YOUNGER PATIENTS OPT FOR SURGERIES

Those seeking cosmetic surgery are not just older women grasping at youth. More commonly, according to physicians who perform cosmetic procedures, patients are young to middle-aged men and women who want to improve their appearance as a way of bringing the way they look in line with the way they feel.

"Face lifts are being done at younger ages," said plastic surgeon Dr. Trenton C. Jones of Midwest Physicians and Surgeons. He said increasingly the demographic group seeking cosmetic procedures are young professionals in their mid-30s and early 40s.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in 1998, 96 percent of all breast augmentation patients were under 50 and 60 percent were 19-34. For liposuctions, 78 percent of patients were under 50. For tummy tucks, 85 percent of patients were under 50.

Even for procedures that smooth out wrinkles, a good percentage of patients were relatively young. Patients under 50 accounted for 37 percent of eyelid surgery, 43 percent of facelifts, 43 percent of forehead lifts and 54 percent of laser skin resurfacing.