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Slim pickings: A study has found on average people look just three years younger
A unique study found plastic surgery results in a more youthful appearance, but the improvements are remarkably small.
Overall, the number of years ‘saved’ by having a full facelift or other procedures such as eyelid surgery is around three.
The more work that’s done, the younger the look, according to US and Canadian specialists.
But they failed to find any significant change in attractiveness ratings afterwards - and in Britain the cost of a clutch of cosmetic surgery procedures could top £10,000.
Dr Joshua Zimm, of the Lenox Hill Hospital and Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Institute of North Shore-LIJ Health System, New York, who led the latest study, said plastic surgeons often don’t tell prospective patients they will look younger or more attractive because of the lack of objective research.
Instead patients are told they will look ‘more refreshed’ and ‘less tired’.
But, he said, there is no doubt the explosion in facial surgery has been driven by expectations that patients will look younger, better and even have a competitive edge in the rat race at work.
However, the new study shows ‘limitations’ in what patients should expect.
‘Our data demonstrate that ageing face surgery is effective in reducing the apparent age of patients but doesn’t consistently improve a patient’s attractiveness’ he said.
The latest study, published in the journal JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery (must credit), is the first to investigate ratings of attractiveness post-surgery as well as enhanced youthfulness.
Expectations: One doctor claims the explosion in people having plastic surgery was driven by a belief they would look younger, but it comes at a huge financial cost
The patients had surgery between July 2006 and July 2010 at a private practice in Toronto, Canada, run by surgeon Peter Adamson, who took part in the study.
Patients in the study ranged in age from 42 to 73 years at the time of surgery with an average age of 57 years.
On average, the raters estimated their patients’ ages to be about 2.1 years younger than their chronological age before surgery and 5.2 years younger than their chronological age after surgery.
To minimise bias by the raters, none was shown before and after pictures of the same patient.
Raters were also asked to rate the patient’s attractiveness on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the most unattractive and 10 being the most attractive.
There was a small, but statistically insignificant increase in attractiveness scores in post-op photographs.
Three-quarters of patients scored within the range 4-7, and the scores did not change with surgery even after allowing for patient age and procedure.
Dr Zimm said the study found a person’s perceived age conferred a certain level of attractiveness - with younger people generally gauged as being more attractive.
‘From this study, it seems the attractiveness level will remain the same, regardless of age’ he said.
‘The age reduction is more substantial when the number of surgical procedures is increased, but this did not significantly improve overall attractiveness’ he added.
Rajiv Grover, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons who practises at the King Edward VII Hospital in London, said the attractiveness ratings fell short using strict statistical criteria, but market research techniques would probably have found a substantial change.
He said most UK plastic surgeons would believe the study underestimated the amount of benefit gained by many patients.
He said ‘The key here is good selection. I turn away 40 to 45 per cent of potential patients because I tell them honestly I don’t think they’re going to get the results they’re after and they’ll be wasting their money.
‘If you select patients well, and they’re in the hands of a competent, experienced surgeon I would expect them to look seven, eight, even nine years younger afterwards’ he added.
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