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Saturday, 4 July 2015

Filler Injection Techniques- A Significant Evolution

Filler techniques have evolved over the last 15 years. Gone are the days where fillers simply involved injections to corrected lines and folds. Contemporary application of fillers requires a far more advanced knowledge of anatomy and physiology to aesthetically enhance the face.
While each patient presentation has to assessed and treated in a bespoke approach, much more emphasis is directed towards youthful contouring of cheeks, lips, jawlines, temples, nose and forehead. Tear troughs and eye hollows can be gently corrected although great care must be taken to avoid lumpiness and vascular complications.
We now have much better appreciation of skin attachments to deep fixed tissues. These are called the facial ligaments http://asj.oxfordjournals.org/content/33/6/769 that contain and constrain regions of injectable target tissues. A knowledge of where these ligaments are situated affords an advanced practitioner the possibility to fine tune and optimise aesthetic outcomes. From an engineering perspective these ligaments slacken with facial ageing and associated soft tissue volume loss. They are re- tensioned and  re-suspended by appropriate filler placement.
We now also have an increasingly sophisticated array of filler choices. Fillers are marketed with various levels of hyalurinic concentration, bonding, particle size and elastic recoil. This allows a practitioner further tailoring choices for ideal filler placement in different areas of the face.
Some practitioners favour sharp needle depot injection techniques like the "8 point injection" method while others prefer the use of broader cannula delivery.
From the patients perspective it does not matter too much which technique is used as long as pleasing outcomes are achieved and the effect is reasonably long lasting.
More on this subject soon!

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

Facial Involution-"Filliing" versus "Pulling"


As we age the skeleton and soft tissues involutes. So the underlying structural foundation of the face contracts leaving the skin to re-drape this deficient skeletal support.

Until the advent of structural and contouring fillers plastic surgeons regularly excised skin (and some underlying tissue) and elevated the remaining skin, anchoring it front of and behind the ear. This often creates a smaller face with some degree of distortion and derangement. Thus a face lifted patient at times barely resembles their original youthful face.

Cosmetic proceduralists offer a more natural approach to facial aging by restoring youthful facial contours. This approach is minimally invasive with few side effects and risks.  

At Cosmetica we use liposculpture and filler techniques that aim to restore the principles of the youthful face rather than create through more radical surgery a new and unfamiliar visage.  

 

Saturday, 7 February 2015

Injectable Fillers are NOT without hazard


ZThis recent patient  posting on an internationally popular cosmetic website illustrates the often understated consequences of filler injections. Patients  are advised to research the reputation of their practitions very carefully.  As illustrated below facial filler injections is not like a visit to the hairdresser.                    

www.realself.com/review/massachusetts-ma-injectable-fillers-expressions-injectable-filler?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=GlobalNLSuperSuperStar&utm_campaign=NL2XDayAM%202015-02-07

Sunday, 7 December 2014

It Ain't So Easy! Filler Risks, Side Effects and Catastrophies


Images from:
http://www.aestheticadvancements.com/news-detail/?act=148


The advertising makes it all look so easy and risk free. Well guess what-it's not the case. Lumpy and poor aesthetic outcomes are very common with filler injections. Filler injections can also lead to severe skin loss requiring skin grafts and even blindness.  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/cosmetic-fillers-can-cause-blindness-when-injected-into-the-forehead-new-report-warns-9177128.html    https://ispub.com/IJAM/9/1/14758    http://www.realself.com/question/restylane-injections-blood-vessel-occlusion-left-eye-90blind









It is very important that patients seeking fillers see experienced and well qualified injectors. Unfortunately many doctors and nurses performing this work are frankly substandard and limited in their training. Poor aesthetic outcomes are frequent and not always easily reversed.  http://www.realself.com/question/horribly-lumpy-lips-juvederm-hyaluronidase-injection-worse-permanently-ruined

Patients be warned:-- choose carefully when seeking out filler injectors. The Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery trains doctors to an advanced level with a view to Diploma and Fellowship attainment.    http://www.accs.org.au/

Thursday, 15 May 2014

"Blended" Hyaluronic Filler-a wonderful new filler innovation!


 Cosmetex 2014 http://www.cosmetex.org/qld2014/ was our annual 3 day cosmetic medical and surgical "jamboree" on the Gold Coast some 2 weeks ago now.

Once again the star turn of the event was my colleague Dr. Arthur Swift


whom I have dubbed the "PHI Master" of Montreal, Canada for reasons that will apparent from the link.

Dr. Swift is one of those rare surgeons, an innovator, who thinks outside the square, developing brilliant new minimally invasive techniques on a regular basis.  

I studied Dr Swift's new blend filler technique during the Cosmetex 2014 conference workshops and now incorporate them into my daily work. What does this "blend filler" technique mean? Essentially high quality hyaluronic  fillers are mixed with local anaesthesia and then injected into target area of the face (nose below) with a tiny needle. The procedure is almost painless with instant and lasting outcomes. The case of the nose below was on one of our patients achieved with "blended hyaluronic" filler in a matter of minutes.


Wednesday, 27 November 2013

"Reputation Is Everything" & the Magic of the Multipotent Stem Cell in Fat.

When I commenced in this field of minimally invasive facial rejuvenation some medical colleagues remarked: "aren't you frightened of treating faces in case something goes wrong?"
The answer was then and remains: that I am not frightened but do take I take my work very seriously.

Without any disrespected intended it should be understood that  an aesthetic facial procedure is not a visit to hairdresser or beauty salon. A salon is not the appropriate setting for medical procedures for many reasons including hygiene, safety and ready access to effective medications and equipment.

Unintended complications can even happen with injected fillers yet many patients (along with some injectors) fail to properly appreciate these risks.

This week alone I have consulted 3 patients from other clinics with persistent and unsightly facial lumps after a certain fillers were poorly injected. These injectors failed to respect anatomy and also failed to appreciate the complexities of facial aesthetic treatment.

The best advice is to seek out a practitioner with a good reputation and to generally avoid medical treatments in salons. Also a caution about procedures in  high turnover entrepreneur operated clinics where a sweat shop environment prevails and good outcomes are viewed in terms of financial success rather than pleasing results.

On a positive note this latest report confirms an impression that many fat grafting doctors have observed for years-that something in fat not only improves the appearance but also skin (and even scars in certain situations). We now know the magic ingredient is the mulitpotent stem cell.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/266660.php

Thursday, 17 October 2013

Suture/Thread Lifting Book Publication

I was delighted recently to be informed that a chapter I was invited to write was recently published in a book freely available online:

Miniinvasive Face and Body Lifts - Closed Suture Lifts or Barbed Thread Lifts. 

My chapter titled "Suture Lifting and Liposculpture Integration in the Creation of Facial Esthetic Harmony" can be reached by clicking on the link

http://www.intechopen.com/articles/show/title/suture-lifting-and-liposculpture-integration-in-the-creation-of-facial-esthetic-harmony