Can a Facelift Improve the Shape of Your Face?
Many patients want to know: Can a facelift change your face shape? For Los Angeles and Palm Spring-area women and men seeking a cosmetic change, our team at Cosmetic Surgery Institute explains that a facelift is a popular cosmetic procedure that focuses on creating more youthful contours. Considering that the procedure can help to improve the appearance of your face and restore a more youthful, refreshed look, the answer is yes!
By lifting and tightening the skin and underlying tissues of the face, a facelift can help to smooth out the face, reduce sagging, and create a more defined and youthful facial contour. Although aesthetic trends continually change, having a leaner face with a more inverted triangle shape that’s associated with youth is currently the look that is most in demand.
If you're considering a facelift to improve the shape of your face, here's what you need to know.
A Facelift Reduces Sagging
As we age, our skin loses its elasticity, and gravity pulls the skin downward, causing sagging and wrinkles. A facelift can help to lift and tighten the skin and underlying tissues, reducing the appearance of sagging and restoring a more youthful facial contour.
A Facelift Improves Facial Contours
A facelift can also help to improve the facial contour, creating a more defined jawline, cheekbones, and neck. The lower half of the face is re-shaped by the removal of excess skin, which can give you a more youthful and defined appearance and help to improve your overall facial balance and symmetry.
A Facelift Restores Volume
As we age, we lose volume in our face, and our skin becomes less plump and full as a result. A facelift can help to restore this volume, creating a more youthful and defined facial contour.
A strong, well-defined bone structure can provide a foundation for a youthful and attractive appearance. However, even those with a strong bone structure can benefit from a facelift as the aging process affects the skin and underlying tissues in ways that can detract from a youthful look. A facelift can help to restore the skin and underlying tissues to a more youthful position, creating a more defined and refreshed appearance.
Can a facelift change your face shape? Our team at Cosmetic Surgery Institute will tell you more about what you can expect from this procedure. Call us at (760) 837-0364 or submit an online contact form to request a consultation if you want to discuss cosmetic surgery for a younger-looking face.
Can a Nose Job Make You Look Younger?
Signs of aging may be inevitable, but there are a variety of cosmetic techniques that can help us to delay them for as long as possible if you want to maintain a youthful look. While wrinkle reduction and similar treatments are obvious choices, some other strategies may be surprising. For example, have you ever wondered: Can nose surgery make you look younger? Palm Desert-based patients considering rhinoplasty surgery may be curious about the answer.
Although minimally invasive options like facial fillers and neurotoxins can make you look years younger, and cosmetic surgeries such as facelifts can provide even more dramatic results, another method you may not have realized can help “turn back the clock” is nose surgery.
Rhinoplasty is commonly thought of as a facial rejuvenation procedure that can improve a specific feature by addressing aspects such as a crooked bridge, a bump on the bridge, and other perceived flaws. The changes that are made to the nose are customized to fit each patient’s unique features. However, rhinoplasty isn’t usually thought of as an anti-aging procedure and the nose in general isn’t typically the focus of anti-aging treatments.
Most of us are aware of the changes that occur in our skin as we age, but the nose is also affected. Age-related changes can cause the nose to slope downward and create a smaller distance between the nose and mouth. Even though your nose isn’t growing, changes can occur that cause it to lengthen. It’s common for the outer parts of the nostrils to look wider over time as well. The skin on the nose thins and loses elasticity, while the nose tip droops and parts of the cartilage separate. The loss of support causes it to look droopy and more pronounced.
Changes that occur in other features—such as loss of facial fat from the cheeks—also cause the nose to appear more prominent.
One of the advantages of a rhinoplasty is that refining the nose can make your entire face look years younger and more refreshed.
Our Palm Desert-based Cosmetic Surgery Institute can answer more questions about rhinoplasty and other facial surgeries. Call us at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request an appointment if you would like to discuss wrinkle injections.
What Are Crow’s Feet and How Does BOTOX® Reduce Them?
Can BOTOX® get rid of crow’s feet? Our Los Angeles-area team at Palm Desert’s Cosmetic Surgery Institute believes that this injectable is one of the most effective strategies for softening these wrinkles.
Crow's feet are the fine lines and wrinkles that develop around the outer corners of the eyes. They are one of the most common signs of aging, and they are caused by a combination of factors, including a natural loss of skin elasticity, repeated facial expressions, and exposure to environmental factors like sunlight and pollution. While crow's feet are a common part of the aging process, many people are self-conscious about the fine lines and seek ways to reduce their appearance.
One popular treatment for crow's feet is BOTOX®, which is an injectable neurotoxin made from a purified form of botulinum toxin. BOTOX® works by temporarily relaxing the muscles that cause wrinkles to form. When injected into the muscles around the corners of the eyes, BOTOX® relaxes the muscles involved in squinting and prevents them from contracting, which in turn reduces the appearance of crow's feet. The skin smooths out, generating results that are most noticeable when you laugh.
