First Scientific Study of Aging Now Underway

At its annual meeting this year, the American Society for Aesthetic
Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) hosted a special presentation by a member
surgeon who is conducting an ongoing scientific study of facial aging.
This is the first medical study of its kind to systematically document
how the face actually ages.

Interestingly, this study is being conducted on plastic surgeons
themselves. It was begun in 2005, and each of the participants is
photographed yearly during the ASAPS annual meeting. Their faces are
analyzed for a variety of factors, including the effects of weight gain.

Early plastic surgeons thought that aging in the face primarily
resulted from sagging skin. Thus the original facelift techniques
focused on merely making the skin tight, which created in a stretched
and unnatural look. We now know that sagging skin is just one factor in
facial aging; the musculature supporting the face needs to be considered
as well.

The author, who is a plastic surgeon himself, was a big fan of fat
grafting to correct volume loss in the face associated with aging. His
study of these digital photographs of his colleagues have revealed to
him that volume loss only occurs in some people with aging, and in his
opinion, this is the minority. He has actually dramatically reduced the
percentage of his own facial rejuvenation patients that he fat grafts.

Read more about this fascinating study on facial aging.

Categorized in: Facelift