Eyelid surgery, also known as blepharoplasty, is an excellent surgery for anyone interested in improving the look of aging eyes. As with any other type of facial plastic surgery, you’re going to need to take some time off from your regular activities and work to recover after an eyelid lift. While some parts of the recovery process after eyelid surgery are very similar to the recovery process following surgeries such as rhinoplasty or facelift, the location of the procedure (in the eye area) means that there are a few factors you want to be aware of beforehand.
Swelling is to be expected after your surgery. It might be very dramatic, particularly at first, and your eyes might look worse before they look better. You might look as though you have a black eye or eyes, and your vision might be blurry from the swelling.
There are several things you can do to bring the swelling down. Your surgeon will most likely recommend applying a cold compress or ice packs to the eye area to help reduce swelling. Keeping your head upright as much as you can will also minimize swelling more quickly. Sleep on your back at night with your head propped up by pillows.
Your eyes might feel tight, but trying to blink can be helpful. For one thing, it can make your eyes feel less dry and scratchy. For another, it can help move any fluid build-up away from the eye area.
It’s a good idea to take it easy after any surgery, and particularly important to do so after eyelid surgery. You want to avoid any activity that requires you to lower your head beneath the level of your heart, such as bending down to pick something up. Also avoid any vigorous activities or activities that require you to strain any part of your body.
While it’s common for people to relax and unwind as they recover from other facial plastic surgeries by watching TV or reading a book, doing that after eyelid surgery might be more challenging. In fact, your surgeon might actually advise against any restful activity that involves staring at a screen or otherwise using your eyes, at least during the first few days of recovery.
Your eyes will grow tired more easily during the initial recovery period, which can make trying to read or watch TV particularly uncomfortable. You might notice that your vision is a bit blurry or that your eyes tear up easily.
Instead of reading, watching TV or using your tablet or Smartphone during the first phase of your eyelid surgery recovery, find other calm activities that don’t depend on your eyes so much. One option is to listen to the audio version of a book. Another is to tune into a radio show or podcast instead of browsing the web or checking out your Facebook.
You might find that you need to make a few small adjustments to your routine to make your post-surgical recovery more comfortable. For example, you might need to adjust your sleeping position if you’re a side or stomach sleeper. If you usually share a bed with your pets, it’s typically a good idea to have them sleep somewhere else the first few nights. You might want to skip the shower the first few nights and take a bath instead.
Usually people are fine eating their normal diet after eyelid surgery. If you do feel a bit sick to your stomach or queasy, you may want to stick to soups and light foods for the first few days of recovery.
Although you might want to try to cover up any bruising with makeup, it’s typically recommended that you wait a few days or weeks before you do so. If you apply makeup before the incisions have fully healed, there’s a chance that the pigment will get into the open incision and cause permanent discoloration.
Talk to your surgeon to get an idea of when it will be okay to start wearing makeup again. In the meantime, an easy way to cover up is to wear sunglasses. Sunglasses can come in handy in other ways, too. They help protect your eyes from bright sunlight and from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.
Dr. Stephen P. Smith is a fourth-generation facial plastic surgeon in . He’s available to answer any questions you might have about eyelid surgery and the recovery period afterwards. To learn more about your options, schedule a consultation with Dr. Smith today. Call to make an appointment.
When it comes to anti-aging, there is a lot of advice out there. Some tips for taking the years off of your appearance make sense, while others are simply a bit out there. It can be difficult to sort through all of the advice and figure out what works for you and what isn’t particularly helpful. Whether you want to minimize the appearance of certain wrinkles, slow down the process of aging, or just feel better about the way you look, these five tips can be the most helpful.
There are a lot of products out there that promise to hide lines and wrinkles, shrink your pores, and otherwise make you look a lot younger. Since there are so many options, it can be challenging to figure out which ones are right for you. It’s fairly easy to decide to try everything.
While your facial plastic surgeon might recommend combining some treatments or having multiple procedures performed at once to maximize your results, it’s not usually a good idea to put the entire beauty aisle on your face. Using too many products or mixing and matching products with strong ingredients can actually backfire on you, making your skin look worse for wear. Instead, try one product at a time or try using just one serum and just one moisturizer. If you don’t find the products to be effective, you can always stop using them and try something else.
