A Good Time To Remember

May is National Skin Cancer Awareness Month: How great it is that there is a whole month dedicated to reminding people that when it comes to skin cancer, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

There are several different kinds of skin cancer, and it’s good to have some knowledge of how the most common forms manifest and what they are capable of. Basal Cell Carcinoma is the most common of the non-melanoma types of skin cancer, and it is the easiest to treat. But it can be hard for a lay person to detect, because it can take on several different forms, from pearly white bumps to pink waxy bumps to flat brown patches. Many of these may not be very different looking from non-cancerous moles. National Skin Cancer Awareness Month is the perfect time to make that appointment you’ve been meaning to make all year long and have any bumps, lumps or patches checked out.

Another non-melanoma type of skin cancer is Squamous Cell Carcinoma, which generally occurs in those places that are most often exposed to the sun: the hands and face. Squamous Cell Carcinoma legions are reddish and can be scaly and may even develop a crust that bleeds with friction. National Skin Cancer Awareness Month is a good time to be reminded that a high percentage of Squamous Cell Carcinoma legions are preceded by small rough pinkish non-carcinogenic patches called Actinic Keratosis. This means that you can go to your physician and have these pre-cancerous legions burned, scraped, cut or frozen off before they ever become a real threat.

The most serious type of skin cancer is melanoma, though even here an early diagnosis and treatment strategy can produce good results and increase survival rates. A mole that changes in size, shape or color or that oozes or bleeds can be a malignant melanoma.

You’ve probably heard that the alphabet (or at least the first five letters of it) provides one good and clever rule of thumb for analyzing moles for skin cancer malignancies: A is for Asymmetry, because cancerous moles are often different from one side to the other. B is for Border, because the borders are often irregular. C is for Color; there may be a variety of shades or even distinct colors in one tiny mole if you look closely enough. D is for Diameter, because most cancerous moles are larger than the radius of a pencil eraser. And E is for Evolving, suggesting that any mole that changes in size, shape, height or other characteristics may be cancerous.

Even if you’ve taken a good look at your skin and ascertained that you don’t have any of the ABCDEs, you’ll want to keep in mind that these guidelines are no substitute for an appointment with your doctor. There are just too many variables, and even your doctor may want to do some testing to be sure. He or she can also establish a baseline, so that skin irregularities from one appointment to the next will be easier to spot. Skin cancer is not something you want to take a chance with. Early detection can make all the difference in the world. And this is particularly true for people who have already had skin cancer; even if it has been years and years since your malignant mole was detected, treated and forgotten, let National Skin Cancer Awareness Month be the time when you remember that people who have had skin cancer once are at a higher risk for getting it again.

Come On and Tighten It Up

Everybody’s talking about “tightening up” these days, and only some of them are referring to the famous hit by the old funk band Archie Bell & The Drells. Tightening up (your skin, that is) non-surgically has never been less expensive or less painful or required less down time. But even more importantly, non-surgical tightening up has never enjoyed the success rate it enjoys today. And that’s because—along with wobble-free camcorders, iPad 3s, Windows 8s, and air purifiers that are totally silent—technological refinements have rendered the tools of the trade state-of-the-art!

If you’re behind the times you can catch up right here. The hottest technology in skin care is the laser, with the lipo machine right behind it. The most cutting-edge lasers have several functions that address all kinds of skin problems, and they can generally be found in the possession of the most experienced and knowledgeable plastic surgeons and skincare professionals.

If loose skin on your face and neck are beginning to make you look tired and older than you feel, you may want to consider a Micro Laser Peel, for instance. Besides addressing skin laxity, Micro Laser Peels can correct uneven pigmentation and reduce wrinkles and enlarged pores.

You will also want to look into ProFractional Treatments, so be sure your skincare professionals’ lasers have this capacity as well. Profractional treatment recipients have been known to rave about the lack of pain and the short recovery time they experience. Profractional procedures use pulses of light to penetrate below the surface of the skin to get at the dermis where collagen and elastin reside. The heat produced by the laser actually causes collagen fibers to contract, which helps to shrink the skin above them. State-of-the-art cooling methods keep your skin from burning. Besides improving folds and sagging, ProFractional treatments are great for eliminating acne and the scarring that goes along with it. ProFractional Treatments also help eliminate fine lines and deeper wrinkles, while enhancing skin tone and texture generally. ProFractional work can be combined with Micro Laser Peels to achieve optimal results.

