Category Archives: Plastic Surgery

holiday surgery non-surgical treatments

Surgical and Non-Surgical Treatments to Help You Look Your Best for the Holidays

Non-Surgical, Plastic Surgery

With COVID still hanging around the holidays may look a little different this year, again. But that doesn’t mean you can’t look and feel your best!

Regardless of whether you’ll be visiting family in person or through a Facetime or Zoom call, the holidays bring people together. Maybe you’ll be seeing people you haven’t seen in a while, maybe you’ll be seeing some people in person for the first time in almost two years, whatever the case may be, you’re going to want to look and feel your best.

We’ve all been cooped up inside for a while, and while COVID is still a presence in our lives, vaccines and other protocols across the country have started to allow people to venture back out into the world.

The stay-at-home orders were a great time to undergo plastic surgery procedures, as it gave you time to recover in the privacy of your own home without having to worry about outsiders seeing you in public. And while stay-at-home orders have lifted across the country, there’s still time to recover from surgical procedures before the holiday parties start.

Let’s take a look at some great surgical and non-surgical procedures that can help you look your best this holiday season.

Surgical Procedures for the Holidays

If you’re looking to have a surgical procedure done in time for the holidays, you might want to set up an appointment with a doctor soon. Recovery time on surgical procedures can take weeks depending on the surgery, so getting them done soon will allow you to heal in time for those upcoming family gatherings.

The other nice thing about the holidays is that you get time off from work and a lot of times your family does as well, so this could also be the perfect time to get a surgical procedure if you don’t plan on doing much traveling or visiting over the holidays.

Breast Augmentation

At Dr. Adams Plastic Surgery, we specialize in breast augmentation surgery. Whether you’re looking for breast implants or a breast lift, Dr. Adams is nationally recognized as one of the best plastic surgeons. He’s even developed his own method that allows for 24-hour fast track recovery from breast augmentation surgery.

Because of the way the surgery is performed, pain and recovery time are limited, and you can get back to light day-to-day activities quicker than with other methods. This would be perfect for the holiday season.

Tummy Tuck / Liposuction

A tummy tuck in conjunction with liposuction is a great way to get rid of pesky belly fat and excess skin. This is a great procedure to have done during the fall/winter months so that you can fully recover before beach season kicks off next year. It will also help you to look and feel your best at family gatherings over the holidays.

Tummy tucks do take some time to heal properly, so having these types of procedures done when you won’t have to be going into the office is a great option. You’ll be able to return to light activity after about 2 weeks, which means you can be sure you’ll feel great for the holidays.

Non-Surgical Procedures and Treatments

In addition to surgical procedures, there are a number of non-surgical procedures and treatments you can have done that require little to no recovery time. That’s the beauty of these non-surgical options, you’ll be in and out of our offices in a matter of hours and can return to your normal schedule as soon as you step out the door.

Keep in mind though, non-surgical options are not going to provide you the same results as traditional surgery, but if you’re looking for a great way to enhance your look for those virtual gatherings this fall, these are some great options.

Injectable Fillers

Injectable fillers, like Botox and dermal fillers are a great way to soften up wrinkles and age lines on your face.

A small needle is used to inject these fillers just under the skin in your face to help add subtle volume to the areas affected by age. The lines and wrinkles in these areas will then smooth over giving you a more youthful look.

Injectable fillers are a great way to rejuvenate your face without having to have traditional surgery. The procedure only takes a short amount of time and in most cases some results can be seen almost instantly.

You’ll be able to return to your normal lifestyle as soon as you leave our office. It’s quick, painless, and the results can last for months.

Skin Tightening

Our Aya Med Spa location offers skin tightening which uses ultrasounds to lift, tighten, and tone your sagging skin. It works by helping to stimulate collagen growth in your body which will help your skin appear smooth and rejuvenated.

As with injectable fillers, this procedure requires almost no downtime after the treatment and is virtually painless. Patients may appear flush immediately after the procedure, in the areas that were treated, but you can return to your normal lifestyle right away.

Skin Resurfacing Laser Treatments

Laser treatments have been making a big impact in the world of non-surgical procedures over the last few years, and for good reason. Lasers can be used to help resurface the skin to help treat wrinkles, surface irregularities, and uneven pigmentation.

