Category: Volume Restoration

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

As the saying goes, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” so it also follows that the most prominent facial features demonstrating the signs of aging will get the fillers and Botox. Most people don’t have a hard time seeing the effects of aging on prominent features like the forehead, eyes and mouth area. However, there are areas from the neck up that are more subtle yet have an impact on the youthful harmony of the face. It takes a trained eye to spot these sneaky features that tattle your age if they’re not addressed along with the more noticeable features. I will bring those to your attention here.

Temples

While the creases and crow’s feet around the eyes scream for attention, the timid temples often go unnoticed in their affect on facial youthful harmony. The temple is defined as the area on the outside of each eye towards the hairline, stretching from the top of the cheekbone to the lower edge of the brow bone. This area is not exempt from the volume loss that occurs with age.

As a matter of fact, the temples are an area accentuated by the volume loss and the hollowing of the temples makes the whole eye area look aged and tired. Filling in this shadowy region helps to rejuvenate the eye and upper face. When only other upper face issues are treated something can look “off” or still aged about your face. If you haven’t been able to put a finger on it, it just might be your temples.

Earlobes

One of the features that sees a lot of adornment, but not attention are the earlobes. They’re draped with earrings from childhood and not a thought comes their way when considering the youth enhancing effects of fillers. However, earlobes show their age too, just like the face and neck. Gravity and pulling from earrings over the years will take their toll on the lobes. When they get thin, droopy, and wrinkly, earlobes really stand out against a face that has received treatments to be smooth, firm and full. So don’t forget about your little cartilage earring carriers and show them some injectable filler attention.

Chin

A smooth, well defined jawline and chin can lose its shape over the years by facial volume and skin being redirected downward due to gravity and loss of elasticity. While a lot of attention is given to addressing the jowls and jawline, the chin plays an important role in facial contour, too. It helps give the face its shape and balances other facial features. Using injectable fillers to correct chin volume loss or underprojection due to genetics will enhance youthful appearance, the overall facial harmony and balance.

While dominant facial features attract a lot of attention, we can disregard the subtle yet crucial effects these minor features have on the overall youthfulness of the face. Don’t let the sneaky features like the temples, earlobes and chin tattle on your age. Schedule your consultation today at www.davinciplastic.com to address these subtle changes to enhance the overall youthful harmony of your face.

Steven Davison M.D.

Board Certified Plastic/Reconstructive Surgeon

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

Are you enjoying your summer sun and fun? I hope so, but keep in mind that too much of both of these can take their toll on the skin. That golden glow from the sun doesn’t come without a price. Some mid summer skin rejuvenation may be in order.

Dehydration

Dehydrated skin is different than dry skin. Dry skin is due to lack of sebum, but dehydrated skin is due to lack of moisture. It appears dull because the lack of moisture prevents cellular turnover. It also can be sensitive and flaky because the topmost layer of skin is not functioning correctly, so irritants can penetrate and more moisture is lost. In addition to drinking lots of water, use skincare that focuses of restoring moisture and not oil. A good example that we sell in our office is SkinMedica Rejuvenative Moisturizer. Also, avoid soapy cleansers that can strip the skin even more, and use cream cleansers instead. Restorative serums, such as SkinMedica’s Vitamin C and E complex, which prevents and repairs UV damage are helpful.

Fine Lines and Wrinkles

Dehydration along with aging, lifestyle and sun damage contributes to wrinkles. Fortunately, along with making healthy changes, there are effective non invasive cosmetic procedures to help smooth things out.

