Use of Cosmetic Surgery Continues to Rise With Women of All Ages

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Newsweek

(2007-12-14) ; Barrett, Jennifer;

Springen, Karen

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The most popular cosmetic surgery in 2006 was breast augmentation, a number that is expected to increase in coming years according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Much of this growth is being driven by a growing number of older women opting for breast augmentations.

In 2006, almost a third of those patients who had breast augmentations were over 40, 17 percent more than the year before. Some of this growth is being fueled by the growing popularity of weight-loss surgery. Since 2003, the number of weight-loss surgeries in the United States doubled. The average patient undergoing this procedure was in their late 30s. But the majority of women opting for breast augmentation are doing so as part of a "mommy-makeover". More women are now undergoing breast lift or augmentation combined with a tummy tuck in order to restore the figure they maintained before having children. According to former American Society of Plastic Surgery President Dr. Walter Erhardt older women have a different mindset about going under the knife. "These women don't approach this so much as cosmetic surgery but as reconstructive surgery."

Whatever the reasoning, these procedures are not without both physical and fiscal price tags. A breast augmentation generally costs $3,600 while a breast lift runs $4,200 and a tummy tuck about $5,000. And as women get older the risks associated with these procedures also increase. In women over 40, breast surgery becomes more intensive as fatty tissue replaces supportive tissue in the breasts and skin begins to sag more. Still, a growing number of older women are obviously willing to take these risks if it means returning to the body they enjoyed in their younger years.