Hold the Muscle Relaxants!

Hold the Muscle Relaxants- (at least a little)! The gorgeously curvy, feminine and mega-talented Italian Mezzo Soprano Cecilia Bartoli could not achieve her exquisite & expressive musical heights if she was injudiciously injected with Muscle Relaxants. Natural beauty must
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDeFdGzthV0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhNRWduBPmY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4EVNbHX1lI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYnZqRVmOCw
At last some degree of expression is important for communication and thankfully patient demands for rather naïve "no wrinkle" outcomes have finally plateaued over the last 2 years. This has allowed us to be creative in much more intelligent ways enhancing natural feminine curves and proportions.
 Natural beauty must shine through.

Happy Easter, Passover and peace to all.

Upper Eyelid Reduction-"Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes....".

I see many cases of post upper eyelid reduction during my clinical week and find myself analysing post surgical outcomes. Some cases have merit with sparking natural results. Other cases demonstrate overly operated-on features such as hollowed out orbits and ridiculously manufactured and unnaturally high positioned lid creases. There is very little chance that these silly, unaesthetic outcomes can be corrected. As a general rule the patient's naturally positioned eyelid crease should be retained and redundant tissue above resected while allowing the eyelids to close in order to maintain corneal protection. Ideal outcomes are natural sparkling eyes. The big bonus is that future botulinum toxin injections are enhanced dramatically after successful upper eyelid reduction. There is much synergy in our minimally invasive cosmetic treatments which may explain why "less is truly more"in our craft.    www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvn9lIfQRZU

Multiple 9 Yearly Facelifts-?Acceptable Contemporary ProceduralAesthetics??

I was surprised today to read about a study extolling the virtues of 2nd & even 3rd facelifts after the first lift being performed in the patients' early 50s. Each facelift lasted some 9 years. In the era of minimally invasive cosmetic procedures it is extraordinary that some plastic surgeons should view this as an acceptable treatment plan . The reality is that patients usually develop an "operated on" appearance even after the initial facelift. Recurrent radical procedures in this way are in my view inconsistent with modern aesthetic principles & expectations. However it should be appreciated that plastic surgeons are unlikely to surrender their scalpels while patients can be convinced that such a radical approach to facial rejuvenation is in their best interests.
In fact we have now followed up patients for up to 10 years who, despite the passage of time, appear more beautiful than they did before using only minimally invasive procedures with natural outcomes.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/257036.php

A Smile Is The Shortest Distance Between Two People

A charming observation attributed to the wonderfully talented Danish/American pianist- comedian, the late Victor Borge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3QejAk4exw  "A smile is the shortest distance between two people". This epitomises what we strive to achieve with non or minimally invasive cosmetic procedures. In females a smiling face is more than the warm fulsome lips that we recreate with injectable fillers. Females also smile with their eyes. So ideally we enhance and beautify both the lips and eyes and connect them with curvaceous cheeks.
The outcome is the creation of an engaging femininity as exemplified in the beautiful face of young singer-songwriter Cassandra https://www.facebook.com/Cassandrasingslive
http://www.youtube.com/cassandrasingslive

I am impressed by the confidence so evident in patients returning after such treatments. All are created without scars or artificiality. Always such a pleasure for me as well to see these happy outcomes.

V>W=F (Volume creation more than wrinkle treatment =Femininity)

Attended 2 presentations in Sydney in the last week on injectables

Excellent presenters Dr. Danny Vleggar (Switzerland) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldezLZKQlaM & Dr Glenn Murray (Perth) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z6xA1GCM0A while demonstrating different injectable products both focused on Volumisation in preference to Wrinkle treatments in modern aesthetic facial rejuvenation.
This trend to volumise rather than to "chase" wrinkles is completely correct in my opinion and is certainly  reflected in the wonderful outcomes achieved by informed cosmetic aesthetic practitioners.
In this regard the disappointing outcomes we frequently witness with formal radical face lift outcomes are founded on the erroneous objective of stretching the face (achieving wrinkle reduction) rather than creating aesthetic contours. We frequently see patients who have spent near $20,000 on face lifting with unnatural and rather "de-contoured" faces who require their faces aesthetically "re-contoured" with appropriate fillers. They leave the clinic generally delighted with their feminising outcomes. A few have stated I had the wrong procedure having a face lift?? We try to be diplomatic!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3hYzRIOJrs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=yfPO147wxYs&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1D666k0nvA

Tweaking Facial Rejuvenation with Muscle Relaxant Injections

Traditionally teaching encouraged cosmetic injectors to over-treat faces with muscle relaxants,  often resulting in cases of stunned and rather expressionless features. Add to that droopy brows, droopy cheeks, asymmetrical smiles diminishing character. Generally the effects are to be endured for some 3-4 months. The following celebrity examples attest to this unfortunate trend.
http://pinterest.com/barbiegurl29/botox-gone-bad-celebs-with-out-make-up/

For some years now many Australian injectors have appreciated that less is more and that subtle treatments should prevail. Judicious tweaking with these injections can enhance other the outcomes of other facial enhancement procedures.  So we are effectively value adding with such injections.

Will expand on this interesting topic in a future blog.

Weird Therapies and Procedures

Fringe if not bizarre cosmetic procedures abound, with questionable professional ethics only matched by gullibility of some patients.

Women considering genital enhancement surgery should first consult the following paper just published online: http://whv.org.au/static/files/assets/ca7e9b2f/Women-and-genital-cosmetic-surgery-issues-paper.pdf
 A short excerpt from this article follows:   Women and Genital Cosmetic Surgery. Women’s Health Issues Paper No. 9, February 2013 Page 1 © Women’s Health Victoria

9.1 Reduced sensation
It is ‘not yet understood exactly how labia minora engorgement during sexual arousal may be involved in sexual pleasure and how labia removal might affect this’4. However, there is evidence to suggest that female genital cosmetic surgery involves removal of tissue that may contribute to sensory sexual arousal28, 66, and is likely to interfere with innervation and sensation in the genital area10, 34, 66, 67. The outcomes of genital surgeries suggest decreased enjoyment of being caressed, impaired arousal and lubrication, and an inability to reach orgasm12, 36.

There is a particular risk of providing female genital cosmetic surgery to younger women who may not fully understand the implications for their future sexual lives
68. Genital surgery during adolescence risks damaging sensitive genital tissue and may require reoperation68 if puberty is incomplete. The risk associated with operating too early in a woman’s development is highlighted in the case of a ten-year-old pre-pubescent girl who underwent one procedure on her left labia minora and, nine months later, had the same operation on her right labia minora. The surgeons themselves reflected that ‘in retrospect we feel that she could have had both operations after puberty’32.

There is no information to demonstrate how female genital cosmetic surgeries will impact on childbirth



http://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/love-sex/sex/the-disturbing-rise-of-the-g-spot-jab-1.1464150
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2245450/Cosmetic-fillers-destroy-looks-The-truth-botox.html