The cosmetic surgery industry is said to be worth £900 million however some doctors are now questioning whether it is worth it, with some believing that anti-ageing cosmetic surgery may in fact speed up the ageing process.

Everyone who elects to have a cosmetic procedure done should be made aware that there are risks associated with the surgery and that the results cannot be guaranteed. But some patients are surprised at the short period of time their surgery seems to last for.

Dr. Michael Prager, a member of the British Association of Cosmetic Doctors, is one of those who believes that cosmetic procedures may actually accelerate the ageing process.

“Four out of five clients I see regret their decision to have anti-ageing surgical procedures and come to me for non-surgical solutions,” he explained to British newspaper the Daily Mail.

“The truth is that you can’t improve the state of healthy skin by cutting it.

‘If you cut through healthy tissue and blood vessels and detach the dermis from the underlying muscle, you inevitably create scar tissue and reduce effective circulation. Smaller blood vessels will soon grow, but they won’t be as effective as the larger vessels that used to supply the skin with the blood and nutrients it needs.

‘Skin that’s been operated on becomes thinner, and it’s volume that makes a face look young. Faces can be stretched, but the effects don’t last so you have to keep stretching. But surgery ultimately creates a flat, hollow face without the smooth, round, softness of youth.”

He also believes that liposuction is equally detrimental citing that although you may look good with your clothes on, the skin itself will probably start to look rough, discolored and loose, making the skin itself look older than it actually is. Patients will not be able to put weight back on in the areas where the fat cells have been ripped out and this can also leads to unnatural looking lumps, bumps and dents.

Other doctors are concerned over the safety of some of the products, particularly in the long term. Threadlifting is one such technique which has gone from being a winner, to a sinner. Threadlifting was all the rage a few years back and was cited as an alternative to the facelift. Suture threads were placed under the skin and the pulled to ‘lift’ the face however few surgeons now recommend the technique as the threads were subsequently found to be prone to breakage.

Dr. Sam Hamra, a Dallas-based cosmetic surgeon, has said the majority of his work is now corrective work rather than new cosmetic work. He believes that although most facelifts look good in the first few months, within a year, the effects start to be lost with as many as a third of patients losing the initial plump, pleasing appearance. Within a year or so of surgery, many people’s faces start to look quite poor several areas of the face will start to look tense and pulled, the eyes may start to look quite hollow, and areas of the skin may look overly-taut.

Dr. Georges Roman agrees. “Not so long ago, the thinking was that the earlier you started anti-ageing surgery, the better,” he explained to the British newspaper. “But we’ve all seen so many patients who had surgery five to ten years ago and the long-term damage to skin tissue is obvious.

“There is a place for surgery, but it needs to be the last resort. Aesthetically, patients can look much better for a few years if the surgery is good, but if they want to look good ten years later, surgery is not the answer because from the moment the skin is cut, the process of ageing accelerates.

“In ten years’ time, there’ll be far less demand for aggressive anti-ageing procedures. We’re learning that we need to work with the body to maintain youthful good looks rather than against it.”