My practice focuses exclusively on cosmetic surgery of the head (face) and neck. I believe that the goal of any procedure should be to improve rather than change ones appearance. Whether the treatment is surgical, nonsurgical or a combination of both, the correct approach should be to refine and enhance facial features without distortion or alteration. This preserves the natural balance between those features that make you who you are, thus providing the best results.
I try to develop a good working relationship with each of my patients. I want to have a clear understanding of what their goals are so that I can give them the results they are looking for. Sometimes this means recommending something completely different than they expected. But ultimately, whether it ends up being a facelift or a filler I want my patients to be happy with their results and know that they had the right procedure and chose the right practice.
These days there are almost an endless number of ways to combat the aging process. Although genetics and time have the final say, the process of aging can be significantly slowed or even reversed temporarily. There are components to aging that can be controlled or modified, which can greatly impact how we look and feel in our later years.
The first component I like to refer to as lifestyle / maintenance. How you live day to day plays a huge role in how you age. Excessive alcohol use, chronic stress, smoking, poor diet, poor sleep, unprotected sun exposure can all contribute to premature aging. I am always reminded of this when I see a very elderly patient that looks nowhere near his or her age. You can bet that they eat well, don't smoke, use very little to no alcohol, and are physically and mentally active. They are usually not sun worshippers and their skin care regimen might be something as simple as an over the counter moisturizer that they have been using for years. I always emphasize the importance of this to my patients. Looking your best is not just about having a treatment or surgical procedure. It is also a lifestyle.
The next two components are nonsurgical and surgical treatments. Whereas lifestyle and maintenance are able to slow the aging process, nonsurgical and surgical treatments can also temporarily reverse age related changes and reset the clock. You can take years off of your appearance by softening forehead creases with neurotoxin, flattening folds around the mouth with filler, or surgically removing excess skin from your eyelids, or tightening facial and neck skin and underlying soft tissues.
As a facial plastic surgeon I see a wide range of patients that have concerns related to facial aging. It can be a 30 year old that is starting to develop laugh lines or forehead creases, or a 70 year old with sagging neck skin. My role is to determine what they want. If their goals are realistic I advise them what it will take to achieve the outcome they desire. I think that it is important to recommend the right procedure for the right problem. I do not feel that doing a lesser procedure to save cost or make the process less scary is in the patient's best interest, nor do I believe that this approach will satisfy their long term goals.
Finally, I am a big believer in natural looking results. I do not think that over done or overstretched is attractive. Most patients understand this. Many times they will tell me that they do not want the surgical changes to be so extreme that it creates an imbalance in their overall appearance. I believe that my patients are happy with their results because they look refreshed and rested, they look better but they don't look different.