Using BOTOX® for crow's feet is relatively simple and straightforward. Once you have decided to move forward with the treatment, we will inject small amounts of the medication into the muscles around your eyes using a fine needle. Only a small number of units of BOTOX® will be needed. The treatment session typically takes only a few minutes, and there is minimal discomfort or downtime.
The effects of BOTOX® treatments for crow's feet typically last for several months, and the results can be seen within a few days of the procedure.
In addition to BOTOX®, there are other treatments that can help reduce the appearance of crow's feet. These include over-the-counter creams and serums that contain retinol, vitamin C, and other antioxidants. Additionally, lifestyle changes like protecting your skin from the sun by wearing sunglasses, sunscreen, and hats or limiting sun exposure, using over-the-counter products, quitting smoking, managing stress, and eating a healthy diet with foods high in antioxidants can help prevent the development of crow's feet in the first place.
Our team at Cosmetic Surgery Institute team can tell you more about how this injectable works. Call us at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a consultation.
What Are the Benefits of Preventative BOTOX®?
People tend think of BOTOX® as a corrective treatment to soften lines and wrinkles that have already formed on the face because of repetitive facial expressions. For decades, it has been marketed as a treatment for visible signs of aging on the face. However, it’s often easier to prevent the effects of aging than to treat them after they have developed. Consider this, many of our patients want to know: Does preventative BOTOX® really work? Our Palm Desert-based team believes that this treatment is highly effective for preventing the formation of lines and wrinkles on the face. The idea is that you can receive the injections before the onset of pronounced wrinkles to stop them from developing.
The best candidate for preventative BOTOX® would be someone who is just starting to see faint expression lines developing on their face. Lines could become deep wrinkles in the future, and you can see where they’re going to develop.
Botulinum toxin injections work by directly targeting specific active muscles that are responsible for these lines. The active ingredient presents nerve signals from reaching the proper receptors, thereby preventing contractions. By limiting a few contractions related to certain expressions, you can prevent the associated wrinkles.
When you start getting BOTOX® injections at a younger age, there will be fewer lines and wrinkles to treat as you get older. You may therefore need less BOTOX® compared to another person who never had preventative botulinum toxin injections. Because of this, people in their mid to late 20s and early 30s may benefit most—especially if they have very expressive faces.
Just like traditional applications of BOTOX®, the treatment is simple and straightforward. Injections are typically completed in just a few minutes. Furthermore, there’s no downtime, so you can go back to work or your normal activities right away after an appointment. If you’re accustomed to buying topical anti-aging products, botulinum toxin injections can save you money as time goes on.
If you’re searching for answers to such questions as, “Does preventative BOTOX® really work?” our Palm Desert-based Cosmetic Surgery Institute team can explain more during your consultation. Call us at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request an appointment if you would like to discuss wrinkle injections.
What Are the Top Benefits of Breast Augmentation?
It goes without saying that any form of cosmetic surgery can be highly transformative, but what many of our patients want to know is: “Is it worth it getting breast implants?” Our Palm Desert-based Cosmetic Surgery Institute team believes that for many patients, the advantages of breast augmentation with implants will greatly outweigh any disadvantages.
Research has shown that a majority of women around the world aren’t completely satisfied with the size of their breasts—either wishing that they were bigger or, in some cases, smaller. Some women may have lost volume in their breasts due to aging, weight fluctuations, or pregnancy, while others may have always been naturally smaller chested.
A breast augmentation procedure is ideal for someone who wants bigger breasts or who hopes to improve the symmetry of their breasts. See below for some of the top benefits of breast augmentation.
Improving Volume and Curves
Many women associate breasts with both beauty and vitality. If you’re naturally flatter chested, you may want to add more curves to your physique, go up a cup size, or fill into everyday clothing in a more comfortable and flattering way. Breasts augmentation is ideal for sculpting a curvier silhouette, which patients often associate with femininity and feeling sexy.
Better Confidence and Self-Esteem
Feeling more attractive and confident is one of the biggest advantages of augmentation with implants. Many women say that they feel higher levels of self-esteem after breast augmentation, which can also help to make them feel better in their relationships. You may have felt self-conscious about the size and shape of your breasts before breast augmentation, so a boost of confidence after this procedure is a welcome benefit.
Have More Clothing Options
You’re likely to have a larger selection of clothing that you can buy and wear after breast augmentation. Tops will no longer hang loosely around the chest. You may also be more comfortable wearing the V-neck tops, bikini tops and tight-fitting shirts you may have avoided before.
