Tag Archives: saving money

Permanent non-surgical rhinoplasty?

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"A lovely woman closes her eyes as a needle approaches her nose"

Injection Rhinoplasty

Quite a few rhinoplasty surgeons offer non-surgical (or injection) rhinoplasty. But does it last?

Facial fillers like Sculptra, Radiesse, Juvederm and Restylane are often used. But they dissolve back into the body within six months to a year. That means more trips back for additional injections and more time lost from work.

But, permanent injectable fillers last as long as you do. To date, there are only two for the face:

  • Artefill
  • Silikon 1000

While Artefill is intended for the deep creases, lines and age-revealing folds in the face, Silikon 1000 is used for permanent nose jobs done by injection. And that’s only if you need correction on the outside of the nose.

With Silikon, you can get a preview of coming attractions.

If you have divots, marks, scars, pocks, a nasal hump, a low bridge or other marks on the surface skin of the nose, only a few U.S. rhinoplasty specialists offer Silikon 1000 corrections. The very best surgeons can show you what your nose will look afterwards by using sterilized saline – plain old salt water – to reveal what the Silikon 1000 injections will do for your nose.

Saline improvements last perhaps an hour, long enough to snap a few pictures. Compare the saline test shots with pictures showing the nose in its natural, unrepaired state and then decide if you want to make it permanent.

Silikon 1000, a medical grade silicone, is used in internal eye surgery. A standard, approved and legal part of any medical practice – including those of cosmetic plastic surgeons – is using a substance or technique “off-label”.

Meaning? While the substance has not been tested by the FDA for that particular use, it is the best treatment available to the doctor who has seen it work in many patients.

Some history:  Silikon 1000 for injection rhinoplasty has been used successfully in nasal skin improvements for the last 50 years. According to scientific literature, the secret is placing tiny micro droplets just under the skin to plump out and disguise hollow places.

(Read more about permanent, non-surgical rhinoplasty in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, a professional magazine for plastic surgeons.)

For instance, a nose with a large hump can be made to look straight again using no more than 1/8th of a teaspoon of Silikon 1000 injected at many different locations on the nose.

The body walls off the tiny micro-droplets, creating a plumping action that fills in humps, scars, lines and other marks on the nose.

"A very pretty young woman shows her nose before and after injection rhinoplasty"

Before and After Non-surgical Rhinoplasty

The woman’s nose, left, caved in from a failed surgical rhinoplasty done elsewhere. Right, the results of permanent non-surgical injection rhinoplasty. No further surgery needed.

Cosmetic Surgery: Top 5 Procedures to Skip

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"A beautiful woman purses her lips as if to kiss"

After Lip Augmentation

With purse strings being tightened everywhere, more people are deciding which things are really important and which are not.

Ditto, some cosmetic surgery decisions are being re-thought, Some once-popular, faddish procedures may produce only so-so results in your appearance  while greatly reducing the size of your wallet or purse.

Here are the top 5 cosmetic surgery procedures you could skip:

  • Leg lengthening

Popular in China, the procedure involves many months of treatment with surgical stretching devices on your legs. But you gotta ask: is it worth $120,000 and many months of discomfort to be taller, larger and more in charge?

  • Buttock implants

Buttock augmentation with one’s own donated fat is popular but if you are slim and don’t have enough fat to spare, your only choice is solid silicone implants. But consider: most of us sit a lot. All day, in many cases. If your entire body weight is placed on implants day after day, something is likely to give. Infections and extrusion (the implant breaking the surface of the skin) is likely.

  • Lip augmentation via implant

Sure, body pressure on a lip implant is not involved. But unless you are professional mime, your lips are moving most of the time. All that jaw jacking can also cause the implant to move or extrude. Meanwhile, Restylane or Juvederm injections satisfy many patients’ desire for thicker kissers.

  • ”Flab Jab” to Reduce Fat

The series of cosmetic injections known as mesotherapy and lipodissolve use some non-FDA approved ingredients to inject into flabby places – like the infamous “love handles” – to dissolve the area. But only 34 percent of 66 RealSelf.com reviewers who had the procedure said it was worth the average $2300 cost. (Read more about patients’ experience with the cosmetic surgery procedure, mesotherapy.)

