Since beauty is in the eye(s) of the beholder, it should be of little surprise that the eye area is often the first place plastic surgeons focus with their patients. A series of Botox or filler treatments -- or a one-time surgical fix to the upper and lower eyelids, "tear trough," or browline -- could be the ticket to starting to see the more beautiful, inner you shine forth.
As health insurers move toward defining treatments as "functional" versus "non-functional," plastic surgery offices are having difficulty convincing insurers to cover broken noses, so blepharoplasty (cosmetic eye surgery) and Botox are out of the question.
For those with a bit of expendable income, focusing on the eyes could get you bang for your buck. At $15-20 per unit for filler or Botox, with perhaps 20 units per treatment -- keeping in mind that repeat treatments are necessary -- means you and your wallet can both avoid going under the knife. But Botox does come with its own risks and complications, especially if not administered by a trained professional, notes Harris Sterman, M.D., chief of the division of plastic surgery at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck.
"Fillers" made of hyaluronic acid or calcium crystals, such as Radiesse, are more popular with Sterman. "It has a very good track record, and complication rates are low," he says, adding that fillers can more simply help mask the contours many patients are seeking to correct. The fillers usually cost anywhere from $600 to $1,000 a treatment, and must be repeated about every six months.
Among surgical options, four-lid procedures and brow lifts are most popular, notes Stephen Colen, M.D., chairman of the department of plastic surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center. They may cost upwards of $6,000, and may run as high as $12,000. In such procedures, surgeons tend to remove less skin and more excess, bulgy fat that has accumulated over time due to water retention or other aging conditions, or to "lift" or correct the brow using injections, Colen says.
"Usually there's not a big need to take out the skin," Colen says, explaining that surgeons can make just a tiny incision to remove excess fat. "Then the skin recontours and falls into the right shape without the big bulge."
Many of these procedures and products are quite new, or are even being used "off-label," meaning for uses beyond their approval by the FDA; doctors need only inform their patients to be in the clear. But it's a far cry from the early days of plastic surgery, where a brow lift meant a large incision across the forehead. "We don't really have to do that anymore," Colen says. And, of course, it's a farther cry from two generations ago, when such procedures were essentially nonexistent or very poorly understood.
If you want to avoid going to the plastic surgeon in the first place, Sterman advises staying out of the sun, drinking water and smiling.
The ideal patient is self-aware of their aesthetic concerns, realistic in their expectations and willing to follow through in a partnership with the doctor to see that the corrections go well, Sterman adds. The doctors' final recommendation: Make sure you go to a licensed and experienced practitioner.
Since beauty is in the eye(s) of the beholder, it should be of little surprise that the eye area is often the first place plastic surgeons focus with their patients. A series of Botox or filler treatments -- or a one-time surgical fix to the upper and lower eyelids, "tear trough," or browline -- could be the ticket to starting to see the more beautiful, inner you shine forth.
As health insurers move toward defining treatments as "functional" versus "non-functional," plastic surgery offices are having difficulty convincing insurers to cover broken noses, so blepharoplasty (cosmetic eye surgery) and Botox are out of the question.
For those with a bit of expendable income, focusing on the eyes could get you bang for your buck. At $15-20 per unit for filler or Botox, with perhaps 20 units per treatment -- keeping in mind that repeat treatments are necessary -- means you and your wallet can both avoid going under the knife. But Botox does come with its own risks and complications, especially if not administered by a trained professional, notes Harris Sterman, M.D., chief of the division of plastic surgery at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck.
"Fillers" made of hyaluronic acid or calcium crystals, such as Radiesse, are more popular with Sterman. "It has a very good track record, and complication rates are low," he says, adding that fillers can more simply help mask the contours many patients are seeking to correct. The fillers usually cost anywhere from $600 to $1,000 a treatment, and must be repeated about every six months.
Among surgical options, four-lid procedures and brow lifts are most popular, notes Stephen Colen, M.D., chairman of the department of plastic surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center. They may cost upwards of $6,000, and may run as high as $12,000. In such procedures, surgeons tend to remove less skin and more excess, bulgy fat that has accumulated over time due to water retention or other aging conditions, or to "lift" or correct the brow using injections, Colen says.
"Usually there's not a big need to take out the skin," Colen says, explaining that surgeons can make just a tiny incision to remove excess fat. "Then the skin recontours and falls into the right shape without the big bulge."
Many of these procedures and products are quite new, or are even being used "off-label," meaning for uses beyond their approval by the FDA; doctors need only inform their patients to be in the clear. But it's a far cry from the early days of plastic surgery, where a brow lift meant a large incision across the forehead. "We don't really have to do that anymore," Colen says. And, of course, it's a farther cry from two generations ago, when such procedures were essentially nonexistent or very poorly understood.
If you want to avoid going to the plastic surgeon in the first place, Sterman advises staying out of the sun, drinking water and smiling.
The ideal patient is self-aware of their aesthetic concerns, realistic in their expectations and willing to follow through in a partnership with the doctor to see that the corrections go well, Sterman adds. The doctors' final recommendation: Make sure you go to a licensed and experienced practitioner.
