Literally, breast enhancement changes the shape of the world, by changing the silhouette of women who live worldwide. Breast augmentation is also called augmentation mammoplasty, and the past ten years have seen this as a growing plastic surgery form.

Cosmetic breast enhancement allows you to choose from many individualized options that will help you to change the shape and size of your breasts. The method of surgery and the technology of the breast implantation process have improved in more recent years. The surgeries are less invasive, which allows for a faster recovery time, and there are more options for the actual procedure that can offer you better results, post-surgery.

How do you know if you are a prime candidate for breast enhancement? You need to be well-informed and understand what is involved in the surgery, and what you can expect to achieve. Those are the first steps in decision-making about breast surgery. Speak with the consultants at the office of your selected surgeon to find out if breast enhancement will work for you, and if so, what type will be the most beneficial to you.

Why do women seek out breast enhancement surgery? There are more than a few reasons why women may be considering the surgery. They may be disposed genetically to smaller breasts, or even to having breasts that are not the same in size or position. When a woman has one breast that is a different shape or size than the other, breast enhancement can help improve her self-image and self-confidence.

In addition, patients who have suffered with breast cancer and have lost a partial or full breast for the purposes of treatment often seek out breast reconstruction and enhancement surgery, to help them feel more natural, and more “whole”.

Other women may experience a reduced firmness in their breasts due to their age, or they may have sagging or drooping breasts after having children that they breast-fed. Women with this issue generally require two procedures that can be done at the same time – breast lift and augmentation.

Breast augmentation enhancement can round out the shape and size of a woman’s breasts, and it can correct inconsistencies, improve the firmness of the breasts and give women back a natural body contour.

You can explore many options in breast enhancement surgery, including the size and type of the implant, and even its location. Speak with a specialist to learn what types of breast enhancement will work best for you.

Literally, breast enhancement changes the shape of the world, by changing the silhouette of women who live worldwide. Breast augmentation is also called augmentation mammoplasty, and the past ten years have seen this as a growing plastic surgery form.

Cosmetic breast enhancement allows you to choose from many individualized options that will help you to change the shape and size of your breasts. The method of surgery and the technology of the breast implantation process have improved in more recent years. The surgeries are less invasive, which allows for a faster recovery time, and there are more options for the actual procedure that can offer you better results, post-surgery.

How do you know if you are a prime candidate for breast enhancement? You need to be well-informed and understand what is involved in the surgery, and what you can expect to achieve. Those are the first steps in decision-making about breast surgery. Speak with the consultants at the office of your selected surgeon to find out if breast enhancement will work for you, and if so, what type will be the most beneficial to you.

Why do women seek out breast enhancement surgery? There are more than a few reasons why women may be considering the surgery. They may be disposed genetically to smaller breasts, or even to having breasts that are not the same in size or position. When a woman has one breast that is a different shape or size than the other, breast enhancement can help improve her self-image and self-confidence.

In addition, patients who have suffered with breast cancer and have lost a partial or full breast for the purposes of treatment often seek out breast reconstruction and enhancement surgery, to help them feel more natural, and more “whole”.

Other women may experience a reduced firmness in their breasts due to their age, or they may have sagging or drooping breasts after having children that they breast-fed. Women with this issue generally require two procedures that can be done at the same time – breast lift and augmentation.

Breast augmentation enhancement can round out the shape and size of a woman’s breasts, and it can correct inconsistencies, improve the firmness of the breasts and give women back a natural body contour.

You can explore many options in breast enhancement surgery, including the size and type of the implant, and even its location. Speak with a specialist to learn what types of breast enhancement will work best for you.

When you augment your lips, the procedure is designed to improve and plump the shape of your lips, as long as they’re not affected by congenital deformities or trauma. The upper lip tends to undergo treatment more often than the lower lip, and to a greater degree.

Your plastic surgeon will examine your face to define the areas that need the most enhancement. He or she will evaluate the relationship between the size and shape of the lower and upper lips. The best candidates are patients who want more shapely or fuller lips and who are in good health otherwise.

