Plastic Surgery

There are as many reasons for getting plastic surgery as there are older patients, experts say. Some people are living longer and remaining healthier, and they want their physiques to align with their psyches. Some are preening for potential mates and want their feathers to look their freshest. Some are still working or looking for jobs and want to be seen as more youthful contenders.

And some are simply sick of slackened jowls, jiggly underarms and saggy eyelids. Gilbert Meyer, a retired film producer in Boynton Beach, Fla., who gave his age only as “over 75,” saw Dr. Jacob Steiger, a facial plastic surgeon in Boca Raton, Fla., for an eye and neck lift last year. He spent $8,000.

“I was looking at myself in the mirror and didn’t like what I was starting to see and did something about it,” Mr. Meyer said. “Why not look as good as you can when you can?”

Mary Graham, a 77-year-old restaurant owner in Thomasville, Ga., got a face-lift and breast implants earlier this year. “The only time I go to the doctor is for plastic surgery,” she said.

Ms. Graham plans to open another restaurant in Tallahassee, Fla., in the fall. “I work seven days a week,” she said. “I wanted to look as young as I feel.”

Her plastic surgeon, Dr. Daniel Man of Boca Raton, Fla., who said he is seeing increasing numbers of patients over age 70, said, “These people are healthy and want to be an active part of society.”

Any operation poses risks, but surprisingly few studies have focused on older patients and cosmetic enhancements. One report, published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in June, found that the hazards in people over age 65 are no greater than in the younger population.

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic reviewed the medical records of 216 face-lift patients over the course of three years. The researchers found no significant difference in the instances of minor or major complications between one group of patients whose average age was 70 and another group whose average age was 57.6.

“We’re saying it’s not chronologic age that’s so important, but it really is physiologic,” said Dr. James E. Zins, the senior author of the study and chairman of the department of plastic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.

All patients in his study were screened for such health problems as lung and heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as use of medications, like anticoagulants, that could have complicated the operations. But not all older patients may be so thoroughly screened, , so his findings don’t necessarily mean the risks are minimal in an older population.

“Is there a theoretical age upon which complications do become more likely?” he mused. “Does that mean that patients 70 and 75 years and over can safely undergo a face-lift with the same complication rate as young patients? We didn’t have enough numbers to answer that question.”