Richard Bosshardt

All surgery leaves scars but scars on the eyelids are among the finest and faintest of all. The scars may be difficult to perceive even when you look for them.

This is an attempt to lift and tighten the face using mini-incisions and a device (endoscope) to visualize the surgery and work through. Very few surgeons do these because the results are often disappointing compared to traditional facelifts.

As many times as you wish although you are probably foolish to do this more than twice in a lifetime. Think Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller.

Impossible to answer as this is so subjective. You will look more youthful but should still look like yourself and people who do not know you should not be able to guess that you have had a facelift.

There is no such surgical procedure. Some physicians are injecting a filler material (Radiesse) into the backs of hands to make them look more useful. I have seen some nice results but reserve judgement on this. I don't do this. You can do limited laser treatment on the backs of hands to remove age spots. The results can be nice but are temporary .

You can use a light device, called intense pulsed light (IPL), which targets the brown pigment. It works well but the results last only a year or so in most cases. I do not use IPL. It is tedious and time consuming. Anyone can do this. I am a surgeon and prefer to do what I was trained to do.

It is not a very painful procedure, probably not much more than piercing your ears. Earlobes do not seem to have a lot of pain receptors.

Yes, but you should wash it off right away. You can get "plastic" surgery anywhere, from the top of your head to your toes. That said, it depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Most plastic hand surgery is reconstructive, as opposed to cosmetic.

Usually through the mouth, although facelift and eyelid incisions can be used.

There are some plastic surgeons who recommend to their patients that they routinely replace their breast implants every 10 or 15 years. I am not one of those. There is no study showing any benefit to this practice and I think it is more a way of establishing a revolving door of return patients for more surgery than anything else. I have removed saline and gel implants after 15 or more years that looked pretty much like the day they were put in. I feel there is no reason to disturb your implants if you are doing well, like the look and feel of your breasts, and have no other indications that there is a problem with them. I have always told my patients that they should have their breasts with implants checked periodically by a plastic surgeon. I recommend every other year as a reasonable, not too onerous, schedule. Few ever do. Even when I used to send out reminder cards to patients, they would not come back, so I stopped doing this. I have never charged a patient of mine for any visit to check her implants; it is a lifetime commitment I make to my patients so long as I am in practice. I am now seeing a few patients back after 15 or more years since their surgery. Most are doing well. 

Richard T. Bosshardt, MD, FACS

You can expect relatively little pain, variable swelling and bruising for 10-14 days. You should be able to look presentable to go out in public in 7-10 days. She should expect numbness in the cheeks and temples for up to a year or more. You expect to feel tightness for months in your neck. You should expect scars that will be sufficiently well hidden and of good enough quality that no one should see them but your plastic surgeon and hairdresser (ask your surgeon if he/she puts their incision in front of the ear or along the inside of the ear for less visibility). should expect to look like yourself, just refreshed and more youthful. You should not look fake, "plastic", or like you have clearly had surgery. You expect a permanent result, realizing that you will continue to age and your face will, too. 

Richard T. Bosshardt, MD, FACS

Not all plastic surgeons treat burns. I do still see burn patients, but not for severe burns; those go to burn centers. I do treat all manner of scars, including burn scars, as do most plastic surgeons, unless they are doing purely cosmetic work. I still do reconstruction. 

Richard T. Bosshardt, MD, FACS

Patients and plastic surgeons have been seeking the perfect solution for obtaining fuller lips for as long as I have been in practice. That is over 30 years. I have seen all sorts of procedures and implants come and go. None has worked well; all have had serious shortcomings. There is nothing on the market at this time that I will surgically implant in a lip for augmentation. The complication rate is too high and the results, when they work, are too unnatural. Fat grafting to the lip often does not last and can look odd. My favorite lip enhancement at the present time is Juvederm XC injected into the margin of the lip using a very fine, blunt needle. The results are beautiful, noticeable but subtle, and the lips look and feel perfectly natural. The result lasts about one year although I have had a couple of patients where it lasted 2-3 years.
I hope this answers your question. 

