Makeovers After Menopause: Solutions to Sagging, Stubborn Pounds & Other Joys/Drags of Aging
Menopause has its perks—no more tampons! No more birth control! Unfortunately, the rapid hormonal changes that occur when our ovaries go out of business can have a much less welcome effect on your appearance. Extra pounds creep on so easily, skin feels drier, our faces look a little more drawn, and oh, the sagging! Seemingly overnight, our breasts, cheeks (both kinds) and other areas are just not the same.
Blame it on the decline of estrogen.
When we’re younger, our ovaries produce healthy levels of estrogen, which helps skin stay firm, plump and healthy by encouraging collagen production and maintaining a good balance of water and proteins such as hyaluronic acid.
As estrogen production goes south during menopause, these skin-boosting properties all but vanish, causing skin to become thinner, drier and less elastic, often resulting in an increase in wrinkles. Additionally, age-related loss of muscle mass and slowdown in metabolism can make it much harder to keep pounds off—and if you lose them, skin is less likely to contract well. All these changes can be a real drag, and may make you feel less feminine than before.
Don’t let menopause get you down—instead take it as an opportunity to tune yourself up.
Dr. Clark and our skin care staff love helping a fellow female feel confident in her own skin. We have extensive experience addressing unwanted aging-related changes with what we call a “menopause makeover.” Like its little sister, the mommy makeover, a menopause makeover includes a personalized set of procedures tailored to address your top concerns, so you can look in the mirror and think “now, this is me, and I love it.”
What’s a little different is the focus—menopause makeovers tend to concentrate on lifting and rejuvenating. More often than not, a procedure plan will include surgical and non-surgical treatments for the face, breasts and body. Here are a few top options to give you an idea of how cosmetic surgery can help.
Goal: Get my feminine figure back
Get it with: Breast lift surgery
Sagging, deflated breasts are common after childbearing, and menopause-related loss of skin elasticity can exacerbate the issue. By removing excess, stretched skin and restoring a rounder, perkier shape, a breast lift can give your girls a fresh start. And, you’re never too old for breast implants if you’d like a size boost at the same time. Dr. Clark’s had happy breast augmentation patients well into their 60s and above.
Goal: Feel confident (and sexy) again
Get it with: Feminine rejuvenation
Have your lady parts loosened after menopause? It’s totally normal and happens to most of us eventually. However, normal doesn’t mean tolerable, so if sagging labia or lax vaginal tissues are interfering with your comfort, self-confidence, or sex life, feminine rejuvenation can help.
Dr. Clark offers many options, including non-surgical laser vaginal rejuvenation with FemiLift. This laser treatment tones and tightens loosened tissues in a painless, 15-minute treatment, helping to improve natural lubrication, reduce discomfort during sex and exercise, and even alleviate stress urinary incontinence for many patients. If you have more extensive sagging, surgical labiaplasty can eliminate the excess, stretched skin with only a few days of downtime.
Goal: Look healthy and refreshed, not haggard
Get it with: Facial rejuvenation treatments
Barely recognize the old lady staring you back in the mirror? It’s not in your head—loss of facial fat and skin elasticity can lead to fine lines, jowling and a “harder” appearance to facial features.
Often, we can restore a naturally refreshed appearance without surgery. A combo of injectable neurotoxins (BOTOX or Dysport) to reduce frown lines and crow’s feet, fillers to soften creases around the nose and mouth and restore volume to cheeks or lips, and treatments like Kybella to improve the jaw contour can do wonders, with minimal downtime and results that last months before a touch-up is needed.
More severe sagging (i.e., you have a bona-fide turkey wattle or jowls) can be addressed with facelift or neck lift surgery, which requires several weeks of downtime but can achieve long-lasting improvements and set the “sagging timer” back several years.
Ready to get your groove back? Contact us for a consultation.
When it comes to addressing unwanted effects of menopause on your appearance, we’re your women. Board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Christa Clark and her highly qualified aesthetic team will be happy to hear your concerns and help you decide on a treatment plan to achieve your goals. Call Granite Bay Cosmetic Surgery at 916-242-2662 or contact us online anytime to request your personal consultation.
