SURGICAL PROCEDURES

Our approach to facial rejuvenation is to strive for a true restoration without surgical artifacts. What sets us apart is our unwavering focus on restoring your natural, youthful appearance, without looking "stylized," stretched, pinched, or tampered-with.

We begin this process with a thorough assessment of your skin quality and the structural changes that determine your appearance. We then design an individualized treatment plan to suit your objectives. Most surgical procedures described here can be performed alone or in combination with other surgical or nonsurgical procedures, as part of an overall facial rejuvenation strategy.

As always, the objectives of surgery are to achieve a visible, natural result that cannot be accomplished with nonsurgical techniques or ContourThreads, and to minimize scarring, reduce post-operative recovery time, and reduce discoloration, swelling and discomfort during the post-operative period.

We perform all surgeries in accredited surgicenters, in collaboration with a board-certified anesthesiologist.

Blepharoplasty ("eye lift")

It is not uncommon that the first signs of aging occur around the eyes, resulting in a tired, puffy look, or "bags." Accordingly, blepharoplasty is the most common facial rejuvenation procedure. Blepharoplasty is a procedure to remove excess fat and skin from the upper and lower eyelids. Our particular concern is to restore a natural appearance and to avoid surgical artifacts that might result in a gaunt, hollow look. As a result, we are now performing "fat saving" blepharoplasties. In this way, the lower lid joins the cheek as it does in youth, and we avoid the post-operative "compartmentalization" of the eye socket as sometimes occurred in older procedures. [back to top]

Rhytidectomy ("face lift")

Face lift, or rhytidectomy, is a procedure for restoring facial volumes to a more youthful position and reducing folds and creases caused by aging and the effects of gravity. This procedure can reduce folds running from the nose to the corners of the mouth (nasolabial folds), marionette lines, sagging cheeks and jowls, "crow's feet" and other facial lines. [back to top]

Brow lift

This is a procedure to lift sagging brows, reduce thick horizontal wrinkles of the brow, reduce vertical frown lines between the brows, or remove excess skin above the nose. It is often performed in conjunction with a rhytidectomy or blepharoplasty. In planning this procedure, we give special consideration to the height of the forehead, the vertical dimension and proportions of the entire face, the position and shape of the hairline, and the amount of hair. These criteria help us choose the most appropriate type of brow lift procedure, for example, whether to opt for an endoscopic pre-trichial (hairline) or trans-coronal incision. [back to top]

Cheek lift

There are several techniques to reposition and fix the descended cheek. The specific procedure will be determined at the time of consultation. [back to top]

Lipotransfer

Lipotransfer is used to add fullness to the face, lip, and sometimes portions of the body, and is particularly useful for facial enhancement and wrinkle reduction. The challenge in lipotransfer is managing the portion of fat cells that survive as a "graft" after the procedure. Over the years, this technique has become more sophisticated so that transferred fat survives at a greater rate. Most lipotransfers can be performed as an office procedure under local anesthesia. Fat cells are collected from other parts of the body by liposuction and then reinjected into areas to be enhanced. [back to top]

Lip enhancement

It is very popular today for patients of all ages to request lip enhancement. In some cases, the objective is a fuller lip than nature has given us. In other cases, it is to restore fullness to the lip that has been lost over time. The lips tend to flatten with age, and at the same time, vertical wrinkles may develop in the upper and lower lip. These can be addressed through lip enhancement or augmentation.

Lip augmentation can be accomplished by various means, including injection of dermal fillers such as collagen, Juvederma, or Restylane®, VeraFil, lipotransfer, or dermal/fat graft.

The most common lip filler is Restylane. Restylane is very effective, but it is not permanent, lasting only a few months.

Another method for lip enhancement is the VeraFil implant. The VeraFil implant is a very thin and porous membrane surrounding a silicone balloon filled with saline. This novel technology is ideal for adding volume to the lips, retaining flexibility, and a full, soft and natural look. These implants are designed to reduce the risk of discomfort and rigidity of fibrotic tissue formations around the implant.

Lipotransfer can be used to transfer fat collected from another part of the body (usually from the central abdomen) to the lips. A portion of fat cells injected into the lips during this office procedure survives as a graft—and this surviving portion is permanent. However, the portion of fat that is retained in this way varies from case to case. Thus, it often takes a series of procedures to achieve the optimal result.

It is not uncommon to perform lip augmentation at the same time as a face lift. In these cases, we can take a small portion of skin from the face and "weave" it into the lip. This results in a a permanent augmentation of the lip. [back to top]