As the years go by, you skin loses fat in the hypodermis. This subcutaneous fat gives volume, structure, and firmness to the skin. When you lose it, skin begins to sag and wrinkles begin to appear. This is how aging starts.
Restoring Your Youthful Looks
If you want to plump up your skin and keep looking young, consider getting injections of facial fillers, also known as dermal fillers. These are injected into the skin to restore structure and firmness. They’re a lot more affordable than getting a facelift.
Materials Used As Dermal Fillers
There are several materials that can be used as dermal fillers, but only a few have been approved as medical implants by the FDA. Also known as soft tissue fillers, most of these are temporary solutions since the materials used are absorbed by the body:
- Collagen: This is a protein that’s an integral part of body tissues. Collagen used as facial fillers are derived from human or bovine (cow) cells. These tend to last for three to four months.
- Hyaluronic Acid: This is also a naturally occurring substance, a polysaccharide present in tissues. These facial fillers can be effective from 6 months to a year.
- Calcium Hydroxylapatite: This mineral is present in bones and teeth. As dermal fillers, they last for close to 18 months. That’s because it takes more time for the body to break it down. Another advantage to this filler is that, as it breaks down, the body generally replaces it with collagen, which extends the effect of these fillers.
- Poly -L-Lactic Acid: This is an artificial polymer. It’s used in bone screws. As a facial filler, PLLA is administered over a few months through a series of injections. It’s effective for close to two years. These are all biodegradable, temporary fillers. There is one FDA approved non biodegradable permanent filler:
- Polymethylmethacrylate Beads (PMMA):This is a biocompatible man-made polymer used in intraocular lenses and bone cement. PMMA facial fillers have a permanent effect.
When choosing a facial filler, consider whether you want the effects to be long lasting or not. A permanent solution might be desirable, but if there are complications and undesired effects, you should reconsider. Temporary fillers disappear fast and your face will go back to its original appearance. Then you can take a look at other treatment options, or decide stay with your natural looks.
Lip Injections
Lips have been considered one of the more seductive features in a face. However, prior to the 1990′s, cosmetic lip enhancement, also known as lip augmentation, was largely taboo and ignored. Now there is a huge demand to produce lips that are plumper, smoother and shapelier. Because of internet and reality tv celebrities like The Kardashians, lip enhancements are widely popular among both and women. If you aren’t happy with the appearance of your lips, these enhancement procedures provide options for you to increase your confidence and self-esteem.
Thanks to the advancements in technology, lip injections can take as little as 2 minutes. As far as pricing, it can range anywhere from $500 to $2,000 to get a lip enhancement procedure done. Factors like the city you live and your doctor should be considered as prices in places like Los Angeles will be significantly higher than those of cities like Dallas.
Nose Job
Rhinoplasty, also known as a nose job, is a very normal and common surgical procedure done to improve the appearance of the nose. Because the nose occupies the front and center of the face, it tends to have a main effect on the overall appearance of the person. Performed using general or local anesthesia, a nose job is usually done as an outpatient procedure and involves incisions that are made mainly on the inside of the nose. It’s such a common procedure that most patients only need a week to recover and any sutures and splints are removed after one week. While it’s a fairly simple surgery, most patients are recommended to stay away from hardcore physical activity at least for 3 weeks.
Mommy Makeover
The five most popular Mommy Makeover procedures include: Tummy Tuck, Breast Lift, Breast Augmentation, Liposuction and Fat Grafting. Motherhood is a joyous and probably the single most important life event of a woman. While the importance of this time in a woman’s life is obvious, it is also well-known that pregnancy is a tough hit on a mother’s body. Any woman who is tired and depressed by her post-pregnancy body is potentially a good candidate for a Mommy Makeover. As with other cosmetic surgery procedures, patients should be in overall good health, hold reasonable expectations for their results, and be committed to the necessary recovery period after a Mommy Makeover.
Fat Transfer
Sucking fat from your hips and thighs and injecting it into your butt may seem like a luxury. However, as technology advances, this procedure has become more affordable as it’s demand increases. The process, called fat transfer or fat grafting, involves removing fat from one part of the body via a gentle liposuction, and then injecting it elsewhere, more popularly in the buttocks area.
Other popular non invasive procedures include tattoo removal.
Tattoo Removal
Typically, tattoos are removed by breaking up the pigmented colors of the tattoo with a high-intensity light beam. It is estimated that 20% of people would opt out of getting a tattoo if they could back in time. That’s 1 in 5 people. As the number of individuals with tattoos has increased, so has the need for improvements in removal methods. It is known that tattoos are painful but tattoo removal has shown to be even more painful than getting the tattoo. This was true years ago, but now, with technology advancements like laser tattoo removal it has become less painful and less costly.