Similar to not using too many products is not choosing too many treatments or selecting your in-office treatments with care. Not every procedure is the appropriate pick for every patient, for example. A facelift is typically recommended for people who have looser skin in their lower cheeks and chin. If your major concern is lines between your eyebrows, a facelift won’t do much to help your particular issue. But, a non-surgical treatment such as Botox might be ideal.
A facial plastic surgeon can also help you decide which combination of treatments will give you the results you are hoping for. In many cases, surgeries such as a facelift or brow lift only help to tighten and tone skin. They don’t help improve the texture of the skin or minimize any blotchiness or hyperpigmentation. It might be that combining surgery with a laser treatment is the best option for you, or it might be that a laser treatment along with a filler or other injectable gives you the results you wanted.
Some products are better than others when it comes to helping your skin and helping you maintain a youthful look. Ingredients are important when it comes to skincare. Take a look at what’s in the products you’re using. For example, retinols are known for helping to minimize and reverse wrinkles, as they help increase cell turnover and improve the production of collagen in your dermis.
Ingredients such as vitamin C are known for brightening the skin. If you’re dealing with dark spots or hyperpigmentation, choosing a serum that contains vitamin C or another brightener such as kojic acid, can help fade those spots. It’s also worth knowing when an over-the-counter or topical product will do the trick and when you need something a little more intensive, such as an in-office chemical peel.
While some causes of aging are beyond your control – you can’t change your genes, for example – others aren’t. If you smoke or spend a lot of time outdoors in the sun, without using sunscreen, you’re increasing your risk for developing lines and wrinkles at a younger age.
What can you do? Get in the habit of wearing sunscreen daily, even on cloudy days and even on days when you’ll just be outside to get to and from your car. One way to get into the habit of wearing sunscreen daily is to find a lotion or moisturizer that also contains an SPF of at least 30.
Some foods are better for you and your skin than others. A diet that contains a lot of sugar is likely to speed up the aging process, for example. Eating a lot of sugary treats, or even consuming a lot of foods with hidden sugars, can adds years to your look. Sugar can increase inflammation in your system and can also cause collagen, the protein that is responsible for keeping your skin firm and smooth, to break down more quickly. You don’t have to go cold turkey on sugar, but take steps to wean yourself off of it.
Want to learn more about what you can do to minimize the signs of aging? Make an appointment to speak with Dr. Stephen Smith, a facial plastic surgeon in , today. Dr. Smith can explain the various procedures and treatments available and give you advice on the most appropriate skincare products to use. To schedule a consultation, call (614) 678-7180 today.
There’s a first time for everything including, for many people, fillers. If you’ve never had an injectable filler before, there might be plenty that you don’t know about the experience. Taking the time to read up on the treatment, to carefully consider your injector, and to plan the best timing for the treatment can help ensure that your first experience with a filler isn’t your last. There are a few things that are worth knowing before you book your first appointment.
Fillers are made of a variety of different ingredients, which do slightly different things. Even fillers made of the same main ingredient can perform differently based on how the ingredient is formulated. Understanding what’s in the filler you’re thinking about having, what it will do, and how long it will need to work, are all important considerations when getting injections for the first time.
One of the more commonly used ingredients in fillers is hyaluronic acid, which is a type of sugar naturally produced by the body. Hyaluronic acid is responsible for making your skin plump and soft. As you get older, you produce less and less of it, so skin looks dryer and wrinkles are more visible. Fillers that use hyaluronic acid include Juvederm, Belotero, and Restylane. Each type of filler is used to add volume to fill in lines and wrinkles. But, some types, such as Belotero, are thinner than others, so they are better suited to the more delicate areas of the face. The thinner the filler is, the less time it will last, too.
While hyaluronic acid is the most popular filler ingredient, it’s hardly the only option out there. Other options include calcium hydroxyapatite, found in Radiesse, and poly-l-lactic acid, found in Voluma. Calcium hydroxyapatite is one of the heavier fillers, as it’s made from the same material that’s found in human bone. It works in a slightly different way from hyaluronic acid. While it does fill in lines and provide instant volume, it also keeps working after the initial product has worn off, since it stimulates collagen production in the dermis. Since it’s heavier and longer lasting, Radiesse is typically used to treat deeper lines and wrinkles.
