Making Faces

Every artist has a medium. And, our Creator who is the ultimate artist,  made us all in his own image. Somewhere along the road of Life, many of us traveled on treacherous paths, got beaten down & illness stole from us. Life and aging morphed our bodies and we got uncomfortable with the visual.  In came artists manufactured in the lab & medical science who came armed with "fixits" and promises to bring back what we thought the Creator wanted us to be.  These Men and women who study and practice the art of design & re-design of human bodies are known as Plastic Surgeons and Dermatologists.  They use mediums like: surgical knives, botulinum toxins, hyaluronic acids and other treatments to transform and sculpt bodies from head to toe. The majority of personal needs for facial re-design comes due to Aging. The four major structural components of our face are skin, fat, muscle, & bone. As we age, volume loss in these structures contributes to many of the visible signs of aging.  Over time, age-related bone loss in the face can lead to retraction of the jawline, descent of the nose, and loss of high cheekbones. Finally, the skin stretches and loses elasticity - compounded by the loss of scaffolding provided by fat, muscle, and bone, this leads to wrinkles, sagging skin, and other familiar signs of aging.

In recent years, cosmetic anti-aging procedures have gained mainstream acceptance. And while many women start with less invasive treatments, like injections and dermal fillers, at a certain point, some women consider facial rejuvenation surgery, or a face-lift, for longer-lasting and more dramatic results. The primary benefits of a face-lift are increased satisfaction with your appearance and having others see you as more youthful and attractive.

Facelift:   A procedure to lift and tighten sagging skin on the face and neck. Surgeons perform the surgery in the operating room while the patient is often completely asleep under general anesthesia. During the procedure, surgeons make small incisions around the earlobes to help hide any surgical scarring, which is minimal. They lift and pull back loose facial and neck skin and connective tissue, removing excess skin before closing the incisions. The procedure addresses problem areas, such as:

• Jowls that occur on the jawline
• Loose neck skin
• Nasolabial folds, also known as marionette lines, between the nose and mouth
• Midface drooping
• Double chin

Dermal Fillers:  An injectable treatment performed in a doctor’s office, can help smooth lines and replenish lost volume, restoring a more youthful appearance.  Fillers last anywhere from eight months to two years, but a facelift lasts for years.  When Injectables first arrived on the scene, they were viewed as a means to a quick "liquid face-lift".  Today they are the way to control light, control shadows, chisel angles and round curves. Inside the artist injector's toolkit are fillers and Needles of many dimensions for discreet detailing and blunt tips for broader strokes.  With a syringe or two of a filler, injectors can carve a new jawline, alter the shape of a nose and build lips to new proportions.  By harnessing the collagen-growing potential of Sculptura (poly-L-lactic acid) they can subtly restore lost volume.
Well known Dermal Fillers:
Juvederm Facial Filler: Made of a hyaluronic acid gel, is a naturally-occurring substance in the skin that contributes to volume and hydration. Juvederm is designed to temporarily correct moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds. Juvederm is made by Allergan, the same makers of Botox.

Restylane Facial Filler: A non-animal, biodegradable gel composed of hyaluronic acid, Restylane is a soft tissue dermal filler that adds volume to the skin through tiny injections; smoothing facial folds and wrinkles in areas around the mouth and eyes.

Lesser known Dermal Fillers:
Collagen (Zyplast/ Zyderm): A soft-tissue dermal filler made from purified cow skin used to fill wrinkles, lines, and scars on the face. Collagen is a naturally-occurring protein that supports various parts of the body, including skin, tendons, and ligaments; it will eventually absorb into the body.
Sculptra: An injectable made of synthetic polylactic acid contained in microspheres, Sculptra is the first FDA-approved injectable for the restoration of lost facial volume (correction of lipoatrophy) in people with HIV infection.
Captique: Utilized for filling moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds around the nose and mouth, is a soft tissue filler that adds volume to certain areas of the face; derived from non-animal-based hyaluronic acid.
Hylaform: Fills moderate to severe wrinkles around the nose and mouth, Hylaform ® is a dermal filler that has been chemically modified from hyaluronic acid; designed to temporarily smooth the surface the skin.
Radiesse: A synthetic dermal filler made of calcium hydroxyapatite is utilized for the correction of moderate to severe wrinkles and folds. This injectable is a longer-lasting filler because the body forms collagen around the microspheres; adding bulk to the injected areas.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons Report, found minimally invasive cosmetic procedures have jumped nearly 200 per cent since the year 2000.   Up from about five million to nearly 16 million, while Australians usage is higher per capita.  But, even when you're in the hands of an experienced practitioner, using a TGA-regulated injectable, should we be treating these procedures so casually?  And, we've all heard the horror stories . . . inexperienced practitioners using unregulated fillers that result in frozen faces, numbness, blindness (globally, about 50 cases of blindness after aesthetic facial injection have been reported), and even death.

So, where does this leave the savvy consumer interested in noninvasive treatments to reduce the signs of aging?  Finding the right physician to perform your dermal filler procedure is key. Don’t be afraid to ask about training and certification to ensure you’re receiving care from a board-certified, experienced dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon. With the right preparation and communication between you and your physician, you can achieve natural, beautiful, and safe results.

Granted some of us do need want some repair, and You should have some work done if that is your desire. But, we must be careful of Mr Envy and Ms Jealousy who try to creep into our lives from time to time.  As long as we are not making appointments with these Artists to compete with others, we are good to go. Like every other part of medicine there are those that excel in their field, and there are those that are just mediocre.  Just do your own research, interview potential providers with scrutiny, and plan to Enjoy the rest of your Life.

** Thanks for Visiting. This post is FYE. I am not a Medical Practitioner, Physician or a Counselor and not giving any advice. I'm just a woman on this life journey.  If  you like it, please leave a comment & Share, Share, Share. Don’t forget to follow me on Bloglovin  for new post updates, and on Pinterest. **