When you look at yourself in the mirror do you see dark circles, deep hollows, and tired looking eyes? If the hustle and bustle of the holidays is putting extra stress on you and it’s showing, you can turn to one of the most under estimated areas of the face – to restore some youthfulness to your tear troughs.

What are tear troughs?
The tear trough is the area under the eye that extends from the inner corner of the eye, arching down in a semicircle. The technical term is the nasojugal groove. Sunken tear troughs can cast a shadow under the eye that looks like dark circles and gives the face a worn out appearance. This sunkenness also ages the face by creating a visible separation from what should be the smooth transition – from the lower eyelid to the cheek.

Why do tear troughs happen?
The skin under the eyes is very thin and delicate. It shows signs of distress more easily than thicker skin. It is also more prone to the aging effects of gravity. The tissue laxity and volume loss under the eyes, as we age, leads to the tear trough becoming more prominent. Also, as fat gets displaced from behind the eye, or possibly increases and bulges under the eye, this can accentuate the aging of the eye area.

How can the under eye be rejuvenated?
Try …
– getting more rest
– cutting down on salty foods
– minimizing your exposure to environmental pollutants
– not rubbing your eyes so much

While these tips can prevent the tear troughs and under eye bags from getting worse, you can also reverse their appearance with hyaluronic acid fillers.

Rejuvenate Your Tear Troughs with HA Fillers
While there are surgical options to reversing tear troughs, more people prefer to try non invasive treatments first. This has led to the use of hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers, such as Restylane, Juvéderm or Belotero. When they are injected on top of the orbital bone, the HA attracts water to the area to restore volume. This gives the eyes a fresh, rested appearance by the next day after treatment. These results will last 6 months to a year, and you can go right back to your daily routine with no downtime or recovery.

Subtle Solutions for Significant Youthfulness
Today’s patients realize that facial rejuvenation can happen from restoring volume loss in subtle areas … such as the earlobes, temples, chin, melolabial folds and tear troughs. I definitely see a more rested, fresh, and youthful appearance for the whole face using HA fillers to rejuvenate the under eyes.

There’s still time to make your eyes look alive and bright again….before the Holidays!  Call to schedule your treatment today!

Steven Davison, M.D.

Board Certified Plastic/Reconstructive Surgeon

Using fillers to rejuvenate the lips, cheeks and creases around the mouth.is common.  These are very prominent and important areas for a youthful appearance, but fillers for more subtle places can make a big difference in your face, too. A little filler in some of the inconspicuous places, such as the ear earlobes, temples and chin can make a slight subtle change that can improve  your overall appearance.  Here are three of those areas:

Earlobes
Earlobes are definitely not the first body part that comes to mind when thinking of ways to restore  youthfulness, but the earlobes show signs of aging just like the face and neck. Gravity and many years of wearing heavier earrings are the main aggravators of earlobe aging. It is important not to forget these little pieces of cartilage when getting treatments for your face. Thin, droopy, and even wrinkly earlobes look out of place when the face is smooth, full, and firm.

Fortunately earlobe support can be added with the plumping achieved by injectable fillers such as Restylane, Juvederm, Perlane or Radiesse. This Fillers can also help a stretched out earring hole appear smaller. Botox can smooth out wrinkles and Sculptra corrects volume loss gradually but steadily. So, with immediate results and no recovery time, you can enjoy your earrings and this subtle youthful enhancement right away.

Temples
The area outside of each eye between the top of the cheekbone and the brow bone is the region called the temple. The hollowing of the temples due to volume loss can contribute to a tired, weary appearance. This is definitely one of those areas where a filler makes a subtle yet significant difference in highlighting the eyes and eliminating shadows for a rejuvenated face. Radiesse, Juvederm, Perlane and Restylane can all be options depending on the your face and desired results.

Chin
A well defined chin helps shape the face. It adds balance to the other facial features, and helps define the jawline and neck. A chin augmentation with injectable fillers is an excellent way to optimize the tightened, contour that the chin adds to the face. It can also correct an underprojected chin that you were born with or volume loss caused by normal aging.

We can restore a youthful appearance to the face and …while people notice an improvement… but can’t put their finger on what was done. If you’ve had other treatments and still feel like you dot have that look – that you need a little something more, come in for a consultation so we can decide if one of these subtle changes can make that difference for you… visit www.DAVinciplasticsurgery.com.

Steven Davison M.D.

Board Certified Plastic/Reconstructive Surgeon

With Christmas just around the corner and all the parties, events and galas we attend…we are all faced with the same challenges as during Thanksgiving.  We tend to overeat, under exercise and often get into trouble. Here are a few tips (some repeats) to help keep you on track to avoid weight gain, skin outbreaks, sluggishness and regrets about not being stronger!  Start applying these now and you won’t skip a beat!  See:https://www.davinciplastic.com.

1.  Understand your metabolism.  Each person is different and will burn calories at a different rate.

2.  Avoid repeated high calorie meals…for example enjoy Christmas dinner and avoid ongoing eating of the heavy foods.

3.  Eat more living foods (raw fruits & vegetables) like salads.

4.  Eat a filling low calorie meal before heading into the kitchen to cook for the crowd.

5.  Diet before the big day and after it….never diet on party or family reunion days.

6.  Eat smaller portions and still satisfy hunger by chewing your food until it is “liquid.”

7. Immediately freeze leftovers so you’re not tempted to keep eating these rich, calorie dense goodies too handy.

8.  Get back on track with a lighter, healthy diet the next day.

9.  Exercise to suppress hunger pangs.  Often, we’re not really hungry but may be thirsty instead. Drink plenty of pure water and walk 45 minutes each day on a treadmill.  This is scientifically proven to suppress false hunger and rev up your metabolism.