Here are some areas that can really be aged by the sun and dehydration, along with some “quick summer beauty fix” suggestions for your face:

• Crow’s feet creep out from the outer corners of the eyes and extend outward towards the hairline. They are corrected with Botox or Dysport because limiting the muscle movement in the area will relax the wrinkles and prevent them from deepening due to activity.
• Forehead Lines are caused by excessive brow movement and forehead furrowing. Accentuated vertical lines between eyebrows can give an angry or scowling appearance. You can quickly lighten your look with Botox or Dysport.
• Tear Troughs or Hollows swoop below the eye from the bridge of the nose along the lower eyelid and sometimes extending downward toward the cheekbone. Their sunken appearance gives a tired appearance to the eyes, but Restylane and Juvederm are hyaluronic acid gels that safely restore volume to these areas.
• Cheeks and Temples lose fullness and hollow out due to volume loss. Facial fat loss naturally occurs with age, but is sped up by dehydration and sun damage. As fat diminishes, these areas commonly sag and appear shallow. Restylane or Juvederm help plump these shallow areas to restore youthFULness.
• Nasolabial Folds are formed due to volume loss and skin shifting downward. These lines are also called “marionette lines” and reach from the outer corner of the nostrils to the outer corners of the lips. Fillers Restylane and Juvederm help fix this issue.
• Lips lose volume over time, looking thinner and flatter. They also can become framed by smile lines, called “parenthesis lines.” We can help you restore the youthful shape and fullness with the effective lip plumper Juvederm.

 Along with avoiding sun damage, staying hydrated and using effective skincare, these injectables are great “quick summer beauty fixes” for your face. Schedule your summer beauty touch up today at www.davinciplastic.com.

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

Spring is a time for “refreshment and renewal.”  Many women choose filler cheek lifts this time of year

to look and feel refreshed from a long winter by restoring the lost facial volume winter often causes, and to be ready to put their more youthful,  best face forward…subtly.

FILLER Mid – FACELIFTS fill in those cheeks that hollowed out during a long, cold winter causing the mid face to sag.  With a few precisely placed injections, hollows are filled, lines and wrinkles disappear and cheeks are lifted to that “more youthful” position.

CAUSES OF VOLUME LOSS:

1. One of the main causes of volume loss is ultraviolet ray damage to the cells that create collagen, a protein that is crucial to keeping skin full, firm, and youthful.
2. Also, as we age, we lose fat in the face. Fat usually isn’t thought of as our friend, but really is necessary for keeping the “cushion” in your face. Fat is important for youthful contouring around eyes, cheeks, and chin/jawline.
3. Up and down weight loss stretches the ligaments that hold up the facial tissue and can result in loss of elasticity and volume.
4. Hormonal changes affect facial volume. As estrogen levels fall, so does the amount and quality of facial fat.

FILLERS for FACIAL VOLUME LOSS:
A great way to restore facial face is with Hyaluronic Acid (HA) fillers. HA is a naturally occurring substance in the body that binds with water in the injected site…to plump up the area. It is great for filling in sunken facial areas experiencing volume loss, as well as wrinkles. Realize though, that all fillers aren’t the same in their viscosity and smoothness, and therefore work better when injected in different areas of the face.

FOUR PROBLEMATIC FACIAL AREAS:

EYE AREA : Drooping eyebrows, sagging under eyes and hollow temples all cause a worn down, aged eye area. Solution: RESTYLANE, JUVEDERM, VOLUMA etc. can all help fill in sunken tear troughs, crow’s feet, and hollowed temples.

MIDFACE:

Among the first areas where volume loss is noticed – as flattened, hollow cheeks, or marionette lines.

Solution: JUVEDERM VOLUMA – smooth flowing hyaluronic acid gel  is the most effective for contouring the midface. By restoring fullness to the midface (cheeks) the surrounding skin is tightened, giving a slight mini facelift.

MOUTH AREA/LIPS: Marionette lines, lip creases, and overall thinning of lips resulting from volume loss. Solution: JUVEDERM and RESTYLANE in the hands of an experienced injector like myself can smooth out lines and give you the perfect pout.

CHIN and JAWLINE: When volume decreases in the mid face and moves downward, the jowls become more prominent creating a more square shaped face rather than the desirable inverted triangle. Solution: RADIESSE can help reshape and restore volume.

What are your Spring Time concerns:  sagging, hollow face, Deflated cheeks, chin without definition or other any other “body area” rejuvenation concerns.  I can help.  Let’s talk!  See my website for complete procedure information: www.DAVinciPlasticSurgery.com.

Enjoy the beauty and renewal of Spring.

Steven Davison M.D.

Board Certified Plastic/Reconstructive Surgeon