Menopause Makeover: Embracing Change Or Chasing Perfection?

Age is nothing but just a number. As long as you stick to this deep-seated philosophy of life, everything seems to be hunky dory. The moment you take the double digits representing your biological years on earth too seriously, things tend to spiral out of your grip.

People go berserk pulling out all the stops to experiment with their looks to appear near perfect with a flawless skin, an hourglass figure, forever-dark tresses and whatnot.

While there’s no harm in making that effort to look good, presentable and cut an impression all over, the blind craze to go under the surgical knife even beyond 60, however, is like pushing the limits a little too far.

Gorgeous granny

Grandma or menopause makeover is a rage now. Hollywood sirens Jane Fonda, Melanie Griffith, Jamie Lee Curtis, Courteney Cox reportedly embraced artificial augmentations to redefine their silver years with a renewed zest for life.

Many people in their 60s, 70s and 80s are still leading an active lifestyle while middle-aged glamorous divas are emerging as rockstars, giving the pretty 20s and even the hip teeny boppers a run for their money. Thanks to their blessed genes, fitness sessions, holistic regime, spiritual retreats involving meditation and yoga, and believe it or not, restorative surgical treatments that help rejuvenate their tired nerves, iron out those creases on the weather-beaten skin and make them come across as mint fresh as the morning dew!

Signs of ageing & surgeries

At an age, when crow’s feet, laugh lines, grey streaks, wrinkles, drooping bosoms become the telltale signs of reaching the eventide of one’s life, then a few dare to think otherwise and out of the box. They look for ways to freeze the ticking time and cease to grow old any further.

As a result, facelift, brow lift, chin lift, upper eye lift, lip filler, liposuction, rhinoplasty (nose job), extreme plastic and reconstructive surgeries, stomach stapling, hair transplants, breast enhancement, skin tightening, Botox injections, Juvéderm injections, intense pulsed light treatment, et al visibly surface to top the list of invasive and non-invasive methods on popular demand to reverse the usual indications of ageing, even if these cost a bomb and one’s organic beauty.

So if one craves for a glassy and pulpy skin at an age that should actually mean to repair a rough, saggy and wilted, cosmetology is the ready solution. It is a professional practice to beautify the face, skin and hair. Plastic surgeons recommend surgeries or cosmetic interventions for greying women above 60.

Fit as a fiddle

“I lend my consent only if the concerned lady’s medical conditions are found okay and if she’s declared medically fit despite being a senior person,” reveals reputed plastic surgeon Dr. Rajat Gupta.

“Usually patients post 60 come to us for facial rejuvenation procedures like facelifts, neck lift operations, eyebag surgeries like blepharoplasty that removes excess skin from the eyelids and loose skin in the lower eyelid. We have also done breast reduction surgeries or mammoplasty (reduces the size and weight of the breasts by slashing extra fat, skin and breast tissue) as well as abdominoplasty (to improve the shape and appearance of the abdomen) for aged people,” elaborates the doctor on the cosmetic treatments that aged women are nowadays opting for.

Safety net

One wonders how safe these techniques are for aged patients, who might balk at the involvement of too many risks. “We screen our patients for their individual comorbidities like if they have hypertension or diabetes and whether these issues are under control or not. We scan each individual aged above 60 and do a pre-anesthesia checkup. If required, we also perform echocardiogram to assess the heart status and conduct blood investigations to analyse the kidney, liver and thyroid functions. Additionally, we take a chest X-ray to ensure the safety of the procedures,” informs Dr. Gupta, who’s also the founder of RG Aesthetics Clinic.

Being natural

In the context of latest advancements in plastic surgery skills that cater specifically to the needs of older women, specialists agree that all women want a natural-looking result. “Obviously, they are not desperate to chase unfeasible dreams like fantasising a 20-year-old’s look, which would be outrightly impractical to even imagine. What they want is to appear naturally pleasant and fresher, maybe five-seven years younger maximum. Nobody loves to wear a gloomy, long-drawn expression on her face after all. One should feel comfortable, happy and cheerful in her own space,” notes the surgeon.

Mad fad

One doesn’t need to go bonkers over correcting his/her naturally inherent looks that God has gifted him/her since birth. However, the competitive urge to improve an existing image everytime one sees its reflection in the mirror gets the better of one’s conscience call. It overrides a person’s rationality to see through the hollowness of such attempts.

Blame it on social constructs; peer pressure; faulty upbringing; body shaming; inferiority complex; and the instinctive dictates to look a certain way, don a specific skin tone and sport the worldwide acceptable vital stats. All these count as a trigger to walk the artificial route to look anything else but yourself and ignore what is your own in the name of mending the defects.

“The pangs of insecurity play an instrumental part in inducing this psychological crisis. You want to be a force to reckon with even when others write you off,” is what most psychoanalysts believe in.

But why has looking flawless become an obsessive fad for women that even senior citizens in their 60s and beyond are opting for surgical procedures to appear near perfect?

“The increasing mania to look faultless stems from societal pressures that equate youth with picture-perfect beauty and stupendous success,” opines consultant psychologist Sameera Sachdeva.

Herd instinct

“With the rise of social media and celebrity culture, women are being constantly exposed to unrealistic beauty standards. This burden doesn't just affect the younger lot. Many aged people also feel compelled to undergo cosmetic procedures to maintain a youthful appearance and feel relevant to the mainstream popular tastes. You see, ageing is often misconstrued as something needed to be fixed or rectified, thus creating a phobia of natural ageing and the desire to conform to these untenable ideals,” she rues further.

Pin-up star influencers

Admittedly, it is a common trend among celebrities or screen personalities to undergo clinical and cosmetic procedures to uplift their exterior and proudly flaunt what has been artificially acquired to date. But aren’t the stakes amply high in such cases as some meet with success, while others get the job done totally wrong to the extent of distorting their original shape?

The logical question that inevitably crops up on the mind is that how important it is to age naturally and gracefully and accept the wrinkles and the silver streaks that reflect true age.

“ageing organically is significant for emotional well-being and self-acknowledgement. Crinkles, lines, silver strands, warts and all are symbols of wisdom, life experiences and resilience. When we accept and embrace these changes, we shift our focus from superficial beauty to the inner strength and character traits we've developed over time. Accepting our natural ageing process allows us to live with more confidence and at peace, free from the external loads of maintaining an unrealistically impeccable appearance,” shares Sachdeva, who’s also the clinical supervisor at WellM, an emotional and physical well-being company that helps manage stress and anxiety.

Yardsticks of beauty and glamour keep altering from time to time. In the erstwhile eras, fuller frames, curvy features and voluptuous bodies with pouty lips were hugely celebrated. Cut to the current millennium, measurements redefining new sets of beauty standards mirror a sea change. Svelte figures with lovely bone structures and a pair of long slender legs are sashaying down the fashion ramps to call the shots. In order to look stunning by unfairly toeing this line of sky-high expectations, women of all ages end up idolising and aping the pin-up stars.