If your problems are in your tummy area, you might want to consider liposuction. Liposuction is a great way to get rid of fat that has accumulated in a particular area of the body, and tummies are notorious fat-hoarders. The VASER Liposuction machine is a contouring marvel, because in addition to removing fat, it also uses ultrasound to “melt” the fat while it’s leaving blood vessels, which means less bruising and less trauma to tissues. Lipo treatments can be combined with laser skin-tightening methods.

Faces, necks and tummies are only a few areas that might need some tightening up, and laser and liposuction are only two of many available methods for addressing such problems. But laser and lipo are exceedingly popular, because they offer an alternative to people who aren’t quite ready to go all out and say yes to plastic surgery. The power to choose is inherent in today’s technology. No wonder it’s got everyone singing, “Come on and tighten it up; tighten it up now; you can do it.”

You Can Win the Aging Battle—Hands Down!

Have you ever gone to a summer garden party and noticed that one of the younger guests was wearing gloves? She (or he) was probably a professional hand model, someone whose hands show up in TV commercials or glossy magazine ads holding tubes of toothpaste or electronic devices or kitchen cleansers. Hand modeling might sound like a ridiculously effortless career, but if you really think about it, it requires ongoing vigilance (hence the gloves), because no matter how careful we are with our hands, they are going to show the signs of age as aging happens.

This can create a dilemma for the many people who have taken advantage of modern technology and generated a more youthful look for their faces—whether via facelifts, laser work, Botox, or other skin rejuvenators—and who have kept in shape with exercise and healthy diets. If you are looking five—or even ten—years younger everywhere but on your hands, you may be tempted to wear gloves yourself, though not because you’ve suddenly gone into the hand-modeling business! A much easier solution is “on hand” to change your hands to match the rest of you.

Some of the very same products—Restylane, Juvederm, and others, as well as one’s own fat—that are used to rejuvenate our faces can also be used on our hands. These fillers replace volume loss. They plump up the skin and make it look youthful again. The plumping process hides the tendons and veins that often begin to bulge through thinning skin as we get older, and it gets rid of tell-tale crinkles and wrinkles on the skin surface too. Moreover, fillers and injectibles can be combined with laser work to eliminate those age spots that so many life-long sun worshippers are prone to.

If you haven’t heard about “hand-lifting” procedures before, it’s because injectibles themselves are fairly recent, and when their merits did begin to become known, people rushed out to add volume to their lips and cheeks and beneath their eyes. But now that we are all familiar with what fillers can do on our faces, people are starting to consider providing the same benefits for their hands.

Injections for the hands can be done in a matter of minutes. Plastic surgeons don’t need to go very deep, only under the first layer of skin. As a result, most hand lift procedures don’t even require anesthesia, though if you are particularly sensitive to discomfort and minimal pain, you may opt for a local anesthetic. Your hands may be slightly red or swollen for a day or so, but thereafter your hands and face will be a match made in heaven (or whatever you call the place where your cosmetic surgeons do their work).

Once you’ve had work done on your hands, you will want the results to last as long as possible. Moisturizers and sunscreen products are a must. In fact, because we all wash our hands so often these days, it makes sense to carry small tubes of each wherever you go. If your hands are naturally dry, you can even apply moisturizer before you go to bed and wear cotton gloves over it. And be sure to wear rubber gloves when you are cleaning or gardening or participating in other activities that can expose your skin to the elements and/or to any chemicals.

If you’re sitting on your hands metaphorically, because you are unsure how to respond to a particular situation, that’s fine. Take your time. No worries. Best to know you made the right decision. But if you are sitting on your hands because they look older than the rest of you, it’s time to stand up…for your right to look as young as you feel.

Summer Coming? Bring It On!

With spring and summer around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about wearing tops with short sleeves—or no sleeves.  If you have arms that jiggle, this notion probably makes you shudder.  And if you came by your jiggly arms through major weight loss, there may not be a lot that you can do about it; you can perform barbell curls 24/7 and still not be able to regain the muscle tone you have lost in your upper arms.  Aging takes its toll on the arms too, especially aging accompanied by previous major weight loss.  And sometimes genes for flabby upper arms can cause even younger people and those who have never had appreciable weight fluctuations to despair when the time comes to review their spring/summer wardrobes.