Voluma also stimulates the production of collagen. It helps reduce the look of lines and wrinkles by actually adding volume to the cheek area. Along with providing natural results, Voluma can last up to 2 years.
Sure, the actual process of receiving fillers typically takes less than 30 minutes. But, you still want to give yourself plenty of time to recuperate afterwards. Since some amount of bruising and swelling is possible after any injection, it’s typically a good idea to schedule yours well in advance of a big event.
Giving yourself time between your injections and a major life event or holiday party can also give you a chance to do something if you’re not happy with the results. While you’ll simply have to wait for the results to wear off if you aren’t happy with a Voluma or Radiesse injection, there is a way to reverse the results from a hyaluronic acid filler. If needed, your injector can inject an enzyme into the treated area that will dissolve the hyaluronic acid.
You’ve gotten your first fillers and you love the results. Great, but keep in mind that things aren’t necessarily over. If you like the results you got and want to maintain them, you’ll need to see your plastic surgeon again for a repeat treatment after six months or so, depending on the type of filler. You might also decide to try a different brand or type of filler at that point, too.
It’s not just the type of filler you pick that determines how your results turn out. How experienced your injector is also matters. For the best results, you’ll want to pick a board certified facial plastic surgeon who has administered the injection you’re thinking about many times. Take a look at pictures of previous patients before and after their treatments to get a sense of the injector’s skill level.
Although fillers are often marketed as an alternative to surgery because of their limited recovery and downtime, you’ll still want to follow any instructions your injector gives you to the letter. For example, he might recommend avoiding certain types of medication in the days leading up to your injection, as some medicines can thin the blood and make bleeding worse. If you want the best results possible, it’s important to take your injector’s advice seriously.
-based, fourth generation facial plastic surgeon Dr. Stephen Smith offers patients a wide variety of fillers at his practice. To learn more about the differences between filler treatments and for advice on choosing the right filler for you, contact Dr. Smith today for a consultation. Call (614) 678-7180 to make an appointment.
Wrinkles aren’t the only sign of aging on the face. As people get older, they lose fat on the face, leading to a hollowed out or more gaunt look. The aging process also changes the texture of the skin and leads to a loss of skin elasticity. While dealing with the signs of aging might seem to be just a part of getting older, it doesn’t have to be. If you want to fight back against aging, you have several options.
The lips tend to lose volume and shape as people get older, which not only adds years to a person’s appearance. Thin, shapeless lips can also make you look angry or upset. Lip augmentation, using injectable fillers, is one way to restore lost volume and shape to the lips.
Although the fillers that were popular in the past tended to be made out of a collagen, today’s fillers are made from a much lighter substance, hyaluronic acid, and tend to produce softer, more natural feeling results. Hyaluronic acid isn’t likely to cause an allergic reaction and can be reversed with a second injection if a person isn’t happy with the results.
Otherwise, lip augmentation with hyaluronic acid fillers can plump up the lips for about eight months. After that time, the injections can be repeated to sustain the fuller, plumper lips.
As you get older and lose fat from the face, your cheeks will start to look thinner and you might look more tired and gaunt. What better way to replace lost fat than with your body’s own fat?
Fat transfer, or lipotransfer, involves taking fat from an area of the body where it isn’t wanted, such as your thighs, hips, or belly, purifying it, then injecting it into an area that needs a boost of volume, such as the cheeks.
While there are a number of injectable fillers that can provide similar results, fat transfer has a few benefits over them. One benefit is that the injection tends to be permanent. Your body might reabsorb some of the fat over time, but for the most part, you can expect that fat that’s injected today to still be there years in the future.
Fat transfer might not be the right pick for everyone. If you don’t have much fat on other areas of the body, your surgeon might not be able to harvest enough to increase volume on your face. In that case, an injectable such as Sculptra, which restores volume over time, might be a better pick.
As you age, skin doesn’t naturally exfoliate itself as frequently. Dead skin cells are more likely to collect on the surface, giving you a duller appearance. Pores might start to look bigger because the dead cells are collecting inside them. Years of sun exposure can also lead to age spots.
