Older patients seek plastic surgery for career confidence

There's a growing trend of people 50 and older who aren't just going under the knife for vanity, but also to help their careers

By Tim Saunders

Cosmetic surgery has long been used by people who want to stay young looking.

Now there's a growing trend of people 50 and older who aren't just going under the knife for vanity, but also to help their careers.

Denise Basham-Knowles deals with the public for a living.

"I've been a realtor and auctioneer here in the area 16 years," said Basham-Knowles.

She meets new people all the time and now that she's approaching 50, she wants to put her "best face" forward.  In recent years, that was hard to do.

"I wasn't smiling as much, because I was starting to feel like as I got older people were looking at me," said said Basham-Knowles.

Late last year she decided it was time for a change.

"It was my confidence level that was down, not anything to do with work, but I thought if I feel better about myself I will do better at work," said Basham-Knowles.

To make that happen, she got a facelift.

"Personally, I'm a lot happier," said Basham-Knowles.  "I wake up and smile in the mornings."

Basham-Knowles is not alone.  Surgeons say a growing number of women and men are undergoing procedures at a later age.

"We get people older and older who see that these things are available," said  Simon Hatin, a board certified plastic surgeon with Plastic Surgery Associates of Lynchburg.

Many of the patients Hatin sees are after a "younger" look for career reasons.  He says older clients are looking for less invasive procedures.

"That can range from smoothening out of wrinkles to softening of folds.  Lifting of certain areas," said Hatin, who adds that medical advancements have made cosmetic work less painful than it used to be.

"We use medications nowadays that are much easier on older physiology," said Hatin.

Giving people like Basham-Knowles a tool to stay confident as they work into later years.

"It's not going to go out there make your business boom overnight, but if it makes you feel good then you're going to do a better job," said Basham-Knowles.

Basham-Knowles said she started getting compliments immediately after her surgery and that she healed in just a matter of days, something that fit well with her work schedule.