The actual process of lip augmentation involves the enlargement or reshaping of the part of your lip that is visible to others. People with autoimmune disorders, multiple allergies, hypertension, diabetes, herpes lesions and facial nerve disorders will usually be eliminated from consideration for augmentation of the lips.

As with any cosmetic surgery, you need to be responsible after your lip augmentation, to determine the optimum affects. Speak with your plastic surgeon first, and ask him any questions you have about the procedure, the preparations and the after-effects. Be sure to let your doctor know about any allergies you have, or any medications you take that could interfere with the way the augmentation affects you.

Your surgeon will probably use a topical painkiller before injections. These are usually done as outpatient procedures, and you will be sent home after your lip augmentation is complete.

Artecoll is a material that is made synthetically, to plump your lips. Since it is not natural, you will be more likely to have a reaction to it. It does last longer than fat or collagen, though.

Autologen is an injection that uses your own collagen, which can be taken from a different part of your body. You won’t have any allergic reactions, but the results are not permanent. If you’re not sure you want lip augmentation, you can start with this treatment, since it is only temporary.

Collagen can also be pulled from cows and then injected in your lips. You can react to this collagen, so have your surgeon give you a small dose first, to test your reaction. Then you can be given the whole dose, if you don’t show any allergic reactions. The results usually last from four weeks to several months.

Dermalogen is a collagen that is taken from human donors who are deceased. It is also only temporary, but there is very little risk of rejection,

Fat taken from your abdomen or thighs can be used for your lip augmentation. You won’t have to worry about allergic reactions, and the results may be more permanent.

Hylaform is created from natural substances of the body. These run no infection risk, but the treatments will need to be continued to maintain the level of augmentation.

Now surgeons are able to use high energy, short-pulsed lasers and other systems that limit the amount of heat transferred to the skin. These safer lasers can remove layers of damaged skin in a very precise way, with only a bit of thermal necrosis.

For the effects to be felt in the skin, lasers must be absorbed by the targeted area. Two types of lasers are used most widely for skin resurfacing. The first uses pulsed carbon dioxide and the second uses a flash scanner in conjunction with a continuous wave carbon dioxide laser.

Similar to dermabrasion and chemical peels, the complete removal of the epidermis and a bit of the dermis results in a wound that elastin and collagen will help to heal, with tighter, firmer and healthier skin. There is some collagen shrinkage caused by heat, but it is not known whether the shrinkage will persist and lead to collagen tightening.

Your skin must be classified as a certain type before it can be determined if you are a good candidate for laser skin rejuvenation. Carbon laser resurfacing isn’t recommended for people with skin color that is not brunette, white or light white. If you have very thin or thick skin, you will not usually be accepted for this procedure. Skin firmness (lax versus firm) and skin fragility (fragile versus tough) and your skin type (dry, normal or oily) will all be taken into account before you will undergo any resurfacing.

In addition, your surgeon will assess the degree to which your skin is photoaged, by judging your wrinkling degree, and other facets of your skin. If you have allergies to the systemic or local anesthesia, you will probably not receive laser skin rejuvenation. Patients should also have a realistic outlook as to what degree of improvement will be achieved. Patients who demonstrate instability psychologically may not receive the treatments, as they will find it difficult to withstand the course of post-treatment care and the potential complications.

The surgeon will recognize whether you are a suitable candidate after answering these and other questions. Taking only suitable candidates will help maintain desired outcomes. As a rule, patients from forty to sixty-five years of age, with moderate wrinkles and fair skin are the best candidates. You should also realize that laser skin rejuvenation will not magically erase all scars or wrinkles, but rather will improve the overall appearance of your face.

Laser resurfacing with a carbon dioxide laser will enable you to have good results if your skin surface changes are from mild to moderate, and if you have wrinkles but not deep furrows. Your health care provider may also combine laser skin rejuvenation with Botox injections, for a better look after the treatments.

The main factors that contribute to ectropion can include a laxity in the eyelid, shortening of the eyelid’s anterior lamella, and paralysis of the muscles in the eyelid. Another form of problem occurs when the lower eyelid is forced or pulled away from the globe of your eye.