If your main concerns are skin texture and coloring, a fractional laser treatment can be a good option for you. Fractional laser treatments help stimulate the production of collagen and exfoliate the skin, without causing damage to the outer layer. You’re able to see a more glowing and radiant face, without the long downtime required by more ablative laser treatments.
Skin also tends to lose its elasticity as it gets older, leading to droopiness and sagging, particularly in the lower face, such as the jowls and neck, and in the areas around the eyes. If you’re beginning to notice jowls or what looks like a double chin or turkey neck, a facelift or a neck lift might be in the cards for you in the near future.
Surgery to tighten the skin isn’t something to rush into. There’s a bit of recovery needed, usually at a least a week off from work. You might also have to make a number of changes to your life beforehand, such as quitting smoking or avoiding certain vitamins, to minimize the risk of complications.
Whether your concern is loose skin, big pores, or a loss of volume, Dr. Stephen Smith, a board certified facial plastic surgeon with two practices in , can help you figure out the treatment that will best fight the signs of aging on your face. For more information, or to schedule your consultation with Dr. Smith, call 614-678-7180 today.
The fact is that the signs of aging don’t just add years to your appearance. Lines across your forehead and a sagging brow can also change the way people perceive your emotions. Frown lines and droopiness can make it look as though you’re scowling, even if you aren’t.
If lines and sagging in the forehead and eyebrow are starting to get to you, there are a few things you can do minimize their appearance. Whether you need surgery or not, and where, depends on what you are dealing with.
A brow lift is typically the go-to surgery for patients dealing with drooping brows or forehead creases. There are a few ways that a surgeon can perform the procedure. In many cases, a brow lift is performed endoscopically, meaning only a few small incisions are made and the doctor uses a small camera to help guide him as he works.
The traditional method of performing a brow or forehead lift involves making a long incision across the top of the head. Although that method is performed less frequently, it can be an appropriate option for patients with more severe sagging or creasing across the forehead.
Although an endoscopic brow lift is generally a short and simple procedure that takes less than two hours and can be performed with local anesthesia and sedation, some recovery time is needed. You might need to take between one and two weeks off from work, and you’ll want to avoid certain activities for even longer.
Although eyelid surgery won’t directly improve the appearance of the forehead, it can be helpful if you’re dealing with some sagging or droopiness in the area around the upper eyelids and brows. The surgery is generally recommended if you have heavy upper eyelids.
While eyelid surgery on its own won’t correct forehead creases or frown lines, it is possible for your surgeon to combine the procedure with a brow lift to create a more refreshed appearance.
Botox doesn’t just reduce the frown lines and other dynamic wrinkles on the face. It can also be injected in such a way that it helps elevate drooping brows. A Botox brow lift has a few advantages over a surgical brow lift. For one thing, it has a lower upfront cost. Botox injections typically cost a few hundred dollars, compared to a few thousand dollars for a brow lift.
There’s also a minimal recovery time after Botox and many people are able to get back to their regular activities pretty much right away. A Botox brow lift doesn’t require incisions and leaves no scars.
The trade-off is that the results you get from a Botox brow lift aren’t nearly as dramatic as the results you’d get from surgery. Botox can elevate the brows by a few millimeters while surgery can lift them a bit higher. Botox is also temporary, and results typically start to fade after about three months. You can repeat the treatment if you like the results or decide to have surgery instead, the results of which will last longer.
Fat grafting, which is the transfer of fat from one area of the body to another, can also be used to create the effect of a brow lift. The procedure can be ideal for people who still have taut and elastic skin in the forehead and brow area but who are beginning to lose volume in that area.
Typically, the fat used in fat transfer is taken from the hips, thighs or abdomen. Patients who don’t have an adequate amount of fat in those areas aren’t the best candidates for the procedure. The fat is then cleaned of any impurities before it is injected into the treatment area. Along with being used by the eyebrows, fat grafting can be used all over the face. The results are permanent, although it is possible for the body to reabsorb some of the fat over time.
