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cosmetic procedure

What Is an Eye Lift?

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lady-checks-face-in-mirrorWe all want to retain the vigor and vitality of youth, and most of us want our appearance to do the same. It’s no surprise, then, that many of the most popular plastic surgery procedures focus on “lifting” and restoring a younger, rejuvenated look. You’ve heard of a facelift, neck lift, brow lift, breast lift, and possibly even a body lift. There’s another procedure, though, that is more popular than you might realize: an eye lift.

As a double board-certified plastic surgeon who has specialized in facial rejuvenation for over 25 years, I am proud to provide an inside look at eye lifts including what they are, why they’re performed, and how you can make yours minimally invasive.

What Is an Eye Lift?

An eye lift, simply put, is a plastic surgery that revitalizes the area around the eyes. It may involve removing excess sagging skin and swollen fat and repositioning other tissue, but the ultimate goal is to make your eyes look younger and brighter and to align with your desired results.

Eye lifts go by several different names. You may hear this surgery referred to as cosmetic eyelid surgery, blepharoplasty, eyelid lift, or possibly an “eye job.” By any name, though, there are two types of eye lifts. Upper eyelid surgery focuses on the area above your eyes, namely the space between your eyebrow and your upper eyelid. Lower eyelid surgery focuses on the area below the eyes. Some people want to reduce aging both above and below their eyes, so it’s common to perform upper and lower eyelid surgery in the same procedure.

What Cosmetic Issues Does an Eye Lift Address?

Everyone experiences facial aging in different ways and at different paces, but there are certain common aesthetic frustrations that upper and lower eyelid surgeries aim to address. An upper eye lift is meant to reduce sagging skin above the upper eyelids. That sagging skin (and sometimes fat), whether genetic or age-related, gives you “hooded eyelids” or puffy eyelids and makes your eyes appear more tired.

A lower eye lift, on the other hand, is meant to address “bags under the eyes.” Under-eye bags can be caused by protruding pads of fat under your eyes, sagging skin below your eyes, or both, so a lower eyelid surgery will address one or both of these issues to give you a revitalized and well-rested look.

How Common Are Eye Lifts?

You may not hear about eye lifts as often as facelifts, but they’re actually highly common. In fact, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, eyelid surgery was the second most popular cosmetic surgery in 2020, with over 325,000 of these procedures performed in the US that year.

How Long Does an Eye Lift Last?

No surgery or treatment can stop your skin from aging in the future, so for any age-correcting procedure, your results will seem to fade as you develop new aging over the coming years. That is why many of these procedures like facelifts are typically repeated after about ten years to treat these new signs of aging. The good news with an eye lift, however, is that my patients rarely experience enough new aging in this area after surgery to warrant a new surgery, so most eye lift patients only have the procedure once.

Keep in mind, though, that you will still want to take steps to maintain your results for as long as possible. This includes healthy skin care, daily sun protection, and potentially non-surgical skin treatments like laser treatments to reduce mild aging.

How to Get a Minimally Invasive Eye Lift

If you want to give your eyes a brighter, younger appearance without extensive surgery, you’re in luck. I offer my own type of eye lift called Band Aid Eyelid Surgery. This is a minimally invasive variation of the eye lift which I perform in my safe and well-equipped office with the use of gentle numbing instead of general anesthesia. Your Band Aid Eyelid Surgery will be customized to fit your needs, providing natural-looking results with less recovery time than a traditional eyelid surgery.

If you would like to find out if my Band Aid Eyelid Surgery can help you refresh your appearance, schedule a plastic surgery consultation with me, Dr. John LeRoy, today. Follow me on Facebook for more cosmetic surgery tips and insights.

How Much Does a Facelift Cost? Top Questions About Facelift Pricing

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facelift costEveryone wants to look their best and feel confident in their appearance on a daily basis. At the same time, most of the features that make people self-conscious cannot be treated or corrected for free. Many of my patients find themselves balancing the procedures they want with the procedures that fit within their budget.

If you’re considering a facelift and want to start planning ahead for your budget, I’m happy to help by answering your top questions about facelift costs.