You can experience a rejuvenation in your eyelids with the performance of Blepharoplasty. This helps to remove excess fat, muscle and skin around your eyelids. After the procedure, you will find that you will have a more youthful expression. This type of procedure is used only in selected patients’ lower eyelids. The patients may need only fatty tissue removed, not skin. The surgeon will separate the tissues to get to the lower eyelid’s fat pockets.

After the fat pockets are exposed, surgeon will remove the fat. Then the wound will be allowed to heal. You may have sutures in the wound. In some cases, extra skin can be removed as well, via an incision on the outside of your eyelid. Healing time for this procedure can last up to two weeks. You may have bruising and swelling after this procedure. And in some occasions, it may take longer than usual to get to the final results you want.

During surgery on the inside lower eyelid, extra muscle, fat and skin is removed. This type of procedure can repair a puffy lower eyelid or a drooping upper eyelid. Either of these conditions can make you appear older than you are.

Surgery done on the inside of your lower eyelids will not do anything to address wrinkles beside your eyes or fallen eyebrows. But the inside lower eyelid procedures can be done in conjunction with a forehead lift, a brow lift or a facelift.

The surgical procedure for your lower eyelids may take from one to three hours, depending on how much you need to have done. It is best performed on patients who still have skin elasticity. You may receive a mild sedative and a local anesthetic, so you will be conscious but you won’t feel any pain.

After inside lower eyelid surgery, you will have bandages on your eyes. There may be pain in the surgical area after the local anesthetic wears off, and it can be treated with over the counter pain medications. You will be instructed to lie down with your head elevated, and to put ice in a towel on your eyes for the first day following surgery, to reduce hemorrhage and swelling. After a few days, you can read a book or watch TV. Most patients go back to work within two weeks after the surgery.

Derma Deep fillers are basically injectable implants made from hyaluronic acid, which instantly helps reduce aging signs. These are inserted beneath your skin, filling out wrinkles, fine lines and hollow-looking areas. This will help you to achieve a more youthful appearance.

A Derma Deep filler is designed to help in the treatment of most any deformity of the skin, and can be injected as often as once every three months, producing the best in results. Your body will continue to produce collagen during this time period, and your skin will appear naturally plumped, more resilient and stronger. Your skin tissues will adapt to the implant, and you will see results within a few weeks or a few months.

If you undergo treatments with Derma Deep, you should avoid direct exposure to sunlight, extreme cold and UV rays. Don’t use makeup until twelve hours after your treatments. The treated areas may show sensitivity to conditions in the environment, so use sunscreen if you’re heading out.

Derma Deep injectables and fillers give you longer lasting results than some other hyaluronic acid fillers They results look good without having surgery, with its expense and downtime. Derma Deep has few adverse effects, and it assimilated naturally in your body. It adapts well to your skin tissues and gives you natural-looking results. The treatments can be done in thirty minutes, so you won’t even lose any work time. This filler type can treat severe wrinkles, and can fill out hollow areas of your skin. It helps your skin to maintain its elasticity, and the water within the implant will help to create a contoured, smooth appearance immediately.

As your body produces more collagen and the tissues in your face adapt to Derma Deep, the contours of your face will become more balanced, and your youthful appearance will be more natural looking.

Many Americans are taking the opportunity to make the most of facelifts and injectable fillers to tighten their skin and diminish aging signs. Using surgery and fillers both can help to restore a youthful look to your skin. There have been more patients who are receiving treatment from injectables and fillers. When paired with facelifts, the results can be dramatic and pleasing.

Botox is another injectable that has found favor in recent years. It may be the best known of the fillers, especially by name recognition. These treatments only generally last about ten minutes, and they can help you show a younger face to the world in a matter of days. You will see improvement in almost any wrinkles or lines, and there can be recognizable improvement in deeper frown lines that will show for up to four months. No recovery time is needed, either – this is another treatment you can have during your lunch break from work.

But nowadays, the facelift (or rhytidectomy) is a highly common and widely accepted procedure — certainly not just for stars anymore. In 1992, an estimated 40,077 facelifts were performed, according to the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. Facelift is the fifth most common of all cosmetic plastic surgery procedures after 1. eyelid surgery; 2. nose reshaping; 3. liposuction; and 4. collagen injections.