The good news is that plastic surgeons know exactly how to counteract this problem.  The arm lift (or Brachioplasty) is one of the more popular procedures for the simple reason that there are a lot of people out there who are not happy with their arms.  It also helps that the procedure is short (one to two hours, generally) and can be done on an outpatient basis.  However, it is important to stress that there are some people for whom barbell curls can be helpful, and they are not the ones who should be considering lifts.  A consultation with specialists can help you to determine whether you need a plastic surgeon or a personal trainer.

The arm lift requires surgeons to make incisions on the inside of the arm, so that they can then rid the arm of excess skin and fat.  The fat can sometimes be extracted through liposuction.  If the excess skin is fairly minimal and located near the arm pit, the incision area can often be limited to the arm pit, where scarring is not an issue. The length of the incision depends on the extent of the problem.  For some weight loss patients, it may be necessary for the tissue to be removed through an incision that runs from the arm pit to near the elbow, perhaps six inches in length.  This scar will not be noticeable on the outside of the arm, but it may be noticeable for some months when the arms are raised.  In extreme cases, the incision may need to extend to a part of the chest as well. As you can see, there are many variations.

So, save your long-sleeved shirts for winter.  Whether the answer for you is more days at the gym or a little surgical magic, the fact is, there is an answer.  Once you say goodbye to jiggly arms, saying hello to summer—and tank tops and bathing suits—will be a joy.

So What Exactly Constitutes A Face Lift These Days?

When it comes to the face, the full lift used to be pretty much the only thing on the menu.  But then Botox came along, and a slew of other fillers followed, and now we also have lasers that not only remove acne scars and age spots but actually tighten up your skin and encourage collagen and elastin to go back to work.  With all these new modalities, choosing a procedure might seem as confusing as choosing a dessert in a Bhutanese restaurant. But it’s good to remember that while fillers and laser work are quicker and have shorter recovery times, there is nothing like a face lift when it comes to truly recovering beauty lost.

Of course there are several varieties of face lift procedures.  You can opt for what is called a QuickLift™.  Or you can have an upper face lift or a lower face lift or even a mid face lift.  A face lift is a very individualized process and should coincide with your specific needs.  The goal here is to provide an overview of the full face lift, however, while recognizing that there are any number of variations.  Also, it’s important to remember that while the face lift has been around for some time, the methods used to produce it have improved significantly over the years—as have the results!

The secret to a good face lift is not only finding a surgical team with a long success record but finding one that remains enthusiastic about this kind of work.  A good plastic surgeon should have the fervor and self-regard of an artist—because he or she is one.  If you are in the market for a lift, identify the team you want to work with, and then make an appointment to sit down with them and discuss your medical history so that you can be sure that you are in fact a good candidate for a lift.  Also, you will want to take the opportunity to learn exactly what is involved and what to expect during recovery—and thereafter.  If all systems are still on go after your consultation, then you are ready to embark on a journey that will take you back in time.

The objective of modern full face lift surgery is to reduce creases and sagging in such a way that a youthful look is restored and that the changes appear natural. This is accomplished by making incisions along the hairline and in front of the ears and sometimes below the chin.  Your skin can then be “lifted” and rearranged over your bone structure, and any excess skin can be removed.  At the same time, fat deposits can be transferred from other parts of your body to fill out areas of the face that have lost volume.  A traditional face lift can reduce forehead lines and creases and improve frown lines between your brows; it can brighten the eyes by incorporating eyelid surgery on the upper eyelids, the lower eyelids, or both; it can improve the mid face by lifting the underlying muscles and fat that have sagged over time; and, likewise, it can reduce jowls and restore a firmer neck by eliminating fat deposits and excess skin from the lower face and neck.

A full face lift is not a lunchtime procedure.  Once you decide that this is what you want, you will have to arrange your life so that you can rest until the swelling goes down, which can take an average of two to three weeks.  But the outcome will definitely be worth the wait—and you will be glad you opted for the most delicious dessert on the menu.

What’s on the Menu for Lunch Today?

For some people the first signs of aging show up on the forehead, with furrowed or sagging brows.  For others it is the middle of the face that first gives away their age.  The soft tissues there are prone to volume loss, which in turn creates sagging, which can lead to lower face jowls.  These people are usually in their forties or fifties.

Cheek volume can easily be restored with fillers, such as Botox, or Botox in combination with other fillers, or even one’s own autologous fat.  Or sometimes the right solution can include cheek implants.  But for those who want to nip the problem of mid face sagging in the bud, the answer may be a partial facelift—that is, a lift that focuses only on the mid face where the signs of aging are beginning to appear, and leaves the rest for the future, when it truly becomes an issue.

