BOTOX® Cosmetic has been making headlines since it’s FDA approval for cosmetic rejuvenation in 2000. Performed by a certified plastic surgeon in as little as 30 minutes, BOTOX is the popular choice for the temporary reduction of facial lines and wrinkles. Here is some basic information you need to know before moving forward with this treatment.

BOTOX Basics

The patented BOTOX serum is a safe dose of a protein found in the neurotoxin Botulism A. The paralytic effect of this protein helps muscles to relax, counteracting the wrinkling that happens as a result of certain facial expressions. As an anti-aging solution that involves no incision and no long-term commitment, BOTOX delivers noticeable results. Maintaining your more youthful skin appearance involves a few short visits per year.

BOTOX can be used to treat:

• Laugh lines
• Frown lines
• Brow furrows
• Crow’s feet
• Neck bands
• Squint lines

The Procedure

A BOTOX session is quick and convenient, and patients love the fact that they can get right back to their day with no downtime. There may be a bit of slight discomfort during the injection, but the effects are extremely mild when compared with other surgical and nonsurgical facial rejuvenation options. Over the next several days, you will see a smoothing of the treatment area. Patients can expect the results to last around 3 months.

BOTOX Risks

As with any cosmetic treatment, there are risks involved. Because BOTOX is a nonsurgical option, the risks of negative side effects are considerably less than other procedures. BOTOX patients may experience:

• Minimal bruising
• Temporary headaches
• Injection site tenderness
• Slight and temporary drooping of the eyelids or eyebrows

Your facial rejuvenation team will fill you in on all of the risks and benefits during an in-depth consultation. BOTOX is also a wonderful option for patients who want to enhance their facial plastic surgery procedures like face lift or eyelid lift.

Would you like to hear more about the multi-faceted benefits of BOTOX? Please contact Dr. Aycock today to set up your consultation and get information on patient financing.

—Lindsey Kesel, Cosmetic Surgery Consultant

Over time, sun exposure, environment, and aging can combine to cause physical changes in the facial area. While some men and women age gracefully and enjoy a more dignified or wise appearance, most of us are not too happy with the differences that occur. Radiesse^® dermal filler, also nicknamed the “nonsurgical face lift,” is a wonderful option for people who wish to restore a youthful glow.

What Is Radiesse?

Radiesse is a patented gel made up of biocompatible calcium microspheres and water. Radiesse, when performed by a skilled plastic surgeon, can be highly effective at minimizing the signs of aging, without the surgical invasiveness or healing time required with the facelift procedure.

How Does Radiesse Fight Signs of Aging?

Radiesse wrinkle filler works by restoring volume that has been depleted during the aging process. The special formula actually stimulates collagen growth (called collagenesis). As the new collagen is created, tissue becomes more supple, youthful, and wrinkle-resistant. The results can last significantly longer than other wrinkle fillers — up to one year or longer!

What Are the Benefits of Radiesse?

· Radiesse can be used to enhance contours in all areas of the face.

· Radiesse is minimally invasive with no surgery needed.

· There is no risk of scarring with Radiesse.

· The body’s own collagen is produced after Radiesse treatment.

· Wrinkle correction begins immediately.

· Treatment is painless and quick, and there is no downtime.

· After injection, Radiesse continues to build volume over time.

· Radiesse is FDA-approved and has undergone numerous clinical trials.

Another Safe Anti-Aging Solution

Hydrelle™ is a new dermal filler that uses hyaluronic acid to fill in lines and wrinkles. Because the formula also includes lidocaine anesthetic, these injections involve less discomfort. Patients also enjoy a smaller dosage of filler than typical with other brands. Dr. Robert Aycock is currently the only provider in the North Bay to offer Hydrelle.

If you are searching for a nonsurgical solution to combat the signs of aging, learn more about Radiesse and Hydrelle. You may even qualify for patient financing. Please contact Dr. Aycock today for a personal anti-aging consultation.

