s.

Other signs of aging which start to become evident for women during this stage of their life are saggy or droopy breasts, especially if that woman has had several children.

In addition, a woman may also start to notice excess weight gain after childbirth, such as around the thighs, buttocks and waist which she cannot seem to shift through diet and exercise alone.

What Is Possible?

Fortunately, providing you have the funds to do so, you will be able to reverse many of these aging signs and by doing so help yourself to maintain a more youthful looking appearance for longer.

Demi Moore and Goldie Hawn both provide excellent examples of how cosmetic surgery can help to keep you looking young no matter what your age.

Many women who do undergo cosmetic surgery in their 40-60s primarily do so in order to help their career. Of course, looking younger will also help to make them feel more confident about the way that they look and is also likely to improve the relationship they have with their partner.

There are no real limitations as to what you can have done during this stage of your life, as providing you are in good health, your only real limiter is the amount of money that you have to spend.

Summary

Ages 30-60 is a common age to undergo cosmetic surgery. By the time you hit 40 the signs of aging will start to show on most women and this is a good age to do something about them before they start to get any worse.

Providing you have the money, it is possible to keep your body and your face looking much younger than you actually are if that is what you want.

Cosmetic surgery can help a middle aged woman to feel better about herself, improve her sex life and improve her career.

Men (ages 30-60)

Men make up about 20% of all those who undergo plastic surgery, although this number is increasing all the time as men become more and more conscious about the way that they look.

Men often undergo the same cosmetic procedures as women, such as rhinoplasty, face lifts and liposuction. Although the cosmetic surgery men undergo is usually a slightly modified version to suit the male body.

For example, during facial surgery incisions are made in different places because men need to hide their scars behind a male hairstyle or a receding hairline.

Signs Of Aging

In general, men tend to age visibly slower than women, especially on the face. Men for example, tend to experience fine lines and wrinkles at much older ages than women do.

This of course, depends on how that person treated their skin when they were younger, their diet and lifestyle and how much sun exposure they received. But assuming their skin was well looked after, a man can quite easily maintain a youthful looking appearance well into their 40s or 50s, and sometimes even longer.

Where most men do start to show the signs of premature aging is on the top of their heads! Hair loss is a common problem for middle aged men and can make a man look far older than his years.

Hair loss typically begins in the early 20s, although most men do not realise they are suffering from hair loss until their mid to late 20s and in their 30s it noticeably starts to become a problem.

Men also suffer from increased fat accumulation around the waist which can also make them look older by giving them a characteristic “beer belly” appearance.

What Can Be Done?

As with women, there are no real limitations during this stage of your life as to the type of cosmetic surgery that you can have done.

So if you want a hair transplant to cover up any bold patches or fill in a receding hairline, or you want some liposuction to help slim down your waist, then providing you have the money to pay for it and are in good health then there is no reason why you can’t have those procedures done.

Men who do undergo cosmetic surgery in this age bracket however, tend to be middle aged men. So basically 40-60. This usually done for the same reasons women undergo cosmetic surgery, to improve their confidence, improve their sex life and improve their career.

It should be noted however, that some cosmetic procedures may require extended periods of downtime in order for you to fully recover from your operation. So if you are thinking of having cosmetic surgery, then you will need to make some time available when you are free from your work commitments.

Summary

Men age more slowly than women when it comes to the visible signs of aging. This however, largely depends on the person and their lifestyle.

Cosmetic surgery can be a very effective way to reverse the signs of aging, and can have many beneficial effects on your personal and professional life. That is of course, providing you have the cash to pay for it!

Young People (ages 20-30)

The biggest increase in plastic surgery procedures has occurred in the 19 to 25 age group, and most of these procedures are done on women.

Young women tend to go for breast enhancement, rhinoplasty and facial peels. If cosmetic surgery were to fall in price, some surgeons believe they would see a doubling in the number of youngster who chose to go under the knife.

Some of the most common cosmetic procedures undergone by people in this age group are listed in order below with greatest first.

• Chemical peel
• Microdermabrasion
• Nose reshaping
• Ear surgery
• Botox injections
• Collagen injections
• Sclerotherapy
• Breast augmentation
• Male breast reduction
• Liposuction

Ages 20-30 are actually quite a good age to have cosmetic surgery for many different reasons. From a medical point of view however, many surgeons consider this to be the minimum age group that someone should have surgery to change their appearance for cosmetic reasons.

This is because the body stops growing around age 21-22 for most people. So if you have cosmetic surgery before this age then you won’t get the best result from your surgery because the shape of your body is still changing.

When your body does finally stop growing, your existing surgery may look odd and you could require another procedure to make yourself look normal again or how you wanted your first surgery to make you look.

