Common Questions Involving Cosmetic Surgery

Am I too young for Botox injections?

Skin aging is not directly proportional to your "birthday" years.  So, if you frown and smile and see deep lines in your forehead, eyes, and lips, you may be a candidate for Botox regardless of your age.

How much Botox will I need?

This is always relative to the degree of wrinking your skin does, what you want to achieve is a relaxed and refereshed look, not a plastic or tight look.

What are those fillers like Restylane and those others?

Dermal fillers can be of many different types, such as collagen, hyaluronic acid based, grafted fat and even silicone. The most popular are the collagens and HA-acid based products.

These dermal fillers are used to "lift up" your face and eliminate the droopy and tired look around the eyes, cheeks and mouth thus avoiding surgical scars and recovery time.

What can lasers do for damaged skin and brown spots?

Lasers are excellent for the elimination of pigmented lesions (borwn or red).  The pulsed light from the Yag and Alexandrite lasers can specifically target those pigments and erase them completely.

Ablative lasers can further assist in eliminating scars, wrinkles and in general "resurfacing" and tightening the entire skin in the face and neck.

What is so important about collagen and the aging process?

The fullness and elasticity of your skin depends widely on collagen content and state of hydration. The more and better collagen, the fulller and rounder your face will look.  As you age, you loose more and more collagen and the skin will begin to sag giving that droopy look with hollow cheeks, creased lips, and loose jowls (face contour).

What does it mean to -VOLUMIZE- the face?

This term is used to indicate the process of rounding out the facial structures for a more youthful look.

This can be achieved by combining two or more of the esthetic-cosmetic treatment modalities availlable today.  For example:  use dermal fillers to correct thinned out areas of the face, combined with Botox to ease off the wrinkled skin and finish off with some of the laser treatments to then tighten the skin in general and eliminated discolored areas as well.

What is the difference between the "liquid face lift" and the traditional surgical treatments?

The most important difference is the lack of surgical incisions and scars and the quick recovery with reduced down-time.  You may achieve an excellent look with only the use of injectables and lasers performed right in the office and you get to go home right away without pain medication or recovering from anesthesia side effects.

The cost is also a major factor with all surgical techniques costing two or three times more.

Is it painful to do lip enhancement or augmentation?

The area around the lips is always very sensitive because there are a lot of nerve endings and the skin is very thin.  For most procedures done in the office, topical anesthetic creams are used with very satisfactory control of discomfort.  For advanced treatments involving several injections, what is called a "dental block" such as those used by dentists, will further assist in controlling all the discomfort around the lip and mouth areas. You should know, that llip treatments will always have some swelling to deal with; but a couple of days later, you will be enjoying that fullness and contour that you longed for.

All this talk about liposuction, what is the best method?

All methods are good but the best one for you, will depend on what results you would like to achieve.

For smaller areas like the chin, neck, arms and inner thighs laser assisted liposuction will give you excellent results.

For larger areas such as abdomen, thighs and lower back, water assisted lipo known at Body-Jet will be faster and more effective with less bruising.  This method can always be complemented with further use of lasers if more definition and tightening is of interest.

Conventional liposuction has been faced-out by these two newer modalities because the new methods are remarkably gentler and smoother that those used before.

Will I really look like those models in all those pictures?

Actually yes, and those models are typically real patients showing their "personal best" results.  Of course there are no individual guarantees, because there are so many different factors involved.

Your very best results will depend of your special body type and the amount of reduction you are looking for.

How much weight will I loose after a body-contouring procedure?

You may actually NOT LOOSE any weight, but you will loose inches in contour.  Remember that these methods are not for weight reduction or obesity management.  These contouring treatments are designed to improve your body lines and reshape areas with increased fat deposits. You will achieve some results immediately after the procedure; but your best results will be seen three to four months later, when your own body has had a chance to adjust and adapt.  This remodeling process will again be dependent on many individual and personal situations.

Does rejuvenation and anti-aging mean the same?

Actually no.  The anti-aging process is designed to slow down the aging process which IS NOT reversible.  For the anti-aging treatments we indicate nutritional support, vitamin supplementation, along with hormone restoration and lifestyle changes.  Rejuvenation is the effort made at controlling the changes caused by aging and lifestyle induced damage and improving the conditions that led to that particular degree of change.

How will I feel after these life changing procedures?

You will feel better about yourself ! !

How you actually see yourself is very important, but how you might feel about yourself is even more important.  Self esteem can be enhanced by improved appearance and more self satisfaction. Click the Schedule an Appointment button above to schedule a free consultation and talk with me in person.

Dr. Ferrin