Because I am a plastic surgeon, my day — from when I wake up to when I go to sleep — is a constant focus on appearance. I am also a
woman. It is hard not to translate that onto yourself and not to notice your own flaws in the mirror. When I look at a picture, when I take a picture with my friends, we’re all looking at one thing, and my focus goes to what I’ve been trained to see and how I can make it befler. Who doesn’t wanna look great and look a certain way? For me, especially in my profession, it goes even further because my entire day is meeting people that come to me because, for one reason or another, they are unhappy with the way they look.
Aging is scary. Our generation has been programmed to put emphasis on physicality and beauty. Socially, the expectation is to be young, beautiful, and perfect, which is associated in part with being female. Even the cartoons we grew up watching and the princesses in some way taught us we need to have a particular look, so when we wake up one day and see that things are not how they used to be, it just suddenly hits you out of nowhere, and it becomes very scary.
I am all for self-improvement, and I joke around with people and say that I work in the candy shop because I have access to a lot of things and am not afraid to take advantage. I am also aware of the internal growth that comes with aging. I think with age we become wiser and smarter about how we approach life, and, in some way, that compensates for those flaws we undoubtedly see in the mirror, bringing more value compared to the physicality of what you have when you’re younger.
It’s not uncommon for a woman to come in for a consultation, especially from some of my male counterparts, where the dialogue starts with, “I can fix you — I can make you look 20 years old.” I never tell a patient that I can “fix them” or make them look like they did when they were 20 years old because, one, patients don’t want to be spoken to that way, and two, the truth of the mafler is we can’t [fix them]and we shouldn’t. What we, as plastic surgeons, can do is help you look and feel your best, and that’s exactly what I try to focus on for myself and my patients.
I, too, am aging and am going through those similar feelings like you [do]when I look in the mirror. But, as I tell myself, “Here’s where I am. I can’t go back in time, but I am confident and unapologetically me.” I am true to who I am and what I believe in. I understand now that everything on the outside — everything that was so important in my youth and what I relied on — fades away. When all is said and done, it’s about living our best life, doing what makes us feel good about ourselves, and embracing
all the amazing positives that come with aging.
Dr. Azharian is a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon. Dr.Azharian approaches her patients with the understanding that all people have a unique set of needs to accomplish their goals, while maintaining their individuality. Dr. Azharian offers a full
array of cosmetic and reconstructive surgical and non- surgical procedures for the face and body.