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 One of the most common plastic surgery procedures, rhinoplasty is performed to reshape, reduce or augment a person’s nose, remove a hump, narrow nostril width, change the angle between the nose and the mouth, or to correct injury, birth defects, or other problems that affect breathing. Rhinoplasty is usually an outpatient procedure performed under either local or general anesthesia and lasts one to two hours.
In time, gravity, sun exposure, and the stresses of daily life take their toll on our faces: deep creases appear beside the mouth, the jaw line slackens, and folds and fat deposits appear on the neck. Facelifts counteract these problems by removing fat and tightening skin and muscles, giving your face a fresher, youthful look. Incisions are made in inconspicuous places such as behind the hairline and in natural folds of the face and ears, and scars fade to near invisibility in time. After surgery, some patients appear 10-15 years younger.
 By removing excess fat, skin and muscle from the upper and lower eyelids, blepharoplasty can rejuvenate puffy, sagging or tired-looking eyes. It is typically a cosmetic procedure but can also improve vision by lifting droopy eyelids out of the patient’s field of vision. Blepharoplasty cannot be used to raise the eyebrows or reduce the appearance of wrinkles, crow’s feet or dark circles under the eyes, but the procedure can be combined with others such as a facelift and BOTOX ® treatments to achieve these results.
Forehead lift can revitalize drooping or lined foreheads, helping you to look less angry, sad or tired. Using either traditional or minimally invasive (endoscopic) methods, the muscles above the eyes are altered to smooth lines and raise the eyebrows for a more youthful appearance. The procedure is often combined with other operations such as blepharoplasty and facelifts to improve the look of the eyes and other areas of the face.
Implant sizes and shapes to augment the cheek and chin areas are tailored to each patient’s desired appearance. The implants are placed during an outpatient procedure under local or general anesthesia, which usually takes less than an hour to perform. Your doctor will make the necessary incisions in inconspicuous locations to allow for minimal scarring.
Ear surgery typically serves two functions: setting prominent ears back closer to the head, and reducing the size of large ears. Surgery may also be helpful for “lop ear," "cupped ear" and "shell ear,” large or stretched earlobes, and lobes with large creases and wrinkles. A small incision is made behind the ear, revealing the cartilage which is then sculpted, bent into its new position and stitched into place. In some types of otoplasty skin is removed but the cartilage is left in one piece and merely bent back on itself for a smaller-looking ear.
 Breast augmentation is the most frequently performed cosmetic surgery procedure in the U.S. It can give women with small or unevenly-sized breasts a fuller, firmer, better-proportioned look through the placement of implants in the breast. Women may elect to undergo breast augmentation for many different medical and aesthetic motivations, including balancing breast size and compensating for reduced breast mass after pregnancy or surgery. The procedure may be combined with others such as a breast lift for more satisfying results.
Implants are silicone shells filled with saline (salt water) and are placed behind each breast, underneath either breast tissue or the chest wall muscle. The procedure lasts one to two hours and is typically performed with general anesthesia. After surgery the patient’s bustline may be increased by one or more cup sizes.
A breast lift, or mastopexy, is performed to return youthful shape and lift to breasts that have sagged as a result of weight loss, pregnancy, loss of the skin’s natural elasticity or simply the effects of gravity. The procedure can also reduce areolar size (the dark skin surrounding the nipple), and it can be combined with mastopexy (breast augmentation) for added breast volume and firmness. Breasts of any size can be lifted, but results last longest when they are originally small and sagging.
 Large breasts may cause physical and mental discomfort and can even harm the women who have them -- the size and weight of large breasts can result in self-consciousness, improper posture, pain in the back and neck, indentations from bra straps, skin rashes, breathing problems and skeletal deformities. Breast reduction surgery is usually done to provide physical relief from these symptoms, not for cosmetic reasons. Performed under general anesethesia, the two- to four-hour procedure removes fat and glandular tissue and trims resultant excess skin to produce smaller, lighter breasts that are in a healthier proportion to the rest of the body.
Enlarged male breasts (gynecomastia) affects nearly 40-60% of men, often with no known cause. This condition can be highly embarrassing as well as physically uncomfortable.
Men who feel self-conscious about enlarged breasts may seek breast reduction surgery. The procedure removes fat and/or glandular tissue from the breasts, and in some cases excess skin as well. The result is a flatter, firmer chest.
Abdominoplasty ("Tummy Tuck")
Abdominoplasty helps to flatten and shape the abdomen and waist by removing excess fat and skin and tightening muscles. The best candidates have pockets of fat or loose skin that haven’t responded well to diet and exercise. The procedure can also be useful for women with stretched skin and muscles from pregnancy.
The procedure takes approximately two to five hours and can be performed with general anesthesia or local anesthesia with a sedative. Recovery time ranges from two weeks to a few months. With a balanced diet and regular exercise, results are long-lasting. Abdominoplasty will likely leave a permanent scar stretching between the hips, although it should be low enough for even a bikini to conceal it.
 One of the most popular cosmetic surgery procedures, liposuction sculpts the body by removing undesirable fat from areas such as the abdomen, waist, hips, buttocks, thighs, knees, chin, cheeks, neck and upper arms that have not responded to diet and exercise. Local anesthesia or general anesthesia may be used and the procedure can last anywhere from one to five hours depending on the amount of fat being removed.
There are several different methods surgeons use when performing liposuction, including tumescent liposuction, the super-wet technique, and ultrasound-assisted liposuction (UAL). In all types a tiny incision is made in as inconspicuous a place as possible; a cannula (small tube) then breaks up the fat layer and suctions it out.
 The body lift is performed to remove loose, excess skin from the torso and upper legs. It offers an improvement in appearance for patients who have lost significant amounts of weight due to childbearing, diet, exercise or bariatric surgery. The procedure is often combined with others such as breast lifts and arm lifts to retain a proper body proportion.
After substantial weight loss, weight gain or simply from the effects of aging, skin on the upper arms can become inelastic, loose and flabby. Arm lifts, also known as brachioplasty, remove that excess skin and fat. Patients who have significant amounts of fat may want to consider combining the procedure with liposuction.
Mommy Makeovers are specially designed cosmetic procedures that can help you feel youthful and renewed after maternity, without long and painful recovery times. We know that family comes first, but it's important for mommies to feel as good about themselves as they do about their growing families. Our procedures will fit into your schedule and your budget, but will leave you with a new outlook that will reflect in even the smallest of your motherly duties. A Mommy Makeover is a simple step that can help you and your family feel so much more confident about each exciting and challenging day. Call today for a consultation.
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