Nip This Tuck That

The cost of Rhinoplasty or nasal surgery is a very commonly asked question. The answer is…as you might expect not simple. The cost of your Rhinoplasty can and will vary based on the following factors:

1. A Revision Rhinoplasty will be more difficult to perform, takes a higher skill level to acheive the desired aesthetic result/avoid un-wanted complications and as such will cost more than a Primary or first time Rhinoplasty.

2. Rhinoplasty will cost more as more areas of your nose require modifications. The nasal bone width, the bridge, the mid-nose section, the tip and the nasal septum. If your nose requires just tip reduction/modification the cost will be less than if more or all areas of the nose require manipulation. Even within each area, of the nose…say the nasal bones…can require different degrees of adjustments. Rasping the bones will be less expensive than bone osteotomies that are required for more dramatic reduction in the width and/or height of the nasal bones (often referred to as breaking the nose).

The nasal tip is similar as a retrograde tip-plasty will be less expensive than an open tip-plasty with cartilage modification which is less than cartilage manipulation plus placement of an ear graft for further support and tip definition…and on and on it goes. I hope you can appreciate that there are almost an endless combination of things that can be done to manipulate the nose during a Rhinoplasty, so until you have an in depth consultation and analysis of your nose during consultation with an experienced Rhinoplasty Surgeon…you really can’t get an accurate Rhinoplasty price.

3. The more experience and higher profile your Rhinoplasty Surgeon, the more your Rhinoplasty cost will be. Rhinoplasty is the most difficult plastic and cosmetic surgery procedure to perform, in my opinion and as such it’s paramount that you get the most experienced Rhinoplasty Surgeon you can afford…even if that means that you have to travel out of state or to another country. Failure to do so may set you up to have another Rhinoplasty…a revision this time which is guaranteed to be more difficult and therefore more expensive than the last…so get the best plastic & cosmetic surgeon you can find to do the job the first time.

Here’s my 4-step guide on How to Choose Your Rhinoplasty Surgeon.

By the way, you can use this guide when selecting a plastic and cosmetic surgeon for Face Lift, Neck Lift, Brow Lift, Forehead Lifts, Hair Transplants, Eyelid Surgery (Blepharoplasty), Cheek Implants, Chin Implants, Lip Augmentation, Mini Face Lifts, Breast Implants, Liposuction, Tummy Tucks, Buttock Lift, Botox, Juvederm, Restylane, Perlane, Dysport, Radiesse, IPL or a Chemical Peel.

Dr Francis Palmer
Beverly Hills Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery
What’s Your Number…the palmer code book

Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery…the more things change..the more they seem to remain the same.

I guess this is a measure of how long I’ve been at this …almost 20 years. It seems like only yesterday, when I was standing in line with all the other brand new med students at UC Irvine Medical School..all with scared and unsure expressions on our young faces. We all knew we were part of something larger, bigger and more important than ourselves…and that was a bit overwhelming.

Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery is advancing in some areas but in others, there seems to be little that’s new, just the old stuff re-cycled. I guess, if they haven’t heard about it before, it’s new to younger surgeons. Case in point is the use of banked or irradiated cartilage in Rhinoplasty to rebuild the tip and or nasal bridge. This was common 30 years ago but we quickly learned that this tissue dissolved and did so in an irregular manner which could result in an unveven lumpy appearance to the nose. Interestingly enough, I’ve read about this being used in Rhinoplasty lately like this is some new discovery. Ahh, no, and more importantly probably should not be used but instead I use silastic implants for the bridge and the patients own ear cartilage for nasal tips. Much more predictible results.

Same with wires, strings, threads and endoscopic procedures in the face for Face Lifts….there are issues of two point fixation, of stiff material actually cutting through softer, more pliable facial tissues and the inability to remove excess skin with endoscopic procedures that promise no incisions. remember, no incision means you can’t remove any skin…a fundamental issue for anyone seeking any type of Face Lift. The best things in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery are those that are logical, make sense and have a reason that they will work…

Francis Palmer MD
Beverly Hills Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery
What’s Your Number…the palmer code book

Many Plastic & Cosmetic Surgeons and numerous surgical associations and societies members perform Face Lifts, Mini Face Lifts and variations of them all….yet there’s a movement to tell you the consumer that they are all alike.

