Individuals in their 60’s can still take advantage of preventative protocols to maintain the collagen, elastic tissue, and volume they currently have. In general, however, surgical treatment is more common in this decade but results can be maintained and further aging can be slowed with nonsurgical therapies.
Skin Care
- A daily skin care regimen is just as important now as it was in your 50’s. During the decade of retirement, taking care of your skin now will continue to pay dividends in the future. The focus in your 60’s is to increase collagen production, preserve current collagen levels, treat thinning skin, reduce age spots, and prevent skin drying, in addition to blending pigmentary changes. A secondary goal is to prepare the skin for any surgical or nonsurgical procedures that may be needed to optimize results.
- Brown spots can be treated with topical brightening agents (Exfolibright C), Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatments, Visage MD pigment peels, or fractionated CO2 laser. A conversation with your plastic surgeon can help determine which one of these is the most beneficial to you.
- Begin alternating medical microneedling with your medical grade superficial peels (Hydrafacial MD) every other month to maximize collagen production. Adding growth factors to the Hydrafacial MD and adding Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) with microneedling doubles your skin’s ability to produce collagen and heal from sun damage.
- The skin continues to thin this decade so efforts are made to increase the tone and turgor of the skin to minimize the crepey appearance of skin around the eyes, in the neck, and around the mouth by increasing collagen formation. This requires a combination of a daily skin care regimen, monthly skin treatments to boost your home skin care regimen, and resurfacing with either a fractionated CO2 laser (gold standard), radiofrequency microneedling, or both.
- As in your 50’s, the daily skin care regimen should consist of an exfoliating cleanser (Gentle or Brightening Cleanser), antioxidant (CE Brightening Serum), medical sunblock (Visage SunGuard), and Retin-A (Exfolibright-C) at a minimum; however, a low dose retinoid eye cream (Dual Eye Restorative Care), an active neck and decollete cream (Neck Enhance Complex), hand cream (MoistureRiche), and a hydrating moisturizer (Hydrating serum or HylaCream) are common additions to this decade and highly recommended. Our skin gets much drier during this decade so hydrating moisturizers for the face, neck, decollete, and hands are more important than ever especially during the dry summer and winter months.
Lines, Wrinkles, Folds, and Volume
- Botox or Dysport is essential during this decade to treat the lines in the upper face and around the eyes, but more importantly, to lift and hold the brows in place to counter gravity. In many cases, filler may be needed to treat the tapering effect of the forehead sinking into the temples bilaterally or simply to fill the deeper lines in the forehead. Botox or Dysport is frequently used in this age group to treat bands in the neck or drooping of the corners of the mouth as well.
- Significant lip volume has been lost by this decade and lip has turned inward from stretching of the upper lip. Using dermal fillers or implants to provide your lips with an age appropriate appearance also helps with supporting the corners of the mouth, lip border definition, improvement in lipstick lines, marionette lines going forward. Many men and women opt for lip implants at this stage because of the fixed cost and natural appearance and feel of modern lip implants.
- Many times Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is combined with volumizing fillers to enhance longevity of the filler during this decade and improve collagen stimulation.
- From a prevention standpoint, volume is of paramount importance because the skin is becoming lax and begins to sag. Support, in the form of volume, under the skin holds the facial tissues upwards and slows down sagging and stretching. This point cannot be emphasized enough. Volumizing fillers used during our MM Lift™, such as Restylane Lyft, Sculptra, Bellafill, Radiesse, among others, are used to lift and hold the cheek, jawline, brow, lower lid, perioral, and posterior face tissues up. Fat transfer and facial implants are also options for volume; fat transfer may not work as well in your late 60’s. Going to a plastic surgeon who specializes in nonsurgical modalities of the face and who trains other physicians can help you determine the best filler based on the characteristics needed for your face.
- Ear lobes are stretched from heavy earring use and from volume loss. Adding filler to the earlobes can reduce the appearance of a stretched or large earlobe and can also help earrings point straight forward instead of downward.
Skin Tightening
- During this decade, most individuals are seeking ways to tighten loose skin present along the jawline, neck, brows, heavy upper eyelids, and lower lids. There are 2 great ways of tightening the deeper layers of the skin: Ultherapy and facelifting.
- Ultherapy is a no downtime treatment performed in about an hour and is based on collagen production which in turn creates tightening and lifting over 3-5 months.
- Ultherapy is the closest modality we have to a surgical facelift but it is not a facelift. Ultherapy can provide a 30-50% improvement in lifting (assuming volume is addressed) whereas a facelift can provide a 90-95% improvement (again, assuming volume is addressed). Discussing your skin with your plastic surgeon can help determine the best option for you.
- Many individuals have both loss of volume and skin laxity so it’s important to determine if volume is needed in addition to Ultherapy to avoid an underwhelming Ultherapy result. Patients who are unhappy with their ultherapy results are usually disappointed because their volume loss was not treated adequately enough to provide visible change with their ultherapy treatment.
- In some cases, there isn’t enough skin elasticity to recommend ultherapy, and the best way to proceed is to tighten the skin by first performing a browlift, eyelid surgery, earlobe reduction, neck lift, or facelift and then using ultherapy as a maintenance therapy. Our Signature Natural surgical procedures provide a refreshed and natural finish. The idea is for someone to be able to sit right next to you and not know you had anything done.
Skin Resurfacing
- Because the skin is thinner during this decade, efforts are made to increase the thickness of the skin to minimize the crepey appearance of skin around the eyes, in the lower cheek, around the mouth, and in the neck by increasing collagen formation. Of course, a daily skin care regimen with active ingredients is essential; however, monthly medical grade superficial peels (Hydrafacial MD) alternating with medical microneedling is a proven way to increase collagen in the top layers of the skin, smooth irregularities, improve acne scars, but most importantly, tighten thin skin.
- Many times, despite daily skin care and regular medical grade superficial peels and microneedling, the skin is damaged from excessive sun exposure, radiation, tobacco use, tanning, or premature aging and treatment with resurfacing is more appropriate than prevention.
- Fractionated CO2 laser treats damaged skin, and though it has a week’s worth of downtime, it can tighten skin, remove precancerous lesions, improve brown spots, decrease pore size, improve visible scars, thicken thin skin, and smooth fine lines. Once the skin has been resurfaced, the results can be maintained using superficial peels and medical microneedling.
- Radiofrequency Microneedling (Infini Genius) increases collagen in the skin and provides the same benefits as CO2 laser (except for improvement in brown spots and color) but has the added benefit of no downtime and no sun restrictions. Fractionated CO2 is not recommended for skin that tans easily, and as such, radiofrequency microneedling is used for tightening in darker skin types.
Hair Treatment
- A thinning hairline, eyebrows or eyelashes can change the framing of the face making the face look older. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injections for thinning of the anterior hairline are very popular to thicken the density of hair along the hairline and to make the hair darker and longer. PRP can also be used for eyebrow hair thinning as well.
- A large forehead can often be reduced at the time of a browlift or mini facelift to advance the hairline anteriorly and to reduce the appearance of a recessed hairline or prominent forehead. PRP injections are generally used afterwards to maintain the appearance of the anterior hairline.
- Latisse is commonly recommended during this decade to help the eyelashes become longer, thicker, and darker. Eyelashes improve the framing of the eye and enhance the appearance of eye procedures performed in this area. It also distracts from a low brow or a heavy upper lid.
Unsure where to start? Call us for a complimentary cosmetic consultation and we can create a customized prevention or treatment plan just for you!
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