Nip, tucking back the years

Men and women in their 70s and 80s are fuelling the boom in cosmetic surgery, according to the latest audit of "nip-and-tuck" procedures.

While demand for surgery has remained stable among the younger generation, it is their grandparents who are increasingly paying for facelifts, nose jobs and other youth-enhancing operations.

Research by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps) has found that pensioners now have the money and the motivation to go under the knife in a bid to look a few years younger.

Septuagenarian men who have much younger wives are paying for surgery to equalise the physical differences in age, while improved techniques mean surgery can be safe even for women in their 80s.

The Baaps audit of 119 of its members in private practice found that last year 16,367 procedures were performed, compared to 10,738 in 2003.

Breast enlargement was the most popular operation, with more than 3000 carried out in 2004, along with 2470 reduction procedures. Eyelid surgery, nose reshaping and facelifts were also popular.

Procedures have increased by 50 per cent in Britain over the past five years alone.

For the first time, surgeons were asked about age trends they have spotted in the people coming forward for treatment.

There have been concerns about teenagers demanding surgery as a result of pressure to live up to the look of slim models and celebrities.

Most surgeons said the number of teenagers and younger patients had stayed the same over the past five years, while an increase had been observed in older age groups.

Adrian Richards, a consultant surgeon who runs a clinic in London, said: "We are now seeing people who, 20 years ago, would not have dreamt of having cosmetic surgery.

"The techniques have got better and safer and I think older people are more prepared to consider it now. The only problem is having the general anaesthetic, and with someone in their 70s or 80s we would only go ahead if they were considered to be in the lowest risk category. But nowadays we often see older people who are fitter and healthier than someone in their 40s."

Richards has performed otoplasty (pinning back prominent ears) on a 65-year-old man, a facelift on a man of 76 and a breast reduction on a 77-year-old woman.

"We also see men who have married younger wives and want to take 10 years off their face. One man I saw said that when he picked up his children from school, he looked older than all the other parents and so wanted a facelift."

While patients in their 20s and 30s want to radically change the shape of their bodies through cosmetic procedures, older people merely want to "turn the clock back a bit", according to surgeons.

Under the knife

* Comedienne Joan Rivers, 71, has had face-lifts, tummy tucks, her nose reshaped, her eyes "freshened up" and Botox treatment.
* EastEnders actress Barbara Windsor, 67, had her "turkey neck" lifted and liposuction on her stomach.
* Princess Michael of Kent, 60, has regular Botox injections.
* Actor Burt Reynolds, 69, has had 20,000 worth of cosmetic procedures, says London surgeon Alex Karidis.

- INDEPENDENT