Botched Plastic Surgery

Top 10 High-Risk Cosmetic Procedures for Aging People

If you are over fifty-five and worried about cosmetic surgery, please reconsider. There are simply too many ways that a cosmetic surgery can go wrong, especially for an older patient. Older patients are more susceptible to the risks of serious anxiety, anesthetics, surgical invasion and slow recovery periods.

Here are the top ten high-risk procedures for aging people.

1. Lower Body Lift
This is an invasive body contouring procedure for patients who have lost a lot of weight in a short time. It works by removing extra skin and fat between the mid-abdomen and the upper thighs. The major risk of this procedure is based on its invasion. Because the incisions are long and a dramatic amount of tissue is removed, there are risks of fluid build-up, infection, bleeding and blood clots. Recovery can take one to two weeks.

2. Abdominoplasty
A tummy tuck is a highly invasive procedure in which the skin and fat above the abdominal muscles are lifted away from the rest of the body, excised, stretched out and sutured. The anesthetics alone are enough to make a twenty-year-old nauseous. Recovery time is two to three weeks, with a long list of possible side effects including bleeding, infection, blood clots, deep vein thrombosis, and cardiac and pulmonary complications. You are also guaranteed to have a long scar from hip to hip.

3. Weekend Face Lift
This face lift is characterized by pulling facial skin tight instead of manipulating the muscles of the facial structure to reduce wrinkles, resulting in a windswept appearance. As the skin loses its tightness from the face lift surgery, the sagging and wrinkles may be even worse than before. While the recovery period is fast, the results are mediocre. This procedure has lower health risks, but it takes a toll on your wallet and emotions.

4. Traditional Liposuction
Traditional liposuction is the removal of fat tissue without any assistance, such as ultrasound or tumescent solution. It often tears apart blood vessels, elastic tissues and nerves. This causes dramatic pain, bruising and even bleeding beneath the skin in older patients. Traditional liposuction produces poor results that are absolutely not worth these risks.

5. Eyelift
A cosmetic eye lift, or blepharoplasty, removes fatty tissues surrounding the eyes that cause a perpetually exhausted appearance. Because incisions are made so close to the eyes, side effects can include temporary or permanent blindness, trouble opening or closing the eyelids, and ectropion, or eyelids that turn inside-out.

6. Arm Lift
A brachioplasty's biggest risk for older patients is the surgical manipulation of very delicate, aging skin. Most often, an older patient's skin is thin and has lost elasticity. This will prolong the healing process. Infection or bleeding beneath the skin may occur. An arm lift also leaves a long scar that runs from the underarm to the elbow.

7. Face Lift Surgery
A full face lift uses incisions that run from the temples, around the back of the ear and into the lower hairline. Extra skin is removed and the facial muscles are often manipulated to rest higher on the facial structure. A full recovery requires two weeks. Possible side effects include numbness, asymmetry, facial nerve injury and weakness.

8. Nose Job
A rhinoplasty often involves moving the nasal bones into an aesthetic location on the face. Patients with osteoporosis are at high risk for a broken nose. Other risks include broken blood vessels, blood clots and altered nasal passages. Recovery can take up to two weeks, but the final results of a nose job do not appear for a year or more.

9. Thigh Lift
Similar to the body lift, a thigh lift uses a long incision that wraps around the groin to the top of the outer hip. The surgeon then excises extra fat and skin. Closing the suture then lifts the thigh. This is another invasive procedure that removes high volumes of fat, skin and body fluid, putting patients at high risk. It also has a recovery period of one to two weeks.

10. Breast Lift or Augmentation
A breast lift removes sagging skin to lift the breast into a more youthful position. A breast augmentation alters the shape or size of the breast by using implants or a fat transfer procedure. The major risks of both these surgeries are loss in sensation; loss of the areola, nipple, or both; blood clots; and fat necrosis. These procedures have a recovery time of six weeks.

References for botched plastic surgery:

American Society of Plastic Surgeons - www.plasticsurgery.org
Daniel Shapiro MD – www.shapiroplasticsurgery.com

Additional Reading for Botched Plastic Surgery

Bad Celebrity Plastic Surgery - See pictures and more.