—Lindsey Kesel, Cosmetic Surgery Consultant

As the years roll on, you may notice signs of aging making their mark on your face, such as wrinkles, grooves, and sunspots. But growing older doesn’t have to mean compromising your appearance. Cosmetic surgery can help people over age 40 gracefully enhance their look with safe facial procedures tailored to individual needs.

With state-of-the-art techniques, experienced cosmetic surgeons are able to take years off your appearance. Surgical facial procedures like facelift and eyelid lift can dramatically reduce the signs of aging that tend to make men and women self-conscious or less confident.

If you’re looking to minimize premature aging or evidence of your true age, visit a San Francisco plastic surgery practice about procedures like these:

Facelift — A facelift is the most popular anti-aging facial surgery for 40+ patients. During this procedure, the facial skin is tightened around the scalp, creating a smoother, younger-looking appearance all around.

Mid Facelift — The mid facelift offers results in the central facial area with less invasiveness and downtime than the full facelift.

Neck Lift — The neck lift is perfect as a complement to the facelift or a stand-alone procedure to improve the look of sagging neck skin.

Brow Lift — A brow lift is a great choice for men and women who want to minimize forehead wrinkling, frown lines between the eyes, and eyelid sagging.

Eyelid Lift — Choose an eyelid lift to correct drooping eyelids and/or bags under the eyes.

Cheek Implants — Because aging involves a loss of volume and fullness in the cheeks, a cheek implant can be used to restore that youthful contour.

Lip Augmentation — Lip augmentation (or lip implants) combats the loss of volume in the lip area common in people over 40.

Discover the amazing transformations that are possible with cosmetic facial anti-aging procedures. From subtle to dramatic, you can choose the options that are just right for you. Take a look at a few  before and after images to explore the possibilities, and then contact Dr. Robert Aycock today for a personal facial cosmetic surgery consultation.

—Lindsey Kesel, Cosmetic Surgery Consultant

The sun can be a sneaky enemy to your skin, causing damage little by little. With every exposure, your delicate facial skin can suffer gradually until signs of premature aging become hard to ignore. Thankfully, there are state-of-the-art cosmetic procedures designed to minimize the various signs of sun damage like fine lines, creases, pigmentation problems, and more. When you meet with an experienced anti-aging cosmetic surgeon, you can discuss the issues that bother you most and develop a personalized sun damage treatment plan together.

Here are a few of the options available to fight the signs of sun damage:

• Facelift — The facelift procedure is a powerful anti-aging tool, successfully erasing deep creases and wrinkles through a time-tested skin-tightening technique.

• Necklift — Choose a necklift if you have noticeable bands around the neck or loose skin that could benefit from tightening.

• Brow Lift — A brow lift is designed to rejuvenate the forehead area, minimizing wrinkles, furrows, and creases left by years of expression and worry.

• Eyelid Lift — The eyelid lift targets the area most likely to reveal aging first. By removing excess skin, eyes will look refreshed and more youthful.

• Laser Resurfacing — Laser skin resurfacing uses laser technology to remove skin’s worn top layer and reveal fresh, new skin underneath.

• Nonsurgical Facial Fillers — With procedures like BOTOX^® Cosmetic, Juvederm™ Radiesse^®, and Restylane^®, you can “fill in” wrinkles and folds, add volume to certain facial features, and rejuvenate your facial appearance.

• Chemical Peels — With chemical peels and other skin care services, you can improve skin tone, diminish acne, and get a healthy glow.

If you are interested in these incredible treatments to rejuvenate the skin, but you are concerned about cost, patient financing is available to help you get the look you desire.

Want to learn more about the many skin-saving procedures available to help combat sun damage? Set up a consultation with San Francisco plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Aycock and find a solution that’s just right for your skin type. 