As the baby boomers in this country continue to age, facelift will become even more popular. In the hands of a well-trained plastic surgeon, the risks of the surgery are few and the benefits can be dramatic.

Who should consider facelift?
As we age, sun exposure, the effects of gravity, and the stresses of living life all take their toll on our once-taut and youthful faces. We can develop deep creases between the nose and mouth, jowly jawlines, and folds and fat deposits around the neck. Our faces and necks seem to sag. Maybe we don’t feel as old as we look. It seems unfair. That’s where a facelift comes in.

Good candidates for facelift are individuals whose skin still has some elasticity and whose bone structure is strong and well- defined. A facelift can remove the excess fat, tighten underlying muscles, and re-drape the skin on your face and neck.

What does the surgery involve?
Facelift can be done alone, or together with other procedures such as a forehead lift, eyelid surgery, or nose re-shaping. The surgery itself usually takes several hours…or somewhat longer if you’re having more than one procedure done at the same time. It can be performed on an outpatient basis, using local anesthetic and sedation or in a hospital, with the patient under general anesthesia.

Preparing for a facelift
Your plastic surgeon will advise you to use or not use certain medications. Drugs that interfere with blood clotting, such as aspirin, may cause more bleeding under the skin during surgery and should not be taken. Patients who smoke are cautioned to stop at least 2 weeks before surgery and not to resume for at least 3 weeks after surgery. Healing time is longer and scarring is much more noticeable with smokers.

Smoking has an adverse effect, because nicotine constricts the blood vessels, decreases blood flow to tissues, and greatly increases the chance of scarring and overall poor healing. In fact, cigarette smoking has been found to be a major cause of complications in people who have facelifts.

How is a facelift done?
Incisions are made on either side of the face from inside the hairline at the temples, in front of the ear, around the earlobe, in the crease behind the ear and to the lower scalp. The design of these incisions may vary from patient to patient and according to the surgeon’s personal technique. Loose skin is pulled up and backward, and the excess is removed. A layer of tissue over the facial muscles can be tightened as well, and this can greatly enhance the results of the facelift, especially on the neck.

How long will you be “out of circulation?”
The immediate side effects of facelift are temporary bruising, swelling, numbness and tenderness of skin, a “tight” feeling, and dry skin.

While the first several days after surgery may leave you feeling more tired than usual, you can probably be back at work within ten days to two weeks. Special camouflaging make-up can be used to hide bruises that haven’t healed completely. By the third week, you should be looking and feeling much, much better.

Healing is gradual, so expect to wait several weeks to months before optimum results are achieved. Since your skin will remain somewhat sensitive for a few months following the surgery, you would be wise to limit sun exposure and protect your skin with a sunscreen.

Most of the scars will be hidden under your hair or in the normal creases of your skin. The scars can usually be easily concealed by the hair and with the judicious use of makeup.

Interestingly, when men have facelifts, they may have a permanent need to shave behind their ears, since beard-growing skin is pulled up behind their ears during the procedure.

What complications may occur?
Possible complications from the facelift procedure include hematoma (a collection of blood under the skin that must be removed by the surgeon), injury to the nerves that control facial muscles (usually temporary), infection, and reactions to the anesthesia. Poor healing of the skin and bad scars are most likely in smokers. Excessive bleeding can be caused by high blood pressure and clotting disorders. If you have these or other health problems, it’s important that you inform your surgeon during your pre-surgical consultation or exam.

With the vast majority of facelift patients, there are no serious problems or complications. But you should always be aware of the risks, and weigh them against the benefits, before consenting to any plastic surgery procedure, facelift included.

How much does it cost?
The price for the procedure varies widely, from state to state. It also depends on the surgeon performing it, whether the surgery is done inpatient or outpatient, etc. The national average for surgeons’ fees (not including surgical facility/hospital costs and anesthesia) is $4,156 ($5,410 in The Big Apple, $4,448 out California way).

Who gets facelifts?
The vast majority of facelifts are performed in people 35 - 64 years of age (81%). 51% are performed in people 51 - 64 years of age. Although men do have facelifts, most facelift recipients are women (93%).

