Facelifts in our lunch-hour
Improving your looks within the hour is now a reality, as cosmetic surgery can be carried out under local anaesthetic. We talk to three women who opted for walk-in, walk-out ops in their lunch breaks.
THE CONFIDENCE IT GAVE ME WAS AMAZING
Jayne Ray had a lower facelift, which is also known as an S-Lift, under local anaesthetic.
Every time I looked in the mirror I hated my reflection. All I saw were saggy jowls on my lower face and there was so much excess skin on my neck that it looked like a turkey's.
I tried fillers such as Perlane to fill in the more obvious wrinkles, and they'd work temporarily - but they have to be redone fairly regularly, so they're not really a solution.
Working long hours as a PA, I couldn't see how I could ever take off a whole fortnight to recover from a major facelift. Then last year I read in a magazine about surgery under local sedation. My first reaction was scepticism but I was intrigued, so I looked it up on the internet to find out more.
Within days, I had booked myself in for a consultation with the surgeon. I was shown pictures of former patients who had all had the procedure and been really pleased with the outcome.
The patients included lawyers, accountants, nurses and teachers - busy people who had made the surgery fit in with their daily lives.
It seemed like the solution I had been searching for, so a week later I went in for the operation. I popped into work first, then popped out around 11.30am. I went into the surgery at midday and was out within 45 minutes. Just 10 minutes later I was up and walking around, packing my bag ready to leave.
Just before they wheeled me into the operating room I started having last-minute doubts. I felt terrified I might be able to feel the knife going in, but the surgeon put me at ease.
Before I knew it, I was under local anaesthetic, which was injected into my face, and I was given some very mild "twilight" sedation too, which contains an anti-anxiety drug.
I was fully conscious throughout. The only feeling at one point I had was the sensation of the knife sawing under my skin but because the area was totally numbed there was no pain.
During the operation a very fine "S" shape was cut around my ear, then the skin was pulled up, tightening my jaw line. Apart from a bit of swelling and bruising on my face, which I covered up with foundation, I just had a tiny plaster bandage near each ear, which my hair hid, and which I kept on for a week,
I briefly went back to work later that day, then the next morning I was in at 9am - and no one knew any different, though people remarked how well I looked.
The cost of the operation was money well spent and the pay-off is zero recovery time.
I know people who have had the old-fashioned surgery under general anaesthetic and spent up to a week in bed feeling awful. With a job to hold down and a son to look after, having a week or more out was something I wasn't willing to do.
Also, before the op I was spending up to £100 a time on pots of expensive face cream from department stores to look good, but I no longer need them.
The confidence I have now is amazing. Many of my friends are five to 10 years younger than me, so when we all go out I finally feel like one of the gang, not like an old woman.
NEW BOOBS MAKE ME LOOK SO MUCH SEXIER
Cheryl Peverall went from a 32AA to a 32B after a breast augmentation
I used to call my boobs my "dog ears". I hated them. Each morning I'd wake up and feel like an old man, not the young woman I was supposed to be.
I was small chested to begin with but after having the children they drooped terribly. It affected my confidence in every way, and I hadn't had a proper relationship since 1997 because I hardly ever went out. I stayed in every weekend and watched TV rather than face men in bars. I realised I was becoming a recluse.
I had toyed with the idea of cosmetic surgery for several years, but the general anaesthetic side out me off. After Jessica was born, doctors warned me off having another child because my heart had weakened under the strain of pregnancy.
But even if I had decided to risk it and have surgery, I couldn't afford to take time off work to recover.
I had almost given up hope of turning my confidence around when my friend mentioned last year that she had heard of someone having a boob job under a local anaesthetic.
I went home and looked up the clinic on the internet. I was so excited that I phoned up the Linia Clinic in Harley Street that day and made an appointment. After an hour long consultation, I booked the operation. My daughter was very worried, but I really wanted to do this for me.
