How long does it take to heal from otoplasty and ear reshaping?

June 25th, 2009

If things go as planned, you should pretty much have a normal looking ear 1-2 weeks after your procedure. It takes skill to make sure that this happens on the part of your surgeon. Meticulous control of oozing makes a difference as well as frequent followups. Sometimes, surgeons will make little drainage holes in the field of the otoplasty procedure to allow for drainage that usually heals imperceptibly. Others employ small drains to help with the healing.

The less trauma your surgeon does during the procedure helps with healing as well.  The more skillful you do the surgery, the better. I usually wrap the person the first 24 hours to 72 hours and then the patient wears a head band after procedure nonstop for 1 week and then at night for 2 months. The sutures I place are usually absorbable, but I still have them come back the day after and then 6-7 days after the procedure and then 1-2 weeks after that.

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How much does it cost to correct Pixie Ears?

June 25th, 2009

Sometimes the pixie ear can be improved by advancing the ear upwards but you may have an incision inferior to your ears. If you want to avoid the incision you will likely need to undergo a more extensive procedure in order to pull up the skin enough to relieve the pixie ear deformity. This may require more complicated facelift techniques to pull up the muscle. Depending on what it looks like, I might be able to tell you what you need. If it is a simple repair it may cost around $500 – $1000. But if it requires more extensive work the cost could go up to $2000 – $4000 or more if more extensive techniques are utilized.

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Can you have otoplasty / ear reshaping for prominent / large ears on one side only

June 25th, 2009

If there is just one ear that bothers you, you can have just that one corrected. You don’t have to have both ears operated on. This can all be discussed with your surgeon. You can check out a testimonial that was done for me on Youtube to get an idea or on my website. Going to someone with a lot of experience in otoplasty / ear reshaping is very important. You want someone to that is going to try for perfection.  Incisions are behind the ear and are basically unnoticeable.  Sutures are used to pin and reshape the ears.  Sometimes additional work on the cartilage can be done to further modify the appearance of the ears.

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Combining Otoplasty and Ear Reshaping with other procedures

June 25th, 2009

You can have multiple procedures, but with that comes an extra cost, but also possibly additional savings when you combine procedures. You should really think about the comfort level for yourself after multiple procedures.

When multiple procedures are done, there is more to take care of and more to consider in terms of your appearance. You will need to get used to differences in your appearance in multiple different areas, and this is something you should really think about.

The more procedures, the longer the surgery time, and sometimes the more recovery as well. Each area needs to be considered on its own and attention to detail for each procedure is a must on the part of you and particularly your surgeon. You should be comfortable that your surgeon will do his best for each procedure which really carries its own particular nuances. Someone with a good sense of aesthetics is a must.

Otoplasty can be done through very small and unnoticeable incisions behind the ear.  Very natural results can be attained.  You should see my website for pictures and testimonials.

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Improving the Dark Circles and Bags under the eyes and lower eyelid

June 25th, 2009

I refined a volumizing technique called the YoungVitalizer that entails replacing the volume in the lower eyelid and upper cheek area to reduce the appearance of lower eyelid dark circles and bags. This creates a more natural and younger look without looking like you had something done.  The YoungVitalizer is an amazing procedure that uses a persons own tissues to volumize the face for a more younger and natural look.

People age like a how a grape turns into a raisin. Surgeons are used to making the raisin smaller but a person doesn’t look anything like how the person looked like when they were a grape at a younger age. This principle of making a smaller raisin is done when surgeons employ the lower eyelid blepharoplasty. Although volumization with the YoungVitalizer can markedly improve the lower eyelid dark circles and bags there are times when removing fat can help the bags but it is less needed when volumization is done first. Volumization through the YoungVitalizer can create a more volumized cheek to match and be more level with the lower eyelid fat and bags.  The results are more natural.

