Look Good, Feel Good
March 24th, 2014
While on a walk in Wayzata late last summer, we spotted this saying on a store display window. Perhaps 60% might be an exaggerated figure, but many of my patients express a similar sentiment. Lives are busy and sometimes attention to ourselves takes the backseat to other obligations, not limited to being a mom. I often see an uptick of consultations during the spring. Common complaints include localized weight gain and facial aging. With the advances in regenerative medicine today, these 2 concerns can be addressed together now with fat grafting. The fat grafting injection procedure uses autologous (your own) liposuctioned fat, that is prepared to artfully sculpt a fresher looking face. Traditionally lipo fat was medically discarded. Regenerative medicine includes many exciting breakthroughs in cosmetic medicine, including natural facial rejuvenation, implant-free breast enlargement, breast reconstruction, treating breast asymmetry and natural lip plumping. Studies have shown that the familiar saying, “Look Good, Feel Good” has some validity. Are you ready for a little beauty boost?
Sport Bottles Linked to Lip Wrinkles
September 5th, 2013
For years, the lip wrinkles around the lips were referred to as “smokers lines,†and smoking was indeed a major cause of premature lip wrinkles. Over exposure to the sun is also a well-known factor contributing to facial aging. But today another surprising potential cause of facial lip lines was identified: sport water bottles. In a recent article published by The Inquisitr, it was reported that habitual drinking from water bottles contribute to premature wrinkles. Anytime you have repetitive motions, such as pursing your lips to smoke, wrinkles may become more pronounced. Drinking out of the popular sport-top closure water bottles causes the drinker to purse their lips repeatedly. While staying hydrated during physical activity and exercise is really important, the repetitive motion has the potential for creating lip wrinkles as perhaps an unwelcome side effect.
According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), more than a million patients turned to artificial filler injectables to erase facial wrinkles. The use of fillers is ranked second only to Botox ® for all non-surgical cosmetic procedures performed in 2012. Fillers represent a 20% uptick in patients having synthetic injectables.
Let’s talk about possible solutions to minimize lip wrinkles. Perhaps the easiest way to avoid premature lip wrinkles from water bottles is to choose an alternative water spout or bottle design that doesn’t require pursing your lips to get a drink. Secondly, artificial fillers offer a temporary fix to minimize wrinkles. However, I am recommending that my patients consider fat grafting injections. In the past several years, amazing results have made headlines in the regenerative medicine application for cosmetic plastic surgery. During a recent scientific congress that I attended in Berlin, The International Society of Plastic Regenerative Surgery presented an overwhelming demonstration of the effectiveness of adipose stromal cells (fat) in the fat grafting procedures.
Natural fat graft transfer is changing the practice of cosmetic medicine. Simply stated, your own fat is liposuctioned from one area and then skillfully injected and sculpted into another area. Autologous fat grafting or lipo-fat grafting offers a natural and permanent solution for a host of problems, including lip wrinkles. Patient benefits for this new technique include having the procedure clinic-based, using your own natural fat cells and having a relatively quick recovery period. It is an exciting new option for patients to consider. I find that my patients appreciate having a natural alternative and especially enjoy the option of having a little liposuction help to contribute to looking younger.