Secrets of a cosmetic surgeon

Down with wrinkles, drooping breasts and thin lips... With cosmetic surgery at hand, beauty seems to be just a scalpel away. But is it just a trend or a real way to better accept our appearance?

Which women use cosmetic surgery? What advice should they be given? Dr Bertrand Mattéoli, author of "Confidences d'un chirurgien esthétique" [Secrets of a cosmetic surgeon], provides some answers...

Doctissimo: You present cosmetic surgery as something that is becoming more and more commonplace. However it does remain quite rare, used especially in very specific cases...

Dr Bertrand Matteoli: Cosmetic surgery is not rare at all! It's just that we don't talk about it - we live in a traditionally Judaeo-Christian society where it has been considered as a superficial and vain act. People say that cosmetic surgery only concerns a certain category of the population, but that's not true. Clientele varies in terms of socio-economic status. Some women prefer not to go on holiday, buy a car or change apartment so that they can pay for cosmetic surgery, it's a question of choice.

Doctissimo: Who are your patients?

Dr Bertrand Matteoli: A wide variety of patients from all socio-economic backgrounds! However, there are certain age groups. For example, women who have children and are having problems with stomach or breasts, a problem which generally appears between 30 and 40 years old. Then, there is "rejuvenating" surgery for 35-40 year olds who are having eye contour problems: bags under the eyes or upper eyelids. And finally, facial rejuvenation, which generally starts around 45 to 50 years old for face lifts.

Doctissimo: Do you think this enthusiasm for cosmetic surgery comes from a desire to follow fashion?

Dr Bertrand Matteoli: There are fashions, obviously. There was a time when large breasts and pumped-up lips were in fashion, but that's now over. I think that the stereotypes and symbols of a certain style of cosmetic surgery, such as Pamela Anderson, are now a thing of the past. People now want to be themselves, "but better".

Doctissimo: Cosmetic surgery, seduction and sexuality are closely linked - is this something new?

Dr Bertrand Matteoli: Not at all, it's probably a desire that's always existed, but the methods now available mean that certain unattractive features and complexes can be remedied.
When a woman has had several children and has breastfed, her drooping breasts are undoubtedly very traumatising and getting implants helps her to recover her feminity, forgotten when she became a mother.

Doctissimo: You emphasise that cosmetic medicine is "preventative" and cosmetic surgery "curative", are they therefore complementary?

Dr Bertrand Matteoli: If you observe over time, a woman will begin by having the wrinkles between her eyes treated, then possibly the wrinkles on her forehead and "crow's feet"
wrinkles. These are the first signs of aging which appear around 30 to 35 years old. Botox works best and is part of cosmetic medicine. Naso-labial folds and wrinkles around the mouth are reabsorbed using hyaluronic acid, a re-pulping substance.

Then, around 45-50 years old, comes cosmetic surgery - drooping eyelids, for example, cannot be treated by any type of medicine. The same goes for bags under the eyes, wrinkled lower eyelids and improving face shape through facelifts.

Doctissimo: But cosmetic medicine, as does surgery, has a limited life span. You need to incessantly continue your fight against time.

Dr Bertrand Matteoli: The aging process is inescapable of course. The life span of a facelift is very difficult to project as it depends on many factors: genes, sun, hormones, tobacco, skin thickness, etc. In short, if I show you a photo of a woman that I operate within the next hour and she comes back to see you in 10 years time, she will still look better than she does now.

Caroline Bodin

Copyright © 2008 Doctissimo

Posted 30.06.2010

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