How Much Does a Facelift Cost?

This is a very common question, but there isn’t an across-the-board price or a reliable average to consider. Every facelift surgery is customized to the patient’s needs, and there are many factors that affect the price of a facelift.

With that said, some organizations have compiled general pricing guides. According to The Aesthetic Society, the average cost for a facelift is about $7,700, while the American Society of Plastic Surgeons puts the average at $8,000. Keep in mind that these only include the surgeon’s fee, however – a typical facelift will also include anesthesia fees and hospital costs, and potentially other costs as well. Meanwhile, RealSelf estimates the average price of a facelift at about $12,000, without going into detail about what fees this includes.

Ultimately, the only way to know the anticipated cost of your facelift is to receive a personal consultation with your prospective facelift surgeon. In this meeting, we can discuss the results you want, the tailored facelift that can best produce those results, and the expected cost for that procedure.

What Will Affect the Price of a Facelift?

As I mentioned, the cost of a facelift varies considerably because many factors will differ from one patient to the next. Among many others, these factors can include:

  • The type of facelift you’re receiving
  • Any additional procedures you want to combine with your facelift such as eyelid surgery
  • Your location, as areas with a higher cost of living, will have higher costs for plastic surgery
  • Your surgeon’s qualifications, experience, and demand level
  • The facility where you have your surgery

How Can I Make My Facelift More Affordable?

First and foremost, I would advise anyone that for a facelift or any other medical procedure, cost should not be your top priority as you choose your surgeon and plan your surgery. Receiving a facelift from an inexperienced, unskilled, or unqualified surgeon can leave you with poor results that make you more self-conscious than you were before, or it could put your safety at risk.

However, if you choose a qualified board-certified plastic surgeon with experience in facial plastic surgery, there are still ways to make your facelift more cost-effective. One option is to choose a minimally invasive facelift instead of a traditional facelift, as long as it is a good fit for your facial aging and can provide the results you are expecting. For example, my Band Aid Mini Facelift is performed in-office using gentle numbing, allowing my patients to avoid the high cost of general anesthesia and the hospital operating room fees while still enjoying safe and natural-looking results.

Another key to keeping your costs low is to be cautious about following all pre-surgical and post-surgical care instructions. These instructions are designed to help your surgery and your recovery proceed smoothly, so they lower your risk of complications and the added cost of treating those complications.

Can I Finance My Facelift?

If you are concerned about waiting to save up for your facelift, you may not need to wait. While each surgeon has different options, I am proud to offer facelift financing through CareCredit®, an external company that provides financing for medical and cosmetic care.

Beginning Your Facelift Journey

If you and your budget are ready to take the first steps toward your facelift or Band Aid Mini Facelift, now is the time to start. Schedule a facelift consultation with me, Dr. John LeRoy, in my Atlanta office. Follow me on Facebook for more plastic surgery insights.

How to Prepare for Liposuction

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atlanta-liposuction

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people in the US alone choose liposuction or mini liposuction surgery to shape their physiques and give them the contours they want, whether they’re treating their “double chin” area, abdomen, arms, legs, or other area. If you have a vision in mind for your figure, liposuction could be the ideal way to make that vision a reality.

As with any surgery, though, liposuction has better potential if you prepare correctly before your surgery. As double board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. John LeRoy, I guide patients through their surgery preparations before any procedure. Take these important pre-surgery steps to set yourself up for a more effective, safe, and predictable procedure.

Choose the Right Type of Liposuction for Your Needs

It’s vital to choose an experienced and knowledgeable board-certified plastic surgeon for your liposuction, but that isn’t the only decision that will impact your results. There are also different types of liposuction surgery for you to choose.

If you want to treat a small area, consider my Band Aid Liposuction instead. This is a minimally invasive version of liposuction surgery which I developed to use gentle numbing rather than general anesthesia. I perform it safely in my plastic surgery office, and if you are the right fit for this surgery, you may be able to enjoy excellent results with less recovery time and a lower cost.

