Park Meadows Cosmetic Surgery Blog

If you would like to restore facial contours, or reduce the appearance of lines and creases, injection therapy with soft tissue fillers may be right for you. Injectable fillers can:

• Plump thin lips
• Enhance shallow contours
• Soften facial creases and wrinkles
• Improve the appearance of recessed scars

Procedural steps: A pharmaceutical filler substance or your own fat is injected below the skin surface to fill hollow areas and creases, or plump the lips and back of the hands. Fat is typically taken from the inner thigh or abdomen.

Your results: Swelling should dissipate in 2-5 days, or 1-2 weeks with fat injections. This procedure produces temporary results, lasting a few months to several years or more, based on the filler used, treatment site and individual patient factors. Some products may be permanent.

Resource: American Society of Plastic Surgeons

If you have expression lines or other signs of aging in the forehead and brow region which you find bothersome, a brow lift (also called a forehead lift) may be right for you.

A brow lift:

• Minimizes the creases that develop across the forehead, or those that occur high on the bridge of the nose, between the eyes
• Improves what are commonly referred to as frown lines
• Repositions a low or sagging brow that is hooding the upper eyelid
• Raises the eyebrows to a more alert and youthful position

A brow lift is designed to correct all of these aging features, restoring a more youthful, rested appearance with uplifted contours and improved tone in facial skin and underlying muscle.

Procedural steps: Brow lift surgery can be performed through multiple limited incisions hidden within the hairline or through a single incision in the natural crease of each upper eyelid.

Results of a brow lift may be enhanced through laser resurfacing or a chemical peel that can further improve skin tone and surface appearance.

When there is significant excess skin in the forehead, an alternate technique using a wide incision across the top of the scalp may be recommended.

Your results: Swelling should subside in 2-4 weeks. Final results may appear within 1-2 months. Incision lines will continue to refine and fade for up to 1 year.

Resource: American Society of Plastic Surgeons

While the shape of your nose is usually the result of heredity; the appearance may have been altered in an injury or during prior surgery.

Also known as rhinoplasty, surgery of the nose improves the appearance and proportion of your nose, enhancing facial harmony and self confidence. Surgery of the nose may also correct impaired breathing caused by structural defects in the nose.

Rhinoplasty can change:

• Nose size, in relation to facial balance
• Nose width, at the bridge or in the size and position of the nostrils
• Nose profile, with visible humps or depressions on the bridge
• Nasal tip, that is enlarged or bulbous, drooping, upturned or hooked
• Nostrils that are large, wide or upturned
• Nasal asymmetry

Procedural steps: Incisions hidden at the nostril base and/or inside the nose allow access to reshape underlying cartilage and/or bone. This may include lowering humps, narrowing of nasal bones, shaping of the nasal tip or nostril size and improving the angle between the nose and the upper lip.

This procedure also can correct breathing difficulties caused by structural irregularities.

Your results: You should see a change within 6-8 weeks following surgery, with continued refinement for 6-12 months. Cartilage is a flexible and growing tissue, therefore results following surgery are not fully predictable.

Resource: American Society of Plastic Surgeons

Cosmetic eyelid surgery, called blepharoplasty, is a surgical procedure to improve the appearance of the upper eyelids, lower eyelids, or both, restoring firmness to the area surrounding the eyes and making you look more rested and alert.

Specifically, eyelid surgery can treat:

• Loose or sagging skin that creates folds or hides the natural contour of the upper eyelid
• Excess skin that hangs down from the upper eyelid, sometimes impairing vision
• Excess fatty deposits that appear as puffiness in the upper eyelids
• Bags under the eyes
• Droopiness of the lower eyelids, showing white below the iris
• Excess skin and fine wrinkles of the lower eyelid 

Procedural steps: An incision within the natural crease of the upper eyelid allows access to remove excess skin, muscle and underlying fatty tissue. Using an incision inside the lower eyelid, fat is removed or redistributed and muscle modified to correct a baggy lower eyelid.

An incision just below the lower lash line allows excess skin to be removed. Laser resurfacing may be used to smooth lower lid skin.

Your results: Bruising should subside in 5-10 days and swelling should subside in 2-4 weeks. Final results may appear in 1-2 months. Incision lines will continue to refine and fade for 1 year.

Resource: American Society of Plastic Surgeons