If you’re looking to clear up the skin on your face for the holidays, this is a great option.

Overall if you’re looking to make some changes, whether surgical or non-surgical, now is the time to do it. Whether you’re wanting to look and feel great for the holidays, or you just want to look rejuvenated for your daily Zoom meetings, these treatments are a great way to gain back your self confidence and keep you feeling great.

If you have any questions about the surgical and non-surgical procedures that we offer at Dr. Adams Plastic Surgery and the AYA Med Spa, don’t hesitate to contact us today!

hand rejuvenation

What is Hand Rejuvenation and How Long Does it Last?

Non-Surgical, Plastic Surgery, Skin Care

When you think of plastic surgery most people typically think of things like breast implants, botox/fillers for your face, liposuction, tummy tucks, and things of that nature, but not many people think about hands.

You would be surprised at how many people don’t like their own hands, especially after they’ve gone through some sort of rejuvenation or surgical procedure for their face. Once they see how well their face looks after using injectable fillers or having a face lift, often times they begin to notice that their hands don’t match the look of their face.

The hands can be an obvious sign that someone has had work done to their face, because more of often than not, your hands will develop unsightly veins or discoloration as you age. And while your face has been rejuvenated through various non-surgical and/or surgical techniques, your hands remain the same.

It’s one of those body parts that people tend to overlook, or not think about, when considering plastic surgery to help them look younger, but once you point it out to them, it can become more obvious.

Types of Hand Rejuvenation

The most common types of hand rejuvenation come in the form of non-surgical treatments. There are a variety of ways to help rejuvenate your hands to make them look more youthful and to help you feel more comfortable with them.

Most of these non-surgical procedures are relatively painless and will allow you to continue about your normal life relatively quickly.

Let’s take a look at some of the more common types of hand rejuvenation procedures that are available.

1. Dermal Fillers / Fat Transfers

Dermal fillers are most commonly used on the face to help reduce wrinkles and aging lines, but can also be used on the hands to help with the same thing. Wrinkles on the hands can be filled in with dermal fillers, while unsightly veins and tendons can be hidden as well.

By using dermal fillers to add bulk to the top of your hands, you can reduce the sight of large veins as well as the tendons that run through the top of your hands. As you get older, your hands tend to thin out and these areas become more visible.

Fat transfers can also help reduce these signs of aging. By taking fat from other areas of your body and injecting it into your hands, you can gain back years of aging.

Dermal fillers and fat transfers are one of the easiest things you can do to help reduce the signs of aging in your hands.

2. Laser Skin Resurfacing / IPL

As we get older our skin begins to develop discoloration and sometimes aging spots. These spots can appear as dark circles on your skin, and if they start to overtake your hands, they can become quite unsightly, especially if you’ve undergone procedures to make your face look youthful.

These aging spots and discoloration can be lightened up with the use of Laser Skin Resurfacing and IPL (Intense Pulsed Light). IPL helps to lighten the pigmentation in your skin caused by the sun.

Reducing the darkness of these sunspots can bring a youthful look back to your hands.

Combine IPL with Laser Skin Resurfacing and you can fade the sunspots and resurface rough skin to help achieve the younger appearance that you’re looking for.

Lasers and light therapies have come a long way over the years. They are simple, non-surgical, procedures, that can give you lasting results with little to no pain.

3. Skin Tightening

As we talk about non-surgical technology improving, another area of improvement in the world of plastic surgery comes from skin tightening procedures.

While most people talk about skin tightening in terms of helping with thighs, breasts, tummy, and neck, it can also be used to help with the skin on your hands.

Radiofrequencies are used to help tighten the existing collagen in your hands, while also promoting new collagen production. By doing so it causes the skin on your hands to become firmer, which will give them a younger appearance.

How Long Does Hand Rejuvenation Last?

Depending on what sort of procedure you decide to undergo for your hands will determine how long the effects will last.

Unfortunately, none of these non-surgical techniques are going to be permanent and your hands will continue to show signs of aging as you get older.

Dermal fillers in the hands should last at least 9 months, but in most cases you’ll still notice the effects for between 12-14 months.

The fillers slowly break down over time and are filtered out of the body, so this type of treatment needs to be refreshed every year or so.

The good thing about dermal fillers though, is that the results are usually seen almost immediately.

With IPL and laser treatments, the main reason these procedures aren’t permanent is because our bodies continue to age.

As we continue to age and continue to enjoy the sun, our bodies will continue to show signs of aging. And while the sunspots and discoloration that was corrected using laser therapy or IPL will continue to look better, other problem areas can arise over time.

Unfortunately, science has not discovered a way to reverse the aging process, but with the new technological advancements in non-surgical procedures, we can help to slow it down.

If you’re interested in hand rejuvenation, or have questions regarding the different options, please contact us at Dr. Adams Plastic Surgery in Dallas, TX today and we’d be happy to answer any of your questions.

smoking and plastic surgery

Smoking and Plastic Surgery – What are the Risks?

Plastic Surgery

We all know that smoking is bad for your health, but can it cause more issues if you plan on having plastic surgery? That’s one of the questions we get asked a lot here at the office from people who smoke on a regular basis.

Smoking cigarettes for a long period of time can cause major health related issues ranging from lung and heart issues, to increased risk for stroke, and cancer. These alone should be good reasons for you to give up smoking, but of course it’s not always that easy. We understand that smoking is a habit that adults can choose to pick up, and we understand that it’s hard to stop, but when it comes to plastic surgery, what the recommendations?

Surgery and Smoking

It is almost always recommended that whenever surgery is going to be performed, that the recipient refrains from smoking as soon as possible. The longer you go without smoking before your surgery, the better your chances are of not running into possible serious complications.

And this applies to general surgery as well as plastic surgery.

As we mentioned above, smoking can cause major health problems with your heart, brain, lungs, and just your body in general, so reducing your smoking will immediately help your overall health.

If you plan to have any type of surgery in the future, then being in the best possible shape will help cut back on the risks involved with those surgeries. And it will also help you to heal and recover more quickly.

So what exactly can happen to a heavy smoker that refuses to quit before their surgery?

  • Higher risk of heart attack and strokes
  • Higher risk of blood clots and pneumonia
  • Higher possibility of death

In addition to these side effects that could come as a result of smoking while undergoing a surgical procedure, there are also things that can happen during and after the surgery that can make things more uncomfortable for you and the doctors.

1. Incisions Take Longer to Heal

Because smoking brings carbon monoxide into the body, it takes away oxygen from the cells needed to help the healing process. This can cause more toxins to appear in the blood, which can lead to a higher risk of infection.

Even if you were to quit smoking a week before the surgery, that will still allow some of that carbon monoxide to be removed from your system, and allow your cells to retain more oxygen, which will help during the recovery process.

2. Can Cause Issues with Anesthesia

When we’re talking about anesthesia and complications because of smoking, we’re mainly talking about general anesthesia and not localized numbing.

When you’re placed under general anesthesia, being “put to sleep”, an anesthesiologist has to monitor you and make sure that you don’t wake up during the surgery and that you stay properly sedated without complications.

One of the complications that come from heavy smokers under anesthesia is that the doctors have to work harder to ensure that you continue to breath. If your lungs are already damaged from smoking, or you have emphysema, you may not have the lung capacity of a typical person, which will require closer monitoring and adjustments throughout the process. It could also cause you to need unnecessary medication to help with the breathing while sedated.

It’s just one more complication that the doctors shouldn’t need to worry about while performing your surgery.

3. Increases Inflammation and Pain

Aside from complications, the one thing that most people worry about when undergoing a surgical procedure is the amount of pain they are going to be in once the surgery is complete. During recovery, pain medication can be used to help mitigate and control the pain from the surgery, but everyone’s body responds different to pain and pain medication. What may work for one person, may not work for the next, and smoking can increase the way you experience pain.

Cigarettes contain a number of chemicals that are inherently toxic when inhaled, but some of these chemicals can cause inflammation and/or swelling throughout your body. Because of this extra swelling that can occur, it can lead to smokers experiencing more pain than those patients that don’t smoke.

This is another good reason to forgo the cigarettes before having any type of surgery, especially if you don’t do well with pain.

Overall it’s just a smart decision to quit smoking, whether you plan to have a surgical procedure or not, but when it comes to surgery, non-smokers run far less risks of complications, pain, and other issues arising during and after the procedure.