Master the Art of Weight Management

Because liposuction removes unwanted fat, there is a common misconception that it is a substitute for weight loss or an “easy way out” for people who want to lose weight. In reality, liposuction takes off very little weight. It’s designed not for shrinking your size but for shaping your curves and contours in the way you want and for removing small, localized pockets of stubborn fat.

To get the best results from your liposuction, it’s important to be at or very near to your ideal weight before your surgery. Remember that if your weight fluctuates after your surgery, it can also affect your long-term results, so it’s vital that you have mastered weight management before surgery so you can keep your weight stable and preserve your results for as long as possible.

Prioritize Your Health

For liposuction, as with any surgery, the better your health is before the procedure, the better your recovery is likely to be. Healing from surgery is a big job, so you want your body to be in top shape beforehand so healing can be its only focus.

To make that happen, take time to build and maintain healthy habits before your surgery. That includes eating a healthy diet, avoiding tobacco and nicotine as well as excessive alcohol, drinking plenty of water, and managing stress. Before your surgery with me, I will also require lab testing to check your health and ensure that you are healthy enough for the procedure.

Follow Your Pre-Surgical Instructions

For every patient that I treat, I begin with a pre-surgical consultation to discuss the surgery you may want, what the surgery involves, your expectations, and so on. As part of that consultation, I will give you detailed pre-surgical instructions for preparing for your procedure.

Be sure to follow all of these instructions carefully, because they are all designed to help you have a surgery that is as safe and effective as possible. These instructions will include information about what medications to avoid and when antibiotic soap to use for your treatment area, how to prepare for your postoperative care, and more.

Planning Ahead for the Best Possible Liposuction Results

Liposuction can be an excellent way to resolve frustrating areas of stubborn fat and finally achieve the contours you want for your physique in the upcoming swimsuit season and all year round. Preparing properly for your surgery will help you enjoy a smoother surgery with the best, longest-lasting results possible.

To start planning your liposuction surgery, call my plastic surgery office to schedule a consultation today. Follow me on Facebook for more cosmetic surgery tips.

 

Tips for Managing Your Facelift Scars

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facelift scars LeRoyScarring is an inevitable part of any surgery, and this is something that I discuss with every patient in their pre-surgical consultation. Of course, for a facelift or any other plastic surgery, the purpose of the procedure is a cosmetic improvement, so it’s natural that you want to keep your scarring as minimal as possible.

Genetics and other factors outside your control do play a part in your risk of forming noticeable scars. Still, there are plenty of steps you can take both before and after surgery to lower your risk or to manage and minimize your scars. As a double board-certified plastic surgeon who specializes in facelifts, I help patients with this aspect of their cosmetic surgery journeys every day, so I’m happy to provide tips and insights.

Choose a Skilled and Experienced Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon

One of the many factors that influence your scarring is the skill of your surgeon. You want your surgeon to be able to close your incision cleanly and smoothly without excess tension. For this and many other reasons, it’s important to choose a board-certified plastic surgeon who has extensive experience in facelifts, and I’m proud to fit these criteria. It helps to review a surgeon’s before and after photos too to see how noticeable (or not) their patients’ scars typically are.

Follow Post-Surgical Instructions Closely

When you have your facelift or Band Aid Mini Facelift surgery, your surgeon will give you clear instructions for your recovery, such as instructions about wound care, activity, sleeping, and so on. All of these instructions are designed to help you heal as smoothly as possible, and many of them will have a direct impact on your scarring. It’s critical to follow all these instructions closely and to contact the surgeon if you have any questions.

Eat Plenty of Protein

Your skin heals wounds (including surgical incisions) using collagen, a protein that your body naturally produces. To produce that collagen, your body needs certain ingredients like amino acids, which largely come from breaking down the protein you eat. You can help your body produce the collagen it needs for a smoother scar by eating a healthy diet overall with plenty of protein.

Make Sun Protection a Priority

As your skin is healing, it will be particularly sensitive to the sun. Sun exposure on an incision that is still healing can lead to pigmentation changes that make your scar more noticeable. To prevent this, be sure to avoid sun exposure to your incision in the first weeks after your surgery.

