If you ask most people what part of their body they’d like to look more youthful, chances are you’ll get “face” and possibly “neck,” but you may be surprised to hear more than a few “hands,” too. In fact, the hands have become such a concern, they’re the body parts behind a fascinating new plastic surgery trend that has a lot of beauty experts surprised.
The procedure is called Restylane Lift, and it uses the same hyaluronic acid that plastic surgeons inject into areas like the lips and tissues of the face to create a more youthful appearance.
“Hyaluronic acid is a soft-tissue filler that is naturally occurring in the body but synthetic in injectables,” says Dr. Bruce Chau, a plastic surgeon from Berkeley, Michigan. “It plumps up the tissue it’s injected into, so it works well for filling out the lips or any other depressions of the skin.”
Including the skin on the hands.
“Restylane Lift can reduce the appearance of sun spots, veins, tendons and wrinkles – or really anything making your hands look older,” says Chau.
So, who’s getting this new procedure? That answer may surprise you, too.
“The unsurprising thing is that people over the age of 40 are the ones getting the Restylane Lift,” says Chau. “But what is surprising is that a large number of men are getting it.”
Men typically are less likely to seek plastic surgery than women, but this branch of medicine has been growing in popularity among men in recent years.
“Men are becoming more and more interested in plastic surgery procedures to stay competitive at work and in their social lives,” says Chau. “It’s kind of a departure from previous decades, but it seems like instead of age being valued in the workplace, youth is becoming more and more of an asset, especially as technology changes so quickly.”
The Restylane Lift certainly won’t teach you how to use that new software your company just installed, but it will make your hands look better while you do it – and it only takes about 20 minutes to treat both hands, with immediate, noticeable results.