Dr. Buckingham’s Q&A

January 10, 2010

How will a chin implant look and feel after surgery?

Filed under: Chin/Cheek Augmentation — admin @ 2:20 pm

Question:
How will a chin implant look and feel after surgery? I’m concerned that it will seem very unnatural. Is this the case?

Answer:
Usually, a patient cannot perceive by feel that they have an implant at all. The typical situation is that you see the improvement in the chin contour, but the implant fits so well along the mandibular contours that it is not able to be felt. If the proper size implant is placed the results should look very natural. I encourage you to spend some time in our before and after gallery to see some natural results.

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January 9, 2010

Is 24 too young to get a forehead lift?

Filed under: Endoscopic Forehead Lift — admin @ 5:01 pm

Question:
Is 24 too young to get a forehead lift? I have a very droopy brow area which I think is hereditary because my Mom and sisters do too. Is there anything else that would fix this?

Answer:
24 is pretty young. You would have to have a significantly low brow to convince me that a brow lift is right for you at that age. It would be a unique situation that would warrant surgical intervention. If however you truly do have a brow position that is significantly low then a brow lift would be the way, and likely the only way to improve the situation. A very thoughtful consultation would be indicated to see if that procedure would be right for you.

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January 8, 2010

I’d like to get a lower eyelid lift but would definitely prefer something less invasive over surgery

Filed under: Blepharoplasty — admin @ 3:38 pm

Question:
I’d like to get a lower eyelid lift but would definitely prefer something less invasive over surgery. Is it true that Restylane can be used for a non-surgical lower eyelid lift? How does this work and how long do results last?

Answer:
Restylane can be used to improve the appearance of the lower eyelid in the right patient. Nearly everyone has some degree of a tear trough or orbital groove at the junction of the lower eyelid and cheek and will require filling of this groove to optimize their result. This can be done non-surgically with Restylane or surgically with a blepharoplasty or fat transfer. In some patients they also have a significant bag in the lower eyelid that would benefit surgical reduction. Ideal patients for Restylane are those that have an isolated orbital groove, patients with orbital fat bulging forward also can achieve some benefit from Restylane, but the result will not be as nice. Restylane will last around one year when injected into the lower eyelid.

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January 7, 2010

About five or six weeks ago I had a facelift

Filed under: Facelift Surgery — admin @ 12:36 pm

Question:
About five or six weeks ago I had a facelift. The recovery has gone pretty well, the swelling seems to be fading, but my facial skin feels unbelievably tight and stretched, so much so that it’s very uncomfortable. Will this eventually clear up and when?

Answer:
It is normal for your skin to feel somewhat tight after a facelift. It is not usual, at least in our hands, for your skin to look tight. The tight feeling will gradually lessen and is usually resolved by about 3 months. If your skin looks drawn and stretched that may mean that you had tension placed on the skin rather than on the underlying tissues. This may still be alright as long as your incisions do not widen, but it may take longer for the sensation to resolve. In our technique the lift is done on the deeper layers of the face and no tension is placed on the skin. This results in longer lasting more natural results with improved scarring.

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January 6, 2010

My nose job was about five or six weeks ago

Filed under: Rhinoplasty — admin @ 10:21 am

Question:
My nose job was about five or six weeks ago. My swelling seems extreme in the morning but then it sort of fades by evening. I know swelling is normal, but is it normal for it to come and go like this? Someone told me this morning swelling can be permanent, is this true?

Answer:
It is normal for your swelling after rhinoplasty to come and go at 6 weeks and even longer. As you lay flat in the evenings the venous pressure builds up in your facial area causing fluid to come out of the vascular space and into the tissues. This is the same reason that your eyes are more puffy in the morning. As you keep your head above your heart during the day this process reverses and the fluid returns to the vascular space. This is a normal daily cycle. Because you had your nose operated on recently there is still some inflammation in the tissues that increases the leakiness of the vessels. As your surgery becomes more remote this process will abate. The swelling in your nose will continue to decrease until it is finally resolved. The reason that some people will say that swelling can be permanent is that in some cases the nose will continue to change for years after rhinoplasty. This is not really swelling, but is the skin contracting over the cartilage. If the surgery was performed well this will not be an issue. In some cases however, this can lead to changes that will be unfavorable.

Posted by Dr. Buckingham

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Dr. Edward Buckingham is a Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon who specializes in Rhinopalsty, Facelifts, Eyelid Surgery, BOTOX, and many other
Cosmetic Facial procedures. His office is located in Austin, Texas and services the surrounding areas including: Sunset Valley, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park,
Round Rock, and many of the other nearby Texas cities. © 2011 Austin Texas Facial Plastic Surgery
Dr. Buckingham is a Eyelid Surgery and Rhinoplasty expert in the Austin metropolitan area on RealSelf.