The average American adult gains 2+ pounds per year.  This starts early in life. Healthy lifestyle, healthy, living foods and pure water help the body maintain strength, vitality and normal weight.

WHAT’S NEW WITH INJECTABLE FILLERS?  At a recent Ultimate Skin Health Symposium in Beverly Hills,  Dr. Zein Obagi and Dr. Rebecca Fitzgerald enlightened in this area.  To keep it brief:  in the past 4 to 5 years as new products have been in use,  we’ve learned more about the specifics of their uses.  The face is 3 dimensional…but normal aging causes it to become 2 dimensional as volume is lost and sagging occurs. Women then typically use makeup to camouflage these aging changes….to hide hollows, lines, wrinkles and droopiness…as much as possible.  As surgeons, we’ve learned how makeup effectively works and began applying those same principles to the use of injectable fillers.  Simply put, inject the places on the face where you would normally use makeup to coverup. This way, the fillers take years off the face instantly while highlighting your own natural beauty.

Facial filler injections give long lasting, natural results.  It’s truly a quick fix you still have time to do… so you can put your best, most vibrant face forward and go into 2013 looking years younger…naturally.  Fat Grafting is very popular today…this two for one deal….removes body fat from an area of plenty (we can sculpt that area then) and grafts it into the facial areas you target.

Be Sure to choose an “expert injector.”  We have specialized training in the complex facial anatomy and use of today’s age defying products.

Liposculpting.…there’s still time to sculpt those areas that doggedly resist your every attempt to get rid of fat.  This can be combined with Fat Transfer.  You can look healthy, slim and trim...by liposculpting away those troublesome, resistant areas.

Implants can still be done….breast, cheeks, chin along with sculpting and lifting those areas.  And More.    If you want to treat yourself this year…let’s talk now and get to work!  December is the month for “gift giving” and it’s now that many men and women give themselves and others a gift of health and beauty.  We love to help you realize that dream!

Stay Safe and Healthy!

Steven Davison M.D.

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

Rejuvenate the Eyes to restore youthfulness

The eyes aging path eyes is quite complex, but simply, it starts with visible lines and wrinkles that progress over the years. The eyes are one of the first areas of the face to show aging due to thinned skin and unwelcome fatty deposits (undereye bags) along with dark circles and hollows.

Today’s Mini Eye Procedures are quick and precise….Rejuvenate the eyes and take 10 years off your face instantly!

Benefits of Today’s Refined Eye Surgeries:

• Results are more natural than ever before by retaining expression in the brows and upper and lower lids for men and women.
• Recovery is fairly easy.  Today’s Blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery) facial rejuvenation procedures….has minimized discomfort and significantly reduced recovery times.
•  Eyes heal well.  The skin on the eyes heals quickly and scars blend in with natural skin creases so they’re inconspicuous.

• What Patients Want me to Fix:  1) hooded, droopy, deflated lids, 2) puffiness, 3) hollowness, 4) Crow’s Feet and wrinkles.

Hooded Eyes  Aging causes internal structural changes in the skin, bone and soft tissue of the eye.  When the bone changes the brow and lid may droop…”hooding” occurs. Hooded eyelids usually interfere with visual fields to obstruct your vision while creating an aged, sad, closed eye look.

How we fix it:  Traditional Blepharoplasty removes the excess, hooded skin.  A BrowLIft is usually done in tandem to correct forehead wrinkles and restore the brow to it’s more youthful position.

More Patients (men and women) in their 40’s and 50’s choose today’s revolutionary injectable brow lifts…to avoid surgery for several more years.

Puffy Lower Eyes are caused by weakened skin while aging/stretched muscles and tendons allow displaced fat highlighted by dark circles and hollows.

Bulges Using Lower Blepharoplasty I remove excess fat/skin and tighten lax muscles/tendons.  Filling in hollows corrects lines and restores definition.

Today’s Revolutionary Way is quick, easy and effective for patients (40’s-50’s) without too much puffiness, and involves restoring volume with fillers such as Restylane or your own body fat.

Hollow Eyes (Tear Trough) actually appear sunken from loss of soft tissue volume in the orbit and loss of bone density while aging.  Genetics predispose certain people to hollow eyes…that develop as early as the teen years.  Grooves form at the bottom of the eyelid  and dark circles often appear.

Fat and Fillers, Restore Volume, provide lift and vanish Hollows  I can’t say enough about the benefits of fat injections/grafting…it’s natural, your body does not reject it and it’s long lasting.  I also offer today’s amazing injectables and help you choose the one that’s right for you.

Crow’s Feet, Lines and Wrinkles… many lines and wrinkles are corrected with Blepharoplasty (upper/lower) and the rest respond beautifully to volume restoration using fillers also called liquid lifts.  Botox is the champ for preventing future wrinkling…Injectables I use today offer immediate rejuvenating results, and optimize any surgery.  Read more at: http://www.DAVinciplastic.com

A recent study evolved out the Beauty field reports that 80% of those surveyed would want only a qualified, facial plastic surgeon to treat their aging face.  

Hope you’re having a great, sunburn free summer!  Remember the hat, glasses, sunscreen, water….and see my other blogs for being safe in the summer months.

Steven Davison M.D.

At DAVinci….I 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.