Category: Sculptra

Spring brings with it a desire to refresh and renew. You can experience the vitality of Spring through your own facial rejuvenation with injectables. Here’s a little information about each injectable option we offer at our office:

BOTOX is a well known, FDA approved, safe injection using botulinum toxin type A. It halts muscle movement that is the cause of the wrinkles by blocking nerve signal to the muscles. When the muscles aren’t constricted, the lines are relaxed and the wrinkles are prevented from going deeper. Optimal results are seen within a week or 2, lasting for several months. Some of the most popular cosmetic uses for Botox are for smoothing:

• horizontal forehead creases
• vertical lines between the eyebrows (“eleven lines”)
• crow’s feet around the eyes
• nose furrows
• smoker’s lines around the lips

JUVEDERM is a volume restoring injectable filler that smooths out lines and folds using hyaluronic acid (HA). HA is a naturally occurring substance that attracts water to the area its injected. It is a highly cross linked smooth gel that is also offered in the Juvederm XC Ultra and XC Ultra Plus formulas, which are the first FDA approved HA fillers for all skin tones and color because of no risk for hyper pigmentation. Juvederm results are instant with long lasting results for 6 months and up. It is perfect for many needs of the mid to lower face:

• fill lines on the side of your nose (nasolabial folds)
• rejuvenate creases on the sides of the mouth
• plump up lips

RADIESSE is a semi permanent filler that creates scaffolding for your own collagen to grow around, naturally rebuilding in a lasting way. This gives immediate and ongoing wrinkle reducing results that remain beyond when Radiesse breaks down and dissolves. It uses calcium based microspheres to rebuild your skin’s foundation with results that last a year or longer for rejuvenated:

• cheeks
• nasolabial folds
• smile lines

SCULPTRA is the longest lasting filler, proven to last up to 2 years or longer. This is nearly twice as long as the majority of hyaluronic fillers. It is composed of PLLA, poly L lactic acid, that stimulates the body’s own collagen renewal for incredible enduring rejuvenation that is natural looking. Sculptra is a great base for a Liquid Facelift that offers lasting volume and skin thickness. It best addresses:

• aging skin folds
• indented chin surfaces
• hollow cheeks
• sunken eyes

VOLUMA XC is a thicker hyaluronic acid filler that instantly adds volume to the cheek area to fill in lost volume that comes with aging. It is the first FDA approved injectable filler for complete cheek volume restoration. It lifts and sculpts the cheeks for a gentle, subtle Liquid Facelift that lasts up to 2 years. Also, Voluma XC is better suited to fill more difficult folds and wrinkles. The lifting and sculpting benefits rejuvenate:

• nasolabial folds
• cheek volume and definition
• chin shape and smooth lines

As expert injectors, Dr Davison, myself and our PA Nora, are ready to help you rejuvenate and refresh your face for the Spring and beyond. Please visit www.davinciplastic.com to schedule your consultation today.

Dr. Pinell

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon of the Face and Body

The beauty and aroma of spring is in the air with the cherry blossoms in full bloom. This is a great time of year to do some spring cleaning, spruce up your wardrobe and freshen up with some injectable treatments to restore that youthful volume and glow. You’ll want to put your best face forward because soon we will be celebrating some of the spring and summer holidays, such as Easter, Passover, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, graduations, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, family reunions, and weddings.

INJECTABLES FOR THE PERFECT SPRING TWEAKMENT…Coming out of winter, we could all use a bit of a refresh, right? Injectables are the perfect fix for those subtle adjustments that can rejuvenate and lighten up your look. Think about a frown free forehead, twinkling youthful eyes, fuller cheeks, and a pop of color on your smiling sexy lips.

SPRING FACIAL TWEAKMENT TEAM… In addition to offering the best injectable formulas, you will be in the hands of experts who know facial anatomy through study and many years of experience. It also takes having a trained and artistic eye to get the best results possible. You can rest assured in the hands of Dr Davison, myself, and our PA Nora.

