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.
Why Should You Combine Liposuction with Renuvion Skin Tightening?
It can be frustrating when small pockets of fat on specific areas of the body remain resistant to dieting and exercise. For men, the midsection is the default area for fat storage, so it’s common for guys to find it harder to maintain a slim waistline, while women tend to have more stubborn fat on the lower body areas, such as the hips and outer thighs. Regardless of where you have unwanted fat, it may not always be possible to get rid of it on your own. That’s why so many patients decide to have liposuction for body contouring from our Los Angeles-adjacent Cosmetic Surgery Institute.
Surgical fat reduction allows patients to finally get the slimmer, shapelier, and more sculpted body they’ve always wanted. This treatment provides lasting results, and one of the advantages is that it won’t leave long scars. One of the ways you can maximize the results from liposuction is by combining it with Renuvion, a radiofrequency skin-tightening technique that our doctors provide for surgical body contouring patients.
Here are some of the reasons why we recommend having this skin tightening procedure and liposuction at the same time.
Repair Sagging Skin
When we gain weight, our skin often becomes stretched out to accommodate the increase in volume. Even though liposuction is an excellent fat removal tool, there is one drawback to this treatment: It can’t tighten skin that has lost elasticity. In fact, if you already have very loose skin, liposuction could make it look droopier. This is why liposuction is best for younger patients who have good skin elasticity.
But by adding Renuvion to your procedure, we can tighten sagging skin on areas such as the lower face, abdomen, breasts, neck, back, flanks, arms, knees, and legs. This gives the patient more transformative results than either treatment would be able to on its own. Renuvion combines radiofrequency and plasma to prompt the tissues to contract while stimulating collagen production.
Minimally Invasive
Renuvion is ideal for those who want to tighten their skin without additional surgery. There are tiny incisions, almost no scarring, and downtime is minimal.
Find out about how Renuvion can be combined with liposuction for body contouring at Cosmetic Surgery Institute in Palm Desert. Call us at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon.
What Makes a Good Facelift Candidate?
The quality of your skin changes a lot during your lifetime, often starting off firm and volumized during your 20s but becoming thinner and more prone to wrinkles as you reach your 40s and 50s. Skin eventually loses its elasticity while becoming thinner, paler, and more translucent. Additionally, pigmentation may begin to appear on areas that are frequently exposed to sunlight. Luckily, cosmetic procedures make it possible to turn back the clock and reverse—or at least temporarily improve—some of these changes. Even though there are so many non-surgical options available to reduce wrinkles and enhance the skin’s appearance, such as fillers and wrinkle relaxers, when it comes to more severe skin sagging and volume loss on the mid-face, there’s no replacement for a facelift. Our Palm Springs-area Cosmetic Surgery Institute team often sees patients who are unsure about which anti-aging treatment would be more suitable for them. During your consultation, we will help you make this decision. Here are some factors that would make someone an ideal candidate for facelift surgery.
Maintaining Realistic Expectations
For a facelift or any other type of plastic surgery, it’s crucial for the patient to maintain realistic expectations as to what can be accomplished with the surgery, as well as a positive outlook. Patients should understand that the surgery can improve their appearance, but may not necessarily perfect it.
Healthy Individuals
A facelift is invasive surgery that can be stressful on the body. Are you in good health without underlying, major medical conditions that could impair healing? If so, you might be considered a good candidate. Patients are encouraged to maintain a stable weight, quit smoking, and maintain a healthy diet.
A Well-Defined Bone Structure
Patients who naturally have a strong, distinctive bone structure will often get results that they are quite happy with.
Supple Skin
Even though facelifts are performed to improve loose skin, the patient’s skin still needs to be fairly elastic and strong so that it can tighten around the new facial contours that are sculpted. Therefore, ideal facelift patients should have skin that retains some elasticity and flexibility.
Need more advice about minimally invasive injectable treatments or other procedures such as facelift surgery? Contact Cosmetic Surgery Institute for more information. Call us at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a consultation to find out which procedures are best suited for your concerns and goals.
What Can Be Done to Prolong the Lifespan of Breast Implants?
Breast implants from our Los Angeles-area practice are an ideal choice for patients who want to enhance the appearance of breasts that they feel are too small or to restore the shape and size of their breasts after pregnancy and other body changes. Implants offer numerous advantages, including allowing patients to feel less restricted in terms of what styles of clothing they are comfortable wearing. Perhaps the main benefit of having this procedure, however, is the significant boost to confidence and self-esteem that patients feel once they see themselves in the mirror.
