Studies have long shown that breast augmentation surgery is very gratifying for women seeking to not only enhance their size but also improve their shape. Breast shape can be lost as the result of pregnancy and breast feeding. Some patients may feel that they never had the shape they wished from the start. In either case, breast implant surgery can help patients with size and form. 

Over the long term,  changes to the structure and content of breast implants has changed very little. Both saline (water filled) and silicone gel breast implants (gel)  have been used since the early fifties and both have been successful over the years. Both implants have been studied thoroughly and  have been found to be safe and effective for both cosmetic surgery and for use in reconstructive surgery. 

Breast shaped implants went through their “vogue”, as well as textured surfaced implants but these are not seen that much anymore. When gel implants began to be used again in 2007, there was a surge in their use but it may be surprising to hear that saline breast implants are still the most common implants used in the United States. Some cosmetic surgeons perform breast augmentation fat transfer but this technique has been shown not to be reliable or effective. 

Breast Augmentation with Gummy Bear Implants

About ten years ago, the two major breast implant manufacturers, Mentor and Allergan, received approval from the FDA to market gummy bear implants. In the medical arena, they are called “cohesive gel implants”. They have a denser, more firm feel and the manufacturers state that since the implants are more firm,  they have less chance for rippling and the upper part of the breast is more full after the procedure. 

How Do Gummy Bear Implants Work

The reason gummy bear implants are more firm is that the molecules of gel are longer. And since they are longer, they can rub and “catch” each other and thus, are more firm and resistant to motion. 

Gummy Bear Implants Near Me

This is a common search for patients looking to have their breast augmentation near them. It is very good to have your breast augmentation at a surgery center and also for the doctor to be nearby after the surgery. Complications from breast augmentation are quite uncommon but you always want to have help close by or should you have a question about your surgery or have any concerns, the doctor can be close by to make it easy for you to go in for an appointment to see the doctor.

Gummy Bear Implants Recall

The only breast implants that have  been recalled by the FDA are those with a textured surface. A very rare cancer, called “Breast Implant Associated Lymphoma” or BIAL has been associated with any textured implant and so they have been taken off the market. There have been under one thousand cases of BIAL to date, and more than twenty million patients have breast implants. Smooth surfaced gummy bear implants as well as all the other gel implants and saline implants are still approved by the FDA.

Gummy Bear Implants Problems

The implants have been proven to be safe by the FDA and are safe for patients. Patients should feel them at consultation and compare the feel of them to the other silicone gel implants to see if they like them.

For established under eye wrinkles, throw those wrinkle creams, eye creams, and anti-aging creams and serums away! Laser treatment for wrinkles can remove 90% or more of the wrinkles and a host of other changes women want to make their under eye area look great.

Shrink Wrap the Skin

The light energy of the laser not only removes wrinkles but also shrinks and naturally tightens the skin of the lower lid and the Crow’s foot area as well. This can provide a great benefit for the contour of the entire lower lid area and the Crow’s foot wrinkles, especially for patients with drooping of the brow and skin excess within the Crow’s foot area.

The Laser Lightens Dark Circles

Many patients develop dark circles around their eyes and within the lower eyelid area. One of the byproducts of the laser is that it can lighten the skin over the long term and this can help those patients with dark circles.

Faster Healing with the Laser

When the laser is used over the cheeks and around the mouth, it takes much longer for healing and the ability to wear makeup. This is because the skin is thicker and the wrinkles are also deeper. So because the skin of the lower lid is thinner and the wrinkles are also less deep, healing is much quicker in this area. The laser can be used safely to tighten and smooth lower lid skin and patients are happier with the laser than other methods for treatment of wrinkles because the effect is so long lasting.

Combination Surgery with Wrinkle Treatment Under Eyes

Patients who have upper eyelid surgery to remove skin excess (hooding of the upper eyelid) also can have wrinkling of the skin of the lower eyelid. In these cases, it’s great to add laser treatment because, with the upper lid treatment, the entire area is rejuvenated.

Wrinkle creams are a multi-billion dollar business that preys on our own worst fear that we are getting old. And according to the American Academy of Dermatology, anti-aging creams and serums, eye creams and even very expensive topical creams do little to nothing to treat wrinkles. But there is one treatment that is highly effective, is very safe and can last many years. More on that later but let’s talk about how wrinkle cream companies say their products work.

Back to the Drawing Board

Companies that sell wrinkle creams typically advertise that chemicals in their creams and serums penetrate the skin layer to cause changes in the structure of skin and its cells. There are two very important untruths right there. Firstly, the most important function of our skin is to keep chemicals outside of our body. The strong outer layer of our skin is an incredibly strong barrier to nearly every chemical known to man. So wrinkle creams never get to the skin to provide any effect.

The second untruth is the notion that the chemicals in wrinkle creams somehow alter skin metabolism. For example, many creams claim they increase production of collagen which is the protein responsible for the strength and structure of the skin itself.

But our metabolism is like a thermostat in that our DNA gives instructions for exactly how much collagen our body produces and that is not changed by anything applied to the skin even if it could penetrate to get to the skin cells.

In addition, creams that claim they contain collagen also don’t work for the same reason: if bricklayers work at a certain rate, simply giving them more brinks won’t help them work faster. Our DNA tells the skin cells how much collagen to produce and so creams are totally ineffective at increasing collagen production.