Are you bothered by forehead lines or a droopy brow? Find out more about the various treatment options and discover the method that is right for you. Dr. Stephen Smith, a fourth generation facial plastic surgeon in , offers patients a variety of options for the forehead and brow area. To get more details and for a consultation, call 614-678-7180 today.
One day, you’re looking in the mirror and a few lines and wrinkles that weren’t there yesterday have suddenly appeared on your face. Your pores seem to have doubled in size overnight or you’ve noticed a few spots that weren’t on your skin before. While you might not be ready for surgery, you aren’t stuck living with the lines, wrinkles or spots, if you’re unhappy about their appearance. Learn more about the non-surgical options available to you.
Wrinkles form in one of two ways. Dynamic wrinkles develop after years of repeated movements. Frowning, smiling, and lifting your eyebrows lead to creases and lines by your eyes and forehead. You could keep your face completely still for decades and still develop static wrinkles. These lines develop as your body produces less and less collagen, the protein that gives your skin structure, and less hyaluronic acid, a sugar that helps keep skin plump.
If you’re beginning to notice dynamic wrinkles, an injectable such as Botox can help reduce them. Botox injections last for around three months. During that time, the main ingredient keeps specific nerves from communicating with the muscles that cause the movement that leads to the wrinkles. Since you’re not folding or creasing your skin for several months, the wrinkles fade.
You can treat static wrinkles, on a temporary basis, with an injectable filler. While Botox blocks nerve signals, an injectable filler, such as Belotero, replenishes lost volume. Some fillers, such as Radiesse, restore volume and stimulate collagen production, providing longer lasting results.
A loss of volume doesn’t just lead to static wrinkles. It also makes the face look leaner and older. Volume loss typically occurs in the cheeks, but it also occurs in the lips. Certain fillers, such as Sculptra, are designed to restore lost facial volume.
Sculptra is a bit different from other injectables, not only because it is meant to add volume, not fill in lines. It works gradually and many patients need a series of injections, spaced a few months apart. The results typically appear over the course of a few months and can last for up to two years.
People who are concerned about thinning lips often consider lips injections. Usually, fillers made of hyaluronic acid are used in the lips, as the substance provides a soft, natural looking and feeling result. It’s also possible to use a patient’s own fat to increase the volume in the lips. The benefits of hyaluronic acid are that it’s relatively predictable, can be reversed if a patient doesn’t like it, and results typically last for about six months. Fat transfer is less predictable, meaning that some of that fat might be reabsorbed by the body. But, results tend to last longer and can be permanent.
It’s not just volume loss and wrinkles that can age you. Changes in your skin’s texture can also add years to your look. There are a number of resurfacing treatments that can help improve the texture of skin by minimizing pore size, removing skin irregularities and helping to reduce lines and wrinkles.
Resurfacing treatments come in a variety of strengths and intensities. Chemical peels, for example, can be very mild in strength, providing superficial results, or very strong, providing deeper and more noticeable results. The same is true for laser skin resurfacing treatments, which can be non-ablative, meaning they don’t damage the outer layer of skin and have a shorter recovery time. Laser treatments can be ablative, too, meaning that they do cause damage, providing more dramatic results but also requiring a longer downtime.
Now that you know what non-surgical treatment options are available, the next step is to decide which options are best for you. One way to do that is to meet with a facial plastic surgeon, such as Dr. Stephen Smith. Dr. Smith will take a close look at your skin and discuss your concerns with you, before recommending treatments. It could be that you’d benefit from a filler and Botox injection, or that a resurfacing treatment, followed by an injectable, is the best option for you.
Dr. Smith is a fourth generation plastic surgeon practicing in Central . To learn about your options, call (614) 678-7180 for a consultation today.
Turtlenecks might be on trend, but that doesn’t mean you want to wear one every single day of the year. Sometimes, you want to break out your V-neck or boatneck tops, too. But, if you’re started to notice some signs of aging in the neck area, such as loose, droopy skin, crepiness, or neck bands, you might be doing what you can to cover up. Since turtlenecks won’t be cool forever and because some days you want to give the look a rest, there are many other ways to deal with an aging neck area.
Whether you’ve started to notice changes in the neck area or not, one of the best things you can do for it is to start giving it as much care and attention as you give your face. If you aren’t already moisturizing the area daily, get in the habit of doing so. The neck area doesn’t have as many oil glands as the face, so the skin there is going to get drier, faster.