—Lindsey Kesel, Cosmetic Surgery Consultant

As the years pass, the telltale signs of your true age can creep in and attempt to steal youthful traits like smooth skin and a flawless complexion. Forehead wrinkling, frown lines between the eyes, brow furrows, or sagging eyebrow skin can be a shear indication that your 30s, 40s, or 50s have arrived. Whether they are caused by genetics, aging, stress, or sun exposure, these signs of aging can be corrected with help from an experienced plastic surgeon. If you want to minimize the annoying problems areas for a more youthful appearance, brow lift surgery might be the right cosmetic surgery choice for you.

How It’s Done

Performed as an outpatient procedure, the brow lift procedure can be completed in just a few hours.  Your plastic surgeon will make small incisions hidden above the hairline, and then skillfully remove excess muscles responsible for furrowing between the brows and forehead using an endoscope.  An endoscope allows the surgeon to see what he is doing through very small incisions.

The eyebrows are slightly raised in the process and the forehead area is smoothed. The incision site is closed with sutures, and your surgeon will go over the healing process with you to make sure you know what to expect. Generally, activity is limited for about a week after surgery, and strenuous activity is restricted for two weeks. The result is a refreshed facial appearance and a more youthful forehead and upper eye area.

You May Be a Good Brow Lift Candidate If…

• You have a tired or angry look when your face is relaxed
• Your eyelids have begun to droop
• You notice lines and furrows in the forehead area
• Your forehead shows signs of aging

For Dramatic Results

To complement the results of your brow lift, consider additional procedures such as a facelift, eyelid lift, or laser skin resurfacing. There are also non-surgical medspa procedures such as Botox^® Cosmetic, Juvederm™, or Restylane^® available to help you achieve just the right look.

For more information on the effective and affordable brow lift procedure, and how to finance your surgery, contact Dr. Robert Aycock in the San Francisco Bay Area region.

—Lindsey Kesel, Cosmetic Surgery Consultant

As time goes by, your skin continues to battle the elements in the fight to stay healthy. The delicate skin of the face, neck, chest and hands may be prone to sun damage, blemishes, wrinkling, sagging or uneven pigmentation. The skin of the body, especially the stomach, thighs and hips, often loses elasticity and shape due to weight fluctuations, pregnancy and the aging process.

Thankfully, there are a variety of nonsurgical procedures available to help you maintain attractive, healthy, radiant skin. Advancements in plastic surgery have allowed doctors to offer a wide variety of noninvasive skin refinement and rejuvenation options. Here is a brief description of the choices available today from California plastic surgeons:

Chemical peels – A safe chemical solution is used to remove damaged skin cells, encouraging the growth of new skin cells. Types of peels include the MicroPeel, Obagi Peel, Pumpkin Enzyme Peel, and Liquid Nitrogen Peel.

Intraceutical Oxygen Treatment – This treatment infuses moisture, vitamins and antioxidants into dehydrated, tired or angry skin with calming topical hyperbaric oxygen.

Glycolic Facial – Uses intense exfoliation to produce a youthful glow and refreshed facial appearance.

Deep Pore Acne Facial – This facial is used to control over-active oil glands for a more even tone and clearer skin.

Vitamin C Facial – This antioxidant facial promotes skin repair and provides protection from the elements.

Microdermabrasion – This short procedure is highly effective for the treatment of sun damaged skin and age spots.

There are also a variety of noninvasive medspa services to help you fight the signs of aging:

• Botox®
• Juvederm™
• Radiesse®
• Restylane®
• Sculptra™
• Perlane®
• Fat Transfer

Laser treatments such as:

• Fractional Skin Resurfacing
• Microlaser Peel
• Broad Band Light for red, brown spots, fine wrinkles, and skin tightening
• Laser Hair Removal
• VelaShape for body contouring
• Laser Skin Resurfacing

Learn more about how easy it is to get great results with nonsurgical body recontouring and facial rejuvenation. Please contact San Francisco plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Aycock for your confidential consultation and view the practice’s before and after photos to see how incredible the results can be.

