—All the More Reason to Take Care of Yourself!
You’ve likely heard phrases like “30 is the new 20”—meaning that as a society, we’re retaining our youthful traits longer and longer into adult life. Today’s 30-somethings are settling down later, having children later, and still figuring out their careers well into the years when their parents and grandparents were well-established with families.
But what about “40 is the new 30”…or even “60 is the new 50”?
Research, including a recent study by the World Health Organization, shows that women are living longer and longer these days. We have the medical advances of the past 20-30 years to thank for this—with better preventative care and treatment, women over the age of 50 are less likely to suffer life-threatening issues such as heart disease, strokes, or diabetes. By 2050, it’s estimated that almost one-fifth of the global population will be made up of older women.
Simply put, women are living longer and healthier lives than they did just decades ago. And they’re only going to live longer as healthcare and medicine continue to develop.
What Living Longer Means for Your Appearance
While living longer is a wonderful thing—it means more time with your family, more time for hobbies, more time to enjoy your golden retirement years—with extra time also comes certain problems, like the appearance of age-related cosmetic issues such as lower eyelid bags, Festoons, and dark circles under the eyes.
As we age, our faces change, and this impacts the way we are seen by the world. The non-verbal cues we give off play a large role in communication and how we are perceived—and as our faces change over time, they can begin to send out non-verbal messages that aren’t in keeping with who we really are and how we really feel.
The three main effects of living longer, which I call the 3 D’s of Aging, are:
- Deterioration of the facial skin.
- Deflation of the face.
- Descent of the eyelids and face.
The 3 D’s of aging occur naturally, but can be sped up by factors like how much time we spend in the sun, whether we are smokers, our stress levels, etc.
One of the most common of the 3 D’s is the descent of the eyelids. As we get older, our eyelids start to droop and look “heavier.” This causes a baggy, puffy appearance to our eyes that can make us look sleepy, sick, and even older than we really are. We may feel perfectly fine—we may actually be quite alert and energetic!—but if our facial features aren’t in balance, that isn’’t how the world will “read” our appearance.
Not to mention the fact that seeing a reflection in the mirror that appears sleepier and older than you really are can actually make you begin to feel sleepier and older.
It’s unfortunate when our external appearance sends out signals that don’t represent us accurately—especially when this is something that can easily be fixed. You deserve to have an appearance that truly reflect who you are inside, especially if you may be spending many long, happy years with it!
Making the Most of Your Extra Years
Thankfully, today there are many options for those who want to improve their appearance and thereby improve the way others perceive them.
For the first “D” of Aging, deterioration of the skin, we have medical cosmetic skin products that can improve spots in the face and help build collagen to improve facial wrinkles. You can start to see results from this approach in a few weeks to months.
For those who’d like a faster result, we have light-based outpatient treatments like our BroadBand Light (BBL) treatments, which can improve broken blood vessels and facial spots in 1-2 treatments. BBL can also be used on the décolletage, arms, hands, and legs, as well to improve age spots in a quick, effective office treatment.
Finally, for those desiring the most dramatic improvement in the skin, we have dual-pulsed erbium laser skin resurfacing, which can actually RESET a person’s skin back to a healthier, younger state.
The second “D” of Aging is deflation of the face. For this condition, we can restore a patient’s face back to a more youthful, vibrant appearance by restoring the volume that was lost. By paying attention to the proper ratios that belong in the face, we can produce results which are powerful yet subtle.
The third and final “D” of Aging is descent. This usually results from the deflation. In the same way a tulip without water will droop and descend, our faces without volume will descend. Even with volume, certain parts of our face can benefit from surgical procedures meant to restore them back to a healthier, younger state. This can be very powerful for the area around the eyes, which is one the key areas of face which we use to communicate with others.
These 3 D’s of Aging, when addressed, create powerful, synergistic effects and allow me to help my patients Restore, Reveal and ReclaimTM their natural beauty.