Tammy,
Your question regarding light chemical peels after a facelift is complicated. A facelift is really intended to lift sagging fat pads and skin. It can have some improvement for facial lines that are deep, but it really doesn’t treat the skin itself. Chemical peels on the other hand do treat the skin. For example a chemical peel can help to reduce fine lines and brown spots, while that is not the role of a facelift. So to think that a chemical peel will maintain your facelift results is really misleading. What a chemical peel can do for you is to improve the tone, texture, color and fine lines in your skin. Whether it is a series of light chemical peels or a surgical peel, either can help the skin appearance significantly. Light chemical peels are done as frequently as every 3-4 weeks. The surgeon’s peel is usually only done once every several years as long as you maintain your skin with good skin care, sun protection, light peels and perhaps Botox.
Please feel free to call us if you would like to discuss this further. We would love to talk to you.
Ed Buckingham
Marsha,
Dysport is very similar to Botox. Dysport is another sub-type of botulinum-A toxin. It can be used anywhere that Botox can be used. The dosages are a little different, but that is for me to worry about. The cost is essentially the same as Botox. The onset of Dysport may be a little quicker and the longevity is about the same. The procedure to inject Dysport is exactly the same as well as the recover.
Please let us know if we can be of any other assistance.
Ed Buckingham
Marilyn,
Thanks for your question regarding down-time related to doing multiple procedures. You mentioned facelift, fat transfer and blepharoplasty. We talk about down-time in two categories. Social downtime- when will you look OK to return to routine social functions, not necessarily be in a wedding however. Total downtime- when will you look completely healed and as good as it gets. (not including things like the scar maturing to a complete white line, ie. it may be a little red after this time period) The down-time from doing multiple procedures is dictated by the procedure performed with the longest downtime. In your case that would be the fat transfer. A facelift or blepharoplasty each has about a week of social down-time and about 6 weeks to 3 months of total down-time, again this is not really downtime, but is a good judge of when you could say take photos for something important. The fat transfer has 2 weeks of social down-time for small and medium quantity transfers (10-30 cc) and as long as 3 weeks for larger transfers. The total down-time is again 6-12 weeks.
I hope this has been helpful. We would be happy to talk about this further with you at your convenience.
Ed Buckingham
Meg,
Thanks for your question regarding what age is appropriate for rhinoplasty. The age criteria is somewhat variable. We based our decision on whether the patient has gone through and completed their growth spurt as well as whether they are psychologically mature enough to undergo the operation. Patient acceptance of recovery time as well as parental support are all important aspects of this decision. In general female patients are able to undergo the procedure beginning as early as 14 but more commonly at age 15 or 16. Typically, male patients need to be closer to 16 as they go through their growth phase at a later age.
Ed Buckingham
Jason,
Thanks for your question regarding unilateral otoplasty. We certainly can choose to setback one ear only. Typically we used the ear that the patient is happy with as a template and match the ear which protrudes to that side. Often however during consultation, once the patient understands aesthetics, they choose to setback the less prominent ear as well. It is more common that we see people who have had otoplasty performed elsewhere and have one ear which is recurrent or asymmetric. In these instances, only one side is addressed. During your consultation we can discuss the aesthetics of both of your ears and determine whether you would like to only address the more prominent side or whether you would benefit more by having both sides addressed. There are many examples of otoplasty on our website as well as additional information. I encourage you to spend some time looking around and we will look forward to seeing you.
Ed Buckingham
