All Posts tagged botox

Smile Lipt: A Cure for Bitch Face?

By 16 Mar, 2015 Botox, Face Lift, News & Blogs , , , , ,
Smile Lipt: A Cure for Bitch Face?
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As we pointed out earlier today, South Korea has been pumping out the crazy (amazing) beauty trends lately—but this is one that may be just plain insane. A clinic there, AONE, is now offering a surgery called the “smile lipt,” which lifts the patient’s lips into a permanent smile. “Mouth corners lift up very naturally after surgery, and although mouth corners stay upturned on an impassive face, they lift up even more distinctively during a smile,” said Kwon Taek Keun, a surgeon and the clinic’s founder. The procedure “corrects” any sagging or asymmetric mouth corners. Basically, it’s a cure for “bitch face.”

Maybe this sounds great to some people (the Joker? Miss America contestants?) but to me, it’s straight out of a dark, dystopian future where everyone is relentlessly chipper. I apparently suffer from bitch face myself—I’m frequently asked if I’m angry or upset when I’m nothing of the kind. And as much as I hate people asking why I’m annoyed when I’m merely sleepy or concentrating on what I want to eat for dinner, I think it would be much worse to look perpetually happy thanks to a creepy permanent smile plastered on my face. Having the same expression whether I’m at Disney or a wake? I’ll pass, thank you.

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Are Fillers The Right Choice For You?

By 16 Mar, 2015 Botox, Fillers, Juevederm, Misc, News & Blogs , , , , , , , , , ,
Are Fillers The Right Choice For You?
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 Fillers are popular. To help you decide whether this treatment is right for you and to have the treatment performed safely, the AAD provides the following facts.

What happens when I get a filler?

The procedure varies with the filler your dermatologist will use, the part of the body to be treated, and your medical history. Here are some general guidelines about what you can expect:

  • Most filler treatments take between 15 and 30 minutes and require one office visit.
  • Before getting the injections, you may need ice, an anesthetic applied to the skin, or a nerve block (an injection). This varies with the filler and area to be treated. Hands generally do not need anesthesia; lips often require a nerve block.
  • Your dermatologist will inject the filler into the area, often giving you several injections to produce the best results.
  • You may feel a stinging or burning sensation as the filler is injected.
  • A few fillers require allergy testing to make sure you do not have an allergic reaction.
  • If you need allergy testing, you must wait for the results from the allergy test before you can get the filler.
  • If your own fat will be used as a filler, the entire treatment can often be completed in one day. You will first have a procedure called tumescent liposuction, which safely removes a small amount of fat from another area of your body. The fat removed from your body is then processed so that it can be injected into the area that needs more fullness.

What must I do after getting a filler?

Most patients can return to their everyday activities after leaving the office.

To reduce any redness and swelling from the injections, your dermatologist may recommend icing the area for 15 to 20 minutes before you leave.

Before you leave the office, you should be able to apply makeup.

After leaving the office, you should:

  • Wait until the next day to exercise or do any other strenuous activity.
  • Stay out of the sun and do not use a tanning bed or other type of indoor tanning.
  • Avoid touching the treated area for three days, unless you receive instructions to massage the area.
  • One filler, poly-L-lactic acid, requires you to gently massage the treated area for about 5 minutes several times a day for 1 to 2 weeks. Your dermatologist will tell you if you need to massage the area.

Is there downtime?

This varies with the filler. Most fillers do not cause downtime. Be sure to ask your dermatologist whether you will have downtime.

When will I see results after getting a filler?

This also varies with the filler. Most fillers fill the skin, so they produce immediate — or close to immediate — results. A filler also can stimulate your body to produce collagen, but this takes time.

Most fillers offer immediate results

Filler  When see results 
Collagen Immediate
Hyaluronic acid gel Immediate
Calcium hydroxyl apatite Immediate
Poly-L-lactic acid 2 or 3 weeks
Fat taken from your body Immediate
PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) Immediate

You may see other fillers advertised. All fillers listed above have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), except for self-donated fat. This filler does not require FDA approval because it comes from your own body.

Will I look natural?

To get natural-looking results, the person injecting the filler must have expertise in placing the filler.

Dermatologists recommend not overdoing fillers. Your results will look more natural with a conservative approach. For example, patients who have very thin lips should not get dramatically fuller lips. Creating fuller lips in these patients could be extremely unflattering because the lips might start to resemble a duck’s bill.

How long will the results from fillers last?

Most fillers offer temporary results and require repeat treatments to maintain the results.

Temporary fillers offer one key advantage. These can be injected as needed to replace lost fullness. This is advantageous because no matter what we do, our skin continues to age.

How long fillers typically last

Filler  How long  it lasts
Collagen 2 to 3 months (often longer when treating scar)
Hyaluronic acid gel 4 to 12 months
Calcium hydroxylapatite 6 months to 1 year
Poly-L-lactic acid 1 to 3 years
Fat taken from your body 1 to 3 years (often longer when treating a scar)
PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) permanent

You should ask your dermatologist how long the recommended filler should last in the area you want treated.

When is it safe to get another treatment?

If you get a temporary filler, you can usually have another treatment when the signs of aging reappear.

What are the possible side effects?

After receiving filler injections, some patients have minor, temporary side effects where they were injected. You may have:

  • Redness
  • Swelling
  • Tenderness
  • Bruising (occasionally)

These side effects tend to clear within 7 to 14 days — if not earlier.

