What Treatment Is Right For You?
As a board-certified Cosmetic surgeon, I have a ton of experience with multiple facial and body procedures and have used all of the technology out there. My job is to know what works and what won’t work for every patient that comes to me for advice. My job is to communicate with you so I know what results you are looking for. After I understand what you are expecting, I can then offer options to get you there. The key word here is YOU!!
Non-Invasive Options
First are the non-invasive options: lotions, skin care and the like. We love the Obagi skin care line for correcting skin damage. For skin care maintenance, the Obagi and SkinMedica lines are both great. We also use IPL (intense pulsed light) and laser for correction of acne, skin color issues, spider veins, rosacea, and for hair removal. We use facials and the HydraFacial for skin cleansing and maintenance. We use CoolSculpting to remove areas of stubborn fat for those who don’t want or cannot afford down time.
Minimally Invasive Options
Next is the minimally invasive route which includes micro-needling.Tox injections for wrinkle prevention. We use fillers like Radiesse to correct wrinkles. We also have laser skin resurfacing or chemical peels to improve skin texture and help with fine lines and wrinkles. The aforementioned products are for the face.
For the body, face, arms, thighs and breasts we use the FaceTite and BodyTite along with some liposuction, if needed, to remove fat and tighten the skin. It would be great if this worked on everyone, and there will be those neophytes that will claim that it does. I am here to emphatically tell you, minimally invasive is great for those who qualify. But for those who don’t, the snake oil salesmen who claim it will replace a tummy tuck, arm reduction, breast lift, or thigh lift are trying to steal your money. If you have a bulging abdomen with stretch marks and excess skin, and want a tight abdomen with no stretch marks, you can BodyTite until the cows come home and you will never get the result you are wanting. If you have the “batwing deformity” of your arms and want a tight upper arm, the only solution to get that is removing the skin through a more invasive procedure. If you have excess thigh skin or knee skin that hangs, there is no minimally invasive solution for this. If the nipple hangs below the fold under the breast and you want the nipple back where it should be, you will need a breast lift. When you consult regarding BodyTite or FaceTite, you need to know what you want and expect and then relay this to your Cosmetic or Plastic Surgeon.
What to watch out for:
I know it is a comfort to believe you can have no pain, no recovery time, and no anesthesia to get great results. But, if you have a large amount of skin, a large amount of droop of that skin, or poor skin quality, and any of these problems can come from weight loss, babies, or just aging, minimally invasive probably will not give the results you desire. Some doctors, who only offer minimally invasive technologies will tell you it will perform magic. I even recently heard one Doctor say it will replace a tummy tuck. That is just ignorance, lack of training and inexperience, along with the inability to understand the limitations of a technology. Those patients who pay good money for the expectation of tummy tuck, arm reduction, thigh, face or breast lift result will be disappointed.
My advice: Get multiple opinions from experienced, practitioners who are well trained and credentialed in Cosmetic Surgery, ask for pictures of actual patient results (not pictures from the internet), and void those who only offer a single procedure or technology. At Swetnam Cosmetic Surgery we pride ourselves on understanding what you want and having all of the solutions to get you there. Even if you want a second opinion, we can help.
Call 479-966-4174 today for a complimentary consultation.