What Wrinkle Creams Really Do

If wrinkle creams and wrinkle serums don’t fix wrinkles, what do they do? In the short term, they have three effects: spackling the wrinkles flat, causing inflammation which pops out fine wrinkles and the use of silicates which can provide some shrinking of the skin. Let’s discuss all three effects.

Filling the Cracks

Wrinkle creams and also makeup both contain powder mixed with chemicals that moisturize; keeping the powder particles wet and thus keeps the powder from drying out over the short term. Over the several hours after application, our warm skin causes the water in the moisturizer to evaporate. At this point, the makeup or other product loses volume so it doesn’t fill the wrinkle anymore and since the powder has nothing to hold it together, it begins to crack, making the wrinkles appear worse.

Retin-A

Retinols (retinoic acid) work by causing inflammation which results in skin swelling. And because the skin is thicker, the wrinkles temporarily pop out. This change is best seen with fine wrinkles. There are two problems with these agents. The first is that repeated swelling can lead to long term damage of the skin. The other problem is that retinols are one of the few chemicals that can penetrate the skin and change DNA. This might lead to skin atrophy and long term thinning of the skin.

Newest Hype

Splashed all over the television are commercials about a new product that tightens skin miraculously, and in seconds! These products contain silicates, powder found in certain rocks. How do they work? Perhaps the salts in the cream form a temporary bond with each other, and when the skin dries, there may be some tightening. Unfortunately the improvement is short lived because with any slight skin movement the bonds will crack. So the effect is very short lived. I guess our face is not made of stone!

What Works

For patients with intermediate to deep wrinkles, the best way to achieve permanent and safe wrinkle removal is to use the CO2 laser. When done safely and with good post-treatment skin care, most patients can have anywhere from 85% to 95% of the wrinkles removed permanently. When looking at all surgeries done, few procedures can boast that amount of improvement in one treatment. That’s why the laser is the gold standard to which all other wrinkle removal techniques are compared.

So don’t waste your time and hard earned savings on useless wrinkle creams. Think of laser skin treatment as an investment in your beauty. It can stave off the effects of time on our skin and leave the skin looking refreshed, natural and smooth.

As a child, I remember the joy of being at family events in the company of my much older relatives. I remember them bending down to hug me and have a mental snapshot of someone leaning down, nose first. At the time, I just thought it was because they were bending down to greet me and it wasn’t until much later that I discovered that some people’s noses naturally droop and that drooping was more common in older people.

The Aging Process

The aging process affects all of the parts of our body. We can lose the natural thickness of our skin and also its underlying attachments leading to skin laxity. There is also a generally a loss of youthful fat with time and even our bones tend to lose volume. The nose itself can change shape. With age, the nose can appear larger (as the face becomes smaller) and become more prominent. There can also be nasal drooping which, aesthetically, makes the nose look longer than it actually is.

Nasal Drooping can also Occur When We are Young

The nose can also appear to droop in youth, and again, this can become bothersome to patients because it makes the nose look longer than it really is. The appearance of drooping can also bring out certain emotions and make patients seem angry or serious. Rhinoplasty surgery (nose jobs) are directed toward raising the tip to a certain position so as to create beauty but the emphasis, with today’s modern techniques is to only raise the tip to the point which creates harmony but doesn’t have too much show of the nostril.

Upward rotation of the tip is also done as part of a balanced nose shaping to shorten the longer nose. The longer nose is long and so may require shortening but shortening of the nose can also help as it makes the nose smaller, and since most patients who come for nose shaping surgery complain that their nose is too big, a certain amount of shortening can help achieve that goal.

False Drooping of the Nose

Some patients may appear to have a long nose with drooping but when you look on side view, the tip is in already good position. Facial Plastic Surgeons define this good position as at least a 90 degree angle between the upper lip and the tip on side view.

Some patients may have other parts of the nose that give the aesthetic appearance that the tip is drooping, even thought there is no actual drooping. This is especially common when patients have larger bump on the bridge of their nose. The curve of the bump makes it look like the tip is drooping when, in fact it might not be.

There are also some nostril and tip shapes that can also make it appear that a nose is drooping. Attention to these details, and their improvement can alleviate the appearance of drooping.

Rhinoplasty Cost

Rhinoplasty cost varies based on the nature of the surgery and whether the surgery is performed closed (all incisions on the inside) or with open rhinoplasty, where the skin is lifted to gain a better view of the tip for more complicated nasal problems.

Healing After Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty recovery is usually quick. The nose is a very small part of the body and thus, pain is generally quite minimal. Patients wear a small splint on the nose for six days and there is usually minimal swelling.

The Gift of Rhinoplasty

One of the most interesting aspects of nasal surgery is that, despite the surgery only being performed on the nose, there is a change to the entire face. How this happens has defied Plastic Surgeons over the years in terms of its explanation. It might be because one is no longer drawn to a larger nose but now sees the other beautiful parts of the face such as the lips, the eyes and the overall shape of the nose.

As with all cosmetic surgery, it’s a good idea to obtain the guidance of an experienced Facial Plastic Surgeon so you can work toward the beautiful nose you deserve!