Another great thing about getting breast augmentation is that it isn’t merely a short-term fix. While each patient’s experience is different, modern implants are made of sturdy materials and can last for decades after the initial surgery. Although implants aren’t guaranteed to last forever, and the risk of rupture increases each year, the way the patient takes care of the implants will have an impact on the longevity of their results. See below for some techniques patients can use to increase the lifespan of their implants.
Follow Instructions During Recovery
Proper care for implants starts during breast augmentation recovery. You need to provide adequate support for the implants by wearing a supportive garment or surgical bra as the surgeon advises. Patients will need to initially avoid exercise, especially anything that involves heavy lifting or causes the chest muscles to tighten.
Care for Your Skin
Sun damage on the chest area can weaken the skin there, causing the breasts to start to sag, so try to avoid tanning or allowing your skin to burn. Cover up in clothing to protect the skin, and wear sunscreen any time you head outside.
Live a Healthy Lifestyle
Avoid smoking, excessive drinking, and major weight fluctuations—all of which can contribute to weakening the skin and making it more likely to stretch.
Go to Check-Ups
Don’t skip annual check-ups with your surgeon, and remember to perform self-checks frequently to ensure that your implants are in good shape. Inspect your breasts for any lumps or changes, and don’t hesitate to call your doctor if you have any concerns or questions.
Want to learn more about long-term care for breast implants? Contact us at Cosmetic Surgery Institute for more details. Call (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a consultation and find out more about what to expect from the augmentation procedure.
What Are the Best Ways to Improve Liposuction Results?
Even if you’re in mostly good shape, there may always be one or two areas that you wish you could slim down, whether the stubborn fat forms love handles, a belly bulge, thick thighs, a double chin, or something else. The reason why liposuction surgery is so effective is because it directly removes the fat cells that you can’t lose from select areas through exercising and dieting. When you’re having surgical body contouring at our Los Angeles-adjacent plastic surgery practice, what you do before and after the procedure can play a major role in the results. This is why it’s important for patients to do their research on both surgical preparation and aftercare.
Ever wondered if there were a way of getting better liposuction results and healing at a faster rate after surgery? Here are three tips for maximizing the outcome of this fat-reduction technique.
Maintain Good Health
The ideal candidates for liposuction are in a good state of health with no urgent medical issues and are close to their ideal weight. In the time leading up to your surgery, exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet. Quit smoking, as the habit could increase your risk of complications from surgery. Drink plenty of liquids to avoid dehydration.
Wear Your Compression Garment
Compression garments help to relieve the discomfort and swelling that are known side effects of liposuction. They help your body to absorb some fluids and prevent a buildup, as well as help your skin to retract smoothly around your newly slimmer contours. This allows you to heal faster and look better once your body adjusts to its new shape.
Start or Resume Working Out
If you aren’t exercising already, start a workout routine after we give you approval to do so following your liposuction surgery. If you’re already a workout regular, we’ll let you know when it’s safe to continue your typical routine. Exercising helps to build muscle tone, which will make you look more sculpted and avoid future weight gain.
If you’re ready to sculpt more balanced and proportional contours to enhance your body shape, talk to our team at Cosmetic Surgery Institute for more advice on liposuction for body contouring. Contact us by calling (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a consultation and find out what to expect before and after this surgical fat-reduction treatment.
Tummy Tuck: 5 Best Tips to Ensure a Speedy Recovery
Aging, weight fluctuations, and pregnancy can not only cause the skin on the abdominal area to lose its elasticity, but can also result in weakened sit-up muscles. Some people are self-conscious about having excess, loose skin and a lower-belly pooch from separated muscles, while other people may naturally always carry some extra fat on the stomach that they can’t get rid of, even when they lose overall body weight. Luckily, tummy tuck surgery is available to correct all of these issues and sculpt a smoother, flatter abdomen with stronger muscles. Patients who are planning to have an abdominoplasty from our Los Angeles-area Cosmetic Surgery Institute in Palm Desert might be interested in learning about how they can heal at a faster rate, have an easier time during recovery, and get back to work or their other activities sooner.
As technology has continued to advance, recovering from plastic surgery is now easier than it ever was before. Here are five ways to ensure that your recovery is as fast and complication-free as possible:
1. Before having a tummy tuck, think about whether you will be able to take enough time off to properly heal after the procedure. Talk to the surgeon so that you understand the timeframe for your recovery. You need to plan ahead and take time off from your activities to fully heal.