Botox, Juvederm, Radiesse, Sculptra, and Voluma XC are effective rejuvenating tools when in the hand of a skilled professionals like ourselves. These non surgical options are great for tweakments when you don’t have time for recovery. Many offer instant results with no major discomfort. You can experience a facial rejuvenation with injectables in the time span of a lunch break. With an ice pack immediately afterwards to help with any swelling and some mineral makeup to cover any redness or bruising, you’re on your way.

This variety of injectable options empower us to tailor fit the right treatment for you. In the next blog, I’ll give an overview of what differentiates each of these injectables so that you can see what great options you have for a fresh look for spring. In our expert injector hands, you can feel confident and refreshed going into the spring and summer holiday season. To schedule your appointment today, visit www.davinciplastic.com.

Dr. Pinell

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon of the Face and Body

Radiesse and Sculptra are the last injectables that I’m covering in this series. While they may not have achieved the mainstream brand recognition as Botox and Juvederm, they are well known within the cosmetic industry for offering well established and proven volume restoring, wrinkle fighting results. They accomplish this through very different methods. Sometimes Sculptra and Radiesse are called the tortoise and the hare.

The Tortoise

In the Aesop’s fable The Tortoise and the Hare, the slow moving tortoise actually wins the race with a hare because of its steady effort. In a seemingly similar way, Sculptra offers visible results that are slower to appear, but achieve a big win because the results usually last a lot longer than any other fillers. It does this because it actually stimulates the skin to make it’s own collagen.

• Medical: Sculptra is made of a poly-L-lactic acid, which is a manmade polymer that is biodegradable and biocompatible. In the medical arena, it has also been used for over a decade with FDA approval to restore the hollowed facial features caused by HIV. This material is also used in absorbable stitches and bone screws.
• Cosmetic: The FDA approved Sculptra for cosmetic use in 2009. With 1 to 3 injections over the course of 6 to 12 weeks, Sculptra stimulates the skin’s collagen enough to effectively restore volume and smooth out wrinkles. If not under any event’s time constraints, some people prefer the gradual results because they come on less drastically and obviously. Generally, most onlookers notice the youthful results, but can’t pinpoint when or how they exactly occurred. It just looks like a mini facelift happened gradually over the course of 2 months. Also, unlike hyaluronic acid fillers, such as Juvederm or Restylane, Sculptra can last much longer, such as 2 years or more.

The Hare

Instead of hyaluronic acid, which is used by Juvederm and Restylane, Radiesse is composed of calcium hydroxylapatite microspheres suspended in a gel. Calcium hydroxylapatite is a kind of mineral that is normally found in human teeth and bones. In addition to instantly adding volume, the scaffolding created by the calcium hydroxylapatite in Radiesse promotes collagen production. This offers benefits to the skin’s foundation that lasts beyond when Radiesse dissolves.

• Medical: In 2007, the same year it was approved for cosmetic use, the FDA approved Radiesse for treating facial wasting experienced by HIV patients. The medical community has also used Radiesse in therapeutic treatment for vocal cord deficiencies.
• Cosmetic: Radiesse is an injectable filler that also restores volume in a thicker gel than Juvederm and Restylane. Its dense formula is great for moderate to severe facial wrinkles, nasolabial folds and volume loss. It also is a phenomenal way to take 10 years off your hands, which tattle on your age.

I hope that this blog series, All About Injectables, has informed and encouraged you about the safety and efficacy of the top injectables. Isn’t it interesting that there are such helpful medical uses for them, as well as cosmetic? I think that just adds to their credibility.

As you can tell, at DAVinci Plastic, you’re certainly not lacking for great options for your cosmetic needs. Fortunately, you don’t have to be the expert in which of these injectables would be the perfect fit for you. Our expert injectors can help you find the best fit for your beauty goals. Schedule a consultation at www.davinciplastic.com today.

Steven Davison M.D.

Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

Mother’s Day is a month away and forward thinking husbands and family members are already putting their heads together about how they can honor the mothers in their lives. And rightly so. One thing for sure is that mothers work harder than most anyone I know. Their work is not only physical, but mental and emotional. They don’t get to clock out at the end of the work day or take many “vacation days,” especially in the early years of motherhood. Their job is ever evolving and lasts a lifetime. We should definitely be showing love to our mothers year round, but especially on Mother’s Day.

