Cosmetic Treatments After 60: We’re Not Your Grandma’s Grandmas

Cosmetic treatments are popular with people of all ages, but especially so as we reach the AARP years. Anti-aging treatments, surgical or not, have always drawn older patients, of course. The motivations are multiple: the desire to retain or regain youthful looks to attract others and to boost personal confidence, for example, or the need to compete with younger professional colleagues (this one is a particularly strong motive for men, a growing segment of cosmetic patients).

Now a cosmetic surgeon is positing a completely new reason why older adults are drawn to cosmetic treatments: our grandkids.

In an interview with Lisette Hilton at Cosmetic Surgery Times, Dr, Edwin Williams, immediate past president of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, says he’s seeing a trend of patients in their 60s and 70s who are moved to seek rejuvenation treatment by kids saying the darnedest things.

“I think it’s the result of Facetime with grandchildren. They’re more motivated by grandchildren, than by occupation,” says Dr. Williams.

The comments only kids can make, like, “Grandpa, you look tired,” Or “Grandma, why do you look sad?” are one factor.

“There was a guy in my office about three months ago. He was 73. You just wouldn’t expect a 73-year-old guy to come in and want his eyes done, right?” Dr. Williams says. “He said my grandson said to me, ‘You look sad all the time, Pappy.’”

Other factors fueling the trend are social media. Pictures on Facebook and smartphones show every sign of aging. Attitudes about cosmetic surgery have also changed. Twenty years ago, 70-year-olds really didn’t really think about cosmetic surgery. It wasn’t mainstream. But now it is, Dr. Williams says.

Today’s grandmas and grandpas, in other words, aren’t your grandparents’ grandparents. Dr. Williams calls them “glammas and glampas” — grandparents not afraid of glam. He notes that older patients have more reasonable expectations of cosmetic treatments than those under 60 do. They are more likely to be grateful for subtle, natural improvements, rather than holding out for miraculous transformations.

According to the Cosmetic Surgery Times article,

Patients 65 and older make up 7.5% of total surgical cosmetic procedures and 10.7% of nonsurgical procedures, according to 2015 American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) statistics. The most popular nonsurgical procedures in the oldest age group are botulinum toxin injections, hyaluronic acid filler treatments and chemical peels.

At Comprehensive Dermatology Center of Pasadena, we welcome potential glammas and glampas to explore these and many other nonsurgical cosmetic treatments. If your grandkids are asking pointed questions during Sunday dinner or those Skype or Facetime sessions, contact us today for your complimentary cosmetic consultation!