2. It’s critical to adhere to your surgeon’s post-operative instructions, even if some of them don’t seem like they would apply to you.
3. After a tummy tuck, you will likely feel tired and weak, as well as have difficulty with standing for long periods of time, moving objects, bending, or generally moving around. Have a support system in place with friends or loved ones to help you out with chores, caring for young children or pets, and performing small tasks.
4. Take your pain medication as prescribed at the onset of discomfort.
5. Your surgeon will give you advice on wound care, along with any potential signs of infection to be aware of. Care for your incision properly to make sure that it’s always clean and avoid infections.
Want to learn more about cosmetic surgery? Get more details on what to expect from an abdominoplasty by contacting our team at Cosmetic Surgery Institute. Call (760) 837-0364, or submit a contact form to request a consultation and talk to us about your goals.
4 Tips for Relaxing While You Recover from Liposuction
Even if you feel confident about having plastic surgery and can’t wait to show off the results, having any kind of procedure can still zap your energy. Once the procedure is over, it can take several weeks before the swelling goes down and you begin to “feel normal” again. Patients often feel a variety of emotions before and after surgical fat reduction in the Los Angeles area, with impatience, frustration, and depression common at first, followed by more positive emotions once they’ve fully recovered. These initial, more negative feelings are to be expected and are perfectly natural, so there’s nothing to be alarmed about. If you’re feeling bored or a little overwhelmed while in recovery, here are a few ways to ease your mind:
1. Use Breathing and Relaxation Techniques
To keep your stress levels down and relieve some discomfort, try techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or guided relaxation. Look for a quiet, comfortable area, close your eyes, try to center your mind, and repeat a calming mantra while meditating.
2. Try Listening to Music
If you’re feeling tense, consider looking for some new albums or go back to your favorite classics. Finding some new music to listen to is a great way to distract yourself. It quiets your mind, soothes you, and helps you decrease stress because of the chemical reactions it triggers in your brain.
3. Practice Visualization
Visualization is another highly effective way of releasing stress and tension. It involves using mental imagery to put yourself in a relaxed state. Rather than worrying about other things, imagine yourself healed and try to think more positively.
4. Get Exercise
As soon as your surgeon gives you approval to do so, you can gradually incorporate light exercise such as walks or even lifting light weights. Staying active will help you to heal faster and avoid blood circulation issues. It will also help you to cope with stress.
Think liposuction might be exactly what you need to sculpt your ideal body shape? For advice on what you can expect before and after surgical fat reduction, reach out to our team at Cosmetic Surgery Institute. Get in touch with us today by calling (760) 837-0364, or submit a contact form to request a consultation, and we’ll get back to you shortly.
What Are the Best Types of Facelifts for Addressing Specific Concerns?
We all eventually age, and the effects of time passing can be seen in the condition of our skin, as well as our facial contours. When we’re younger, it’s normal to have a more heart-shaped face with a slimmer, more defined jawline and fuller, higher cheeks. Once the surface of the skin begins to pull away from underlying tissues, becoming saggy due to gravity and a loss of collagen and healthy fat, it might form pronounced folds on the lower face, loose areas on the neck, and “jowls.” Many people feel self-conscious about the way this drooping skin changes their appearance. Fillers and other injectables can help to some degree, but the option that provides the most dramatic and long-lasting results involves removing the excess skin and restoring a more sculpted face via facelift surgery. For Los Angeles, Palm Desert, and other area patients, there are several different options to choose from, including the standard facelift, mid-face lift, and mini facelift.
The most suitable technique for you depends on your unique aesthetic concerns, facial anatomy, skin condition, and more. While your plastic surgeon will make a recommendation for how best to approach your specific surgery, here is some basic information you should know about the differences and similarities between each of these options, as well as the signs of aging each approach can target:
Mild Jowling and Sagging Skin
If you’ve started to notice the earliest signs of sagging around your jawline and neck area, you might be an ideal candidate for a mini facelift. One of the benefits of having this particular procedure done is that you may not need to have more drastic surgery in future years. The mini facelift is not as “involved” as more significant procedures and requires smaller incisions.
Sunken Eyes and Hanging Skin Around the Cheeks
The mid-face lift, also known as a cheek lift, is designed for improving the area that extends from the eyes to the mouth, without altering the jawline or forehead. It can improve the appearance of pronounced nasolabial folds, sunken eyes, and deflated or pinched cheeks.
