Baby Boomersstave off the outward signs of aging.

Baby Boomers

Dr. Arturo Aguillon, Wing Memorial Hospital plastic surgeon, says baby boomers are undergoing a variety of cosmetic surgical procedures to stave off the outward signs of aging. And guess who is going to the plastic surgeon more these days than in the past? Men.

"The demand for cosmetic surgery has increased more proportionally in men than in women in the past 10 years," Aguillon said. "Up to 15 to 20 percent of cosmetic surgery is performed on men. In the past between 94 and 98 percent of cosmetic surgeries were performed on women."

Patients are choosing from a long list of procedures that include face lift, breast augmentation, tummy tuck, liposuction, brow lift and several others.

Aguillon sees patients at Wing Memorial every Tuesday for consultations. His office hours are from 1-5 p.m., but he can accommodate patients who need to come later in the day. The doctor also performs cosmetic surgery at Wing Memorial four times a month.

"The great majority of my cosmetic procedures are done at Wing," Aguillon said. "All of the cosmetic procedures I do, I can do at Wing. The care of the staff at Wing is excellent."

An appointment can be set up with Aguillon by calling the hospital at (413) 284-5400.

Aguillon said through the influence of television and other media, cosmetic surgery has become more accepted in society. And people are often opting for a number of procedures instead of just one. Some combination of cosmetic procedures can be done at the same time, others require several stages of surgery.

"It's not rare to be in the operating room for up to eight hours with one patient doing three to four different operations," he said. Because of diet and weight loss programs, body contouring is becoming more popular. On the downside, some people don't know when to stop having cosmetic surgery.

"One problem of cosmetic surgery is it's very addictive," Aguillon cautions. "In the United States, the way a woman looks is very demanding. Women spend a lot of time and money on how they look and nobody notices. They get a cosmetic procedure done and everybody makes a comment. That can be very emotionally addictive."

Before he schedules a procedure, Aguillon meets with the patient for at least one session and sometimes several consultations to determine if that person is a good candidate for cosmetic surgery. For example, a person who obsesses over a small facial flaw that nobody else notices is typically not a good candidate for cosmetic surgery.

Submitted by Michael Reardon of Wing Memorial Hospital