We’re lucky to live in an era that gives us so many options for minimally-invasive cosmetic treatments. These days, you can improve your facial aesthetics without surgery or the extensive downtime and discomfort involved with it. However, not all problems can be fixed with non-invasive treatments alone. The key to a successful procedure is choosing… Read More (Opens in a new tab)
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Overdone
Taking Facial Plastic Surgery to the Extreme Following a successful facial cosmetic surgery, the people in the patient’s life should not feel compelled to ask him or her: “Have you had work done?” A plastic surgeon’s intent is not to construct perfection, but rather to create aesthetic improvements that each patient is pleased with. Satisfactory… Read More (Opens in a new tab)
Bye, Bye, Double Chin!
We are pleased to now offer Kybella for the non-surgical treatment of the “double chin” for excess fullness/fat beneath the chin. This new treatment offers a high rate of success in treating the chin with no downtime, although there is some swelling which can occur. No incisions are needed. No sedation is necessary. While liposuction continues to be a great procedure, many patients wish to have reduction of the neck fullness by itself and do not wish to have downtime, even if it means the possibility of several repeat treatments in the office. Kybella is a treatment with “deoxycholic acid” which is a normally occurring substance in the body where it functions as a bile salt to break up fats in the intestines. As an injection, it breaks up fat cells in the area treated and the fat cells are then metabolized and excreted through normal metabolic processes of the body. From one to four treatments may be desired for the optimum effect but there is minimal discomfort and aside from swelling, there is minimal chance of unwanted effects.
Minimizing Bruising in Rhinoplasty
When it comes to surgery, there are some inevitable side effects that are caused by the trauma of the operation. Bruising is an extremely common phenomenon following surgery, particularly rhinoplasty. This bruising is concentrated on the nose and the eye area, and can take quite a while to fade, making many patients uneasy about leaving the house during recovery. While bruising cannot be entirely avoided following rhinoplasty, many patients are understandably interested in minimizing the bruising as much as possible. But is there a way to help prevent bruising as a patient? And can you help accelerate the rate of recovery for bruising that does occur?
Causes of Bruising
Bruising is caused by blood vessels breaking or tearing and leaking blood into the tissue. Bruising is visible under the skin and fade slowly over time. The trauma from nasal surgery often causes bruising in rhinoplasty that takes time to resolve. In the past, techniques used in preparing the nose for recovery, such as nasal packing, could actually make bruising worse, but modern techniques are much less traumatic to the patient and to the nose. While it is difficult to predict how much bruising each patient will have prior to the surgery, there are some ways to help prevent and treat postoperative bruising.
Facelift Under Local Anesthesia
A patient told us today of her experience with the facelift under local anesthesia and it’s a story we have heard multiple times. So, I think it is important to share with our readers. In an effort to minimize cost, some doctors routinely recommend facelift under local anesthesia, meaning no IV and no general anesthesia. In short, I would not recommend that to any family member, and as a result, I of course would not recommend it to our patients. The numbing medicine injections which are there for the procedure are at best annoying without any sedation and the cost of sedation is a fraction of that for the procedure itself, and is well worth it. Our goal is to give the best results possible and this simply requires attention to detail, which benefits from the addition of sedation. With IV sedation, our patients are very quickly very comfortable and do not remember the procedure, making it the best experience possible.
A Patient Asks About Kylie Jenner
The other day a patient asked me what I thought Kylie Jenner did that would have caused the changes we see in recent magazine pictures. While I certainly have no knowledge if she has had any procedure, and I can only comment based on supposed before-and-after pictures, the pictures I have seen show fuller lips. Especially the upper lip, which I think looks large and overdone relative to her lower lip. She also appears to have more volume in her cheeks. She may have also had a bit of browlifting; pictures that I have seen show a more arched outer edge of brow than before.
Long-lasting Beautiful Lips
How can someone achieve beautiful filling of the lips that is long-lasting but not overdone? While many of the options are synthetic fillers, which are temporary, we love using the body’s natural filler – fat – as part of our VolumeLift sm. With fat, you can achieve natural feeling and natural-looking results that last many… Read More (Opens in a new tab)
A New Treatment for Lip Lines
We are pleased to be the first office in the city to offer Restylane Silk. This brand-new filler is FDA approved for lip lines (sometimes called “smoker’s lines,” but all patients eventually get these). It is also approved for filling the lips. This new filler is a smaller particle size than the standard Restylane, which has had an outstanding safety profile over many years. The smaller particle size of Restylane Silk makes it ideal for fine lines of the upper lip. Having now injected this, I am pleased to say that it is every bit as smooth as its thicker brother Restylane, but fits more easily into the lip lines. This new filler is ideal for the patient who wishes to see improvement in the lip lines and lip volume without the downtime of a chemical peel or laser. We like to pair this type of filler with a muscle relaxer like Botox or Dysport for optimal results.
What Is the Best treatment for Under Eye Wrinkles
There are many treatment options for the area under the eyes, ranging from chemical peels of varying strengths to Botox, fillers and surgery. The best treatment really depends on the individual patient’s face. Fine lines can be improved with Botox or Dysport. I don’t prefer to use fillers for fine lines in this area, but… Read More (Opens in a new tab)
“Shh, I have implants!”
Angelina Jolie sports some prominent cheek implants in her latest role. This is a great example of what we DON’T do in our office–make cheeks pointy. This obviously serves a purpose in film, to create an extreme character by accentuating certain features, and it is effective. More natural beauty begs a more rounded cheek that… Read More (Opens in a new tab)