Freshen Up!

Monday, December 17, 2012

Festoon-not an angry animal, but tired looking eyes

During my many years of treating and studying faces I came across a very common but difficult to fix problem-festoons. This is the name Plastic Surgeons use to describe puffy lower eyelids that stand out and create a half-moon line on your upper (malar) cheek.

I've studied this problem for a long time, during 2010 Aesthetic Society meeting I've listened to almost 5 hours of lectures on how Plastic Surgeons around the world fix it surgically and let me tell you it's not an easy surgery!
My experience with it was trying to conceal cheek/eyelid contour irregularities with Radiesse and Juvederm and though it would look good the first few weeks it goes back to a deep furrow with a vengeance. The only product that proved to work magic so far is Sculptra. It seems that it works two-fold: gets the volume back and strengthens that ligament separating fat between eyelid and cheek. Another treatment that I've seen improve it is Ulthera and Titan-both stimulate collagen gently and tighten the skin.
I looked up festoon and wikipedia returned "a hanging ornament decorating buildings during festivities". To me it sounds more like an angry animal, but then again I have wild imagination.  
A lot of people have this anatomical feature, even children, but with age and overall volume loss it can look worse and contribute to the tired sick look. The good news is now we have non-invasive effective methods of dealing with it.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Chemical brow lift

Looking angry or tired lately? It might be time to try Botox! Very often patients who have never "done" anything ease into the injectables with chemical brow lift.

A group of small but powerful muscles above the brows are called brow depressors. They pull your brows in and down. Botox relaxes the muscles and prevents frowning, but besides that you get a brow lift.
It lasts about 3-4 months, looks very natural, and takes a minute to do. Average cost is $250-$350.
Some patients mention "Dr.Spok" look with unnaturally raised eyebrows that they have had elsewhere after the treatment. This usually happens when injector misses the muscle due to possibly minor anatomical differences or lack of expertise. The problem is easily fixed with couple of extra units of product which should be done free of charge for the patient.  

Monday, December 3, 2012

Botox to narrow big suare jaw

Well defined prominent jawline can be a beautiful advantage in some cases, but in other cases it can drive people crazy. Just as much as I do jawline enhancement for men who want more masculine look, I do jawline feminization for women. As usual, proportion of the face plays the biggest role.

Masseter muscle-a big square muscle you feel when you clench your teeth, can be partially deactivated with Botox and eventually shrink. This procedure has been popularized by celebrities in Asia and is extremely common and inexpensive!