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

If you’re going to make the investment in getting a Facelift, you want it to last as long as possible. Even though a Facelift can take up to 10 years off your appearance, your skin will continue to age. This means that gravity will have its affect as your skin loses elasticity and collagen – over the years following your surgery. You can’t stop the aging process, but you can help keep the age reversal affects as long as possible by implementing the habits and tricks suggested in this blog.

Buying Time with Injectables
You will love your more youthful appearance with a Facelift and subsequently you’ll want to help the youthful effects to stay in the most effective way. Injectables, such as Voluma, are crucial to add back lost volume, as well as Botox to stop muscles from recreating those deep wrinkles. They may seem like subtle youthful enhancements at the time, but they will help the facelift last longer. These are perfect options to push back or prevent the need for touch up surgery.

Luscious Lips Look Younger
An issue that the Facelift doesn’t address is the lips. Just as volume decreases in the rest of the face, age related volume loss affects the lips. You’ll want to maintain facial harmony and balance -throughout your face with youthful lips. Using a hyaluronic filler, such as Juvederm, to plump your lips will help enhance and maintain a youthful appearance after a Facelift.

Daily Care and Special Treatments for Skin
The cumulative affect of taking good care of your skin on a daily basis… really does pay off in the end. I suggest using clinically proven skin care, such as SkinMedica to help prolong the youthful effects of cosmetic procedures. On a regular basis it is also important to get special treatments for your skin. For example, chemical peels stimulate new skin growth to enhance skin clarity and smoothness. A chemical peel can wreak havoc on the skin and actually cause aging if done incorrectly, so please be sure to come to my office even for serious treatments such as this.
Stay Away from the Sun and Pollution
These are the outside factors that cause the most skin damage and can reverse the benefits of a facelift real quick. Protect yourself from environmental pollution and the sun, which can damage the skin’s cellular integrity. This can show up as blotchy, uneven skin that is dehydrated and leathery.

Lifestyle Contributes to Aging
You should be concerned about what you eat not just for the calories or weight management, but to promote overall healthy cellular integrity. You skin is your biggest organ and reveals much about the overall healthy or unhealthy lifestyle choices you make.

Here are some tips to feel and look younger:
There are actually foods that boost collagen production, such as celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, dark green and colorful vegetables, fish, avocados, berries, white tea, garlic, fresh citrus fruits, oysters, and proteins like eggs, nuts and lean meats.
Instead of drinking dehydrating beverages, such as coffee, tea or alcohol, drink lots of water.
Sweeten with raw honey since it is a vitamin and mineral rich alternative to sugar, which causes inflammation and other unhealthy body responses.
Maintain healthy weight instead of extreme gaining and losing.
Avoid smoking.
Smile more than you frown. You’ll use fewer wrinkle causing muscles and studies show that a positive, cheerful disposition can help keep you healthy.

Feel and look great after a Facelift by implementing these tips.

To talk about a Facelift or if you’ve already had one and would like the help to maintain the results as best as possible, schedule a consultation at www.davinciplastic.com.

Steven Davison M.D.
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

As an expert in Fat Grafting (also known as Fat Transfer), I’ve seen how wonderful this completely native material…from your own body can naturally enhance features without the use of foreign substances. It does require great skill to be used correctly and does have some limitations. But for my natural minded patients, this could be a great option for facial volume loss and the Brazilian Butt Lift, as I’ve previously written about. Depending on my patient’s expectations it can even be an option for breast augmentation.