One thing that mother’s deserve is some pampering. For some women that means a day at the spa, a decadent brunch out with girlfriends or family, or for others they want to have lasting youthful effects from a variety of cosmetic treatments and procedures. While getting Botox injections as a gift isn’t the same kind of pampering as a day at the spa, many women prefer the enjoyment of waking up day after day to a younger looking face and demeanor. More and more women are being vocal about their desire to receive treatments like this as their gifts. This is how we at DAVinci Plastic Surgery can help.

This week we will talk about some of the quick “in and out” treatments that we offer for those mothers who would like a youth enhancing boost to last for months. Next week we will cover some options for Mommy Makeovers that involve surgeries that address moms most requested areas of help.

• Botox is known as a wrinkle eraser because it inhibits the muscle action that causes the wrinkles. This is especially useful for allowing forehead furrows to relax and smoothing out crows feet or wrinkles between the eyebrows.
• Juvederm fills in creases and wrinkles with water attracting hyaluronic acid. The cells plulp up like a sponge sucking up water so that those “parenthesis” around the mouth or nasolabial folds are filled in. It is also wonderful for plumping up lost volume to areas of the face, especially the lips.
• Radiesse immediately stimulates the body to produce collagen to replace volume for youth enhancing effects
• Sculptra may not necessarily be considered a “quick fix” because the effects build over time, but the results last twice as long as hyaluronic fillers.

Each of these treatments successfully gives the appearance of turning back the clock of time to reveal more youthful facial features. This effect is rejuvenating and confidence boosting. In combination with each other, they can have the effect called a Filler Facelift. While this doesn’t compare to the full effects of a Facelift, it’s as close as you can get without going under the knife. We will custom tailor a combination treatment to address a variety of concerns, such as to:

• Lift up sagging brows
• Brighten up the eyes by adding volume to hollowed temples and sunken eye sockets or tear troughs
• Erase forehead lines
• Lusciously fill those lips
• Lighten the lines around the mouth
• Plump the cheeks restore youthfulness and gently lift the midface
• Smooth and contour the chin

You can give these as a gift certificate to allow the mother in your life to choose what she’d like or designate the gift for a specific treatment that you know she’s mentioned that she wants. Visit www.davinciplastic.com today to pamper the mother in your life this Mother’s Day.

Steven Davison M.D.

Board Certified Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon

It’s not too late to show your love with the gift of a Liquid Facelift. The spring is coming and there is no better feeling than going into a new season with a refreshed feeling and look. The new and rejuvenating experience can catapult confidence and productivity for not only a more youthful appearance, but invigorated feeling.

The Liquid Facelift, also called a Filler Facelift, is a visible, yet subtle rejuvenation involving multiple injection locations and kinds. While it doesn’t have the complete capabilities of an actual Facelift, it does address concerns throughout the facial features to provide a no downtime “refresher” for the face. It smoothes out wrinkles and restores volume to those trouble areas that are unique to each person. These are the benefits:

• Erasing forehead lines with Botox
• Brow lifting by replacing volume with Juvederm
• Revolumizing the eye area with Juvederm to minimize sunken eye sockets, hollowed temples or deepened tear troughs
• Plumping flat cheeks with Juvederm, Radiesse or Sculptra which gently lifts the entire midface, including the effects of volume loss on nasolabial folds
• Smoothing the “parenthesis” lines around the mouth
• Plumping thinned out lips with Juvederm
• Balance the chin definition with Radiesse or Sculptra

The Filler Facelift addresses these issues not in isolation, but within the facial framework and contours. This comprehensive injection session rejuvenates the entire face and not just one feature by utilizing different kinds of injectables. The Liquid Facelift is a great way to hold off the need for a surgical facelift. Results can last a couple of months to a couple of years.

The different kinds of injectables used in different areas of the face all work together for the Liquid Facelift rejuvenation. Here are the typical players we use in our office to give our patients beautiful results:

• Juvederm naturally attract water to the plump up the cells with hyaluronic acid. This sponge like effect, plumps up the cells at the injection site to fill in the creases. Its plumping abilities are fantastic for restoring youthful facial contours and lip fullness.
• Botox inhibits muscle action that stops the movement creating the wrinkles and creases. This stops forehead furrows and frown lines in their tracks.
• Radiesse immediately stimulates your own collagen renewal for your skin to work on replacing volume and firmness.
• Sculptra takes time to reveal the youth enhancing effects, but is well worth the wait. Its scaffolding stimulates the body’s own ability to rebuild collagen with long lasting results that can endure twice as long as hyaluronic fillers.

