Posted on: December 15, 2006

Just Face It

None of us is getting any younger, but we don’t have to look it, thanks to injectables that do away with the need for facelifts and more

By Deborah Douglas
CTW Features

Aging baby boomers who don’t think they look as young as they feel don’t have to “go under the knife” with the frequency they have been doing so. But they are going “under the needle” to get the bonus benefits of cosmetic surgery without the risk, hassle and cost.

Cosmetic surgery is a booming industry, with Americans spending $12.4 billion annually, according to the New York-based American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. In fact, 81 percent of cosmetic procedures are nonsurgical. And increasingly, mature adults are looking to a combination of injectable products such as Botox, hyaluronic acids, fat and collagen to fill in lines and reduce the look of laugh and smile lines, facial wrinkles and sunken cheeks, and plump up buttocks and to reduce the look of thigh and buttock dimples.

In fact, Botox and hyaluronic acid injections are among the Top 5 nonsurgical cosmetic procedures, according to ASAPS. Botox injections grew 16 percent in 2005 from 2004. Hyaluronic acid injections (Restylane, Hylaform), jumped 35 percent between 2005 and 2004.

Notably, racial and ethic minorities are taking advantage of nonsurgical options, ASAPS figures show.

“Facelifts are down, and I treat a lot of African-American patients, so that’s actually good news for my patient population because they don’t want scars [something they’re prone to],” says Dr. Anthony Griffin, a California-based private practitioner who performs surgeries for ABC’s “Extreme Makeover” show. “I predict the syringe will replace the scalpel,” he says. “We’re already seeing that.”

What We’re Having Done

Mature adults and young adults seeking to stave off the effects of aging – often before they set in – look to injectables to fill in laugh lines and that crease between the nose and mouth called marionette lines, Griffin explains.

In Eva Lowry’s case, the 43-year-old working mom didn’t like what she saw in the mirror; she looked much older than she felt. And as an avid runner training for the New York marathon, she felt pretty darn good.

“My face wasn’t matching my body, no matter how much exercise I did,” says Lowry, who finally decided to do something after seeing herself in a photo she had printed to send to her husband who was away in the merchant marines. “A lot of the time I felt I looked really angry.”

So, Lowry got Botox injections, which relax facial muscles. Then she got Juvaderm injections (a newer type of hyaluronic acid) in the outline of her lips, taking care to avoid that extreme effect of having overinjected lips that look flipped up. She also took advantage of Cosmoderm, a human-based collagen, to have fine facial lines filled.

“I finally got the results I was looking for in all those years of patting creams on my face and looking in the mirror to see any results,” Lowry says.

Caucasian patients, like Lowry, tend to start getting anti-aging injections at earlier ages, such as the mid- to late-30s, Griffin says. Ethnic patients tend to seek out these benefits later.

But you’ll have to look lower to find an increasingly popular area for injections: The buttocks.

Buttock injections and contouring is one of the most popular procedures in Griffin’s office. He calls his procedure the Brazilian Butt Lift, and he prefers it greatly over risky buttock implants to add curvature and shape to his clients.

“The aesthetic has changed,” Griffin says. “You’ve got to have curves now; you can’t get away with a flat butt. I think butts are going to be the new breasts.”

How much of a butt do women want? Griffin says size requests depend on one’s cultural identification: “Everybody wants their procedure in accordance to the aesthetics of their group. White women want a little bit – but not too much. Black women want a booty. Asians and Hispanics want slight curves.”

Also, says Griffin, more gay men are seeking buttock enhancement.

What to Expect

Whether it’s fat, bovine collagen, human collagen, hyaluronic acid or another injectable substance, the effects are not permanent, say cosmetic-surgery experts. This is a good thing, says California-based Dr. Jessica Wu, who took part in clinical trials for Juvaderm, the hyaluronic acid recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“The analogy I like to make is, whereas surgery is permanent, like buying a car, with these procedures it’s like a leasing effect,” Wu says. “You can change your mind in a couple of years: ‘Maybe I don’t want my lips as plump.’ ‘Maybe I do like to see a little more of my lines.’”

Collagen can last three months; Botox injections must be done every three to four months; a human-based collagen, such as Cosmoderm, must be reinjected in three months, says Griffin.

One thing that lasts, Griffin says, is fat: “Fat lasts for at least 10 years. Sometimes you have to suck it out if the patient gains weight” because the fat injection site gets fatter with the rest of the body.

Some of the risks of injectables include “prolonged redness, skin death, scaring and noticeable lumps under the skin,” according to ASAPS.

And how do injections feel? “I’ve had eyebrow waxings that felt worse,” says Wu, who performed Lowry’s injections.

Botox, for example, feels like tiny pricks in the area of injection, Wu explains. Expect tenderness the more invasive the filler.

Collagen, however, can feel like rocks or little BBs underneath the skin. Restylane, a hyaluronic acid, represents and advancement in skin fillers, and fortunately feels like the sensation of Gummi bears under the skin, Wu says.

Juvaderm represents one of the latest advances in hyaluronic acids; it feels like “part of your own skin,” Wu says.

Like her patient, Lowry, Wu says many people require a combination of different products for the best results. And depending on the substance used, skin testing may be required, though it is not required with hyaluronic acids or fat, since both are naturally occurring substances.

“This is going to be a part of what women and men do to look the best they can,” Wu says. “A lot of my patients worry that they’re being too vain. We don’t worry about shaving or brushing our hair. This is a way for people to put their best face forward professionally, socially and to their partners.”