Liposuction is a form of cosmetic surgery in which excess fat is removed from the body, allowing for greater contouring and shaping.
Excess fat is usually removed from the abdomen, thighs, buttocks, upper arms, neck, and cheeks.
While many seek liposuction for its beautifying benefits, experts warn that it is no replacement for a healthy lifestyle.
Dermafillers are now the third most popular cosmetic procedure in the United States, and they are becoming more popular all the time.
The term dermafill, as it sounds, refers to "filling in" the wrinkles and folds of the skin to result in a more youthful appearance.
Traditionally, the main dermafiller was collagen. In this procedure, collagen was injected under the skin, filling in the frown lines, mouth wrinkles, and other signs of aging skins.
One of the problems with collagen, though, was that it broke down over time, and so the procedure would need to be repeated to maintain the same effects.
With the rise of new, longer lasting dermafill options, it becomes more important than ever to select the right doctor for your dermafill procedure.
The danger with permanent derma-fills is that they do not dissolve under the skin. If they are incorrectly placed, they can leave hard bumps or nodules under the skin which do not lessen and do not go away.
Derma fillers are injected substances which fill in the wrinkles, depressions, and crevasses in the skin, to create a smoother skin surface and more youthful appearance.
Collagen has been the #1 derma-filler for many years, but one of the problems is that collagen breaks down, so collagen derma-fill treatments are not permanent solutions. They must be repeated to maintain their effects. But that may soon be changing.
People who've been in a car accident, or who've been bitten in the face by a dog, or who've been biopsied for facial skin cancer all have one thing in common: they are likely to have significant facial scarring.
Most often, facial scars are bumpy and uneven, due to the amount of normal muscle movements required to eat, smile, laugh, or cry. These normal muscle movements cause the skin to move and pucker, creating wrinkles and valleys in healing tissue. These wrinkles and valleys are what end up giving scars that ridged and unpleasant appearance.
In the first large scale analysis of research data on Botox, scientists have found that Botox injections result in patients looking an average of five to six years younger than their current age.
The American Academy of Dermatology met last month and attendees learned about a new procedure: the "thread lift" which provides many of the benefits of a face lift, but without the risks or recovery time.
As presented by Dr. Victor A. Neel, director of dermatological surgery at Mass General in Boston, thread lifts are a reasonable alternative for patients who want to lift and tighten their jowls, eyebrows, cheeks, or mid-face without undergoing major surgery to do so.
As the baby boomers age, there has been an increasing interest in skin treatments which can delay or reverse the signs of aging. One available option is that of Botox injections. Botox has been around since about 2001, and has been steadily gaining in popularity, with numbers of procedures topping three million within just a couple of years after it was first introduced.
Botox is popular, in part, because it's quick, reasonably inexpensive, and can be done on an outpatient basis.