Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Articles

The décolletage has traditionally been a point of frustration for many. It’s nearly as susceptible as the face and hands are to sun damage and the earliest signs of natural aging (think crepe-y wrinkles and mildly sagging skin), yet it’s been distinctly more difficult to treat. But that’s changed in recent years, thanks to a slew of innovations. Here’s an overview of some of the most effective ways to remedy décolletage wrinkling and restore a more youthful appearance.

Injectables

Dermal fillers can improve and enhance an ever-expanding spectrum of features. They’re still most commonly used for the face, but with an experienced plastic surgeon and the right filler—Sculptra, a versatile L-lactic acid filler, and hyaluronic acid fillers are generally the go-tos—the same effect can be achieved with the décolletage (read: wrinkle-free skin).

Depending on the filler that’s used, you can expect the results to last between six months and two years. And, of any of the methods highlighted here, injectables provide the most immediate results—and with zero downtime, no less.

Lasers

Similarly, carbon dioxide lasers, which superficially vaporize skin, and other non-ablative lasers are most popular for treating facial wrinkles, but they’re also being used more and more to treat décolletage wrinkles, scarring, and hyperpigmentation that can result from sun damage.

Most patients achieve their desired results within two to six sessions, which can be paired with skin-tightening treatments to minimize the recovery time.

Micro-fat grafting

This is a two-part procedure, where a small amount of excess fat is removed from another part of the body (the abdomen, thighs, or arms, most commonly). It’s then cleaned and injected into several points across the décolletage. Though not expressly a skin-tightening treatment, the injections will have a plumping effect, which will naturally tighten the surrounding skin, resulting in a smooth, youthful-looking décolletage.

The grafts are considered to be longer-lasting than dermal fillers. And, because it’s your own tissue that’s used, there’s no risk of an allergic reaction.

Chemical peels

A formula comprised of several acidic chemical components removes the outermost layer of the skin, revealing the smooth layer beneath. Chemical peels are considered to be one of the most effective ways to treat mild wrinkling and sun damage on the face. The same formulas are typically employed for the collarbone and décolletage.

Most patients achieve their desired results after three or four peels, which are administered several weeks apart.

As different as this summer will feel this year, it’ll remain the same in lots of ways, too. We’ll still enjoy soaking in the sun’s warmth for a passing moment and the cool stillness that arrives at dusk. We’ll still savor the unique sensations of grass and sand between our toes and the scent of something, anything, grilling nearby.

And we’ll still hate the way our butts look in shorts and especially bathing suits.

No such poll exists, but if it did, I’m sure it would indicate that the butt is one of the features that many of us want to change most about ourselves. It wasn’t a surprise when, a few years ago, butt enhancement surgery became one of the fastest-growing cosmetic surgery procedures in the United States.

At its height, there was a buttock procedure being performed every 30 minutes, on average, in this country, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. That included both butt implants and butt augmentation, or the Brazilian butt lift. While implants were largely responsible for that initial surge, doctors have been steering their patients more toward the Brazilian butt lift over the last couple of years because it’s considered to be a much safer procedure, the recovery’s a lot easier, and the results tend to be far more positive.

What’s the difference between the two procedures?

For implant surgery, implants are placed beneath the gluteal muscle through an incision in the buttock cheeks. It’s typically a two- to three-hour procedure. Afterward, patients are encouraged not to sit directly on their implants for three weeks because the pressure could cause them to shift out of position. And the recovery period generally lasts about two weeks.

The Brazilian butt lift is done in two parts. First, fat is liposuction-ed out of the patient’s abdomen, hips, or thighs. It’s then cleaned and separated and injected into the patient’s butt. It’s about a one-hour procedure. And patients are usually back to work and their normal lifestyle 24 hours later.

Why is the Brazilian butt lift trending?

Since the grafted fat is being taken from another area of the body, the Brazilian butt lift is kind of a two-for-one procedure: Contour an area of concern and gain a shapelier butt in the process. Plus, since the grafted fat is your own tissue, there’s no risk of an allergic reaction or rejection.

The procedure also allows for more flexibility. Depending on the amount of available fat, you can upgrade to a Kim Kardashian-esque butt or simply add a touch more curve to your natural shape. Implants, on the other hand, are molded to specific sizes and volumes.

If you’ve always thought of butt enhancement surgery as something a small group of women somewhere are having done, it’s much more widespread than that. And that’s because they’ve discovered a wealth of confidence in finally addressing a feature they longed to change and never thought they could.

You probably know about Botox. You may even be aware of the fact that there are other botulinum toxins—even though just about everyone, aside from board-certified plastic surgeons, refers to them as Botox, the same way you may refer to all tissues as Kleenex. But have you ever stopped to wonder what the difference is between Botox and the others? Lindsay Kirkman has, and she wrote about it recently for RealSelf.

In fact, she went further than that. She had Botox injected into one half of her forehead and Jeuveau, the newest of the four botulinum toxins approved by the FDA, injected into the other. Interestingly, of the three not named Botox, Jeuveau is the first to be formulated with the same 900 kDa molecular weight as Botox. The similar chemical composition should mean that Jeuveau’s results would most closely resemble those of Botox.

Kirkman cites one study that showed that Jeuveau could even begin working sooner and last longer than Botox. That said, how long a botulinum toxin treatment lasts depends more on the person than the toxin because how we metabolize it varies from person to person.

As for Kirkman, she had 18 units of Jeuveau injected into the left side of her forehead and the crow’s feet (the wrinkles etched into the corner of the eye) on the left side of her face and the same amount of Botox injected into the right side of her forehead and the crow’s feet on the right side of her face. 

“Ultimately, the pain level on both the Jeuveau side and the Botox side was exactly the same—as in very minimal,” she writes. “I felt a slight pinch every time the needle went in, but the tingly feeling went away within seconds.”

A couple of days later, the Jeuveau had “clearly” taken effect, Kirkman writes, while she hadn’t yet noticed a response from the Botox. That changed on Day Six. “The Jeuveau side feels even more locked in place, but for the first time, the Botox side has also started to produce that feeling of muscle immobilization,” she writes. “I can also tell that my brow lift has started to kick in—again, even more so on the Jeuveau side, where I’m seeing more of an arch start to form.”

Two months out, she writes, “Now when my face is at rest or when I am smiling, the lines on my forehead and between my brows still look equally smoothed out on both sides.

“However, in order to go beyond my own general observations in the mirror, I also asked my husband and a few friends to weigh in. All parties pointed out that as I naturally engaged in conversation—particularly when I looked surprised or curious—there were more obvious lines starting to reappear near the temples on the side of my face injected with Botox,” Kirkman says. “The difference is subtle enough, though, that I don’t think it’s anything anyone else would notice without specifically paying attention.”

If nothing else, it’s always good to know you have options. Comparable options.