Nip This Tuck That

Have you ever wonder how much of an improvement you have gotten after doing something to improve yourself? Whether you have just changed your hair color, haircut, hair style, new clothes, new makeup, lost weight, started to exercise, or had a plastic and cosmetic surgery or non-invasive treatment like Botox, Restylane, Evolence, Radiesse, Sculptra, Juvederm, soft tissue fillers, Face Lift, neck lift, Rhinoplasty, Cheek Implants, Chin Implants, Lip Implants, breast implants, tummy tuck, Hair Transplants, Laser treatment, skin care, liposuction or any other treatment and or procedure to improve your appearance? Over 40 million aesthetic plastic and cosmetic surgery treatments and procedures were performed in the US last year and double that worldwide…so there are many, many people concerned about the way they look and are seeking ways to make themselves look better.

Many millions more buy makeup, have their hair styled and colored and exercise all to improve their appearance…but how successful have they been? Until now, there was no accurate way to document the improvement and quantify the degree of change. Welcome to my “What’s Your Number”(R) concept and system which will be fiully outlined in my upcoming book due out this March. You can find out if that hairstyle, makeup, treatment or surgery improved your appearrance and more importantly…by how much. All you have to do is go to “What’s Your Number“ web site, upload a photo of you before and one after whatever you did to improve your appearance and you will get your answer. You can finally be in control of your appearance and be empowered to make accurate decisions when it comes to improving yourself and the way you look.

Dr Francis Palmer, III
Beverly Hills Plastic & Cosmetic Surgeon

The “Celebrity Lift” continues to gain popularity because of what it isn’t.  It isn’t a large incision like the traditional Face Lift Surgeries.  It isn’t the large amount of tissue dissection that occurs with traditional Face Lifts or some of the so-called non-invasive mini lifts that go through incisions inside the mouth and scalp dissecting the entire midface off the facial bones which is a very large dissection indeed.  It isn’t the swelling, bruising and discomfort that many other types of face lifts and Mini face lifts can create.  No, on the contrary,  The “Celebrity Lift” is designed to have limited incisions, limited but highly focused and effective tissue dissection (including the muscle layer) and because of these two factors, the “Celebrity Lift” has a very rapid recovery.  Many of our patients fly home to New York, Chicago, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Sand Diego or to Milan, Florence, Lndon, Paris, Istanbul, Dubai, and all over the world in a matter of days…not weeks.

I like to think of the Clebrity Lift as a way for my patients to look 10 years younger in 90 minutes or less without anesthesia…although that is certainly still an option at our fully accredited surgery center where we perform Rhinoplasty, revision Rhinoplasty, Face Lifts, Eyelifts (Blepharoplasty), cheek implants, chin implants, hair transplants, botox injections, soft tissue fillers like radiesse, Perlane, Restylane and Juvederm, Lip Augmentation, Brow lifts, Breast Augmentation, Breast Lifts, Tummy Tucks, Liposuction, skincare and skin resurfacing using chemical peels.

Dr. Francis R Palmer, III

 The Cheeks can be augmented and their shape imroved aesthetically by using Cheek Implants ( I prefer soft silastic ones…no screws or fixation sutures) or with various materials that are injected into the skin over the cheek area.  Of the latter, I like Radiesse or Perlane because I have found it to highly predictable and effective in allowing me to shape the cheeks.  I also use Radiesse to shape the chin and jawline. 

A few days ago a patient came from Dubai and mentioned that I was referred in Dubai as “the guy who does Radiesse to shape the face”.  I found this flattering that I would be so regarded in a city that I have never visited.  I felt compelled to mention that I like Radiesse because it works in my hands and accomplishes what I want to d aesthetically on the face…and that’s to make a male face more angular and ruggedly handsome while making a female face soft, feminine and youthful in appearance.  I have no financial stock in the company that makes or markets radiesse…although they should at the very least thank mean for all the free advertising I do for their product…including an appearance on ABC’s “The View” where I had a Radiesse patient as well as my new “Celebrity Face Lift”….but that’s another story.  Rdaiesse works and in my opinion works quite well but so does perlane and Botox and restylane and i endorse all of those products as well.

In my almost 20 years of performing plastic and cosmetic surgery here in beverly Hills and London, I have always strived to get the very best and most out of every plastic surgeical procedure: Face Lift, Breast Augmentation, Rhinoplasty, Blepharoplasty, Tummy Tuck, Lip Augmentation, Liposuction, Cheek Augmentation, Chin Implant Surgery, Browlift, Otoplasty…whatever instead of accepting whatever limitations those procedures had to offer.  The same can be said about the soft tissue fillers like radiesse, perlane and Even Botox.  I embrace the ones that I believe work and I don’t use or endorse the ones I think don’t work or have unwanted complications….silicone, artecol just to mention two.  That’s how all top, best, plastic and cosmetic surgeons should feel whether you are a celebrity having plastic surgery or just one of we mere mortals.  This is my opinion and other plastic and cosmetic surgeons may have another opinion.

Read more about Beverly Hills Cheek Augmentation with Cheek Implants here: http://www.drfpalmer.com/CheekImplants.html

 Read more about Radiesse Injections here:  http://www.drfpalmer.com/radiesse-injections.html

Dr. Francis R Palmer, III 

 Ok, like this just is being noticed for the first time that some of the celebrities actually look worse after their plastic and cosmetic surgery or treatments.  The latest was a story about Priscilla Presley and industrial grade silicone injected into her face.  This isn’t something new and I’ve written about the danders of silicone injections for some time now.  People, including celebrities, are victims to the unrealistic scams that promise no surgery facial rejuvenation. 