Experience the refreshing look that a Filler Facelift can offer. Give the gift to yourself or a loved one. To schedule your Liquid Facelift our highly trained injectors, visit www.davinciplastic.com

Steven Davison M.D.

Board Certified Plastic/Reconstructive Surgeon

While you may initially come into my office to address an immediate beauty need, we will take the time in our consultation to talk about your long term beauty goals and to help you with a plan. This plan may start off with some non invasive treatments, such as a Liquid Facelift using a variety of injectables to touch up and rejuvenate some crows feet, furrowed brows or mouth parenthesis creases. Then it might build into a 5 to 10 year plan for a mini facelift to address slightly sagging jowls and neck or Blepharoplasty to open up drooping eyelids for a brighter, more rested looking eye area. Either way, this plan should not only focus on immediate needs, but incorporate treatments for future youth restoration goals and maintenance.

Cosmetic surgery and non invasive treatments can easily be performed all year long, however, there are certain times of year that lend themselves to easily incorporate the rest and recovery that make it more convenient. Also, there are also certain issues you may want to address before a special event (think: high school reunion or holiday party) or time of year (think: bikini season).

Here is a seasonal surgery guide with suggestions for planning your procedure:

Fall

After the activity of summer and before the flurry of winter festivities, the fall season offers a perfect break in the social calendar for most people. This means that recovery time away is easy to schedule. Also, the cooler weather means clothes with more coverage and comfort. After getting any kids and grandkids settled into school, the scheduled routine or empty nest would allow for effortless predictability and rest for scheduling a surgery. It also will allow plenty of healing time for you to approach the holidays recovered and looking great. This is a good time for anything from Liposuction, Blepharoplasty, Facelift to Breast Augmentation. Fall is my first choice for cosmetic procedures.

Winter

This season offers some good opportunities for cosmetic surgeries. Before the new year, the injectables are the best because you can’t afford downtime between Thanksgiving and New Years, but January is the perfect month to kick off the New Year with a big step towards your beauty and healthy body goals. Winter scarves and turtlenecks easily cover the bruising or swelling from Kybella or a Facelift. Also the bulkier clothes will conceal any over night changes to the body from a Tummy Tuck or Liposuction. The Martin Luther King and Presidents Day holidays allow for long weekends and time off work without the usual holiday social schedule.

Spring

These are the months to rejuvenate and refresh yourself along with the start of a new season, and to prepare for the summer season. Body image procedures such as Liposuction, Brazilian Butt Lift, and Breast Augmentation are popular this time of year. Also, by this time, some of the results from New Years resolutions for weight loss have a chance to kick in and become a habit so that body contouring can have optimal results.

Summer

Surgery can be a success in the summer, but it’s crucial to stay out of the sun. The heat and sweat can be irritating during recovery. It’s always a great time for injectables like Botox, Juvederm, Radiesse, Sculptra since these injectables are in and out so you’re on your way to looking fabulous for your vacation. Another fabulous non invasive, body contouring rpocedure to trim away small puches of stubborn fat is SculpSure. Popular summer break surgical procedures are Rhinoplasty and Otoplasty between the school years.

Let me help you make your procedure plan for your ideal image by scheduling a consultation today at www.davinciplastic.com.

Steven Davison M.D.

Board Certified Plastic/Reconstructive Surgeon

When you’re going for any injectable treatment, the skill of the injector makes a tremendous difference in the results. When it comes to your face, this is definitely not something you want to be bargain hunting or wheeling and dealing. A bad injector can make you look older or even distort your natural appearance.

Here are some clues you’re going to get a bad injection, and what to look for instead:

Options

There are a good variety of injectables and some are a better fit for different facial structures, skin age and rejuvenation goals. If the office doesn’t represent this beauty of choice and tries to fit everyone in the box of a one size fits all injection, then you know something is wrong. Each person’s unique needs should be addressed regarding the placement of injections and what kind of injectables are used.