The other reason why having cosmetic surgery around ages 20-30 can be very beneficial, is because at this stage of your life you are taking steps which will shape the course of the rest of your life.

For example, around the late 20s many people get married. Having surgery to make yourself look more attractive may enable you to date and marry a more attractive person than you otherwise would have been able to.

Ages 20-30s are also very important for your career. Looking more attractive can help you to feel more confident about yourself and thereby enable you to perform better at work and increase your chance of receiving a promotion.

For women especially, looking their best during this stage of their life can be extremely important if their career depends on their looks. For example, a woman who is acting or modelling or is in the entertainment business can greatly enhance her career by enhancing her looks.

However, there is one major downside to having cosmetic procedures done in your 20s-30s, and it is that most people during this stage of their life do not have the money to pay for the procedures they want done.

As a result, having cosmetic surgery can be a very easy way to get yourself into debt, which may then cause many problems in other areas of your life. And this is perhaps the biggest limitation that people in this age group face.

In terms of the signs of aging, most people in their 20s-30s will not have to worry about any visible aging signs. So procedures will largely be done for enhancement or correction of ones appearance rather than for reversing aging signs.

Kids & Young Teens

Kids and teens are another common group who desire to have plastic surgery, and this is largely due to peer pressure from school.

Young children and teens who may be sensitive about their looks, feel that by getting cosmetic surgery they will become more popular and have a better time at school.

You can’t blame them really as fitting in at school and having friends is very important at that age, although whether this can be achieved through cosmetic surgery is debatable.

Some believe that if a child is unhappy at school due to the way they look and they really want cosmetic surgery, then they should have it. In some instances, such as when dealing with a gross deformity, this may be appropriate.

However, from a medical point of view, most surgeons are reluctant to operate on such young children as their body is still developing and therefore will change as they grow older. This means that they may require further surgery at a later age.

Ultimately, whether or not young children get cosmetic surgery comes down to the parents as it is unlikely such young children will have the money required for surgery.

So the parent needs to determine whether the surgery is essential, or whether it would be better postponed until the child is older.

If you do decide to go ahead with surgery, it is recommended that you see several surgeons to make sure they all agree what will be best and safe for your child.

Overall, cosmetic surgery for young children is not recommended, although it may be acceptable for teenagers in some cases.

Older Adults (ages 60+)

There is no doubt that society today places an increasing emphasis on the way that people look, and the younger you can look the better.

Looking younger can even help with your job, whether it be keeping your job or being promoted, so it’s no wonder that both older men and women are turning to cosmetic surgery in their droves.

Fortunately, plastic surgery that is carried out by a fully qualified and well trained surgeon is relatively safe at any age.

So as long as you are healthy, your age shouldn’t stop you from undergoing a cosmetic procedure, although some surgeons may modify procedures slightly if you are over 65.

Signs Of Aging

The signs of aging begin to show more rapidly with each passing decade once you hit age 60. Both men and women are likely to suffer from sagging facial skin with deep facial wrinkles. Sagging skin may also start to become a problem on the arms, on the chest and around the waist.

Treatments Options

There are many types of cosmetic surgery procedures that can help you to restore a more youthful looking appearance. Common during this stage of life is face lift surgery, both on men and women.

A good face lift can help to make you look ten years younger than you actually are, and so can be one of the most effective anti-aging procedures an older adult can undergo. The results however will not be permanent, which means that you will need to undergo more surgery roughly every 10-15 years.

Sagging skin can also be quite effectively dealt with on the arms, chest and waist. However, removing sagging skin will leave you with a scar, so the incisions must be placed strategically on the body so that they are not immediately visible.

Usually this will be possible when removing sagging skin on the arms and when dealing with sagging breasts, but around the waist a scar will be very visible.

One should remember though, that even though cosmetic surgery can help to make a person look younger, it cannot make them look like they did when they were in their 20s or 30s.

So it is important to have realistic expectations about what is possible for you, and this is what your cosmetic surgeon should explain to you to avoid disappointment in any results you obtain through surgery.

In terms of limitations, older adults tend to be less constrained by financial matters or by time, but rather by health related issues.

Although you can have plastic surgery at any age, a cosmetic surgeon will only agree to operate on you providing they feel it is safe to do so.

As a result, if you have any pre-existing health conditions, such as cardiovascular disorders, then surgery may be deemed too risky for your current state of health.

Of course, providing you are in good health, then the risks of you being rejected from having surgery will be relatively low.

You should understand however, that just like any other form of surgery cosmetic surgery carries with it certain risks. Again, this is something your surgeon should make you fully aware of.