For obvious reasons the mid face lift is less invasive than a full face lift.  It is concerned with repositioning the fat pads in the middle of the face so that they align with the cheeks and help to diminish both hollowness under the eyes and lines at the side of the nose and mouth.

Since the idea of a mid lift makes so much sense, you would think that it would have a long history.  In fact, it’s only come into its own in the last ten or fifteen years.  Plastic Surgery Specialists, located in the California Bay Area, is one of the leading surgical teams to adapt it.  They define the mid face as the triangle that begins at the inner corners of the eyes and stretches to the outer corners of the mouth.  They have amassed a number of mid lift success stories, taking men and women who were on the verge of showing real signs of aging back in time to a biological juncture when they didn’t have to worry about it.  Mid lift patients are a happy bunch, as you might imagine!

Not only do mid lifters look great, but the actual procedure is very fast, sometimes only an hour.  In fact, some people have taken to calling it the “lunch-time lift.”  Of course you wouldn’t really want to run back to work right after a mid lift procedure.  But the point the moniker makes is that the mid lift is less complicated, with less risk of problems or scarring because it requires fewer, and shorter, incisions.  And recovery time is also significantly less.  So three cheers for the lunch-time lift.  Definitely well worth missing your favorite sandwich and le soup du jour!

A Penny For Your Thoughts?

Sagging brows and vertical and/or horizontal lines on the forehead not only make people look older, but they can also make them look like they are experiencing anxiety, disappointment or even pain.  At the very least, they can give their bearers a contemplative aspect, so that they appear to be brooding even when they are in the best of spirits.  People are usually in their forties or fifties when they first notice furrows appearing in their brows.  But sometimes younger people in their twenties and thirties find themselves the recipients of genes that result in early-onset forehead wrinkles too.  No wonder brow lifts are getting more and more popular every year.

Lifting the brow not only reduces lines and creases that appear on the forehead and between the eyebrows, but it also improves the “lateral hoods,” the excess skin that hangs over the outside corner of the eyes as the brow begins to sag.  And it can even help to eliminate any creasing that appears on the bridge of the nose.  In essence, brow lifts provide for a more youthful appearance for the upper portion of the face.  Since the upper portion is generally where the signs of aging first manifest, a brow lift may be just the thing to keep many people looking youthful for yet a number of years.  Or, if there are other signs of aging besides what’s going on with the brow, patients may also want to consider eyelid surgery, a neck lift, a brow lift as part of a face lift or one of many skin rejuvenation techniques.

The great thing about a brow lift is that it not only tightens the loose skin of the forehead but it actually makes adjustments to the underlying muscles that caused the skin to loosen in the first place.  Once the connective tissue is refastened, it begins to heal in its new tighter, more youthful position.  A much younger looking face is the result.  And this result can be quite long lasting.  It’s as if the patient’s biological clock has been set back, and now the aging process at the upper portion of the face has to begin all over again.  And don’t worry about the brow being lifted too high, so that you have to go around looking surprised for the foreseeable future.  That might have been a risk in days gone by; today’s technology (wielded in the hands of experienced plastic surgeons) means better and more natural-looking results than ever.

If you think that you may be a candidate for a brow lift, give yourself the mirror test.  Use your thumbs and forefingers to lift the skin above your brows.  If that gentle uplift makes you look less tired and more youthful, then the next step is to set up an appointment with an experienced plastic surgery team that has access to the Vectra 3-D Imager and see what the brow lift will look like on your very own image.  Brow lift patients are a happy bunch, and while they may be just as ruminative as the next person, you won’t catch them brooding—unless they actually are.

Hats Off to Plastic Surgeons!

All over the world people express themselves through their personal appearance.  Our choices in makeup, jewelry, clothing, hair color and style are our way of letting strangers know a little bit about who we are.  They help us to say something about our belief system, and they assist us in attracting like-minded individuals.  Some external expressions may be more extreme than others.  There are tribal people in South America, for instance, who paint anacondas on their faces, and even stick bamboo twigs into their facial skin to recreate the look of the whiskers of the animals they most revere.  Other indigenous people force large disks into their earlobes, forever changing the natural orientation of their ears.  But you don’t have to go deep into the jungle to witness extraordinary self expression.  Body art is extremely common these days.  Lots of people sport tattoos, some all over their bodies, and what patch of skin has not been pierced and bejeweled by someone?