It’s OK to use an anti-aging product designed for your face on the neck, particularly if that product also happens to contain sunscreen. Even though your neck is often shielded by clothing or scarves or by your chin, it’s still important to apply a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 everyday. Although it’s perfect fine to use a facial product on your neck, you might find that a specialized neck cream gives you even better results. Lotions and creams designed with the neck area in mind tend to be thicker and usually have a higher dose of active ingredients, making them slightly more effective.
Crepiness and drooping skin are the only changes that take place in the neck area as you age. One common sign of aging in that area is the development of so-called neck bands. These bands are created by the platysma muscle, which runs up and down the neck. As you get older, the bands are more likely to protrude from the neck. They are particularly common in women.
Although it has been approved by the FDA for use in the neck area just yet, a number of surgeons will use Botox to help minimize the appearance of those bands, at least temporarily. Just as it does when it’s injected into the brow area or to treat the crow’s feet, Botox helps relax the muscle, so that the two vertical bands are smoothed out. Typically, the treatment lasts for about three months. After that, you can repeat it as needed.
The development of jowls or sagging skin in the neck area is another common sign of aging. Caring for your skin at home or seeking out injectables won’t do much when it comes to coping with loose skin on your neck. Usually, the best option for lifting and tightening sagging skin is surgery.
You have a few options when it comes to surgical procedures. A mini facelift can be an appropriate option if you have a mild amount of droopiness. During the surgery, a surgeon makes a relatively small incision and lifts and redrapes a small amount of skin. The results might not be that dramatic, but when you’ve only got a bit of looseness, they might be all you need.
Another major benefit of a mini facelift is that the recovery time is fairly short. You might need just a couple of days at home to rest up afterwards, though some people do need a full week. Results are visible pretty much right away, too.
More sagging calls for a more involved surgery, like a full facelift. A full facelift typically involves larger incision and a more involved process of tightening the skin and muscle. Although it can correct sagging in the neck area, it also helps minimize sagging and looseness in the cheeks and other parts of the lower face.
Recovery time does take considerably longer, with many patients needing up to two full weeks off from work. But, after that, the results also tend to last much longer, with many people enjoying results for 10 years or longer.
If you’re concerned about how your neck is starting to look, one of the best things to do is to make an appointment with a facial plastic surgeon, who can give you the full details on the various treatment options available. In , Dr. Stephen Smith is a fourth generation facial plastic surgeon who offers a range of treatments to patients. To learn more about your neck and what you can do to help minimize the signs of aging on it, call 614-678-7180 for a consultation today.
There’s a saying about your pores. You can’t live with them, you can’t live without them. You need pores on your skin to flush out sweat and oil. But, sometimes, that sweat and oil can mix with dirt and debris, and clog the pores, making them the larger. Or, in some cases, people are born with naturally large pores, which make them more likely to have skin problems and breakouts. While you don’t want to close off your pores and you can’t make them invisible, there are things you can do to make them less visible and less of an issue.
The pores on your skin are the site of hair follicles. You have pores all over your body, except in the areas where you have no natural hair (such as the bottom of your feet and the palms of your hands). Along with containing a hair follicle, each pore is also connected to a sebaceous gland, which allows your body’s natural oils to be transported to the surface of the skin.
While you might be thinking “ick,” remember that you need that oil to keep your skin moisturized. It’s only when too much oil is produced that things become an issue.
Several factors influence the size of your pores. Some are just naturally larger than the rest, because they have larger connected oil glands. Some people have larger pores than others because of their genes. Finally, some external factors, such as dirt buildup and even aging, can make the pores larger.
If you’re concerned about your pores or feel that they are way more visible than they used to be, there are several ways you can deal with them, both at home and with the help of a board certified facial plastic surgeon. Since clogged pores tend to look larger than unclogged pores, one of the first things you might want to do is make sure you’re using products that won’t clog your pores.
While it’s common for products designed for use on the face or other areas of skin to be non comedogenic, or non-pore-clogging, it’s still worth it to check and verify that your products are. Just look at the packaging and see if it mentions whether or not it’s non-comedogenic or whether it won’t clog pores. Usually, products that don’t cause pore issues are going to say so.
