Now the Young Seek Fountain of Youth
July 9, 2006 — -- Everyone is looking for a fountain of youth and more women are finding it in little tweaks rather than drastic plastic surgery. As the more minimally invasive techniques are growing in popularity, cosmetic procedures no longer carry the same stigma.
Jacqueline Silvers is 24 years old. As a teen, acne left her face a little scarred and she desperately wanted to change her skin.
"Your face -- it's what they first see when they meet you and talk to you," she said.
Silvers met with Dr. Sam Assassa, who recommended intense pulse light laser treatments or IPL's. The total cost was $500.
"I've noticed a lot more clarity," she said. "I've noticed some of the marks have faded."
So-called lunchtime lifts are popular because they're minimally invasive and recovery is quick. In the past eight years, more than 2.3 million have had similar procedures.
"A lot of these things are skin maintenance procedures," plastic surgeon Alan Matarasso told "Good Morning America Weekend Edition." "The best analogy is to think of your skin like your teeth: You start brushing your teeth at a very young age. Your skin is the same way."
"You don't want to wait until you see visible signs of aging to treat your skin," he added. "I don't think it's unreasonable for young women in their late teens and early 20s to treat their skin. The lasers and the peels and the IPL-- those procedures can be done a couple of times a year when you're young. "
Most 20- and 30-year-olds who undergo plastic surgery get liposuction and breast implants, Matarasso said. Eye-lifts come in at a close third. Most lifts, he said, are only semi-permanent, unlike nose jobs and liposuction, which last forever.
Some young people like former model Chrissy Albice want to undo damage they did in previous years. Albice, 34, felt she damaged her skin from smoking and years in the sun.
"I don't want my eyes cut, I don't want a face lift, but I always think if you maintain your skin and you take really good care of your skin then that's the best way of maintaining that youthful look," she said.
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