   Read more here:

Posted Mar 24th 2008 11:15PM by TMZ Staff

TMZ has learned Priscilla Presley is the victim of a botched cosmetic procedure. What’s worse — it was at the hands of a gigolo who was sent to prison for perpetrating an injectable scam on Hollywood’s elite.

 If you are not fully educated on your options regarding facial and body rejuvenation…find out more before you become victim to just such a scam.  Siliocne can’t be removed or reveresed.  Better to have reliable fillers like Restylane, Radiesse or Juvederm….or proven procedures like Facelifts, Breast Augmentation, Blepharoplasty, Rhinoplasty, Botox, Cheek Implants, Chin Implants or lip augmentation using Alloderm.  These things work….no hocus pocus, just proven, highly effective plastic and cosmetic surgery procedures and treatments.  Don’t get taken in by scams….be an educated, informed consumer.

Dr. Francis R Palmer, III

by Beverly Hills Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeon, Dr. Francis R Palmer:  Silicone injected directly into tissues can cause excess swelling, excess scarring, begign tumors and look quite unsightly.  I know that the idea of getting a quick silicone injection is something that appeals to people.  I understand that you are looking for that magic something that gives immediate results, without downtinme and is cost-effective.  I understand but silicone is NOT that something!

Silicone may look fantastic for years only to become lumpy, hard and over-swollen.  I have seen quite a few patients, that had silicone done by other doctors, that have these issues.  They come asking me to fix their lips, cheeks…whatever the site that silicone was placed.  I have to tell them: SILICONE CAN’T EVER BE REMOVED…PERIOD!  I can decrease the size of the lips by cutting out a section of the inside of the lip.  When silicone is injected in the cheeks, or the chin…ther isn’t much I can do about that at all.

So, before you have silicone in the lips….think about Alloderm to give the lips a nice plump, full, pouty look without the potential problems that silicone has.  The Alloderm will last about 7 years and can easilly be repeated.  Yes, it is a surgery, but an easy one that I have done to augment and increase the size of the lips for over a decade with great results.  Think about Restylane, Botox and Juvaderm as well but forget about Silicone.

Before you have silicone injected into your cheeks…read my “Palmer Beauty Principles” and consider Cheek Augmentation with either Radiesse….an injectiuon that lasts 1-3 years….or with Cheek Implants that are permanent.  Ditto for the augnmentation of the chin and jaw.

 Dr. Francis R Palmer, III

Saw patient today that had silicone injections to the face years ago.  Silicone was great for years and then things started to go wrong.  Really wrong.  The face started to look deformed and she searched for someone to remove the silicone.  Silicone is injected in minute droplets and is permanent….the body places collagen around the silicone droplets and the two together account for the effects noted after silicone injections.  Trouble is that silicone has shown that it can migrate from the places it was injected, like in this patients case.  Silicone can also cause some benign tumors called siliconomas.  Taking all this into account what’s a body to do if they don’t want surgery but want the benefits of a soft tissue filler?

 Radiesse (calcium hydroxyapetite) is a good alternative.  Here in my Beverly Hills practice, Radiesse is the #2 most commonly injected substance after Botox Injections.  I love how Radiesse can be injected to mold and sculpt the face similar to what I do with Facial Implants (Cheek and Chin Implants).  The company says it lasts 2-5 years.  We tell patients 2 years to be on the conservative side.  After that time, the material will be slowly removed by the body and you’ll loose the effects.  OK, so you have more injected.  That’s cool.

 If you’re looking to fill in the lines around the mouth Radiesse, Restylane or Collagen are all good soft tissue fillers.  Radiesse lasts longer, needs to be injected into the deep fatty tissue while Restylane and Collagen can be placed more superficially in the skin layers.  Each has it’s pros and cons and it’s worth the time and money to pay for a consultation with a Plastic & Cosmetic Surgeon or an experienced Dermatologist to discuss your particular needs and treatment options.

 If you’re looking to plump up your lips, Restylane or Collagen can be placed along the border of the lips for a fuller look.  These are not meant to be injected into the body of the lips as this could cause a compromise in the blood supply to the lip.  If that happens, part of the lip(s) will turn black and die.  Not a good thing!  For a more permanent Lip Augmentation, think about Alloderm.  I’ve used Alloderm for Lip Augmentation for over 10 years and this is the gold standard, in my opinion, for Lip Enhancement.  It is a surgical procedure and can’t be done with injections.  A strip of Alloderm is placed under the red portion of the lip and unlike Restylane and Collagen does has the ability to increase the size of the body of the lips.  I’ve found that it lasts about 7 years.

 Finally.  Please avoid going to other countries, like Mexico, for silicone (silica) injections.  This has become popular the last several years with some treatments costing as little as $50.  You do not know what you are getting and for that reason alone, in my opinion, they are best avoided.  On a similar note….I hear stories of people (not Plastic & Cosmetic Surgeons) flying to large cities from Paris or elsewhere…renting hotel rooms where they will inject people with silicone and other exotic substances.  Once again, you don’t know what you are getting and just because your friend Suszy had it done last month and looks great is no guarantee that all heck won’t break loose on your face 10 years down the road.  It’s just not worth the risk….trust me!

Read more about Radiesse Injections here: http://www.drfpalmer.com/radiesse-injections.html

Watch Dr. Palmer on ABC’s “The View” with a Radiesse and Botox patient here: http://drfpalmer.com/movie/index.html

Read more about Restylane Injections here:  http://www.drfpalmer.com/restylane-injections.html

Read more about Botox Injections here:  http://www.drfpalmer.com/botox-injections.html

Read more about Alloderm Lip Augmentation and Enhancement here:

http://www.drfpalmer.com/LipAugmentation.html

 Dr. Francis R Palmer, III