Another thing to look out for when choosing skincare products is a product that irritates your skin or leads to an increase in oil production. When a product is too-drying or irritating, your skin typically makes more oil to try and calm things down. Your body might also produce extra oil if you have naturally oily skin and are using a very creamy or very moisturizing product.
Finally, keeping your skin clean is another way to keep your pores under control from the comfort of your own home. Dirt buildup in the pores makes them bigger and can clog them. Make sure you’re using a gentle, non-irritating cleanser once or twice a day, to wash away any dirt or cosmetics.
If daily cleansing and choosing your products with care doesn’t seem to be helping your pores, you may need to enlist the help of a facial plastic surgeon. A number of in-office treatments can help improve the look of your pores. For example, a chemical peel encourages exfoliation of the skin, removing buildup of dead skin cells which can clog your pores. Chemical peels come in a variety of strengths, too, so there is likely to be a peel that will tackle your biggest skin concerns, from uneven skin tone to enlarged pores and from fine lines and wrinkles to frequent breakouts.
Other in-office treatment options include laser skin resurfacing. Like a chemical peel, laser skin treatments exfoliate the skin, removing dead skin cells and improving the overall appearance and texture of the skin.
Dr. Stephen P. Smith is a board certified facial plastic surgeon from a long line of plastic surgeons. If you are concerned about the signs of aging on your face, particularly about the size of your pores, Dr. Smith can help you determine which treatment is best for you and can discuss the best ways to care for your skin at home. To schedule a consultation with Dr. Smith at his practice in , call (614) 678-7180 today.
Unless you go through life never eating, smiling, or speaking, you can’t avoid moving your mouth and lips. While you really can’t skip eating or speaking, you probably wish you could skip the tiny, fine lines those activities eventually create around your lips and mouth.
Lines around your lips, sometimes called “smoker’s lines,” and more formally called “perioral lines,” are often one of the first signs of aging to appear. You might notice them when you are still in your 20s, for example. No matter how old you are though, there are a few ways to fight the lines and get lips that look more youthful.
You know what they say – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Protecting your lips and the area around your lips from the factors that are most likely to lead to the development of those lines can go a long way.
First, it helps to understand why people develop perioral lines in the first place. Typically, the lines form after years of repeated movements in the lip area. Along with repetitive movements, which lead to the development of creases and folds, the collagen in the area begins to break down as you get older.
Certain movements can make the lines more likely to appear, such as puckering up when you sip through a straw or pursing your lips when upset. The act of placing a cigarette between your lips and taking a drag on it on it, over and over, can also lead to the development of perioral lines, hence their nickname “smoker’s wrinkles.” The nasty ingredients in cigarettes can also break down collagen more easily, speeding up the aging process. Quitting smoking can go a long ways towards keeping the lines away.
Sun exposure also plays a big part in the development of the lines around your lips and in how youthful your actual lips look. Wearing sunscreen around the mouth on a daily basis will help shield your lip area from the effects of the sun. It’s also a good idea to wear a lip gloss or other lip product that contains sunscreen, and to reapply it throughout the day, to protect your actual lips from the sun.
Fillers can go a long way to helping your lips and mouth area look more youthful. If you are bothered by fine lines around your lips, talk to a surgeon about using a thin hyaluronic acid filler, such as Belotero, in the area to add subtle volume and fill in the lines for up to nine months.
Botox injections might be another option to help you deal with lines around the lips. While a filler like Belotero adds volume to the area, Botox works differently. It keeps you from making the movements that lead to the development of lines and creases around the mouth, so that those lines fade for a period of time. They will most likely return once the injectable wears off and you can make the movements again, but you can also keep repeating the treatment, to keep them at bay.
Fillers are not only useful for treating the area around your lips. They can also give you more youthful looking lips by adding volume to the lip area itself. Typically, a surgeon will use a filler made of hyaluronic acid for lip augmentation. Unlike fillers made of collagen, hyaluronic acid fillers produce a soft, natural result and have a very low likelihood of causing an allergic reaction. Another option for is to use your own fat, taken from another area of the body, to add volume to the lips.