 —Lindsey Kesel, Cosmetic Surgery Consultant

If you are searching for a noninvasive, nonsurgical way to improve the look and feel of your facial skin, a chemical peel may be the perfect solution. It’s an easy, painless treatment with no downtime that uses the gentle removal of skin’s top weathered layer to unveil the younger, more supple layer of skin below. Here’s a brief description of how it works:

• During your chemical peel consultation, you and your doctor will choose the peel formula and depth that is right for you (light, medium or deep). Peel solutions may consist of alpha hydroxy, glycolic, lactic, tricholoroacetic, or fruit acids.

• Your plastic surgeon will apply a safe chemical solution to areas of the face, chest and hands that are affected by wrinkling, uneven pigmentation, sun damage, blemishes and other imperfections. No anesthesia is necessary.

• You’ll feel a mild tingling sensation, and then the chemical solution is gently removed.

• Skin feels softer, imperfections are diminished, and skin looks and feels rejuvenated and radiant.

• You can return to your activities immediately, but avoiding sun exposure for a period of time is recommended.

• Peels may be repeated for more dramatic results.

If you are ready to do something about the look of aging skin, the ultimate exfoliation treatment is effective and affordable. Choose from innovative solutions like the Pumpkin Enzyme Peel for discoloration and age spots, the Ultra Peel, recommended for dehydrated skin, the Obagi Peel for intense sun damage, acne and age spots, or the Liquid Nitrogen Peel, popular for skin tags, age spots and seborrheic keratosis.

Learn more about how chemical peels can help you look and feel years younger without surgery. Please contact San Francisco plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Aycock for your free facial rejuvenation consultation.

—Lindsey Kesel, Cosmetic Surgery Consultant

January is the perfect time to do something just for you. Refreshing your look with plastic surgery is one way to ring in the new year. A plastic surgery team provides so many possibilities for facial rejuvenation. With a variety of affordable facial procedures, you can defy time and minimize those persistent signs of aging.

Whether you’ve got bags under the eyes, drooping eyelids, creases around the mouth, forehead wrinkles or sagging skin around the jawline, both nonsurgical and surgical treatments can help you take years off your appearance.

• Surgical facial options, such as facelift, necklift, eyelid lift and cheek implants, consistently produce very dramatic results and usually require more healing time than nonsurgical procedures.

• Nonsurgical facial options are generally less expensive than the surgical facial procedures and require less healing time.

A skilled plastic surgeon who offers competitive pricing and convenient payment plans can help you get the facial enhancements you want without stressing your budget. Here is a quick glance at some of the nonsurgical facial makeover options available to help you look your best and feel more vibrant.

Botox^® Cosmetic — Stop those brow and forehead creases from dampening your look with this safe, injectable substance that works by relaxing the muscles that cause facial wrinkling.

Injectable Fillers — Injectable fillers such as Juvederm,™ Radiesse,^® Sculptra,™ Restylane,^® and Perlane^® can help you fill in sunken facial areas, wrinkles and creases and add volume to features affected by loss of collagen or elasticity.

Fat Transfer — Fat cells are harvested from your body to fill in deep facial creases and add fullness to areas such as the cheeks and mid-face.

Laser Resurfacing — A variety of skin imperfections can be corrected with laser resurfacing, a treatment that uses the power of light to remove the top layer of damaged skin, revealing a tighter, more toned complexion. Fractional laser resurfacing by Sciton offers a quick recovery (2-5 days) with resulting rejuvenated skin.

Sciton MicroLaser™ Peel — Improve the overall look of your facial skin with this epidermal laser peel that removes skin’s outer layer, effectively targeting wrinkles, scars and pigmentation problems.

Today is a great day to plan a special treat for yourself! If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of facial rejuvenation, experienced plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Aycock can meet with you to discuss your new look and the affordable financing available at his San Francisco Bay area practice.

—Lindsey Kesel, Cosmetic Surgery Consultant