  • Breast augmentation via injection with your own fat

Some patients love it because no knife is involved, only injections. While the procedure is under study, the chief objection is because transferred fat often dies when moved to a new location. If fat does die in the body, it can be confusing to, or block, X-rays and Mammograms needed to check for breast cancer. If something even slightly suspicious turns up on breast check, more costs (and discomfort) are added to the equation because doctors then must do a needle biopsy to check for live cancer cells.

Cosmetic Surgery Costs – Top 5 Discounts

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Everybody is now concerned about their Dollars (and Pounds, Yen, Rubles, Krone and Euros!) with so much talk of a looming, double-dip, global recession. So penny-pinching is often the order of the day.
It’s no different in cosmetic surgery financing — provided you find a fully trained, qualified and experienced cosmetic plastic surgeon. (Read the Top 6 Tips for finding a good, board-certified plastic surgeon.)

Reacting to ads for low, low fee surgery is not always a bargain and can result in costs that are three to four times the amount of the first surgery to repair the damage done in bargain basement cosmetic surgery.
The top 5 ways you can save and still have a good outcome:

• Cosmetic surgery layaway

Many offices will consider taking your procedure on a layaway basis. You pay a little at a
time until the cost of rejuvenation surgery is covered. Plus, the cash discount applies!

• Plastic surgery standby

That works just like standby airline flights. If your time is your own, tell your cosmetic plastic surgeon you can fill in on short noticed – seven to ten days – when his surgery schedule has a sudden cancellation. Standby can be worth a 15 to 20 percent discount.

• Lump several procedures together into one surgical session

Say you want an eyelid lift and liposuction. Ask if you can combine the two procedures into one surgical session. That means one fee for an operating room and for the anesthesiologist with a single recovery period. The fee for your eyelid lift, or blepharoplasty, will be the standard but your liposuction may be discounted by five to 10 percent. A third surgical procedure? More discounts.

• Save up and pay cash or with a check

When you pay with plastic, the credit card company nicks the surgeon for three to five percent of his fee for the privilege. So  ask for a three to five percent discount for ponying up in cash.

• Book your procedure during the surgeon’s least busy season

Almost all cosmetic plastic surgery is tied to school schedules, with many more consumers arranging surgery when school is in session.

Thus, many surgeons offer reduced fees during the slow times of the year which includes the first two months of a new year. A twenty percent discount is reasonable for surgery during the slowest times.

Beverly Hills Cosmetic Surgery Consultations

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"A patient meets with a doctor and shakes hands"

Beverly Hills Cosmetic Surgery Consultation

If you spend much time looking for information about Los Angeles cosmetic plastic surgery, you’ll often see various surgeons offering a “consultation.” Some charge and some don’t.

So what’s it for?

A surgical consult is for the cosmetic surgeon to hear what procedure you want. He or she must decide if your procedure can be done and if you are healthy enough for plastic surgery.

You, in turn, should learn about many areas, including:

  • If the surgeon has good before and after plastic surgery pictures
  • His or her level of training and experience
  • Required pre-surgery tests, including a physical exam
  • Time away from work for surgery and recovery
  • Total charges for surgery

Say you’re interested in a rhinoplasty –you find if the surgery can be done, how you might look after healing, if it’s within your budget and if the consultation fee can be applied to the total costs of it all. Some Los Angeles cosmetic surgeons apply that fee to the surgery, others don’t.

If no fee is involved? Think about it: Any Beverly Hills board-certified plastic surgeon has spent somewhere around four to seven years taking extra surgical training after receiving the M.D. degree.

If no consultation is involved you must wonder:

  • Is the surgeon only eager for patients?
  • Is he or she fully qualified?
  • Will I get an objective evaluation or a sales pitch?

One writer penning a guide to Los Angeles and Beverly Hills plastic surgery went to six free and one paid consultations. He came away thinking:

  • No-fee consultation visits were basically sales tools
  • Surgeons who do charge rely more on their reputations

The thought is not too cynical: if you don’t pay anything, you may receive nothing of value.

Some years ago, we wrote two books, Secrets of a Beverly Hills Cosmetic Surgeon and The Essential Cosmetic Surgery Companion.

For people who read one book, we reduce the price of the consultation by $25 (for a total of $175) because we spend less time explaining surgery during consultations.

Plus, those readers really know how to select the right Los Angeles cosmetic surgeon – or a surgeon anywhere else!

Learn more about plastic surgery consultations

Or, look at some before and after cosmetic plastic surgery pictures.