BRENTWOOD: Over 60s turn to plastic surgery

By pmeyler

SILVER surgery looks to be booming as more and more over 60s get comfort from the surgeon's scalpel.

New figures have shown a huge rise in the number of elderly men and women opting for a no-nonsense answer to defying the laws of gravity.

In the past five years Spire Hartswood Hospital in Brentwood has seen the number of older women, particularly those in their 60s and 70s, opting for some sort of cosmetic surgery increase by 303 per cent.

The number of men in the same age bracket has increased by 168 per cent.

Of those older people opting for surgery, the most popular procedure is eyelifts with 15 per cent opting for the procedure. Some 12 per cent go for facelifts, 11 per cent choose tummy tucks, 8 per cent have liposuction and 4 per cent go under the knife for breast reductions.

One 58-year-old woman, who doesn't want to be named and who lives near Chelmsford, had her upper eyelids lifted this time last year.

She said: "My upper eyelid was so baggy the lid was balancing on the lashes so I couldn't see upwards.

"I couldn't put any eyeshadow on either. So it was partly vanity and part necessity.

"But until I had it done I hadn't realised how restricted my eyesight was."

The mother-of-two, who shelled out £2,700 for the two-hour op, said she is unlikely to have any more surgery and would not consider having Botox but conceded that, for many, surgery is a necessary confidence booster.

"It depends how you view yourself but many people cannot cope with growing old," she said.

"Saying that, 100 per cent it made me feel better.

"Most people didn't know or recognise that I had anything done, they thought that I had put different make-up on. That was pleasing because I didn't want anyone to think I'd had surgery."

Mark Gittos, one of three consultant plastic surgeons at Spire Hartswood Hospital in Eagle Way, said: "The number of people having cosmetic surgery during the last five years has increased dramatically, so it has never been more important to make sure that the surgeon has the correct qualifications.

"There has been a particular rise in male cosmetic procedures over a five-year period, as well as older people in their 60s and 70s recognising the increasing acceptance of cosmetic surgery in our society."