Since the breakdown of collagen is often responsible for the development of lip lines, some people might benefit from a treatment that stimulates collagen production, such as laser skin resurfacing. A non-ablative laser treatment, which doesn’t destroy the top layer of skin, is usually ideal for fine lip lines. More deeply etched lines might not respond as well to a non-ablative treatment, though.
If you are concerned about the signs of aging around your lips or are looking for a way to get fuller, more youthful lips, talk to a facial plastic surgeon, such as Dr. Stephen Smith. Dr. Smith is a fourth-generation facial plastic surgeon, with two practices in . To schedule a consultation with him, call today.
Today’s laser skin resurfacing treatments aren’t like those of the past. Fractionated CO2 laser treatments target specific small areas of the skin, so that you get major results, without extensive wounding or a long healing process. Although fractionated laser treatments might have a shorter recovery period and might be much less uncomfortable, they are still major medical treatments. That means there are a few things you’ll want to do before and after your laser treatment to help you get ready and to help yourself heal.
Usually, laser treatments, including CO2 laser and pulsed dye lasers are only recommended for people in good physical health. Even if you feel healthy and don’t have a history of any medical conditions, it’s a good idea to schedule an appointment with your primary care doctor in advance, to confirm that you’re healthy enough for the treatment or to get any conditions under control for you decide to move forward with a laser treatment.
If you have certain types of infections, such as herpes (or cold sores), your doctor might want to take extra precautions to keep an outbreak from occurring after a laser treatment. You’ll most likely be given an antiviral medicine to take before the laser treatment and after to keep the virus from acting up.
Once you’ve gotten a clean bill of health from your primary doctor, you can make an appointment for a consultation with a facial plastic surgeon. The consultation is an important step, as it provides you with more information about a laser procedure and helps you see if it’s really what you want. The consultation also helps your surgeon assess whether you’re ready for a treatment and whether what you are hoping to get out of the treatment is realistic.
During the consultation, you’ll want to discuss any medications you take or any habits you have with your surgeon. He might recommend avoiding certain medicines before treatment, such as aspirin or other blood thinners and he might recommend that you quit smoking, too.
It’s best to avoid the sun in the weeks leading up to your laser skin resurfacing treatments and in the weeks after treatment. Exposure to the sun’s UV rays, even up to two months before treatment, can cause irreversible pigment changes after your laser treatment. For best results, always wear a sunscreen with an SPF of 30. Reapply the sunscreen often throughout the day and avoid spending lots of time outdoors in direct sunlight.
You’ll also want to avoid sun exposure after your treatment. The skin will be very tender while it heals. Exposure to UV rays can cause pigmentation changes or burns that are very uncomfortable. Limit your time outdoors as much as you can. Along with wearing a sunscreen, also wear a hat with a wide brim to keep the sun off of your face and a pair of sunglasses.
After your laser treatment, your skin will feel a bit raw. It will most likely be red and swollen and there might be some scabbing or crusting. When you feel comfortable returning to work depends on you. It might be a good idea to request about a week off from work, just to be on the safe side. You might feel well enough to return after a day or two, or you might feel self-conscious about your appearance for a full week afterwards. It’s better to be on the safe side and to take more time off than you think you’ll need rather than to only request a day or two off and to end up wishing you’d taken a full week.
Follow any instructions given by your surgeon to help your face heal as quickly as possible after treatment. He might recommend certain types of pain medications to help relieve discomfort, for example. Only take the recommended medicines as needed and avoid any medicines not specifically mentioned by your doctor.
You can use cold compresses to help bring down swelling in the face after treatment. It might also be helpful to use a lotion or moisturizing cream to help protect the healing area and to keep it hydrated. Ask your surgeon if he recommends any type of lotion or ointment for use after laser treatments. Usually, you can start wearing makeup again pretty soon after a laser treatment. Ask your doctor first, to make sure it’s OK to start using cosmetics again.
Dr. Stephen Smith, a fourth generation facial plastic surgeon in , offers two types of laser treatments at his practice’s laser center. To learn more about laser skin resurfacing and what you can do to prepare and during your recovery, call to schedule a consultation with Dr. Smith at either of his two practice locations.