I was awake throughout the operation. I went in at midday and was even relaxed enough to joke to the surgeon: "It's the first time someone's touched those for a while!"
The only bit where I felt a bit of panic was when the local anaesthetic was injected before he started. As the needles went in around the breast area, I did momentarily think: "Is this going to be alright?" because the jab was sharp and stung so much.
There was a small fabric screen below my face so I couldn't see the knife going in. The only sensation was a very slight tugging feeling as the implants went in but it wasn't painful, just strange. Thirty minutes later, I was wheeled out.
By 1pm I was packing my bags and on my way home. I took a bag of anti-biotics and painkillers with me, but I didn't need to take any. I could have been back at work that afternoon but we closed early that day so I went shopping with a friend. She couldn't believe the transformation in such a short time.
The next morning I was back at my desk at 9am, with no one any the wiser. It was a real thrill. I didn't make a big deal about telling people: I wanted to keep it quite discreet. Many of my friends haven't noticed to this day but that doesn't matter to me because I feel different.
A few days later I went shopping and bought a low-cut top for the first time in seven years. Previously, I had never even had the courage to buy a V-neck. I feel so much sexier and more confident, and I go out at least once a week with friends to wine bars and restaurants. I have even been on a few dates and was chatted up by a guy of 23!
MY OP HAS GIVEN ME A NEW LEASE OF LIFE
Susan Proffit had a thread lift, which is a mini face-and-neck lift
When one of my closest friends died a year ago, I fell into the deepest of depressions. I was approaching 50, felt old and haggard, and the extra stress made me feel ten times worse. Every time I saw my reflection in a shop window all I saw was droopy skin and lines around my nose and mouth. I felt I no longer had cheekbones.
As I am a teacher, normal surgery with a long recovery period was out of the question. I thought it would be something I'd just have to live with, then I read about a kind of express surgery, called a thread lift, which is done under local anaesthetic.
It was the spur I needed. I booked the appointment for the last Friday of half term. I was slightly nervous but kept telling myself it was normal to worry. Surgery under a local anaesthetic is still an alien concept to most people but I was determined to go through with it.
The day began with three of four injections into my face near the ear as the surgeon numbed the entire area.
After that, the only feelings I had were a slight tugging and thrusting through my face as my skin was pulled up and tightened. It was a strange sensation, but there was no pain, so I lay back and relaxed, and at one point I was chatting away to the surgeon about what she was doing. Luckily I couldn't see anything because she was operating on the sides of my face.
During the op, special threads are literally stitched into specific points on the face using a very thin, hollow needle. The exact points are marked out first with a pen, the threads inserted and the tissue lifted. The threads have tiny cogs or barbs running along their length which attach themselves to the muscle under the skin and grip it, locking the tissue in its new elevated position. All I was left with were tiny exit points where the needles had been around the hairline.
When it was over, 30 or so minutes later I went back to the room and couldn't believe how normal I looked. The puncture holes were hardly visible and they had healed within a few days.
I took the afternoon off and felt so well that the first thing I did was to phone a friend and arrange to meet for a late lunch and a spot of shopping. Being on my feet and walking out the door, chatting away on the mobile as I left, was weird so soon after surgery.
Incredibly, there was no bruising on my face, just a tiny bit of swelling around the cheeks. The only medication I had to take was a course of anti-biotics a few days before, which is a standard precaution to guard against any infections. A few days later, when school started, I was back at work. It was funny thinking that nobody knew my secret! All week I kept getting comments like "Have you been away?" and "You look great", which were a great boost.
I had only told three closest friends, as I was a bit worried how it would turn out; but in the end it was far more successful than I ever dreamed. In fact, I'm so happy with the results that some of my depression has lifted, and it has given me a new lease of life, physically and mentally.
When I go out with friends now, I feel happy not to wear any make-up - which is the complete opposite of before, when I used to hide under layers of the stuff. I have even booked myself a course of ballroom dancing classes. It's the start of a new chapter for me.