The desire to look on the outside the way we feel on the inside is absolutely part of the human condition.  And the work plastic surgeons do to help accommodate this desire deserves every bit of the acclaim it receives.  Plastic surgery has the power to rebuild lives, from the outside in.  It has the power to boost our self confidence.  Not only can it keep us looking younger longer, but it can generate life-changing outcomes for people who were born with abnormalities.  Birthmarks, warts and growths can be removed through plastic surgery, and so can scars left from severe childhood acne.  Cleft lips and other disfigurements can be corrected, and so can Gynecomastia, the abnormal development of large mammary glands in males.  People who have undergone bariatric surgery for obesity can have reconstructive surgery to eliminate loose skin.  A body that won’t bounce back after motherhood can be just as psychologically debilitating for one person as a birth defect or a burn scar may be for another.  There is no end to the good work plastic surgeons can do with the technology available to them in the 21^st century.

The line between adornment and correction is a blur, and no one ought to have to suffer from the belief that they should learn to live with whatever physical aspects they happen to have—whether they were born with them or incurred them along the way.  A face lift for a middle age executive whose job requires her to impress clients daily is no more important than a facelift for a housewife who takes pride in how she looks when she meets with her book club.  The only one who knows how you feel about how you look is you.  If the right makeup, jewelry and clothing are not making the cut, you have other options.  Getting real can sometimes mean going deep, asking yourself what you are willing to do for yourself, how far you are willing to go to level the playing field, so that you make just as good a first impression as anyone else.

There are no judges here deciding who should and who should not.  The technology to change the way we look didn’t used to be available and now it is.  It’s as simple as that.  Vectra 3D Imaging takes the surprise out of procedure outcomes.  Lasers are quickly becoming to this day and age what sunscreen was to the mid 1900s.  But let us not forget that all these incredible tools are only as effective as the plastic surgeons who wield them.  And the best plastic surgeons are not only skilled and experienced by also empathic.  They know how to listen, and they know how to help.

The Year of the Implant

If, like so many others, you have made up your mind that 2012 will be the year that you undergo breast augmentation, then the question you are probably juggling is, saline or silicone?

Saline of course is salt water, and in the case of breast implants, it is a sterile solution of salt water enclosed in a silicone shell.  The shell for the silicone implant is virtually the same, but instead of saline, it is filled with a gel, also made from silicone.  Silicone is a synthetic compound that is used in a great many modern-day products, including soaps, chewing gum, antiperspirants, contact lenses and baby bottle nipples…to name just a very few.

Silicone implants have traveled a bit of a rocky road, but if you have heard recent rumors about a rash of implant ruptures, it’s important that you understand that they have taken place primarily in some European countries, where faulty implant production was limited to a particular manufacturer.  In fact, silicone implants have paid their dues.  Since they first began to be used in the U.S. in the 1960s, they have undergone nonstop refinement, for purposes of fine tuning the technology, as well as improving safety measures.

That does not mean that there are never instances of leakage.  Although rare, both saline and silicone implants can leak as a result of damage during implantation or trauma to the chest area.  Or they can simply wear out over time.  But newer implants pose less of a threat than ever before, and some implants even have a double shell, to further ensure safety.  Leakage in a saline implant will eventually result in a change in the size and shape of the breast.  The saline itself is absorbed by the body and does not cause any health risks.  By virtue of its viscous nature, leaking silicone is less likely to escape from the shell or at least from the pocket created for its placement.  Because a silicone leak can be difficult to determine, many women opt to have periodical MRI or ultrasound screenings.  But even if some silicone does escape, there are no long term health problems associated with such an event—though there can be some discomfort.  In both cases, new implants can be inserted in the same surgery in which the old ones are removed.  But again, ruptures and leaks are rare.

Saline and silicone-filled implants are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for both breast augmentation and breast reconstruction.  Except in cases where implants are being used for reconstructive surgery, the FDA has approved saline implants for women 18 and over and silicone implants for women 22 and over.  The age restrictions are to ensure that young women give their breast tissue a chance to reach maturity.

