Menopause education is important. When you are in your 40s-50s there are many changes which happen quickly to your body. I see many patients focused on them for plastic surgical reasons:
- eyelids drooping
- skin drooping
- lines around the mouth, eyes, and cheek
- thinning hair
- thinning eyelashes and eyebrows
- neck drooping
- breasts drooping
- new exciting fat pockets
- weight gain
- body shape changes
- changes in skin quality
- skin pigmentation
Quick blog on menopause basic facts.
- Average age of menopause: 50-52
- It is due to a dramatic drop in estrogen levels, as your egg follicles are the main source of estrogen
- You are truly “in menopause” when it has been 12 months since your last period (though my OB says 6 months is likely accurate, particularly if on physical exam you have changes to your vaginal lining)
- Most women will spend 1/3-1/2 of their life in menopause change (the premenopause through menopause). You are one of 70 million women.
- Common symptoms: abnormal bleeding, hot flashes and night sweats, poor sleep, brain fog, vaginal dryness, pain with sex, decreased desire for sex, joint pain
- With the loss of estrogen levels, some medical conditions may worsen: heart disease, osteoporosis, dementia, depression, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, urinary tract infections
- Age, your general medical health, and your environment- diet, how you deal with stress, socioeconomic, smoking, etc all affect your menopause symptoms.
So what can you do?
I can fix a lot of things with plastic surgery. Part of my fascination with perimenopause and menopause is because 1. I’m a woman of a certain age, so I need to know this stuff for me too AND 2. I see a ton of women come in at certain life points in a predictable way. One is perimenopause (mid 40s) and one is menopause (early 50s). I feel like for many it is a reset button. There are all these changes. I don’t like them. I ask you, HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE POSITIONED TO START THE NEXT PHASE OF YOUR LIFE?
If your eyelids droop, do eyelid surgery. If your breasts get large or droop, do a breast lift or reduction (and do the short scar lollipop lift! NO ANCHOR SCAR). For those who have gained weight and the fat is accessible (not visceral intraabdominal fat), you can do liposuction to contour. Changes in skin quality? Do products like retinol and Retin A, antioxidants, chemical peels, or facial fat transfer with stem cells. Thinning eyelashes? Latisse works beautifully, and you can put a little dollop on your eyebrow to help thicken those too. One thing I know for certain, you have to be more active in addressing these changes. And there are many you can’t fix with doing Peleton and eating kale. Please know, you can do plastic surgery and not look like a Housewife of *insert name of city*. There are ways to do plastic surgery where it is elegant, subtle, and natural.
There are potential medical things you can do to optimize your health. Diet, exercise, don’t smoke. Other things would include vitamins, hormone replacement, possibly supplements. For the next bit I am going to blog about what I am finding as I read books and original scientific papers to see what I find.
I am a plastic surgeon. I get plastic surgery. It is something I know a ton about, and I try to report on it in a measured, educated way. I am not a gynecologist, naturopath, nutritionist, or internist. So please hear my disclaimers when I state that this is not medical advice. But I was totally confused as I hit this new life juncture, what should I do? And if I am confused, with all of my medical education, then I can only imagine all of you are as well.