Moderate to Advanced Signs of Aging
A full facelift is a more extensive procedure used to target especially pronounced signs of aging on the lower two-thirds of the face, including everything below the ears. This surgery can involve removing and repositioning skin and other tissue via incisions that are larger, but still well camouflages in natural lines and creases on the face.
Find out more about the types of facelift surgery Cosmetic Surgery Institute offers. Our team can answer any questions and help you decide which type of surgery would be best for achieving your goals. Call us at (760) 837-0364, or fill out a contact form to request a consultation.
3 Ways to Look Cute on Zoom Dates
Since the pandemic began, the way we go on dates and connect with friends or relatives has changed significantly. The idea of virtual dating might not be appealing for some people, but it’s a great way of combatting loneliness and establishing authentic human connections that are so vital for our mental health during uncertain times. Due to the fact that we’re spending more time looking at our own faces online, many people have been increasingly self-conscious about what they deem to be flaws or imperfections, such as a bump on the bridge of their nose, wrinkles around the eyes, or a slight double chin. If this sounds like you, now’s an ideal time to take advantage of the extra opportunities we have to heal in the privacy of our homes and finally have a more significant surgical procedure, such as eyelid surgery or a rhinoplasty. Many Los Angeles-area patients—including in Palm Desert, Riverside, and beyond—may have been putting such decisions off because they weren’t able to take time off from coming into the office for work to recover from their procedure. That’s no longer the same potential hindrance for many people.
With that in mind, there are some things you can do to feel more confident on your next FaceTime, Skype, or Zoom date—beyond altering your appearance with cosmetic surgery, if you still aren’t quite ready.
Lighting is Important
Before your date, take some time to experiment with lighting because it will make a huge difference to your appearance on camera. Set yourself up in an area of your house that has good lighting. You should ideally be facing your light source. A circle light, bright natural light from a window, or even a setting up a desk lamp will be very flattering. Natural light will always look the best.
Get Your Angles Right
The last thing you want is to have your camera too close up to your face or at some other unflattering angle. Sit back and give yourself and your date some room. Studies have shown that sitting too close to your camera can make your nose look up to 30 percent bigger!
Make Your Skin Look Great
Cameras are unforgiving to skin issues, so be sure to moisturize, hydrate, and get plenty of sleep. Hide irregularities with concealer and use body oil or luminizer to give your skin a glowing look. You can also consider laser skin resurfacing to get a more even tone and glowing complexion.
Find out more about having a rhinoplasty at Cosmetic Surgery Institute. Call us at (760) 837-0364, or fill out a contact form to request a consultation.
Get the Curves Without Looking Like a Cartoon
Once upon a time, breast implants were highly
obvious and very easy to spot. The 2000s may have been the era for huge,
fake-looking, and highly noticeable boobs, but trends have changed a lot in the
previous two decades. Patients have gradually shifted toward preferring a more
“real” aesthetic. In the last few years, celebrities and non-famous patients
alike have been selecting smaller implants that are designed more for altering
the shape of their breasts in a less conspicuous but nevertheless attractive and
feminine way. The idea is to have your breasts enhanced in a way that fits you
as an individual rather than taking a “cookie cutter” approach to cleavage. If
you’re going in for breast
augmentation at a Los Angeles-area
practice—or anywhere, really—and want more subtle, believable results, follow
these tips below:
1. Choose
the Right Material
During your consultation for breast implants,
your surgeon will be discussing lots of variables involved in the surgery with
you, including everything from sizes and fillings to implant placement. Generally,
silicone implants, including the more cohesive silicone “gummy bear” implants,
tend to have a squishier texture that’s more similar to actual breast tissue.
2. Consider
Fat Grafting
Autologous fat grafting or fat transfers involve
using some of a patient’s own body fat—taken from an area of excess on some
other part of the body—to enhance the breasts. Fat augmentation can be a way of
increasing the breast size by up to one cup if you don’t want implants. Alternatively,
it can be used to hide potential rippling or other minor irregularities and to enhance
the cleavage when used in combination with implants.
3. Think
About Sizing
Patients often complain that they wish they had
gone a bit larger or smaller after they have had breast augmentation. Don’t
assume that bigger is necessarily better. Sometimes, the width of certain
implants is too wide for your frame or projects too much, making it clear that
you’ve had work done. Your implants should be as small as possible with a low
to moderate projection if you’re aiming for a realistic appearance. Talk with
your surgeon about ways to see what various sized implants would look like on
your frame.
Are you thinking of having a breast augmentation? The Cosmetic Surgery Institute team will help you plan your procedure. Call
us at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a consultation.