Managing Expectations of Fat Grafting
I like to have an extensive discussion of my patient’s expectations and their options with any procedure, but when it comes to breast augmentation, there are quite a few options to discuss. These discussions include what size breast would be harmonious for the body, the kind of implant, the type of incision used to insert the implant or whether to even use an implant. Often, fat grafting isn’t considered by my patients because it isn’t as widely publicized as implants, but I do believe that it can be a great option for many.Here are some of the reasons to consider Fat Grafting for your Breast Augmentation:
… It’s a completely natural substance coming from your own body.
… Because it’s from your own body, there is less chance of your body rejecting it.
…The results are as natural looking as you can get.
…There’s no risk of silicone leakage or integration into the body, so no follow ups years later and no worries.
…”Upkeep” surgeries aren’t necessary.
…No scalpel is required, as the fat is extracted and relocated to the breast with a needle.
…A minimal 2 to 4 day recovery time is needed, compared to weeks of recovery after a breast augmentation with implants.
…The fat used for the breast is taken from an area of the body that can spare some, so while you’re enhancing the breasts, you’re getting the benefits of liposuction elsewhere in the body.

Fat Grafting is a Less Invasive Option

When done by an expert in fat grafting, like myself, it can add natural looking volume to the breast without lumps, bumps, clumps or clusters. It also encourages a natural response, from the body, that makes it long lasting. No drainage ports, compression bands, or weeks of recovery while waiting for the pain to subside and the implants to “settle” into their place. A breast augmentation with fat grafting looks truly natural… after only a few days, when the swelling and bruising from the injections subside. And no worries if you’re needle phobic. You can remain totally comfortable while sedated under general anesthesia, as the fat is extracted from another area and injected into specific places in the breast.

Natural is Not for Everyone
While fat grafting can create lovely results, it does have limitations. It may not be able to accomplish the increase in volume or shape that some women are looking for, which is why there is a large market for implants. There are many safe options with implants that offer a beautiful and satisfying breast augmentation.

If you’d like to discuss your options for a breast augmentation, including the possibility of fat grafting, please schedule a consultation at www.davinciplastic.com.

Steven Davison M.D.

Board Certified Plastic/Reconstructive Surgeon

Since I addressed the youthful contour of the neck the past two weeks, I thought we’d work our way up to the chin and the important role it plays in attaining the “perfect profile.” Generally speaking, our society appreciates different features in men and women, but an aesthetic profile… regardless of gender… is harmonious and balanced.

These profile characteristics are popular among Americans:
• Upper face: a forehead that isn’t entirely round, flat or elongated, and a browbone structure that isn’t overbearing
• Mid face: straight nose with some concavity to it, not too long, wide or bulbous
• Lower face: full lip projection, well defined chin, neck and jaw line

MAKING THE CASE FOR THE CHIN … It is the framework and support system for the entire face. Too weak or strong of a framework can distort the rest of the facial structure, throwing off the balance and proportion. For example, a chin that is too small or recessed can make the nose look too big, or on the other hand, a chin that is too prominent can draw too much attention and be unbalanced with the rest of the facial features.

BRINGING PROFILE BALANCE WITH THE CHIN…Usually the chin is a feature that men are known for, and is therefore attributed as a masculine focused feature. But the lack of a chin can even throw off the harmony in a feminine profile and can increase an aging appearance caused by that lack of definition between the face and neck.

HOW THE CHIN AGES…Most people first notice the signs of aging in the upper face, such as wrinkles on the forehead and around their eyes. But, even though they may be more subtle in some people, the signs of aging don’t skip over the lower face. With age, the chin begins to look different:
• sagging skin, volume loss from the mid face and upper jaw ends up hanging from the lower jaw
• fat and sagging skin accumulation under the chin
• bone loss in the chin and jaw

One solution for mild repair would be use of injectables to restore volume and contour to the chin area. Another option could be chin augmentation surgery.

CHIN IMPLANTS FOR RESTORING FACIAL BALANCE… This is one of the most popular options to restore facial balance and a youthful, natural appearance. Chin implants are a safe and effective surgical modification that can be tailored to your unique facial needs. It can also be combined with other surgeries, such as a Facelift, Eyelid Lift (Blepharoplasty) or Nose Reshaping.

CHIN IMPLANT SURGERY, SAFE AND QUICK… Of all the facial plastic surgeries, this is one of the fastest to perform, and for my patients, a quick recovery. Chin implants are made from a variety of materials and come in various shapes and sizes. This allows for custom tailoring in order to create your perfect profile!

