In a culture that defines femininity as a marker of sexual desirability and youth, aesthetic anti-aging surgeries, and technologies offer women new opportunities (or responsibilities) to mold their faces and bodies following feminine beauty standards. For many, these procedures engender feelings of empowerment and self-worth.
Noninvasive anti-aging treatments like hyaluronic acid fillers, neurotoxins, and skin tightening procedures reduce fine lines and wrinkles and improve tone and texture for younger-looking skin with less sagging. These procedures also require little to no downtime.
Improves Skin Texture
A loss of tone, texture, and dullness in the skin is a natural part of aging. Sun damage, wrinkles, mild scarring, and pigmentation changes can all contribute to these textural irregularities.
Fortunately, anti-aging surgery helps restore the skin’s natural supply of collagen that deteriorates with age. Many treatments also protect your skin from future damage to help maintain results.
Chemical peels can remove the outer layer of old skin, tighten sagging areas and reduce fine lines. Deeper peels can address more advanced signs of aging, including deeper wrinkles, extensive sun damage, and severe acne scarring.
Light therapy treatments use ultrasound technology to target the deeper SMAS superficial musculoaponeurotic system (the same muscle surgeons manipulate in a facelift). This treatment uses energy to stimulate your body’s natural production of collagen.
Platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, is another non-surgical treatment that uses the body’s blood cells to rejuvenate the skin. Typically administered in micro-needling or a vampire facial, this treatment can produce jaw-dropping results and increase lost collagen levels to produce firmer, more elastic, youthful-looking skin.
Reduces Fine Lines and Wrinkles
Many respondents report that anti-aging surgeries and technology – such as a facelift, tummy tuck, or breast implants – allow them to feel more ‘attractive,” sexually desirable,’ and ’empowered.’ Moreover, the fact that such procedures are now accessible even to women with lower incomes has ‘given them permission’ to use these technologies to fulfill the ‘demands of femininity’.
Some wrinkle reduction treatments, such as dermal fillers, require little or no downtime and can improve skin tone, texture, and tautness, resulting in more youthful-looking skin. Other treatments, such as radiofrequency, laser, or fractional skin resurfacing, reduce wrinkles by heating the deeper layers of skin to stimulate natural healing and collagen production for tighter skin. These treatment options can also reduce scarring and blemishes, such as dark spots or circles. Botox is an injectable that can decrease lines on the forehead, frown area, and crow’s feet. It requires no recovery, and the results last 3-4 months, so patients typically return for repeat injections. Lastly, micro-needling uses tiny needles to create an infusion of blood in the skin, stimulating natural collagen growth for a more plump, less lined, and younger-looking appearance.
Tightens Sagging Skin
Loose skin can cause a person to look older and unhealthy. It happens due to the loss of collagen networks, elastin fibers, and hyaluronic acid. Overexposure to sunlight, pregnancy, and weight loss can also loosen skin molecules. Fortunately, there are anti-aging treatments that tighten loose skin for a more youthful appearance.
One option is to have a facelift. This surgical procedure lifts and tightens sagging skin in the neck, jowls, and undereye area. It can remove fine lines and wrinkles as well for a rejuvenated appearance.
Another option is noninvasive skin tightening treatments. These treatments use safe levels of radio-frequency energy to heat the skin without damaging it. This triggers the body to produce more collagen to firm the skin.
Other options include dermal fillers, which can reduce sagging and erase wrinkles in the upper eyelids and under-eye areas. It can also add volume to sagging or deflated cheeks. This is a more subtle anti-aging solution than a facelift but produces excellent results. Lastly, you can try energy treatments that deliver energy (heat) to the deeper layers of your skin to stimulate more collagen production.
Enhances Overall Appearance
Some women use cosmetic surgical procedures that enhance their facial features, such as facelifts and tummy lifts, to look younger. However, the most popular noninvasive anti-aging process involves injecting a serum into the skin to stimulate collagen production. Known as derma lifts or facial injections, these techniques are designed to reduce fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes and mouth. These treatments can also tighten loose skin to create a more youthful appearance.
Many respondents articulate a beauty/agelessness ideology that frames anti-aging surgeries and technologies as an acceptable and desirable alternative to natural aging. In addition, the availability of these interventions increases pressure on some women to conform to feminine beauty norms and practices that they find limiting and restrictive.
For some women, the crow’s feet and deep furrows in their forehead or the ’11s’ are the first signs of aging that make them feel self-conscious and less attractive. This is why they turn to blepharoplasty or eyelid surgery, an anti-aging procedure that can eliminate these pesky signs of aging for a rejuvenated appearance.