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The treatment for dark circles under the eyes

June 25th, 2009

The dark circles under your eyes can be due to the thin nature of your skin. This allows the muscle that is dark colored to shine through the skin and look dark when you look at your lower eyelid. The key in this situation is to add a layer between your skin and the muscle below. Laser resurfacing can add a layer to camouflage the muscle better.  Also adding a filler in this area can help as well.

Fillers such as restylane, Juvederm, or fat injections are possibilities. The other reason for dark circles can be due to the volume loss under the eyes which allows the fat within your eye orbit region to relatively protrude more to cast a shadow underneath the eye. Filling in this volume with fat can help that as well. Sometimes, taking out fat in the eye orbit can help this condition too. There are many things can be done to help this situation.

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Chin Implant or Genioplasty?

June 25th, 2009

I discovered a new theory on facial beauty called the Circles of Prominence.  Based on this theory, the bottom of your chin should be about three iris widths in height from the center of your lower lip to the bottom of the chin.  This is ideal in a female.

But for males, this distance can be larger. Males are distinguished significantly by the appearance of their jaws or lower third of the face.

Also the prominence at the bottom of the chin should be about 3 iris widths in width but in men can be larger.  The larger the chin the more masculine.  If you were to draw a circle 3 iris widths centered at the center of the lower lip, you will delineate the area that should stand out in your mouth area from the rest of the face.

Depending on these parameters, I would decide if you would need a chin implant or a genioplasty.  Generally if the vertical height that you are wishing to increase in your chin is greater than 3-4 mm you will be better off with a genioplasty instead of a chin implant.

Your jaw can also be augmented with a lateral jaw implant depending on what you look like and this can be done inside your mouth without external incisions.  This lateral jaw implant can be used to widen the lower jaw area.

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Long improvement for Acne scars after peels and lasers

June 25th, 2009

You can have long term improvement in some acne scars. For depressed scars, a strong chemical peel using a toothpick can help raise the depressed scars/pock marks. Also, this can be done with the co2 laser.

The other way to improve those scars is just to incise them and remove the scars and carry out a reclosure. This new incision can then be resurfaced with a chemical peel or laser to improve the appearance of the new incision. This can be done all throughout your face. It takes a lot of work but it can be done and a noticeable improvement can be accomplished.

Studies show that most resurfacing and peels can last 8-10 years.  This is the time it will take to return to what you had prior to the peel or resurfacing.

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Hyperpigmentation in patients after a chemical peel

June 25th, 2009

This is a question that someone asked in regards to a peel that was done by another doctor.  He had darker skin appear after a chemical peel.

This is very common in patients with darker skin color. There are definite ways to help this condition along. The options include triluma, or a triple combination of retin A 0.1%, Hydroquinone 4%, and hydrocortisone 1%. This can help the darker appearance. Also with this you can do microdermabrasion which can be done at 1-2 week intervals.  Repeating superficial chemical peels is another option that can also be done in between microdermabrasion at 1-2 week intervals. Staying out of the sun and wearing sunscreen is ultra important. The next time you have a peel you should have your doctor carry out a less aggressive peel. Don’t worry though help is out there and this will pass.

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Chemical Peels and reducing fine lines

June 25th, 2009

Chemicals peels can be very safe if done in the right hands.  Sometimes even with the best conditions complications are always possible.  Things that can happen include scarring, post procedure darkness, increased pigmenation (hyperpigmentation), decreased pigmentation (hypopigmentation), increased acne, and infections are among the things that can happen.  A lot of this depends on how agressive you are.

The more aggressive you approach your wrinkles many times the better results but the flip side is that you have a greater chance of complications. For fine lines a less aggressive chemical peel can help and my choice is tricholoroacetic acid 10-20%.  You can also consider retin A for fine wrinkles as part of your regular skin care regime.  Laser resurfacing is another option as well, on more lighter settings and even the new technology of active fx fractional laser resurfacing with less downtime can be a newer alternative.

One thing to consider under the eyes is that the skin is a lot thinner and sometimes you have to be less aggressive in this area to avoid problems.

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