She`d been thinking about a facelift ever since the day she first noticed wrinkles–the real, honest-to-goodness, getting older type of wrinkles–on her face.
”The jowls were sagging a little and my neck bothered me, too. I like to wear low-cut dresses in the summer, but the neck–well, the neck was beginning to look like chicken skin,” said Gloria Galofaro. ”The clothes I put on, they looked right with the body, and they were what my mind liked, but they weren`t looking right with my face and neck anymore.”
Then her husband was treated for an inner-ear problem by a doctor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. ”I saw all his diplomas,” Galofaro said,
”and I saw he did a lot of plastic surgery. When he was through with my husband, I said, `Do you think I would be a good candidate for a facelift?` ”
So three years ago Galofaro became a happy statistic in the rapidly growing field of esthetic surgery, more commonly known as cosmetic surgery.
In just three years, the number of esthetic operations performed in the United States jumped 61 percent, to 477,700 in 1984 from 296,500 in 1981. Those are the most recent figures available from the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, and they do not include work being done by doctors who aren`t members of that organization; Galofaro`s doctor, for example, is Marc Karlan, an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat doctor) who does extensive cosmetic sugery but does not belong to that group.
Galofaro is not a jet-setter, an actress or a politician. She`s a grandmother (”just say I`m 50-ish”) who lives in Michigan City, Ind., and wants to look as good as possible.
”Plastic surgery is no longer the vested interest of the rich,” says Dr. Frank Pirruccello, head of the Plastic Surgery Department of Evanston Hospital. ”People feel young, but they look in the mirror and their face doesn`t reflect what they feel.”
GRACEFUL AGING?
The tremendous jump in cosmetic surgery, however, doesn`t mean it has been universally accepted. ”What`s wrong with aging gracefully?” is one of the questions heard often. ”Why succumb to a youth-oriented society?”
”Doesn`t cosmetic surgery point to excessive vanity that would be better curbed?”
But the counter-argument is usually just as simple: ”What`s wrong with looking as good as you can? If it makes you feel good about yourself, go for it.”
”I like my body and I think I have a good personality, but if my face was improved, I would feel even better about me and I think I could improve my job,” says Helen W., 68, whose three children are picking up the tab for her facelift, to be done this month. ”I don`t care how old you are, you want to look good.”
Looking good through cosmetic surgery will cost you, as Helen`s children know. A facelift will range from $1,500 to $8,000. An eye job ranges from $600 to $4,000; breast augmentation between $1,000 and $3,000; and a nose job between $1,000 and $4,500. The increasingly popular liposuction, which removes fat cells, can range from $500 to $4,000. Many procedures are done in conjunction with others, such as combining a facelift with liposuction on the cheeks and work on the eyes.
No matter how old you are, chances are you feel younger. It`s not just the young who are exercising and cutting back on fat and cholesterol; keeping fit and feeling good extend into the upper decades of life.
”A 40- or 50-year-old today is apt to be much younger than a 40- or 50-year-old was 10 years ago,” Karlan says. ”What`s important is to have a harmony between the way you feel and the way you look.”
Karlan also emphasizes another point: Cosmetic surgery should not leave anyone with a face that looks like Saran wrap.
”That Saran-wrap face might look great on television, but it doesn`t look good when you`re talking to someone three feet away. People don`t want to look like an advertisement for plastic surgery. The idea is to renew the face, not give a new face.”
TIME FOR A CHANGE
Cosmetic surgery is not limited to holding back the ravages of time. Increasingly, it`s a way to change a feature that was wrong–or perceived to be wrong–from the very beginning.
Francesca L. was 16, between her sophomore and junior years of high school, when she had her nose job. ”It had this big outward curve,” she said, using her fingers to trace a curve in the air. ”It was not just a bump –a bump can have grace and class–this was a real hook. It was my father`s nose on my face.
”I used to wear my hair long, and I combed it to over my face as much as posible, like a veil. I never had an image of looking like a Vogue model; I just didn`t want to feel like a freak.”
Galofaro`s friend Anita Spencer, also in her 50s, certainly never felt like a freak, but she had always been unhappy about her eyes. She described them as ”sleepy eyes,” and, ”the older I got, the worse they got. Too much eyelid and an excess under the eyes that made them look puffy.” She saw Galofaro`s facelift and decided to have her eyes done.
”I had it done two years ago, by a doctor here in Michigan City. He told me all the pros and cons, asked me why I wanted it. Now I wish I`d had it done five years earlier. I don`t mind being a grandmother–I like it. But I don`t want to look like a dowdy old grandmother.”
A good plastic surgeon will definitely want to know why a person wants cosmetic surgery–and not all reasons are deemed as valid. The surgeon has to play the role of psychiatrist to make sure the potential patient isn`t counting on the surgery to solve some deep-seated problem that can`t be eliminated with a scalpel.
”If people are avoiding you because you have bad breath, you`re still going to have that problem afterwards,” Pirruccello said. ”One woman came in. She was beginning to lose the battle of the years and she thought all the younger women were out to get her (in her job). I couldn`t help her with that. Some weeks, I turn down more (surgery jobs) than I accept.”
POST-DIVORCE LIFT
Molly P. is in her 60s. She looks like she`s in her early 40s, however, and she dates men that age and younger–one reason she wants to remain anonymous.
”After my divorce, when I went into business for myself, I looked at myself objectively to see what I could do to look better. I had to think of dating again, and after four babies, well, there was no way (through dieting or exercise) to get rid of the lines and puffiness of my stomach. And I had to support myself; I had to deal with a lot of people who want to look at a pretty face.
”So three months after the divorce, I had a tummy tuck. That was painful. It took a week in the hospital. After the tummy, it was the eyes and the nose. Then I waited four years and had my first facelift. Painful? You`re so happy that it doesn`t feel painful, although the first day is treacherous. Your face is all bandaged and you have this sticky stuff that feels like it`s holding your face together. You have to sleep on your back. But then every day you feel better.
”This year, I had a mini-facelift. You know, divorce can age you 10 years. After divorce, you either get yourself well or you regress for the rest of your life because you`ve lost him. You`ve got to get on the ladder again.” In all, Molly has spent about $20,000 on cosmetic surgery. Most of her work has been done by Dr. Wafik Hanna, who has offices in Riverside and Hinsdale.
Molly`s example is extreme. Not only did she go through multiple procedures, but she also had multiple motivations: She wanted to feel better about herself after a bitter divorce, she believed she could be more successful in business if she looked younger and she was eager to start dating again.
But all the cosmetic surgery in the world wouldn`t have helped Molly achieve these goals if her personality hadn`t fit. ”It was her attitude,”
Hanna said. ”She is such a positive person. She was ready for a new start on life.”
Susan Mack of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons sums up cosmetic surgery this way: ”The public perceives it as an attempt to turn back the clock, but that`s just part of it. What it is is a means to make people feel better about themselves.” —
