Treatments of lifting and skin tightening effect include surgery, thread lift, filler, botulinum toxin, and various other methods using latest equipment. Especially, non-surgical methods have developed rapidly in the 21st century ranging from various techniques to devices. It would not be too far-fetched to say the advancement of non-surgical treatments is leading the entire field of aesthetic medicine.

In Japan, the term “petit plastic surgery” became wide spread around 2002, reflecting the popularity of minimally invasive aesthetic procedures with lifting and tightening effect. TV and magazine advertisements claim that these procedures bring youth back like magic. Doctors are also following such trends and focusing more on non-surgical methods. Fashion and beauty magazines feature details of new minimally invasive plastic surgery techniques each month, despite slight overexaggeration of their effects. Patients seek plastic surgeons after coming across such advertisements.

 

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In Japan, the term “magical beauty” refers to women who still have their youthful beauty in their 40s. The Japanese media show middle-aged women who have magically retained their youth and beauty. these women are not celebrities but just normal career women or mothers. The sudden media attention have turned them into celebrities overnight. In the past, the conservative Japanese society may have criticized these women as vain. However, recently, these unusually youthful older women are subjects of positive attention and even envy. Attractive female doctors deliver various messages regarding aesthetics on TV. Many patients visit plastic surgeons or dermatologists after viewing such messages on TV.

Such trends show the change of attitudes on the female beauty. In the past, the Japanese women used to enjoy looking their age and felt uncomfortable about looking younger than their peers. However, these days they are going one step further from just wishing to appear youthful and actively seeking out medical help to attain beauty.

These magical beauties that appear on mass media unashamedly admit to receiving medical procedures to stay young. This helps show aesthetic procedures in a more positive light. However, most Japanese women, despite their envy of youthful looks, do not actually desire drastic changes. They avoid treatments with downtime or pain and are satisfied with subtle changes. Many patients still feel averse to hyaluronic acid, hydroxyapatite injections or thread lift. These patients prefer procedures using devices. Laser and other photomedical treatments are particularly useful in patients who do not even want to be noticed by their family. It also means that the effect is minimal. This poses a challenge to the doctors as he has to avoid changes that are too big or too small, in which cases the patients will complain. The treatment should be based on each patient’s subjective standards.

 

-To be continued-