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Surgeon's
Scottsdale Lift
lets patients dodge extensive work |
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Baby
boomers take liking to procedure
By Janet Cowgill
The Arizona Republic
SCOTTSDALE - It's a modern spin to a classic tale.
A long time ago, a wicked queen looked into her
faithful friend - a magic mirror - and asked who was the
fairest one of all.
Mirror, mirror, on the wall
Who's the fairest of them all?
She
didn't get the answer that she wanted.
Fast-forward nearly half a century, to a home in
Scottsdale. Plastic surgeon John Gibney looks into his
mirror.
He pulls at his face. He tugs. He doesn't like
what he sees.
"I saw my grandfather looking back at me,"
he said.
That was 14 years ago, when Gibney knew that a
classic facelift would be more extensive than what he
wanted.
That's when he came up with a new wrinkle for baby
boomers, who, like him, wanted to tighten up a sagging
neck or drooping eyes.
"These
people don't want to look old, because they don't feel
old," said Gibney, 52.
He named the minilift after the city where BMW's, |
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| Gibney
consults with his potential patient about the milder
version of a face lift. The surgical operation costs
$3,000**. |
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couture, and tummy tucks rule.
The Scottsdale lift is about two-thirds of a full
face lift, Gibney said, and last about four to five years.
The operation takes about two hours and requires
a sedative and local anesthesia.
Patients can usually resume normal physical activity
the next day, Gibney said.
Ideally, he said, patients get the feeling of a
younger and perkier face - for a fraction of the price
of a full face lift.
Patients drop some droop for far less than a full
face lift. The $3000** mini-lift won't stretch budgets as
much as full lifts, which can run from $5000 to nearly
$10,000**.
The cost doesn't deter Gibney's devotees.
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About
75 to 80 percent of his clients are "repeat offenders,"
he said, patients who come back a few years after their
initial surgery to nab another tuck.
One 84-four-year-old patient has seen Gibney three
times.
"it's made her happy," he said. "People
say that they look rested, that they feel better."
About three months ago, Gibney had the Scottsdale
Lift performed on him. Faint red marks near his ears are
the only evidence of the surgery, and then only with close
inspection.
He said he looks the age he feels, not the age he
is.
"Age is just a number," he said. "Where
you're really young is in your heart."
** Please note these prices reflect 1998 Fees |
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