But is this reasonable or even plausible? Most things like IQ, height, weight, income and credit scores can be plotted on a bell-shaped curve distribution. Plastic Surgeon and Cosmetic Surgeon’s ability, skill and experience seems to me no different. That means they can not…and their procedures can not all be alike. Make sense?

In over 20 years of performing Face Lifts and most recently our modernized version called the “Celebrity Lift“, which has much smaller incision, less recovery time (measured in hours , not days, weeks or months) and less tissue dissection….I myself have gone through several Face Lift technique improvements to make the procedure more effective.

The first time I adjusted the Face Lifts that I performed was only 2 years after I had completed all of my training and Fellowship in Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery…this was to make the Face Lifts that I did more in tune with my then evolving sense of facial aesthetics and beauty. I began to tackle the Nasolabial folds and shape the cheeks as a standard part of evert Face Lift. I even trademarked the term Facial Contour(R) Face Lift and used it in numerous TV shows, newspapers and magazine articles about Face Lifts internationally.

The next big adavance in my Face Lifts came some 7 years later as I adopted a deeper tissue plane of dissection during the Face Lift. I did this version for several years and was un-impressed by the advantages over previous versions.

Then the next big advance came when I realized patients wanted all the aesthetic benefits of the Face Lift but didn’t want the long anesthesia, the large incisions, the potential hair loss when making incisions in the scalp, the days-weeks-even months of recovery that some of the deeper tissue face Lifts had and of course the dreaded…wind swept look taht is universally hated by patients.

I realized that if I followed by aesthetic vision of what makes the face beatiful, I could minimize the incisions, the tissue dissection and therefore the anesthesia and recovery time associated with my “Celebrity Lift“. For the past 4 years, I have done the “Celebrity Lift” for patients from all over the world and it is amazing in what aesthetic benefits can be accomplished in 90 minutes or less. About 50% of the people elect to have no anesthesia for the procedure and use only topical injections like Novacaine.

I can’t imagine taking 6 hours to do a Face Lift anymore when I can get these kinds of results in 90 minutes. Is this like the Face Lifts in your town…doubt it. Are the marketed mini face lifts we all see on billboards, TV and magazine ads the same…again doubt it as I’m not interested in mass marketing my techniques. I remain of the mind set that plastic and cosmetic surgery is an art..not cookbook and as such if practised by 10 different surgeons…you will get 10 different levels of resluts.

In my opinion some things hold true no matter the industry or product:

1. There’s no substitute for experience

2. Quality first….second best is second best

3. You get what you pay for

4. You may need to travel to get the best…

5. Not every Doctor or surgeon has the same aesthetic view and experience..learn 4 simple steps to “Choose Your Plastic Surgeon“.

So next time your looking for eyelid surgery, brow lift, breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, cheek implants, chin implant, tummy tuck, fuller lips, restylane, botox, perlane or radiesse….remember that you are unique in whatever it is that you do for a living and so is the plastic and cosmetic surgeon you seek.

Francis R Palmer MD
Beverly Hills Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery
Author: What’s Your Number…the palmer code book

The Celebrity Lift continues to amaze me in its ability to make people look younger and naturally beautiful in 90 minutes.

This week I performed out Celebrity Lift numerous times with staggering aesthetic and rejuvenating results. Once woman in her fourties , looked in her twenties the first post-op day when I removed the gauge wrap. She looked absolutely stunning. The Celebrity Lift shaped her face to a beautiful, natural beauty.

The other cases must have been reading my post on China because they came form Taipei, Hong Kong and Beijing for what they realized is the pinnacle of aesthetic plastic surgery, since I literally wrote the book on the subject. They also had an amzing transformation in 90 minutes with dissoveable sutures and a recovery that’s measured in hours instead of weeks, like the old-tile face Lifts. But hey, that’s progress. You get what you pay for and when it comes to your appearance, never settle for second best…whether it’s a Rhinoplasty, Face Lift, Eyelid Surgery, Chin Implant, Cheek Implant, Tummy Tuck, Lip Augmentation, Breast Augmentation and Enhancement with Implants, Hair restoration, Botox, Radiesse, Juvederm or IPL….learn what destination Hollywood’s celebrities have known for years…Beverly Hills.

Francis R Palmer MD
Beverly Hills Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery
What’s Your Number…the palmer code book