Both saline and silicone implants come in a great variety of sizes and even in different shapes.  You will hear some women say that they prefer silicone implants because they feel and act like real breast tissue (which is to say they have the spring of a natural breast.)  Others like the fact that the silicone implant is already filled when it is inserted, whereas the saline implant generally gets filled with saline solution during the augmentation procedure.  The women who prefer saline point out that saline quantity can be adjusted over time; it can be expanded as the skin around the new implant stretches to accommodate it; or it can be reduced for women who don’t like the firmer feel of the saline implant.  However, a highly experienced surgeon will be able to fill saline implants in such a way that the most natural consistency possible is afforded to the patient.  Also, in many instances implants can be placed behind the chest muscle, so that real breast tissue is at the forefront and springiness is not an issue.  The saline implant often requires a smaller incision, though a skilled physician will be able to manipulate even a pre-filled saline implant or silicone implant in such a way as to fit it into the smallest incision possible.  The secret, as always, comes down to finding the best possible plastic surgeons for the job.

One thing to know is that drooping or sagging breasts are not corrected by implants.  In fact, increasing breast volume can make drooping or sagging worse.  If you are interested in increasing volume as well as correcting slump, you will want to combine a breast lift with augmentation.

Millions of women worldwide have undergone breast augmentation for a variety of reasons over the years.  Some want to enhance their proportions.  Others want their outer characteristics to better reflect who they know themselves to be on the inside.  Others want to seize the opportunity to set back the clock.  The psychological value of breast augmentation cannot be underestimated.  If it’s right for you, you are not alone, and this is the year to do it.

The Results Are In… And The Eyes Have It!

Whether or not the eyes are truly the windows to the soul may be debatable, but it’s easy enough to see how the proverb gained its fame.  When we are first introduced to a person, we look into their eyes to establish a connection.  When we have something to say to someone, it is their eyes that we focus on while we are talking.  The more earnest our message, the more we attempt to hold the link.  It is the eyes we study when we are trying to comprehend someone’s motivation or their sincerity in a matter.  We can never really know what is going on in someone else’s head, but we trust the eyes to provide at least some semblance of revelation.  And we trust our own eyes to reinforce our verbal convictions.

Unfortunately, some of the signs of aging—the force of gravity, the loss of elasticity—as well as, in some cases, hereditary factors and sun damage, can draw attention away from all this communication that emanates from the eyes.  Hooded or drooping lids above the eyes or puffiness below them can blur the message that we are trying to get across.  Instead of heralding our emotions, they can appear to herald fatigue or sadness that we don’t necessarily feel.  They can obscure the sparkle that conveys our core energy level.  And in addition to making us look older, severely sagging skin around the eyes can even impair peripheral vision.  No wonder eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) is one of the most popular cosmetic procedures available today.

Blepharoplasty repairs droopy eyelids and/or the baggy/puffy skin under the eyes by removing or repositioning fat deposits and then removing excess skin and any stretched out muscle so as to improve the contour of the eyes.  It is a procedure that can often be done on an outpatient basis, and the results are very long lasting.

Work on eyelids is usually performed with a local anesthetic.  Plastic shields, similar to contact lenses, can be used to protect the eyes during surgery.  The incision guidelines for upper eyelid procedures are drawn to follow the natural fold of the eyelid, thereby ensuring that any scarring will be inconspicuous.  Once the fat and excess skin have been removed (sometimes along with a small strip of muscle), the surgeon will close the incision with absorbable or non-absorbable sutures.

Lower eyelid blepharoplasty works virtually the same way: Fat deposits are either removed or repositioned, and excess skin and possibly muscle are removed.  However, in lower lid surgery, incisions can be on the outside or inside of the eyelid.  In the case of the latter, the lower lid is pulled away from the skin and fat deposits are removed through a very tiny incision in the conjunctiva.  This is appropriate for people who have little or no excess skin in the area.  Sutures may not even be necessary.

It is worth noting that not everyone is a candidate for eyelid surgery.  People who may be at risk are those who suffer from glaucoma, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and more.  Your risk factors can be determined during a consultation with your plastic surgeon.  Once you know you are a candidate, there are other considerations.  While many people are happy enough with blepharoplasty, others may opt to have face lifts at the same time.  They can choose from a range of lifting procedures, from traditional lifts to a revolutionary, minimally invasive and exceedingly popular procedure called the QuickLift™.  Others who undergo blepharoplasties may opt to have Botox injections to soften lines on the forehead.  And still others may decide to have their brows lifted, especially if sagging brows have contributed to the sagging around the eyes in the first place.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to the possibilities of cosmetic surgeries that can be administered to improve one’s appearance.  Surgical teams such as Marin’s Plastic Surgery Specialists have perfected the ability to achieve results that look absolutely natural and truly offer recipients the priceless gift of self-confidence.  Twenty-twelve is an election year.  Be sure to cast a vote for you!