New Techniques in Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery used to be the preserve of the rich and famous, and with a conventional facelift costing around £6,000, it is easy to see why. But a new generation of less invasive cosmetic surgery techniques has brought prices tumbling – opening up the market to the masses. Many new procedures can be done in an hour or less and require no stay in hospital. For example, a lunchtime appointment to freeze wrinkle lines costs from £175.

Botox is probably the most famous small-scale procedure. Botox is a trade name for a substance called 'botulinum toxin A', a toxin secreted by the bacteria that cause botulism. It has the power to paralyse muscles and therefore reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Up to 100,000 Britons a year now have Botox injections – a phenomenal rise in popularity of a substance that was introduced to Britain only ten years ago.

Another procedures inject cells into lines and wrinkles, but these cells are taken from the patient's own skin. A sample of skin is taken from behind the ear (an area well-protected from sun damage and pollution) and samples of collagen-producing cells called fibroblasts are extracted.

The cells are cultured in a laboratory for around seven weeks – as long as it takes for the cells to have sufficiently multiplied - and they are injected back into the face.

This 'living cell therapy', as it is called by Isolagen, the company which has developed and patented the technique, looks set to revolutionise the cosmetic surgery industry. The cost is higher than for many non-surgical techniques, but the effects are claimed to last ten years. Prices are around £2,500 for lab costs, plus a cosmetic doctor's fee to inject it (about £200).

Alternatively, you can have Newfill, a naturally occurring acid, polylactic acid, injected into your face. This naturally occurring acid stimulates your body to produce its own collagen, resulting in fewer lines, smoother skin and a ‘plumper’ face outline. The effects are claimed to last for a year - longer than the four months normally quoted for wrinkle-fillers. Patients describe the treatment as painful but no stay in hospital is required. Prices start at £400.

The face is not the only area of the body where new techniques are being applied. A smooth and line-free face might take years off a person’s apparent age, but the backs of the hands often betray an individual’s true age. A technique pioneered in America called lipostructure involves injecting fat from elsewhere in the body, usually the stomach, into the hands.

'As you age, the quality of your skin on your hands starts to deteriorate. You get spots, veins become more visible and the fat over them thins,' explained surgeon Jeff Hoeyberghs, clinical director at The Wellness Kliniek in Belgium. 'We gently put the fat back in.' Fat is used because of the complications involved with other fillers such as Botox and collagen, which is used to plump up the lips.

Lipostructure costs around £500 a session, and the effects are not permanent, so follow-up sessions are usually required. The treatment is also painful, and leaves temporary bruising and scabs. Sometimes patients have to wear a sling for a few days, so Mr Hoeyberghs advises them to have one hand done at a time.

A less invasive alternative is hand-peeling, in which an acid removes surface layers of skin from the hand, improving texture and diminishing wrinkles. This costs around £240 a go.

British Association of Aesthetic And Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) (http://www.baaps.org.uk)

British Association of Plastic Surgeons (http://www.baps.co.uk)

The Wellness Kliniek, Belgium (http://www.wellnesskliniek.com)

For further details of Newfill and to find your nearest practitioner, call 020 7937 2377.