Serious side effects are more likely when the person injecting the filler does not have adequate medical training and experience. To protect your health, you should never get filler injections in a non-medical setting, such as non-medical spa, salon, or someone’s home.

When fillers are injected in a non-medical setting or by an inexperienced provider, reports of more serious side effects increase dramatically. These side effects include:

  • Lumps.
  • Ridges.
  • Over-filled areas.
  • Allergic reaction.
  • Skin discoloration.
  • Infection.
  • Severe swelling.

What is the safety record for fillers?

 This is one of the safest cosmetic treatments available. For years, dermatologists have been refining the use of fillers to diminish signs of aging. Today, dermatologists safely treat people of many ages and all skin colors.
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Brotox / Botox

By 13 Mar, 2015 Botox, Misc, News & Blogs , , , , , , ,
Brotox / Botox
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Ladies, you may be surprised to know what men talk about on “guy’s night out,” besides women and sports — “Brotox,” also commonly known to the rest of us as Botox (botulinumtoxin A). The long-time cosmetic enhancement procedure, often linked to women, has now reached a wide group of men who desire to appear more youthful. The number of men undergoing Brotox has gone up 10 percent from last year, but why? Amid fear of competition with younger folk in the workplace and in their personal lives.

“Any man’s afraid he’s gonna get bumped by somebody younger in business or personal life too. I think once he gets over the stigma of it being something feminine, I could see more men being drawn to it,” said an unidentified man.

A multitude of men are currently making more appointments to “freeze” time and hold onto their eternal youth through this age defying treatment, but does the “freezing” effect work? Botox injections contain the bacterium Clostridium botulinum that can block signals from the nerves to the muscles so the muscle can no longer contract, preventing the onset of wrinkles when injected. The treatment is used on forehead lines, crow’s feet, or lines around the eye, and frown lines. However, men and women, should note wrinkles caused by sun damage and gravity do not respond to Botox injections.

The Botox procedure takes only a few minutes, with no anesthesia required. Patients will start to see results anywhere from three to seven days when the procedure begins to take effect. It is advised to avoid alcohol at least one week before treatment, and to stop aspirin and anti-inflammatory medications two weeks before treatment in order to reduce bruising associated with Botox.

Men have begun to adopt a more open attitude toward cosmetic procedures and have become more aware of the treatments available to them, as the age range of men being treated has widened. The BRO culture has fostered recent trends like the Hipster beard transplant, and now Brotox. The desire to climb the career ladder and keep up with the “younger-looking” has become the crucial reason why men opt for Botox — it’s surgery-free. Now, both men and women, vie to be the youngest and most desired of them all.

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Prevent Wrinkles with Natural Looking Results

By 03 Mar, 2015 Misc , , , , , , , ,
Prevent Wrinkles with Natural Looking Results
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When the American Society of Plastic Surgeons released their statistics, it was no surprise to Dr. Frank Filiberto that breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, liposuction, and facelift were the most popular cosmetic surgical procedures in the United States. However, we have noticed at our practice that nonsurgical procedures – particularly injectables – are increasing steadily in popularity.

The current trend in aesthetic enhancement is a less aggressive approach to rejuvenation. For our average patient seeking cosmetic treatment, the goal is an end result that looks natural and realistic, rather than overdone and artificial. The dramatic increase in injectable treatments is, in part, due to their overall ease, availability, and minimal down time. Injectables such as BOTOX® Cosmetic and JUVÉDERM® can often be a more practical and conservative approach to achieving younger-looking skin without making an overly-dramatic impact on your appearance. Patients seeking to reduce fine lines and wrinkles and restore lost volume – or to take preventive measures against these common signs of aging – have many nonsurgical treatment options available if a full facelift is not considered an options by the patient.

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Are Injectables Or Surgery Right For Me?

By 03 Mar, 2015 Misc , , , , , ,
Are Injectables Or Surgery Right For Me?
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The rise in popularity of injectable treatments in the past year in phi-nominal. In this post, Dr. Filiberto will reveal a number of injectable options patients can use to achieve and maintain a more youthful facial appearance.

The overall popularity of injectables (BOTOX® Cosmetic, JUVÉDERM®, etc.) is not simply due to the fact that these procedures are less invasive than surgical techniques. In general, injectable treatments can achieve cosmetic results that often times surgery cannot, such as slight muscle changes in the upper face that create a very natural yet subtle eyebrow arch. While dermal fillers and other injectable treatments do not necessarily replace surgical means of facial rejuvenation, we often use these products at Artful Awakenings to augment surgical procedures for even smoother, younger looking skin. Although combining dermal fillers can be an effective method of treatment for some patients, harvesting a patient’s own fat can often provide a better solution – particularly when patients seek to create more volume in the jowl or cheek area. In addition, fat injections also have the benefit of being permanent.

Recently, there has been a lot of buzz about JUVÉDERM VOLUMA™ XC because it is a relatively new product on the market. JUVÉDERM VOLUMA™ XC is specifically designed to restore volume lost in the cheeks and midface. By injecting JUVÉDERM VOLUMA™ XC’s hyaluronic acid formula into the cheeks, lines and wrinkles in the area can be smoothed out while simultaneously restoring volume to the face as well as a firmer texture to sagging, inelastic skin.

In addition to injectable treatments, one of the most important ways to preserve youthful-looking, glowing skin is with a good skin regimen, including treatments such as dermaplanning and topical peels, as well as diet,  exercise and water.

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