Is it worth it getting breast implants? Our Palm Desert-based Cosmetic Surgery Institute team will explain everything you’ve wanted to know about the procedure so that you can determine whether it’s ideal for you. If you’d like to get started with breast implants, call us at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a consultation.
What Makes You a Good Tummy Tuck Candidate?
Getting a flat stomach with sculpted abs can be very difficult to achieve—even if you’re slim, healthy, and exercise regularly. Resistant fat tends to cling to the belly area for many people, and especially those who naturally have a more apple-shaped body because of genetics. Pregnancy can cause excess saggy skin and separated muscles that result in a belly bulge. For men, the stomach is the default storage area for any excess fat on the body. Although many people want a flatter, firmer abdominal area, a tummy tuck may not be the right choice for every individual. Patients often ask us, “What does your weight have to be to get a tummy tuck?” Our Palm Desert-based team at Cosmetic Surgery Institute can answer the questions you might have about what is technically known as abdominoplasty during your consultation, but in the meantime, here are some basic traits that tend to make an individual a suitable candidate for this surgery.
- You are physically healthy and at a stable weight for at least six to 12 months prior to having this procedure
- You maintain realistic expectations
- You are a non-smoker
- You are unhappy about the appearance of your abdominal area
- You have sufficient loose skin on the stomach that can be tightened without causing a “stretched” appearance
- You don’t intend to get pregnant in the future
- You are committed to maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle to preserve results from a tummy tuck
- You are bothered about having loose skin, excess fat, or other types of cosmetic imperfections on the belly area
Patients should keep in mind that while this surgery is an excellent strategy for reshaping the body, a tummy tuck isn’t a substitute for weight loss. Patients should be within 10 to 15 pounds of their ideal weight to have this procedure. Gaining or losing a significant amount of weight after a tummy tuck could have a negative effect on results and may even require revision surgery.
Our Palm Desert-based Cosmetic Surgery Institute team can provide a more comprehensive answer to this and other questions during your consultation. Call us at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a visit.
Will Fat Come Back After Liposuction?
Even people who are in great shape can still have areas of excess fat that they wish they could reduce. Unfortunately, exercise and a healthy diet may not be enough to reduce stubborn fat that clings to isolated areas due to genetics, age, or hormonal factors. Liposuction, which involves the selective surgical removal of subcutaneous fat from stubborn areas, is ideal for re-shaping the body and producing major aesthetic improvements to boost confidence. With that in mind, many patients who are having surgical body contouring procedures want to know: Does fat removed from liposuction come back? Our Palm Desert-based team at Cosmetic Surgery Institute knows that patients enjoy the transformative results they can achieve with this treatment—but also that they are frequently concerned about the potential lifespan of those results.
While liposuction is a highly popular cosmetic procedure, it is also one of the most misunderstood treatments. If you’re worried about fat returning, here’s what you should know:
The fat that is surgically removed during a liposuction procedure is indeed gone for good. Since the fat is literally taken out of the body and those fat cells can’t regenerate, there’s no need for patients to worry about the same fat coming back in the areas that were treated. This means that many patients will be able to enjoy the dramatic outcome from the procedure essentially forever.
However, it is important to remember that if a patient gains weight after liposuction, it’s likely that the results will look less impressive as remaining fat cells—in the surgery area as well as other areas—can become enlarged. If a very significant amount of weight is gained, new fat cells can be created even in treated areas.
Therefore, it’s important to maintain your post-liposuction weight to maximize results. Continue to eat well, exercise regularly, and be aware of your overall health.
Regardless of whether or not you gain weight, patients should know that there will still be comparatively fewer fat cells in treated areas than in untreated ones. Fat-reduction surgery alters a person’s distribution of fat, so volume or “bulk” may be stored in other body areas. This means that a new body shape will remain mostly the same and look better than it did if the patient hadn’t had liposuction.
Our Palm Desert-based Cosmetic Surgery Institute team can provide a more comprehensive answer to patient questions during a personalized consultation. Call us at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request an appointment with a board-certified plastic surgeon to discuss liposuction.
What Are the Benefits of Combining BOTOX® With Fillers?
Can you get BOTOX® and fillers at the same time? Our Palm Desert patients often ask us this question when they’re thinking about having minimally invasive treatments to enhance their appearance.
Non-surgical injectable treatments not only have amazing anti-aging benefits but also are highly convenient for patients because they have such little recovery time. Even just by temporarily reducing facial wrinkles, patients notice a much younger, more awake, and more attractive appearance, which is why these treatments are so popular. Most of the time, patients want to make changes to their appearance but are unsure which treatment or combination of injections they will need to achieve their goals. See below for some of the advantages of having combined BOTOX® treatments at our practice.
One of the reasons why it’s good to combine neuromodulators like BOTOX® and fillers is because the two options treat different types of wrinkles. In other words, they work differently, but complement each other.
