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Are the Botox browlift and liquid facelift effective procedures?

Posted by Dr. Edwin Williams in Botox, Facial Rejuvenation, Injectable Fillers on October 23rd

Question:

I keep hearing about new procedures that use injectables in place of surgery. Things like Botox browlift and liquid facelift. How effective are these procedures?

Answer:

Using non-surgical injectables to treat the aging face are quite effective, particularly in the mid-face fillers can be used with very minimal downtime with excellent results and comparable to surgery in some cases. The Botox browlift does give a small lift to the brows but this would not be comparable to having a surgical browlift. Liquid facelift is very effective and utilizes multiple fillers including Botox, Restylane, Juvederm, etc. to treat the aging face.

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Are Botox injections primarily used for fixing problems in the face?

Posted by Dr. Edwin Williams in Botox, Facial Rejuvenation on October 23rd

Question:

Are Botox injections primarily used for fixing problems in the face?

Answer:

We primarily use Botox cosmetically in the face, primarily in the upper face for active lines and wrinkles – but it can also be used judiciously in the lower face as well.

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What substance is Botox composed of?

Posted by Dr. Edwin Williams in Botox, Facial Rejuvenation on October 23rd

Question:

What substance is Botox composed of?

Answer:

Botox cosmetic is Onabotulinum Toxin A. It is a sterile vacuum-dried purified Botulinum toxin Type A produced from fermentation of hall strain clostridium Botulinum Type A.

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Is a total face rejuvenation safe?

Posted by Dr. Edwin Williams in Facial Rejuvenation on April 26th

Question: Is a total face rejuvenation safe? It seems dangerous to have so many procedures performed on the same day.

Answer: Total facial rejuvenation is safe depending on the location. Many patients choose to have one option, i.e., eyelid surgery, facelift. However, there are many patients who opt to have everything done at once including the brow and mid-facelift. These patients are typically those that are more stoic and not interested in having downtime with multiple procedures over the next several years and wish to have everything done at once. Regardless, it probably makes up 10-15% of our facial rejuvenation population.

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is there anything else that could be done at the same time?

Posted by Dr. Edwin Williams in Facial Rejuvenation on April 26th

Question: Would it be safe to have a facelift and eyelid surgery on the same day? If so, is there anything else that could be done at the same time?

Answer: Not only is it safe but approximately 70-80% of our patients have multiple procedures performed at the same time. Having a facelift and eyelid surgery performed at the same time is very common but it really depends on the individual patient and where the greatest improvement can be achieved. Over the years we have often had patients who have had rhinoplasty performed at the same time, but again it depends on the patient’s goals and expectations.

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I would like to get injectable fillers in my face

Posted by Dr. Edwin Williams in Facial Rejuvenation on March 12th

Question:

I would like to get injectable fillers in my face. I would like to plump up both my lips and my nasolabial folds which have gotten quite pronounced. I would like hyaluronic acid because the reports that I read indicate it is longer lasting than collagen. Is hyaluronic acid appropriate for both areas?

Answer:

The short answer is yes. We typically use different HA (hyaluronic) agents depending on the area of the face. For example, the tear trough and lower eye area is treated best with Restylane. Juvederm, which is also another HA, seems to work better in the lips and the longer-lasting form of Juvederm (Juvederm Ultra-Plus) seems to do a little better in the folds. When someone has very deep nasolabial folds, we tend to develop a base with Radiesse and ‘pillow-top’ the deep folds with either Juvederm or Juvederm Ultra-Plus. In our practice we have been using collagen now for over 15 years.

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Can you explain what Sculptra is?

Posted by Dr. Edwin Williams in Facial Rejuvenation on March 8th

Question:

Can you explain what Sculptra is, what it’s used to treat, and how long the results last?

Answer:

Sculptra unlike all of the other injectable fillers used for the face is not a soft tissue filler. I typically refer to Sculptra as a volumizer that works in a similar way to fat transfer. As we age going from the 30s-40s we start to deflate and lose volume in certain areas of the face, most particularly the upper cheeks, the cheek hollowing area around the eyes and often around the mouth and perioral area. When Sculptra is injected it is injected with a dilute saline solution. The composition of Sculptra is essentially an FDA-approved form of very finely ground up suture material in a powder consistency. What this actually does in the body is it creates a controlled inflammatory response so that the Sculptra itself is actually gone after several weeks and it develops re-volumizing by causing the body to lie down and produce its own collagen. We sometimes refer to this as collagen replacement therapy. Based on this, the results from Sculptra are typically not seen for two-three months and continues to develop over many months. According to the FDA label, Sculptra lasts at least two years based on the clinical studies. However, in our experience the results are much more lasting than that and we have seen patients with three-year results. It is possible that it will last longer than that but the data is not in at this point.

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What is the best filler for treating marionette lines?

Posted by Dr. Edwin Williams in Facial Rejuvenation on March 8th

Question:

What is the best filler for treating marionette lines?

Answer:

In our experience the most effective filler for treating the marionette line is either Juvederm Ultra Plus or Radiesse depending on the depth and configuration of the marionette lines. For the patient who has shallower marionette lines we recommend Juvederm, however, patients with a very deep marionette lines are recommend Radiesse as a base and often Juvederm in a pillow-top technique. It is important to understand that there are other fillers that are effective for this area; however, based on our extensive experience, these two fillers typically accomplish our goals most cost-effectively for the average patient.

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I have read that it will also remove sun spots, which is wonderful

Posted by Dr. Edwin Williams in Facial Rejuvenation on March 6th

Question:

I would like microdermabrasion to treat my facial acne scars and wrinkles on my cheeks. I have read that it will also remove sun spots, which is wonderful. What is the recovery time for microdermabrasion? Are there any complications associated with this procedure?

Answer:

Microdermabrasion is wonderful for improving the outermost layer of skin which consists of dead skin. However, we stopped performing microdermabrasion several years ago as I feel the results are essentially temporary and more significant long-term results can be achieved with lighter chemical peels. Don’t get me wrong – microdermabrasion does make your skin look and feel great for two or three days but unfortunately this does only treat the outer layer of skin called the stratum corneum and in several days to a week most results are essentially gone.

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What specifically can a mini facelift improve?

Posted by Dr. Edwin Williams in Facial Rejuvenation on February 4th

Question:

What specifically can a mini facelift improve?

Answer:

There are typically several terms used for a mini-facelift, however, the one that we use is what we refer to as a weekend lift. It is referred to as a weekend lift because it really has a five-seven day recovery period but most patients feel quite good in two-three days and many patients are back to work in that same timeframe. Specifically, the area that a mini-facelift improves is the jawline and early jowling. We tell patients that they may see some improvement in the neck but the area that is specifically addressed is the jawline. Small incisions are placed around the ears which allow us to perform this lift under local anesthesia.

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