Surgery myths & magic

[attach]4078[/attach]They say that 60 is the new 40. And it is, if Dr. Peter Adamson has anything to do with it.

As we age, gravity works against us, pulling down frown lines and creating wattles. And because aging skin is less supple and firm, it simply gives in to the relentless pull downward. But we’re still young on the inside, even though many of us may look older on the outside.

“Most patients simply want their outer appearance to reflect their inner spirit,” says Adamson, a Toronto facial cosmetic surgeon.

However, he adds, there are many reasons why his patients come to him.

“Usually, they see something in the mirror that has always bothered them and want it fixed.”

Or it may indeed be that aging leaves them looking tired or even frowning.

Brenda Sabine-Green is 58. She didn’t want a major change, but she says every time she looked in the mirror she looked tired.

“I’m animated, so my face moves a lot,” she says. “And all that movement takes a toll on your skin.”

At about age 40, she noticed that her eyes were drooping, so Sabine-Green had a procedure called blepharoplasty, which lifts the upper eyelids and removes excess skin in the area. It also entails tightening the area below the eyes to remove puffiness. Now it was time for the lower part of her face where the sagging skin at her jaw line bothered her.

“Dr. Adamson made it look natural,” she reported. “Not even my close family felt my face had changed significantly.

“Best of all, friends who didn’t know I’d had surgery said things like, ‘You look rested’ or ‘You look younger.’ I love it!”

“Two-thirds of North Americans dislike something about their faces,” Adamson says. “Finding the courage to change it can result in a marvellous transformation.”

However, he’s quick to add, it’s not one that should be undertaken lightly.

The first visit to his office is an hour long, and during it, the doctor tries to elicit the patient’s motivation for the surgery and ensure that expectations are realistic. Usually, the motive is simply, “I want to change this.” But, laughs Adamson, one woman returned a year after her surgery and confided: “I told you I just wanted to look a little better, but I really wanted to meet a husband. And I have!”

Sometimes the motive may be completely unrealistic.

“I had one patient who wanted to look better so he could be an actor,” Adamson recalls. “He had never done any acting but thought a new face would give him a new career.

“This isn’t magic. He has more chance of being run over by a Brinks truck! We didn’t do the surgery, but I helped him to find counselling.”

Adamson has seen so many transformations in his office, it motivated him to write a book about it. In Fabulous Faces — From Motivation to Transformation through Facial Plastic Surgery, Adamson describes many different types of facial surgery as well as alternative procedures. He takes the reader on a very personal journey with several of his patients — from the first decision through the post-surgical period, to the final result. There are even little tips — such as change your hairdo — to prevent the improvement being the first thing people notice.

The book dispels many of the myths surrounding plastic surgery, but it is frank about the risks and the pain involved.

Bonita’s story describes not just the discomfort and nausea on her first night, but also the fact that her son won’t visit because “he doesn’t want to see me like this.”

The upside comes from stories like Mary’s. She is exultant but nonetheless realistic.

“Having facial surgery hasn’t made me look like a 30 year old again,” she says. “But wherever I go, whatever I’m wearing, no matter how little makeup I have on my face, I feel like a very well-preserved 60-plus woman who always looks her best and is aging amazingly well.

“I have a new confidence in my appearance and a new bounce in my step.”

The book is a valuable reference for anyone considering a change. But note that change doesn’t come cheaply. Sabine-Green, who spent $18,000 for both a lower facelift and dermabrasion, puts it into perspective.

“We’re all willing to do without to do something we really want to do,” she says. “For my husband it’s a snowmobile — for me, it’s my face.”

Adamson’s book is available for $29.95 through Amazon.com. Ten percent of the proceeds go to the Canadian Foundation for Facial Plastic Surgery, a humanitarian organization that sponsors overseas missions for surgeons to operate on underprivileged children with congenital and traumatic deformities. Adamson is its president.