Forget Facelifts, Aging is More
than Skin Deep

Cosmetic surgery to “cure” a tired face is often an option that is explored by women, and an increasing number of men, in their quest to hang onto their youth. Most of these procedures, including facelifts (rhytidectomy), chemical peels, as well as eye lid surgery (blepharoplasty) are not only expensive, uncomfortable and painful procedures, they may not always be the answer to finding an alternative to the fountain of youth.

A Stanford study found that aging facial bones could be just as guilty as the skin in revealing true age. “As the skin sags, the bony framework underneath the skin deteriorates as well, contributing to the development of new folds, creases, wrinkles, droops and valleys,” said David Kahn, MD and an assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine.

This research could explain why so many patients who undergo a facelift look very different to how they looked when they were in fact younger. “Part of the reason may be the tightening of the skin over a bony scaffolding that has deteriorated and changed in shape from when they were 18,” says Khan.