How long does facelift last?
Your bone structure, skin texture, sun exposure, lifestyle choices, and hereditary factors all play a role in how many “years” a facelift can “remove” and, to some extent, influence how long it will last. In general, the younger the patient, the more enduring the results. A woman in her forties should enjoy the benefits for approximately 10 years; a woman in her sixties, approximately five years.

As you age, the excess skin that forms in your eye area can cause the skin to lose its elasticity. Fatty tissue can become accumulated under the skin. You will notice that your eyes look wearier or older, since the sagging leaves your eyes puffy or wrinkled. Even if you have always practiced proper eye and skin care, drooping eyelids, puffiness and wrinkles will eventually catch up with you. Body chemistry and genetic factors can cause the same type of aging effects in people who are younger. Plastic surgery can help to restore your eyes so that they appear refreshed and youthful again.

The most likely candidates for eye cosmetic surgery are those who are emotionally stable, physically healthy and informed about the procedure, including how to prepare and how to do aftercare. Most candidates tend to be 35 years of age or older, although if you have a genetic predisposition for droopy eyelids, you may be treated at a younger age. If you suffer from Grave’s disease, glaucoma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypothyroidism, high blood pressure or dry eyes, you may not be a good fit for this procedure. In addition, your bone structure and anatomy can help to determine if you are a good candidate or not.

Incisions will be made along the crease lines of your upper eyelids by your surgeon, and also possibly around the lower outer rim of the skin of the eye. He will remove fatty tissue. In addition, he may perform another part of the procedure inside the lower rim of your eye skin. These incisions made by your surgeon may even reach the corners of your eyes. Then he will divide the muscle and fatty tissue from the skin so that all the excess that isn’t needed can be removed.

Blepharoplasty can be performed under a simple local anesthesia, with mild sedation, and it can take place in a hospital, a surgeon’s office or an outpatient surgery center. Some surgeons may use a general anesthesia, particularly for younger patients. Make sure your surgeon answers any questions you might have about the type of anesthesia he will be using. Surgery may last for up to three hours, and you can usually return to your home within a few hours of the surgery’s completion.

Over the past twenty to thirty years, more surgical procedures have adapted to using endoscopic and fiber optic technology. Endoscopes were widely used as long ago as the 1970’s, by gynecologists for therapeutic and diagnostic procedures. By 1980, the technology was being more accepted for orthopedic use. As the instrumentation has improved, therapeutic procedures have become less invasive.

Endoscopes became more widely used in the 1980’s, and laparoscopic procedures became more common in the early 1990’s. Complex surgeries have gradually been transitioned to approaches that are less invasive. The first endoscopic forehead lift procedures were performed in the 1990’s as well, and shortly after that, the endoscope was more involved in plastic surgery in other body areas.

The endoscopic approach to cosmetic surgery on parts of the face came about mainly because of the ability to create an optical cavity. At the same time, newer instruments and a more advanced understanding of brow suspension added to the less invasive procedures.

A poor position of the brows can be genetic, or it may occur as part of the aging process. Just as is true with other soft tissue facial structures, the forehead area may appear lower. As you age, you lose fat from the orbital rim that extends between your eyelid and brow, making you look older.

A good candidate for an endoscopic forehead lift can present in one of several ways. The brow may appear low, and your eyes may appear heavy or tired. You may have even practiced how you’d like your forehead to look, by pulling your brow up with your hands. Some patients may have excessive skin in their upper eyelids, and they may require cosmetic eyelid surgery before they are good candidates for a forehead lift.

As your face becomes older, your optical orbits may appear less oval and more circular. In some cases, this will predispose a surgeon to tell you that you’re not a good candidate for an endoscopic forehead lift, since it might bring out the ocular area even more. If this is the case with you, your surgeon may advise you to consider a facelift and a lower eyelid procedure instead of the forehead lift.

Your plastic surgeon will also check your eyebrows and eye cavities for asymmetry that you might not even have noticed yourself. If the brows are uneven, they can make one whole orbit look lower than the other one. In such cases, your surgeon might use several surgeries including an endoscopic forehead lift or other procedures, to get the best effect.