For complete information about Chin Implants and your consultation, visit www.davinciplastic.com. Let’s talk about your perfect profile goals.

Steven Davison M.D.
Board Certified Plastic/Reconstructive Surgeon

Well, I’ve been writing about facial procedures and cheek augmentation is one of the most popular anti aging options we do to instantly take years off the face.

Cheeks are critical to overall facial balance because they are a woman’s most feminine (dynamic for men) facial feature.  Aging causes the malar fat pad to deflate as facial fat is lost and the cheeks become flat, depressed and hollow looking. The malar fat pads are a small area of fat that sits on the cheekbone just under the lower eyelid.

Cheek Augmentation using Fat Grafting is one of my favorite ways to conquer this part of facial aging.  Using your own natural fat involves harvesting small amounts from areas of plenty, treating it and then injecting it in precise amounts into pre targeted areas. This micro fat grafting process (also called autologous fat transfer) is great because it is safe, effective and without allergic reactions.

Fat Grafting augmentation restores youthful, healthy volume and shape without surgery…and achieves long lasting results.

Other Fat Grafting Benefits…Surgeons around the world are also discovering that the higher the quality of fat being used, the better the results…including active stem cells that rejuvenate the skin.  Often, patients who have had fat grafting see their skin quality improve dramatically improve.   We also now know that at least 50% of fat grafting procedures offer permanent results, and those patients who continue to maintain using autologous fat grafting require fewer treatments with those treatments gradually spacing farther apart.  Patients also report fewer lines, wrinkles and hollows.  

Implants and Injectable fillers are the other options to correct aging cheeks and recreate youth.  We’ll get more into that again later.  See previous blogs written on both subjects and visit my website for comprehensive info on all procedures: https://www.davinciplastic.com.

IDEAL CHEEKS ARE:  oval shaped and plump, sit high on the face and taper inward.

HOW IDEAL CHEEKS BALANCE THE FACE: cheeks provide definition between the eyes, cheeks and lower face preventing overall flat looking features.

HOW OTHER FACIAL FEATURES ARE AFFECTED: beautiful cheeks draw attention away from the nose and can crete a lifting effect that gives fullness to the lower part of the face.

FLAT CHEEKS = LOSS OF FACIAL BALANCE.

AGE DEFYING CONTOURED CHEEKS: provide better facial symmetry by adding some fullness and width for a natural look.  Improving overall facial balance can make the face look more youthful.

Often, just a few minor tweaks can make enhance the whole dynamic of your face.

Holidays will be upon us soon…I have decades of experience with combining the right procedures at the right time…for the optimal outcome.  At DAVinci we defy aging everyday.  I’m here to help you put your best face forward!

Steven Davison  M.D.

“DAVinci…where we combine the supreme elements of art and surgical science.

KISS YOUR LIP LINES GOOD BYE…Look years younger instantly!

My last blog dealt with the aging chin and neck also referred to as the lower one third of the face.  I would be remiss if I didn’t cover the topic of aging lips.  Lips age right along with the rest of the face.  This is seen as collagen and elastin levels decline causing the skin’s scaffolding (support system) to breakdown while forcing the formation of lines and wrinkles.  These unwelcome, often unsightly, lines appear around the mouth…the most noticeable being above the upper lip (Smoker’s Lines).  At the same time your once luscious lips start thinning and facial balance/youthfulness flees.

CAUSES of LIP LINES and THIN LIPS

Loss of collagen and elastin, years of “pursing” the lips, smoking, excess sun exposure, poor nutrition, dehydration, illness etc. are frequent causes of lip aging and facial lines.  Some people are just born with thin lips…and come to me to give them the lips they’ve never had but always wanted!

FILLERS to ELIMINATE LINES…CREATE PLUMP BEAUTIFUL LIPS

Nothing compares with the instant transformation and long lasting results of today’s liquid fillers (injectable dermal fillers) to erase wrinkles and restore volume, plumpness and contour to facial areas.  The lips get immediate, remarkable results that my patients absolutely love.  I recommend and use hyaluronic acid fillers  that are safe and effective.

