Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Articles

Until only recently, rhinoplasty was the only means to make a nose smaller, straighter, or smoother. The surgery’s effective and the results, permanent, but it requires anesthesia and considerable healing time because of the bruising and swelling.

With the rise of injectable fillers, a second option emerged a few years ago: the nonsurgical nose job. It’s an off-label use for fillers that’s capable of transforming your entire profile in under 15 minutes. Using the same hyaluronic acid gels used for lips and cheeks, a board-certified plastic surgeon can correct the nose’s contour and even make it appear smaller.

Sounds almost too good to be true, right? It’s not. But it’s still important to know exactly what you’re asking for. So, to help with that, here’s a primer that covers all the essential details about the procedure.

Who’s a good candidate?

It’s someone who has a pronounced bump on their nose. By filling the area around the bump, the plastic surgeon can create the illusion of a perfectly straight nose. Filler can also lift up a droopy tip and correct a slightly crooked nose.

A plastic surgeon can also make it appear smaller, even though they’re actually adding volume to the nose. And that’s because they’re creating symmetry. (The human face is naturally asymmetrical, or imbalanced, though it’s more noticeable in some.)

How long does it last?

It depends on the cosmetic filler that’s used. Often, plastic surgeons will start a patient off with a temporary filler, such as Voluma, which is natural-looking and lasts for up to a year-and-a-half. If they’re happy with the results, they’ll move on to a permanent filler, like Bellafill, once the temporary one dissolves.

The Voluma requires one 15-minute session, while the Bellafill, a collagen-based injectable that’s typically used to treat acne scars, takes three separate sessions, though the final result will last for years. Another important distinction: The temporary fillers, because they’re made from hyaluronic acid, can be dissolved if you don’t like the result. The Bellafill cannot.

Why is an experienced surgeon important?

All injections come with some amount of risk for swelling, bruising, and bleeding. But the nose is an especially delicate area of the face because its blood supply is quite weak. Put too much filler into the tip or a nostril and it can cut off the blood supply.

Important as it is to be aware of such complications, take it with a grain of salt because they’re rare—as long as the procedure is performed by a board-certified plastic surgeon with extensive experience in facial fillers, and nonsurgical nose jobs in particular. This isn’t a procedure you want to shop around for the deepest discount.

In the right hands, the nonsurgical nose job is nearly painless. (Some topical cream to numb the area and ice afterward helps.) It’s a true “lunchtime procedure.” You may be a little red or bruised for a few days, but even that can be helped with a laser treatment.

Forehead wrinkles are a sensitive subject for many of us because they’re often at the top of our list of complaints about ourselves. But a range of treatments are available to help regain natural-looking, smooth, tight skin on our foreheads.

Botox injections are the most common and effective way to alleviate forehead wrinkles. More on that in a moment. First: How is it that our foreheads become billboards for our age?

There’s no simple answer because there are lots of factors that can cause forehead wrinkles, ranging from the repeated use of certain muscles in your face to a loss in skin elasticity that comes with aging. Perhaps the most common culprit is the frontalis muscle, which elevates the eyebrows and causes the forehead to wrinkle in the process.

But even if you’re someone who’s preferred subtle facial expressions, age inevitably catches up with all of us. As our skin laxity lessens, fine lines and wrinkles begin to form. And the forehead, if only because of its prominent placement, is usually the first place we notice them.

What does Botox do, exactly?

Botox burst onto the scene in 2002, when it was approved by the FDA as a safe and temporary solution for smoothing wrinkles. It continues to be the most popular nonsurgical wrinkle treatment, even as the injectables market has grown exponentially in recent years. Last year alone, nearly 7.5 million Botox procedures were performed in the United States, a 3% increase over 2017.

So, how does it work, exactly? Where forehead wrinkles are concerned, it stops the targeted muscles from working, which, in turn, gets rid of the creases. You’ll notice the muscles slowly freeze up within a day or two of the injections. The full, line-smoothing effects will appear after a week. And they typically last for three to four months before gradually wearing off.

There aren’t any other treatments thus far that have been shown to extend the effects of Botox, but there are things you can do to complement the treatment and enhance the results. Wearing sunscreen and taking care of yourself is a start. An ultrasound treatment will help further tighten the skin on the forehead for a greater duration, and a brow lift, which entails small incisions along the hairline, will help create a smoother look overall.

Start sooner rather than later

A couple of other things to keep in mind. First, the number of injections varies from person to person. And, side effects are rare, but when they do occur, they’re usually the result of the injection process. So, seek out a board-certified plastic surgeon who has extensive experience in cosmetic injectables.

Also, Botox is most effective as a preventative treatment. While the mid-twenties may sound premature for considering any kind of facial cosmetic treatment, that’s when traces of lines begin appearing on the forehead. If you wait to treat forehead wrinkles after they’re apparent, it becomes more difficult to achieve ideal results.