Cleanliness

Infections happen easily and so it is important to be very picky about the cleanliness of the facility. Don’t just breeze in the office and get your injection. Look at it with a critical eye and especially important to assess the cleanliness of the injection room. A sterile needle and fresh vial of injectable should be shown to the patient before treatment.

Quality of Care

You can trust your face to the quality of care that can only be provided by an injector with experience, certification, specialization, consultation and confidence.

• Experience: An injector should have a lot of experience with a variety of injectables and specialize in the art of injectables. This gives the injector a true “feel” for the unique needs of each patient.
• Certification: There’s actually an industry standard that is applied to the best practitioners, qualifying them as Expert Injectors. This extra certification and licensure ensures that the injector you choose has had the training and experience to give you the best chances for the results your desiring.
• Specialization: With injections being offered at home and almost every medi spa across the country, it’s important to recognize that doctors and nurse practitioners, such as our own PA Nora, with specialization this field have an intimate knowledge of facial structure and can provide the best results.
• Consultation: While injectables generally provide a “quick fix” for addressing aging concerns, the injector should take the time discuss your desires and long term goals. This might include a treatment plan to include other anti aging procedures.
• Confidence: The training, experience and specialization required for a job well done in this field provides a confidence that the practitioner has and one that you can have also. If your injector seems shaky or unsure in the least bit, walk away.

As an expert injector with experience of working on hundreds of faces with the highest levels of satisfaction, standards and level of artistry in facial rejuvenation, you can trust your face in Nora’s hands. To schedule an appointment for your injectables consultation, visit www.davinciplastic.com.

Steven Davison M.D.

Board Certified Plastic/Reconstructive Surgeon

Summer Break is over and kids from Kindergarten to College are going back to school. This is a breath of fresh air for many parents who are looking forward to some quiet time. It also allows for some more time to take care of the home necessities and even opens up the schedule for those beauty treatments that were neglected in the midst of the activities of summer. Here are some ideas for back to school celebration beauty and rejuvenation treatments for the face.

Botox

A Botox treatment is truly “in and out” within a lunch break and requires no downtime, so if you need to take your kids to soccer practice after school or help them set up their dorm room over the weekend, you can get Botox that day and you’re still good to go. By using a tiny amount of botulinum toxin type A that blocks the nerve signal to the muscle, Botox can smooth out frown lines, crow’s feet and brow wrinkles by caused by facial muscles in motion. Other popular treatment areas from the forehead down to the collarbone are those two vertical lines between the brows, nose furrows, smoker’s lines above the lips, and thick lines in the neck. This simple, safe injection can also prevents the formation of facial lines and wrinkles since those muscles won’t be moving to make the creases.

Juvederm

This injectable is a filler that smoothes out lines with hyaluronic acid that restores volume to the area. Perfect for eliminating those annoying parenthesis lines on the side of the nose and mouth.  Juvederm is offered in a variety of formulas that offer greater versatility and varying depths of injection. The smooth gel allows for treatment of more difficult folds and less discomfort during treatments. This is another treatment on the go, so it won’t interfere with your family routine. Juvederm XC Ultra and Ultra Plus formulas can help smooth wrinkles for every skin tone and type, since they are the first FDA approved hyaluronic acid dermal fillers for safe, effective treatment that includes persons of color. 

Sculptra

Sculptra is a little bit different than the previous injectables even though it can be done as a “no downtime,” “in and out” treatment, it isn’t intended to be an “overnight fix.”  Sculptra is the only facial injectable that offers results that can last 2 years and possibly longer. It restores facial volume that works gradually and subtly by stimulating the body’s own collagen renewal for long lasting results that look natural.

Celebrate the kids or grandkids going back to school by treating yourself to a quick anti aging procedure that easily fits into the every day family routine. While you’re in the office getting your non invasive treatments to rejuvenate your face, we can talk about your other youth restoring goals for remainder of this year and make a treatment plan. To schedule a consultation, call our office at 202-966-9590.

Steven Davison M.D.

Board Certified Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon