New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) There was a time when middle-aged women would resort to facials and thermo packs to rejuvenate their looks. But now wrinkles or patchy skin are being tackled with a wide range of anti-ageing treatments, sometimes by women who are just in their late 20s.

The most common procedures include juvederm and other dermal fillers, diamond polish, laser treatments and botox.

'There has been a change in mindset. Today more women come for such treatments. This is because people have more money now and many women are working nowadays, resulting in a shift towards good looks and presentation. Thus, there is no hesitation in people's mind any more,' Madhurima Sharma, plastic surgeon, who has her own centre, Atelier, in Hauz Khas, told IANS.

Another trend that has come to notice is that the age group visiting doctors for such treatments is getting younger.

Viral Desai, a Mumbai-based cosmetic surgeon, who has his own clinic in the Santacruz area and is also attached to the Lilavati Hospital, points out that the age of women opting for anti-ageing techniques has come down drastically.

'The age is getting younger and younger day by day. Earlier, it used to be people around 35 years of age coming to us, now it is anyone close to 27,' he said.

Echoing him, Chiranjiv Chhabra, consultant dermatologist and cosmetic laser surgeon at Delhi's Skin Alive clinic, told IANS: 'Along with older ones who need to get rid of the signs of ageing showing on their body, women as young as 27-28 years visit us to prevent any signs of ageing. They want to be prepared before hand.'

Skin Alive clinics are located in Panchsheel and Gurgaon.

Costs are not so high. Botox is approximately Rs.5,000 to Rs.8,000 per session, diamond polish is close to Rs.1,500-Rs.2,000 per session and dermal fillers around Rs.14,000 to Rs.18,000 per shot.

'Cosmetic surgery is the fastest growing medical field in the world and has been catching up very quickly in India too. Especially in the metros, the demand is high. This is because women are independent, have their own finances and there is awareness.

'Earlier, these treatments were associated more with celebrities, but today I have women even from lower-middle class families coming to me,' said Desai.

Women opting for anti-ageing treatments to look youthful also avail themselves of various discounts from time to time.

'We do offer discounts now and then. Like we got many queries for anti-ageing processes around International Women's Day (March 8) and we had introduced many special discount offers for women on the occasion,' said Chhabra.

Desai said: 'We have decided to give a 10 percent discount to our women clients for this month.'

(Ruchika Kher can be contacted at ruchika.k@ians.in)