There is perhaps no more taboo subject in all of society than a person’s age. It is uncouth to ask a woman her age, or to speculate how old a person is, while remarking that an adult still looks like an adolescent or, conversely, is simply “looking old,” can be met with reproachful looks from those nearby. 

One can measure the sheer headspace that aging occupies in the minds of Americans by looking at how much plastic surgery is performed in Miami, FL. Known as the cosmetic surgery capital of the Western world, Miami is the destination for hundreds of thousands of people every year who are looking for a way to reverse the effects of aging. It is there that they can meet with accomplished doctors like Myron Tanenbaum, who specializes in erasing any evidence of the passage of time, especially around the eyes.

For Whom the Clock Ticks

If you find yourself looking in the mirror and struggling to accept the fine lines and wrinkles, age spots, open pores, and uneven skin texture, you might find yourself involuntarily asking why this is even happening. Why must we age at all? And if so, why must it manifest itself in this way, specifically? Rest assured, you aren’t the first and certainly won’t be the last to shout this query into the heavens. Doctors and scientists have based their entire careers on understanding the body’s aging process and finding ways around it. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons we will eventually be met with that wrinkled face in the mirror.

Why We Age

In the study of aging, scientists have been able to classify a number of reasons why our bodies eventually fail. Despite the myriad reasons for our bodies to change their appearance during aging, each falls into one of two categories:  

  • Intrinsic Aging: The process of getting older as dictated by the natural progression of time. With every tick of the clock’s second hand, we intrinsically age.
  • Extrinsic Aging: The acceleration of age signs by external forces, even to the point of a premature manifestation of wrinkles or white hair. This can be brought about by trauma or stress.

Regardless of which type of aging we’re discussing, the act of getting older in and of itself is a reflection of cell degradation. The body naturally recognizes that cells themselves do age and that with age comes increasingly poor performance. In order to combat this, the body replaces nearly every cell in the body over the course of 7 to 10 years. This does help the body flourish as time goes on, but with each new cell, the body enters a new iteration of age, which is why a 10-year-old looks so much more different than a newborn. 

What does this mean for those who perform plastic surgery in Miami, FL., like Dr. Myron Tanenbaum? It means that they’ll always be in business because the most drastic preservation of one’s youth can only really come from within the operating room.

Signs on the Skin

With such changes occurring within the body every day, month, and year, it is little wonder that evidence of aging would be writ large upon our body’s biggest organ, the epidermis. When patients come to Miami for cosmetic surgery, they usually have in mind one or two (or many) areas that they would like help from a surgeon to erase. Aging skin is identifiable by numerous factors, including:

  • A decrease in melanocytes — pigmentation cells — causing the skin to look thin and nearly transparent.
  • Numerous lentigos (age spots) appear on the skin that is exposed to the elements. 
  • A loss of elasticity in the skin, giving the skin that weathered, almost leathery appearance.
  • Blood vessels throughout the body become more fragile, which lead to more instances of burst vessels forming bruises just under the surface.
  • Sweat glands stop producing as much sweat, leaving the skin feeling dry and overly warm.

Naturally, seeing all these changes happening over the course of a few years can be difficult. That’s why a visit to Myron Tanenbaum to discuss options for plastic surgery in Miami, FL can be beneficial, not only for how you will look in the future, but how you’ll feel about yourself today.  

Aging: Not Just Skin-Deep