Dr. Lindsey's Newsletter #28: Plastic Surgery by Decade - 60s: Upside Down

Plastic Surgery By Decade

60s: Upside Down

Once you have reached your 60s you have hurdled many of the big challenges in life that contribute to aging. For nearly all humans this means you have traversed puberty, your reproductive and productive working years, menopause if you are a woman and changes in testosterone if you are a man. The average age of menopause is 51 and the peri-menopausal state can last for years. If you are 60 you are probably on the other side of this and getting to know your new body and skin. You may feel like the body you have grown to know your whole life is turning upside down with all of the changes, but we love a challenge. Let us help you get to know this new body and defeat the challenges you face. Whether these are new skincare needs, or face and body features that are on a gravitational trajectory downwards that only surgery can help.

Skincare

Post-menopausal skin undergoes several changes due to hormonal fluctuations, primarily a decrease in estrogen levels. Some of the common changes include:

1. Dryness: A decline in estrogen can lead to decreased oil production in the skin, resulting in dryness and increased sensitivity.
2. Thinning: Estrogen helps in maintaining collagen levels in the skin. As estrogen levels drop during menopause, the skin loses

Because of these changes your skincare routine will need to evolve with your body. You will likely need to make the following adjustments:

1. For Dryness: supplement your hyaluronic acid based moisturizers.
2. Thinning: choose a retinol that will increase the collagen and elastin in your skin without exacerbating dryness.

Glowbiotics makes this “Estrogen Depletion Light Moisture Duo”. The name is a bit misleading because the moisture is not necessarily “light”, it just feels light. This powerful duo targets the loss of firmness, moisture and volume that occurs when estrogen depletion happens.

Skin Types: Dry Skin, Normal Skin, and Combination Skin

Skin Concerns: Excessive Dryness and Estrogen Depletion

Visit: 

https://www.glowbiotics.com/highland10

Make sure and use HIGHLAND10 at checkout for 10% off!

For an extra oomph to your moisture (at any age but especially post-menopausal) this is my all time favorite moisturizer of any product line. It hits a lot of needs with brightening agents that help with unwanted pigment plus ultra rich moisture!

This product duo from Skinbetter is lovely for all ages of skin. The reason why I love it for post-menopausal skin is that it is so gentle and non-drying. In an era when you need all of the moisture you can get you will still be able to keep up with your antioxidant serum (Alto Defense) and your Retinoid (AlphaRet).

Visit my Skinbetter store to shop:

 https://skinbetter.pro/lindseytavakolianmd

This is a brand new moisturizer and an answer to the Skinbetter community begging for an ultra rich moisturizer. I would love for y’all to try it and give me your feedback!

The most comprehensive approach to navigate this era gracefully is to:

-Work with a functional medicine doctor to replace hormones systemically

-Work with your plastic surgeon to establish an updated plan for your skincare and plastic surgery needs

Non-Surgical Procedures

For Skin Texture/Thinning

Make microneedling a commitment - every 6 months, or at least yearly in order to keep building the collagen you are losing each decade. This is so important to include in your regimen as you move into your golden years. Your skin is losing thickness due to a drop-off in hormones and microneedling is a collagen stimulating treatment. Combine it with PRP for an added growth-factor boost!

For Unwanted Pigment + Texture Problems

BBL/IPL (Broad Band Light): this light treatment often referred to as a laser (although a misnomer because it is multiple wavelengths of light) is a powerful treatment tool with hardly any downtime at all. This tool treats brown pigment, red pigment, and it has been proven on biopsy to change the DNA composition of your skin causing expression of more “youth related genes”.

Chemical and laser peels are both very effective at treating superficial skin texture problems that surgery cannot fix. Think peri-oral wrinkles, and overall crepey texture in skin.

The Great Neurotoxin Shift

Botox/Dysport/Xeomin neurotoxins are most effective at wrinkle prevention and treatment in the first 40 years of your life. You may have experienced an enormous benefit from these tox treatments but with time notice that while they do eliminate wrinkles from muscle movement, your brow starts sliding down your forehead with time and this in turn causes heavy hooded eyelids. This is the decade that you will need to be in the hands of a true professional injector invested in your outcome - not the sale of the syringe. Your injector needs to know when to say no and counsel you that surgery with a totally revamped tox plan is your best strategy. Tox is not out of the question, but how it is injected will change.

PRP is discussed at length in prior newsletters (I invite you to read them and learn!). The best use for PRP in your 60s is for:

Hair loss treatment: PRP injections to the scalp for men and women.

Skin quality/texture treatment: either PRP injection to focal areas of the face or as a topical after microneedlign when your face has open channels ready to accept the liquid gold.

Filler

The recommendations in our last series newsletter stand. Filler can be used judiciously to help disguise the features of aging by projecting cheeks that have lost their plump, fill sunken temples, and restore the structure of the chin/jaw that recedes with age. Make sure your plastic surgeon is coordinating this plan to avoid misguided investment in filler when surgery is the only answer for your goals.

Stay tuned for our next addition on surgery in your 60s decade!

What I love the most about aging is the cumulative knowledge you gain about your body over time. This should bring confidence and a huge toolbox to face your challenges if you navigate this well. I am here to help empower you with data driven strategies. Together we can harness our collective knowledge about your body + science and help you make aging optional.

As always, here's to choosing how we age, on our own terms!

Dr. Lindsey Tavakolian, MD MPH

Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon