Facing the Fear of a Make Over

There’s nothing wrong with some strategic plastic surgery to make you feel better about growing older, but some seniors are concerned that aging increases the risks for complications, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens.

The first rule of cosmetic surgery is to check with your family doctor. The Centers for Disease Control suggests that before you undergo plastic surgery “discuss other health problems, such as diabetes, with your doctor. These issues could affect your surgery and your treatment.”

But AMAC notes that once your physician gives you the nod, a new study shows that most cosmetic procedures are not any more risky for seniors than for younger patients. Dr. Max Yezhelyev of Vanderbilt University Medical Center recently published the results of a massive study of 129,000 patients conducted over five years. The results, he reported, showed that “patients over 65 can safely undergo cosmetic procedures with a complications rate similar to younger patients when surgery is performed by a board-certified plastic surgeon.”