EXPERT INJECTOR vs NON EXPERT

Coupled with my injector training, comprehensive understanding of the complex facial anatomy and the right formula for each patient…my artistic and surgical skills are combined to achieve wonderful outcomes.

Did you know:

Over 1.2 million doctors are legally allowed to perform injectable treatments in the United States...BUT

Less than 7% qualify as an expert injector.

All Expert Injectors are board certified plastic surgeons, facial plastic surgeons, dermatologists and oculoplastic surgeons who have demonstrated extreme due diligence in regards to patient safety, reliable results and consumer education.  Expert injectors are properly qualified to perform injectable procedures and will only administer products that are FDA approved for aesthetic use.

ABOUT EXPERT INJECTORS:

• ALL HAVE BEEN PROPERLY TRAINED BY THE PRODUCT MANUFACTURER…
• ALL EDUCATE THEIR PATIENTS ON THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE…EMPOWERING THEM TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS
• ALL EMPLOY CORRECT PROTOCOLS TO MINIMIZE POTENTIAL ADVERSE REACTIONS
• ALL KEEP ACCURATE RECORDS OF INJECTABLES PERFORMED FOR EACH PATIENT

INJECTABLE FILLERS TODAY…CHOICES

I offer my patients the safest, most advanced…but tried and proven fillers available including:  Juvederm®, Radiesse®, Restylane®, Sculptra® and Fat Grafting (gets amazing long lasting results). All treatments are customized to achieve your goals and desires and are done in office…often during a lunch hour!

Ready for a quick makeover?  Nose, Chin, Lips…we can do it in time for summer vacations etc.  Let’s talk now.

I’m here to hep you put and keep your best face forward.

Dr. Steven Davison

AT DAVinci…I combine the supreme elements of art and surgical science.

LONG LASTING FACIAL MAKEOVERS

Hollywood has taught us much about keeping our youthful appearance until we die.  Long lasting facial makeovers create or restore facial symmetry, which is crucial to looking young.  Symmetry involves achieving balance between the facial thirds…upper face (eye/brow/forehead), middle third of the face…nose and cheeks and the lower third includes the lips, chin and neck.

THE CHIN & FACIAL BALANCE…CRUCIAL TO YOUTHFUL APPEARANCE

Today, let’s get back to the chin. A sharper chin restore balance, proportion and definition with the middle face,particularly the nose.  Chin implants are often used in a more aged chin to restore lost volume and shape. A sharper, well defined chin is in direct contrast to a chin that has “receded into the neck.”

CHIN AUGMENTATION USING IMPLANTS

Chin Augmentation is a minimally invasive, quick, little or no downtime procedure done in my office.  I make a small incision either in the mouth or right under the chin and work through it to create a pocket for an implant.  Once in place, the implant makes you look years younger forever.

BENEFITS OF CHIN AUGMENTATION:

• Chin Augmentation with implants is safe & effective
• Implants add definition to the jawline…
• Overall facial balance is improved…
• A more youthful appearance is created (for some) or restored
• Liposuction may be part of the process to sculpt the chin & neck
• Neck proportions are readjusted by manipulating/tightening muscles
• I customize implants to meet your specific needs/ & goals

• Patients often decide to combine Chin Augmentation with other facial procedures to optimize their results
• The procedure takes about 30 minutes or a little longer
• There is often no downtime
• I use state of the art instruments & the most advanced but safest techniques

FUN IN THE SUN REMINDERS!

We’re coming into summer so PLEASE remember the skin protection tips I offered in my last two blogs!  Now

 STILL TIME TO REJUVENATE….

If you are looking into the mirror and noticing any of the things I’ve discussed…let’s talk about your FACIAL REJUVENATION now…there’s still time to do some things before summer vacations.

I’m here to help you keep your best face forward!

Dr. Steven Davison

At DAVinci…I combine the supreme elements of art & surgical science.