Sincerely, 

Richard T. Bosshardt, MD, FACS

Non-surgical removal of stretch marks is one of those "holy grails" in plastic surgery. So far, no device, cream, medication, or other non-surgical modality has been shown to remove stretch marks. Lasers have been a disappointment. Thus, the only sure solution is to remove the skin that has the stretch marks. In the abdomen, this would be an abdominoplasty or tummy tuck, on the arms a brachioplasty or arm tuck, etc. If the problem is on the hips alone, surgery for this would be "iffy" and you would have the scars of the surgery and limited ability to but out skin. Sorry I cannot be more encouraging. 

Sincerely,

Richard T. Bosshardt, MD, FACS

Unfortunately, yes. Contrary to lots of claims out there for all sorts of nostrums, creams, lasers, different forms of energy devices, and just about anything human ingenuity and imagination can come up with, the only answer to stretch marks is surgical removal. The problem of stretch marks is most commonly seen in the abdomen and this is where an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) is most useful. The ability to remove stretch marks with surgery is limited in other areas. 

Richard T. Bosshardt, MD, FACS

Surgery to alter your appearance should never be undertaken lightly; you will live with the results for the rest of your life, like it or not. Don't settle. Assuming what you want is reasonable and doable, you should seek a surgeon with whom you feel comfortable and the two of you should be on the same page with regards to your goals. some surgeons work hard to preserve ethnic features and tailor the surgery to the patients while others do the same operation over and over and all their results look similar. Make sure you know what kind of surgeon yours is. A good surgeon will tell you if your expectations are unrealistic and will fully inform you regarding the surgery, both the good and not so good aspects. Every plastic surgical procedures carries risks and the only guarantee any surgeon can make is that they will do their best on your behalf. Rhinoplasty has one of the highest revision rates (additional corrective surgery after the initial surgery) of any cosmetic procedure. It is difficult, demanding surgery and your surgeon should be well trained and experienced. You should see results of his or her work and be able to speak to former patients regarding their experience. Don't move forward until you are sure you are ready and all of your questions have been answered satisfactorily. I wish you well.

That is not a medical question but a legal one. So long as she is a minor and a dependent, no reputable surgeon will perform cosmetic surgery on her that you do not approve. Once she is emancipated, she can make these decisions for herself. You still have some control, though. If she lives under your roof and is supported by you, you have the right to set some guidelines and demand they be respected unless she wishes to leave and be on her own. One of those could pertain to cosmetic surgery. I don't think a rhinoplasty should be approached lightly and would hesitate to offer one to a girl younger than 18 or 19. Rhinoplasty surgery, under the best of circumstances, has a very high revision rate, on the order of ten percent.

There are no good procedures/products to tighten loose skin around the abdomen that do not involve surgery. The gold standard is an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), a 2-3 hour major surgery to remove as much loose skin and extra fat as possible. Nothing will accomplish what a tummy tuck will. It is very common among those who have lost a lot of weight and have extra abdominal skin and women who have had one or more pregnancies. In good hands, this is a very reliable procedure but carries all the risks of any surgery.

Yes, but not something you would ever do cosmetically. The position of your eyes is determined by the position of your bony eye socket and this can only be changed with major surgery to move the bones. This is done for a number of congenital conditions but I have never heard of it being done purely for cosmetic reasons. Who knows? Given the many things we do today that were unimagined a few years back, it is not out of the question.

If by "safe" you mean there are no risks then, no, it is not "safe." If you mean that complications tend to be mild and are uncommon, then the answer becomes yes. No surgical procedure is ever truly 100% safe. Breast augmentation is a very common, popular cosmetic procedure that usually produces good results and very happy patients. Prospective patients need to be fully informed about the surgery and this includes a thorough discussion of the risks and downside of the procedure.