BOTOX® blocks messages between muscles and nerves to temporarily relax facial muscles so that expression wrinkles like crow’s feet and frown lines can’t form on the surface. Facial fillers are soft gels that add volume beneath the skin to diminish static wrinkles, which are lines caused by collagen loss rather than muscle activity.
Since BOTOX® is primarily used on the upper third of the face and facial fillers are designed for the center and lower areas, these treatments can be combined to address multiple areas for comprehensive facial rejuvenation.
As much as they are thrilled about seeing the results from facial fillers, most patients are not keen on having to rush back for repeat treatments too quickly and want to get the most out of their fillers. Fillers tend to dissolve faster in high-movement areas of the face. BOTOX® may help to prolong the results from facial fillers by freezing the muscles to prevent them from contracting.
Both types of treatments are quick, well-tolerated, and minimally invasive with minimal downtime.
If you’re seeking more answers to others questions, our Palm Desert-based Cosmetic Surgery Institute team is here to provide guidance on these minimally invasive procedures. Call us at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon if you want to know more about these treatments.
Can a Facelift Reduce Wrinkles?
It’s natural for your skin to lose some of its elasticity as you get older. Not to mention, wrinkles and depressions begin to form when levels of collagen—one of the building blocks of healthy skin—begin to decrease over time. One of the major facelift benefits for Palm Desert patients is that this surgical procedure can tighten skin significantly in a way that wouldn’t be possible with non-invasive cosmetic treatments on their own.
Although the facelift is most well-known for its ability to lift sagging cheeks and jawline skin to rejuvenate the face, patients are often curious about whether this form of cosmetic surgery will also reduce other effects of facial aging, such as fine lines and wrinkles.
The word “rhytidectomy”—which is the medical term for facelift—comes from the words “rhytid” meaning wrinkle and “ectomy” meaning excision or surgical removal of something. The truth is that while facelifts are excellent for correcting loose skin to improve facial contours, they aren’t designed for smoothing superficial wrinkles; other forms of sun damage; creases around the nose and upper lip; and wrinkles around the eyes, forehead, and mouth. They also will not address uneven skin or areas of irregular pigmentation, such as hyperpigmentation and age spots.
In other worlds, facelifts are great for making deep folds and creases less noticeable, but they won’t change the texture, look, or tone of the skin itself. In fact, experienced plastic surgeons avoid pulling the skin too tight during a facelift because this strategy can give the patient an overly “windswept” or artificial look.
Facial cosmetic surgery is meant for correcting “sags and bags,” jowls, or weakened muscles. If you hope to improve the overall quality of your skin, BOTOX® and fillers are the better options for reducing most facial wrinkles, and laser treatments, microneedling, and chemical peels are rejuvenation techniques that can enhance your skin’s quality and appearance. These treatments can be done before or after a facelift to optimize results.
For more details about improving the look of the face, contact Cosmetic Surgery Institute by calling (760) 837-0364, or send a message via a contact form to request a consultation and find out whether you’re a suitable candidate for various procedures or treatments.
How Have Trends in Breast Implants Changed Over Time?
Each year, millions of breast augmentations are performed around the world. In fact, some studies suggest that the surgery is more popular in the United States than in any other country—and it has remained within the top five most frequently performed cosmetic surgeries in the country every year for the past several years, according to statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Experts expect that augmentation will continue to be one of the most sought-after procedures throughout 2022. Breast augmentation can boost a patient’s confidence by sculpting higher, fuller, shapelier, and more youthful-looking breasts. There are many aspects to consider when you’re planning this procedure, such as which size, shape, and projection type would be the best fit for you. Even though the surgery is still in high demand, patients now tend to want different results compared to what was popular in the mid-2000s and prior. If you’re planning on having breast implants from our Palm Desert-based Cosmetic Surgery Institute, here’s what you should know about how trends in breast augmentation have changed in the last several decades.
Surgeons have reported that higher numbers of patients are preferring smaller cup sizes instead of more dramatic increases in size. This is partially due to many patients desiring a slimmer, more athletic-looking body shape.
One of the most common misconceptions about implants is that they all inherently will look fake. Implants during the 2000s tended to be very obvious due to their large, wide, gravity-defying appearance. Back then, they tended to be viewed as a status symbol and a way to stand out. Think about how popular the “Baywatch look” was at the time.
Very large and artificial-looking implants are now not as popular, and patients are seeking out smaller, more natural-looking curves. In fact, patients who had larger implants before sometimes now choose to swap them for smaller devices to reduce the strain on their back and allow them to move around or exercise more easily.
Whether you want a more understated look or a total transformation, it’s important to talk to your surgeon about your goals.
For more information on breast implants, contact our Palm Desert-based Cosmetic Surgery Institute team. Call us today at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon if you would like to find out more about how this procedure works.