We Would All Love To Have A Beautiful Face

When it comes to aging, having a beautiful face is what we worry about the most. After all most other parts of the anatomy can be concealed or disguised in one way or another!

Whilst well applied make-up can go a long way to hiding imperfections, there is a limit to what it can do, and many people turn to the knife or the needle for a bit of assistance with their goal of a beautiful face.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons most people seeking plastic surgery are looking for a beautiful face and the top ten procedures are; •nose reshaping

•eyelid surgery

•forehead lift

•facelift

•collagen injections

•chemical peel

•laser skin resurfacing

•liposuction

•breast enlargement

•tummy tuck.

The easiest and most popular treatments are those carried out with a syringe. These treatments are considered to be minimally invasive but care should still be taken when choosing the treatment and the practitioner.

Out of these Botulinum toxin (also known as Botox) is the most asked for and many women (and some men) seeking a beautiful face, become hooked after only one treatment. Do you really want to inject a toxin into your face? That is the question that you have to ask yourself so read all about the treatment below.

Botulinum toxin is the purified form of a poison created by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. These bacteria grow in improperly canned food and cause poisoning.

Minute amounts of the purified form can be injected into the muscles to relax them. It is used to treat a variety of muscular disorders and also in cosmetic procedures when it is injected into the small muscles of the face. It is interesting to note that the treatment was originally developed to treat strabismus (lazy eye or cross eye).

According to the experts, Botox is very safe when injected by a trained physician. The toxin is injected in very small amounts and remains mainly in the specific muscle injected.

Botulism poisoning is due to the affects of the poison on the breathing muscles, and in medical use far less of the poison is injected, but your doctor should be made aware of the following when seeking treatment;

•Eye infection, irritation or damage

•Infection

•Muscle disease

•Myasthenia gravis or other neurological diseases

•Pregnant or trying to get pregnant

•Breast feeding

•An unusual or allergic reaction to botulinum toxin

•Tell your doctor about all other medications you are taking whether they are prescription, non prescription or natural

•Discuss any recreational drugs that you may use including caffeine, alcohol and nicotine

Also always tell your health care professional that you receive Botox treatments if you are going to have surgery.

Do remember that the results are temporary, and for a continued beautiful face will need to be repeated every 3 or 4 months.

Using fillers to plump out wrinkles is another way of trying for a beautiful face.

This is a subject too wide to cover in depth in this forum as there are over 70 fillers on the market world wide and many of these are not tested.

There are fillers that are animal derived, non-animal derived and those derived from human tissue. Some of these are discussed below;

Hyaloric Gel is one of the most popular fillers which has been used for over ten years in more than 6 million treatments. Youthful skin is rich in hyaloric acid (HA) which is a substance that binds water and hydrates the skin. As we age the HA in our skin gradually becomes less efficient and this leads to a loss of facial fullness.

Hyaloric Acid gives our own HA a boost instantly rejuvenating the skin and softening facial lines. It has the additional advantage of stimulating collagen production and improving the skin’s elasticity.

It can be used to treat facial lines, wrinkles, folds, shaping facial contours, & lip enhancement. Treatment takes about 30 minutes and will last for about 6 to 9 months.

Some Hyaloric acid gels are animal derived i.e. Hylaform, Hylaform Plus and Hylaform Fine.Others i.e. Restylane, Restylane Fine, Perlane, Juvederm, AcHyal and MacDermol are non animal derived.

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body comprising up to 6 per cent of our total weight. It is one of the main constituents of skin, bones, teeth, tendons, cartilage, and ligaments, forming fibres that bind together and strengthen these tissues. Collagen (from the Greek, meaning ‘glue-maker’) is a remarkably strong material, but it is relatively inelastic.

As a person ages, the shape of collagen fibres change, resulting in the formation of wrinkles. Approximately 4000 people a year, in Britain alone, ask cosmetic surgeons to inject bovine (from an ox) collagen into their skin to remove wrinkles, creases and folds, hoping that they will get the beautiful face that they seek.

About 3 per cent of the women cannot have the treatment because of an allergic reaction, but for the others the treatment may remove wrinkles. However, the effects are short-lived as the collagen is usually reabsorbed into the body within 6 to 18 months.

An alternative to animal collagen is available but it is very expensive. It is obtained from donor cadavers, placentas and foetuses.

Fat injections are also an alternative. Because human fat is much thicker than collagen, a larger needle is required to inject it and that can result in significant bruising.

Face peels are another very popular procedure in the quest for a wrinkle free and beautiful face.The most commonly performed peels use mild solutions of beta hydroxy acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid and salicylic acid, to peel the skin. The process usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes and more than one peel would be required to maintain results over time.

Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) is a medium peel used to correct superficial blemishes and pigmentation and fine lines

The Phenol peel is a stronger peel that is best for fair skinned people in their 50’s or 60’s with significant sun damage to the skin.

A phenol peel takes one to two hours and causes very deep injury to the skin. Because the phenol is absorbed, there is the possibility of it damaging the heart, liver and kidneys.

A wrinkled neck area is very aging and no matter how well you have maintained yourself and kept a beautiful face, a wrinkled neck will give your age away every time!

If you have tried neck exercises and neck creams and have not seen an improvement, your only alternative may be a neck lift. It is usually done together with a face lift and, if heavy jowls or a double chin are also a problem, liposuction can also be included.

Incisions are usually made around the ears and under the chin, any excess skin is cut away, and the skin is reattached behind the ears. Scarring is minimal but bruising and swelling can take up to 3 weeks to subside after which you should have a beautiful face, but you you not go back to work for about a week.

Another non invasive treatment is laser skin care, but if you have made the decision to go ahead with surgery we need to discuss the various plastic surgery procedures on offer. Have a look at face lift surgery and body lift.

Come to Cape Town for a fantastic holiday and have your plastic surgery at the same time. You will not only have the best surgeons but you will be treated like royalty, and save money to boot. And of course you will have the added bonus that you won’t have to admit to anyone that you have had surgery!