ANGELINO (2015)

Anti-aging treatments
The latest in treatments, fillers and procedures help keep you beautifully radiant-at any age. Here’s the inside track on what to do, and who to go to, to put your best self forward. Among those esteem practitioners interviewed by Angelina, Dr. Randal Haworth MD was honored to be included among them. Anti-aging treatments
scan-9“Botox plays in important role in keeping fine lines at bay”, says plastic surgeon Dr. Randal Haworth MD renowned for achieving naturally beautiful results. Haworth suggests conservative use of Botox (from $500, the Haworth Institute) in the 30s to diminish fine lines and crows feet. Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Randal Haworth MD Bellafill ($1200, The Haworth Institute) to permanently diminish deep folds and fill out eyelid hollows.

“The Lifestyle Lift”-LSL . Does that really stand for the long scar lift?

  The myths and realities of the Lifestyle Lift

As with any service industry, there are convenience stop businesses and destination businesses. You see that with restaurants (think of McDonald’s or Chili’s versus French Laundry, one of the best restaurants in the United States) and you see this concept applicable to the plastic surgery business. I stress the term business  and not medical field for a reason in this essay. I can safely say that most people that pursue higher education in any country do so to seek a better life, better pay and have more opportunities come their way. Of course, most scrupulous doctors experience immense satisfaction from treating their patients as well and, cynically speaking, are not simply in it for the financial award.

Like all professionals, doctors do seek out (and deserve) a certain financial reward for all the years of dedication, study, stress and life sacrifice they undergo in order to carry out their profession and deliver the best care they can to their patients. However, in this day and age of increasing competition and commoditization in all aspects of health care including plastic surgery, surgeons are forced to perform more surgeries at lower costs and possibly increased medical risk to patients. This alarming trend can especially be seen in plastic surgery where the end results of a hastily performed surgery are not hidden within a body cavity but are plainly visible on the face. Some of my colleagues brag about the speed at which they perform a surgery citing the many corners that they “cut” during an operation as unnecessary steps (no pun intended). I suppose they feel more akin to a Usain Bolt than that of a gifted watchmaker.

This brings me to the title of this blog post-The Lifestyle Lift. To the unsuspecting public this facelift is heavily marketed as a viable, simpler, safer, faster quality facelift at a fraction of the price. In fact, this facelift is an overly simplified distillation of pre-existing ideas wrapped in a new packaging as something brand-new and revolutionary. The one aspect that is revolutionary about this facelift is that it is one of the first surgeries that has been rebranded and marketed directly to the “consumer”. The company then refers the “consumer’ to one of their participating surgeons in the network to become a patient. Unfortunately, as a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon board-certified by the American Board of plastic surgery, I have seen many results of this “Lifestyle Lift” that reek “cookie-cutter surgery” in which performance is measured in terms of speed and not quality.

I have seen many unacceptable, hideously widened scars most probably stemming from the fact that the surgeon did not perform a wide enough dissection to allow a tension-free closure (which is tantamount to a good scar). I have also consulted with many patients who were dismayed by how the “Lifestyle Lift” failed to meet their expected goals with incomplete treatment of their jowls, neck and midface.

While it is true that all surgeons have their small subset of unhappy patients either because of unrealistic expectations, sub-optimal results or unexpected complications, the large percentage of unhappy patients complaining of their “Lifestyle Lift” is too hard to ignore. For a good article on the subject that appeared in Plastic Surgery Practice.

The Injectable Nosejob

In the era of Twitter, Facebook, texting, rapid- fire music video editing, etc. everyone (including those not diagnosed with ADD) wants instant results. So what is unusual with wanting an instant nose job or rhinoplasty? Absolutely nothing. An instant nosejob is performed by strategically injecting a pre-chosen filler just below the nasal skin in an aesthetically sensitive manner. Temporary fillers such as Hyaluronic acids (Restylane™, Perlane™, Juvederm™, etc.) and calcium hydroxyappatite (Radiesse™) may be used as a “dress rehearsal” to confirm if the patients like their result. If so, many will then opt for a more permanent filler, either in the form of fat, Artefil ™ or Aquamid ™ (which is not yet FDA approved).

The appeal is obvious: less bruising, less prolonged swelling, less initial expense, less scary for the wary and more predictable (in the proper hands) with less risks. However, the injectable technique cannot be used to correct all types of cosmetic nasal problems and deformities. This is especially true for noses that need to be reduced in size and refined in shape. One does not need to be a genius to realize that fillers may do little to make a nose smaller by removing humps, refining tips and narrowing bones, no matter how well injected they are. The ideal candidate for an injectable rhinoplasty is the nose that needs to be augmented, either via it’s bridge (or dorsum) or it’s tip or both. A drooping tip can be elevated only to a subtle degree with filler.

Filler is also a great solution to those noses that have minor irregularities stemming from prior rhinoplasties. Filler will generally not help breathing problems. To learn more about this elegant solution to a rather common problem, check out these videos:

1.Extra Injectable NoseJob

2.Today Show Injectable NoseJob

3.Extra Artefill Injectable revision rhinoplasty

Dr Randal Haworth of Beverly Hills counts primary and revision rhinoplasty as one of his specialties  of plastic surgery

Rhinoplasty Philosophy – Dr. Randal Haworth

Rhinoplasty, or what people refer to in colloquial parlance as “nose job” surgery, is one of my favorite specialities. I have performed literally thousands of these challenging procedures as far afield as the Middle East, Europe and South East Asia. What I find so fascinating about rhinoplasty is how it can impart such dramatically positive change to the face as a whole – a classic case of the final result being greater than the sum of it’s parts.

Not only do I find it immensely gratifying to invent new solutions to challenging problems, I actually like the ” feel” of the surgery- the intricate interplay between skin, cartilage and bone. Even after 16 years of private practice, I discover new, exciting nuances in techniques that the average surgeon performs without feeling. Though I considered myself “top of my game” at the time I was doing plastic surgery on ” The Swan” in 2004, I look back upon those patients today and realize I could do better on a third of those rhinoplasties I performed! Like an artist, I always aim to do better and realize that my work today is better than it was in 2004 and will be better still 5 years from now, barring some personal tragedy.

The first era for me in rhinoplasty surgery was about creating beauty and my second era is about controlling beauty- imbuing a subtle softness into the result, and erasing all signs that humans hands had anything to do with the patient”s nose. A good pianists doesn’t just play the notes and chords accurately but also with crescendo and pianissimo- with feeling. My next series of blog posts will revolve around the subject of nasal surgery and aim to share with you certain concepts, both basic and advanced, that are important to both the lay person and surgeon alike.

Dr Randal Haworth of Beverly Hills is a specialist in all forms of aesthetic plastic surgery including primary and revision rhinoplasty.For further information go to drhaworth.com

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