Keep in mind that scar tissue doesn’t tan. Even in the years after your surgery, it’s best to protect your facial skin with sunscreen every day because if your face tans but your scars don’t, the scars will be more prominent. Sun protection also reduces premature aging, allowing you to enjoy your facelift results for longer.

Consider Scar Reduction Treatments

Scars can continue to improve slowly in the months and years after your surgery, and if you follow the tips above, your facelift scars are likely to be minimal and well-concealed. However, if you find yourself bothered by your facelift scars, there are treatments that may be able to help. The most successful option is typically a laser treatment like my Band Aid Laser Skin Resurfacing, though treatments like chemical peels may offer improvements as well.

Setting Yourself Up for Better Facelift Results

Minimizing your scarring is one of many ways to make your facelift as successful as possible with results you’ll enjoy for years. The tips above can help you minimize your scarring risks even before your surgery and while you heal. To start your journey toward the facelift results you’ll love, schedule a facelift consultation with me, Dr. John LeRoy, at my Atlanta office. Follow me on Facebook for more plastic surgery insights.

What Can a Tummy Tuck Do for Me?

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Most people would love to have a firmer, smoother physique, but life tends to have other plans. Aging can take a toll on anyone’s figure, and so can having kids and raising a family. That’s why there are ways to take back control over your appearance while still enjoying the fulfilling lifestyle you have. One of those ways is with tummy tuck surgery.

You’ve probably heard of a tummy tuck, but what exactly can it do for you and your appearance? As a double board-certified plastic surgeon, I’m highlighting each of the ways a tummy tuck can benefit you.

Tummy Tuck

Tighten Your Abdominal Skin

Just as skin can thin and sag on the face, the same can happen to the abdomen. Aging plays a role, but the largest contributor to excess abdominal skin is usually pregnancy. Your skin stretches quickly to accommodate your baby’s growth, but after you give birth, your skin often doesn’t tighten back up when your belly shrinks back to its usual size. A similar effect happens when people lose a significant amount of weight.

During a tummy tuck surgery or Band Aid Tummy Tuck surgery, I resolve this issue by removing excess abdominal skin and giving the remaining skin a smoother, firmer contour.

Flatten Certain Types of Abdominal “Pooches”

Another common effect of pregnancy is a “pooch” in the abdomen. When your baby is growing, your vertical abdominal muscles may separate from each other to some degree to make room for your baby. After you have the baby, those separated muscles can create a bulge or “pooch” in your lo

wer abdomen.

While workouts won’t help to repair these damaged muscles, a tummy tuck will. During your tummy tuck, I restore the bond between your abdominal muscles with a precise contour to give you a flatter abdomen.

Remove Excess Abdominal Fat

Most of us have some amount of abdominal fat we don’t want. During a tummy tuck, I can remove some of this unwanted fat as I’m removing excess skin and repairing the abdominal muscles.

Keep in mind, though, that if you only want to remove fat and you aren’t concerned about sagging skin or separated abdominal muscles, you are pr

obably a better fit for liposuction or my minimally invasive Band Aid Liposuction than for a tummy tuck. This is why it’s important to schedule a plastic surgery consultation if you’re considering any procedure – so I can discuss your goals with you and determine the best way to achieve the results you want.

Reduce Some Stretch Marks

As I noted, tummy tucks are particularly popular among people who have either had children or lost a significant amount of weight because both of those experiences can lead to sagging skin. Both weight fluctuations and pregnancy also have a tendency to leave stretch marks on your abdomen too.

To some degree, a tummy tuck can help with stretch marks. When I remove excess skin, I will generally be removing some of the skin with the stretch marks, so you can expect to have fewer 

stretch marks after your surgery. While everyone’s stretch marks can vary, a tummy tuck sometimes makes the remaining stretch marks less noticeable because the skin is firmer so it doesn’t pucker as much around the stretch marks.

Is a Tummy Tuck the Right Choice for You?

A tummy tuck is a highly effective cosmetic surgery that can be extraordinarily helpful for people who have excess abdominal skin, unwanted belly fat, and an abdomen “pooch.” If you want to make these types of changes to your appearance, call my plastic surgery office in Atlanta today to schedule your consultation. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for more plastic surgery tips.

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