Posted February 15, 2012 in Beauty, Blog, Non-Surgical Treatments, Plastic Surgery in the News, Uncategorized
Recently the Orange County Register listed 12 trends for plastic surgery in 2012, and yours truly will add one more. My addition is that recent surveys have shown that a growing number of Americans are getting advice and information about facial plastic surgery from social networking sites rather than friends. Many of you now reading this are either on Facebook or Twitter. According to U.S. World News, “About 42 percent of patients in 2011 got information from social media such as Facebook and Twitter, a substantial increase from 29 percent of patients in 2010. The number of patients who sought information from friends fell from 63 percent in 2010 to 48 percent last year.”
The remaining 12 items on the list of plastic surgical trends for 2012 are: non-surgical facelifts, new injectables (Volumna, Boltero), stem cell injections, “topical Botox (Revance)”, a robotic baldness hair replacement device (ARTAS), Bro-tox, new wrinkle repair agents (Pur-tox), blunt canullas for injecting fillers, Ultra-shape, breast augmentation/reduction, 3-D computer imaging (Vectra), and minimally invasive facelifts.
1. Non-Invasive Procedures (non-Surgical Lifting) are increasing. From galvanic stimulation (Perfector, Nu-skin) to radiofrequency devices (Pelleve`, e-Matrix) to the latest micro-focused ultrasound technology (Ulthera), patients who are not quite ready for the knife are able to get improvement in the laxity of their skin. Though not equivalent to surgical facelifting, these procedures can help patients appear more youthful.
2. Topical versus injectable Botox. Revance is a topical neuromodulator gel that may come to the market this year. There are questions of how effective the treatment will be, so for now, stick to the injectables.
3. Stem cell injections are the current hype in marketing by many plastic surgeons. For many years it has been thought that the stem cells in fat transfers have helped improve the tone, texture, and even scars of the skin overlying the fat placement. Now, technology is condensing stem cells from fat, and the hype is that patients are seeing marked improvement in their results. The scientific plastic surgical community is still not convinced that the condensed stem cells are any more effective than what we have seen for the past 20 years with standard fat transfer.
Bro-tox refers to the increasing number of men who are having neuro-modulator injections for wrinkles, the most common non-surgical procedure for men (other than shaving their beards…which usually takes about 10 years off of their appearance!)
5. The “Liquid Face-Lift” using new hyaluronic acid fillers such as Volumna and Beltero. Presently I love the natural volumizing effect that Sculptra allows us to give our patients. The results are gradual, but very long lasting. As with any fillers, it is the artistic eye of the physician that will determine the beauty of the results.
6. Wrinkle repair with neuro-modulators. Botox, Dysport, and Xeomin are soon to be joined by a new product, Pur-Tox. All of these products are safe and effective, and will likely last for about the same amount of time. The greatest benefit to the public will be price competition. When visiting your physician for “Botox” injections, if you care about saving a few dollars, ask if any of the products are less expensive than others.
7. Blunt tipped cannulas are round tipped, not sharp like needles. This allows us to inject with much less discomfort, and without bruising the majority of the time, reducing the downtime of injectables. Most of our injectable fillers are now injected with these cannulas.
8. Minimally invasive facelifts can be performed under local anesthesia in the office in younger patients and in patients who desire a “touch up” years after their original facelift. Dr. Sunder performs these procedures beautifully.
9. Breast Augmentation and downsizing. What screams obvious plastic surgery more that attention grabbing breast implants that are 2-3 sizes too big? Many patients will be exchanging their current implants for ones that are more proportional to the rest of their body.
10. Non-Invasive Fat Reduction Treatments. Ultra-Shape, which uses ultrasound energy to reduce fat may be FDA approved this year. Liposonix has recently been approved, but is reported to be extremely uncomfortable. Zerona is still out there with very little scientific evidence backing it’s claims of fat reduction. We have been very pleased with the results that CoolSculpting has afforded our patients with minimal to no discomfort and zero downtime.
11. Three dimensional computer imaging with Vectra allows physicians and patients to preview what their results may look like after a procedure such as rhinoplasty or breast augmentation. In addition, it gives a quantitative measurement of the volume improvement after filler injections or Sculptra treatments.
12. And last but not least, is a new hair restoration procedure, controlled by a physician, uses a robotic arm and digital mapping to extract hairs from the back of the head for transplants. The ARTAS System is touted as helping doctors harvest hair follicles more quickly and precisely than when it’s done manually.
Certainly there will be more new procedures and technologies as the year progresses. The biggest challenge for us as experts is to separate what’s real (safe and effective) versus what’s hype. It is even a more daunting challenge for the public. Should you have any concerns or questions about aesthetic treatments, please feel free to contact either Dr. Sunder or Dr. Persky for our opinions. Be well and happy, healthy 2012!
Dr Michael Persky and Dr. Sarmela Sunder are located in Encino, California and Beverly Hills, California (The Lasky Clinic) but service all of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Including, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Hancock Park, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills and more. Please subscribe to our blog by clicking the link above, right. Thank you!
