Face It

I probably wouldn't use Latisse for normal wear and tear in aging. But I support research to explore the full possibilities of medicine. Despite the negative uses, more drugs are being discovered to have valid "off label" purposes. Retin-A for acne. Epilepsy drugs for pain. Etc.

Research the leads to "off label" use of prescription drugs has the potential to benefit many people for many ailments. So you are correct to remind readers that this issue is quite a different from the concern raised in this piece. What I am encouraging here is more research, not less. The casual use of prescription drugs, meant to treat disorders, but used instead to enhance beauty, increase athletic ability and or raise test scores needs to be researched further.

A relative of mine, in her late seventies, has always been knows for her beauty. It is her primary value/virtue and she has always spent time and money on her looks: hair, nails, the newest diet pills...In the past decade she has come into some money and upped the maintenace to include botox and eyelash extentions. And finally, in the past two years she has had breast reshaping and liposuction! She thinks of her plastic surgeon as a close friend, and the family expects that the surgeries have not ended. Not sure whether she has heard of the new eyelash thickeners, but expect that she will jump on board with this when she does. Unfortunatley, there is not much else of interest to her. Sad, sad, sad.

When I tell people about women like your relative, they think I'm exaggerating. It's hard to understand what drives a 70 year old to undergo such costly and dramatic measures to maintain a youthful appearance. But, the story you tell is not that unusual. And yes, it's sad. When self esteem is so rooted in one's appearance, loss of looks is terrifying. One woman I interviewed told me, "I would rather die than look old." Perhaps my book, "Face It: What Women Really Feel As Their Looks Change" (Hay House, 2010) would help you understand the psychology behind your relative's experience of beauty. A skin deep topic that is much more complicated. Let me know.

Great Post and I agree with everything. I am 24 years old and instead of looking forward to the wisdom, love, family and friends(etc) that comes with ageing, I'm supposed to be worried about when I'll start having plastic surgery? I don't think so. My best friend has said that as soon as she "needs to" she'll be be getting botox. Botox isn't all that bad as far as surgery and the like goes, but its just not something that young people should be thinking about. Its not something that "old" people should be thinking about either. I know that its human nature to want to look and feel attractive, and I even would support someone who wants to have something done to alter their appearance which would really have a positive impact on their lives (I'm not talking about going from a B cup to a D cup either.)But as a society we need to focus more on being beautiful on the inside. Because there will always be someone better looking than you, and you will always feel inadequate if you are basing your self esteem on your looks rather than what's on the inside. And with the increasing amount of fake this and fake that, uniqueness and being real, to me, is such an attractive quality especially because it is so hard to come by. We are making our lives more difficult by introducing, encouraging and embracing the cosmetic world. What kind of message are we sending to each other and our kids? That we aren't good enough if we don't look good enough? That's not how I feel.

It is gratifying to read a thoughtful response to this blog post from a 24 year old, especially after hearing a statistic that made me think that we have already lost today’s adolescent generation to our youth and beauty obsessions. Dr. Jennifer Ashton told CBS co-anchor Harry Smith on The Early Show that “of the 5 million people in the U.S. who got Botox last year, almost 30 percent were under the age of 30.” She went on to say that “0.2 percent of those who had Botox were actually in the 13 to 19-year-old age group ….. 26 percent were in their twenties.” When added up, this means that about 27 percent of Botox users are in, or just past, their teenage years. It’s a worrisome statistic when we think about how the fear of getting older has infiltrated an entire generation of young people. It is even more concerning when you consider that Botox is approved for people 18 years and above. Although most reputable surgeons and dermatologists will not perform these procedures outside of FDA parameters, clearly adolescents are finding doctors who will. Practitioners and parents need to understand the message they give by condoning adolescent use of botox. We all need to take responsibility for providing better models for healthy aging so that we can begin to reverse the damage already done to the psyches of our children.

Hair thinning and hair loss is absolutely devastating, especially when you don't know why it's happening to you.

The in-home solutions to hair thinning and dealing with what you've got, do not delve far enough into what the cause may be.

This is the most critical aspect.

Check out http://reversible-hair-loss.com for solid information.

How can you treat a condition such as hair thinning or hair loss, which is the symptom of an underlying medical condition, if you don't know what the medical condition (cause) is in the first place?

So often, not enough emphasis is given to the importance of identifying the cause, which is resulting in the symptom of hair thinning and hair loss.

Albeit, while going through testing, diagnosis and treatment for the underlying cause and the symptom, these in-home "temporary and cosmetic" solutions can be very helpful, in maintaining a positive level of attractiveness.

And that's a major ingredient to staying the course of treatment and ultimately being triumphant.

So, I believe that cosmetic solutions are helpful, these options have value, they're just not the absolute answer.