If you’ve been looking for an excuse to quit, and you have a surgical procedure coming up, this is a great opportunity to follow through with that goal. Your body will thank you for it, and your doctors will thank you as well.

Even if you quit smoking the week of your surgery, the added oxygen getting into your system could be enough to prevent you from having serious complications that you may have otherwise experienced. And unfortunately it’s hard to predict what sort of complications may arise while you’re under general anesthesia, as a smoker, so wouldn’t you rather be as pro-active as possible?

facial rejuvenation

How to Get the Most out of Facial Rejuvenation

Non-Surgical, Plastic Surgery

One of the first things that people notice about you is your face. Your eyes, your mouth, your nose, and your complexion are the focal point when conversing with someone, or meeting someone for the first time, so don’t you want to make a great first impression?

As our bodies begin to age, one of the first areas to show major signs of aging is our face. We begin to develop wrinkles, creases, sunspots, and all sorts of little imperfections that can prevent us from feeling young and confident.

There are a number of options available in terms of minor plastic surgery procedures as well as non-surgical treatments and solutions to help rejuvenate your face. Some can range from very expensive, to less than $100, but it’s hard to understand which treatments are going to give you the best results for your money.

Non-Surgical vs. Surgical Procedure Results

In most cases, when it comes to facial procedures, non-surgical treatments aren’t going to give you as good of as outcome as a surgical procedure would. Fillers, topical creams/lotions, laser procedures, and other forms of non-surgical treatments can’t fully compete with things like face lifts, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth the money.

Not everyone wants to go through a surgical procedure or doesn’t want to shell out the money for one, so in those cases non-surgical treatments are a great way to help rejuvenate your face without the commitment that surgery sometimes brings.

So the main thing to think about when talking about getting the most out of a facial rejuvenation is it all boils down to your needs. Your surgeon should be able to discuss all of the options within your budget and your physical concerns and lay out a treatment plan that is best for your situation.

What procedures or treatments you go with at that point will be determined by exactly what you’re looking address in your face and your doctor will be able to get you on the right track.

Overall Best Facial Rejuvenation Procedure

As we said, surgical procedures are almost always going to provide a better, long-term, solution for facial rejuvenation than non-surgical procedures. With non-surgical procedures you’re going to be in and out of the office with almost instant results (or final results within a few days), but they are often temporary and require upkeep to maintain. This means more trips to the doctor and more money.

When it comes to surgical procedures, there’s more of an up-front commitment, but the results are going to last a lot longer and are going to be more impactful. And while there are a number of different facial plastic surgeries that you can undergo, most doctors agree that the face lift is going to get you the most benefit.

Face lifts are designed to help tighten up the skin on your face, particularly around your lower face and skin around the neck. It also helps alleviate wrinkles and aging lines that have appeared over the years.

When a face lift is performed, the skin is separated from the underlying connective tissue and muscles. The surgeon will then adjust the facial tissue under the skin to make them firmer so that when the skin is draped back over, it will give your face a smoother, rejuvenated look. Excess skin that has caused the face to sag and droop will also be removed.

While there are non-surgical procedures that can help tighten up the skin on your face, it’s difficult for those types of treatments to penetrate deep enough to affect the deep connective tissue and muscles, which doesn’t allow for the results you would see with a full surgical face lift.

If you’re truly looking to get the most out of facial rejuvenation, and restore the youthfulness to your facial features, the best way is to opt for a face lift. But as we said, surgery may not be for everyone, so we recommend talking with a surgeon and discussing what you want to get out of a procedure and they will be able to help you make an informed decision on whether or not non-surgical options can get you to the place you want.

If you have questions about facial rejuvenation procedures, or non-surgical procedures, please contact us today and we’d be happy to setup a consultation with Dr. Adams to discuss the various options available.

breast reduction surgery

5 Things to Know About Breast Reduction Surgery

Breast Augmentation, Plastic Surgery

When it comes to breast augmentation surgery, the vast majority of conversations revolve around breast enlargements or implants, not a lot of people talk about breast reduction surgery.

In most cases, when we’re talking about breast reduction surgery, we’re talking about women who have naturally large breasts that are causing them other health issues, and not usually implant recipients that want to have their implants removed. These women have been dealing with large breasts for a long period of time and due to the strain they can sometimes put on the body, they have developed other physical health problems that need to be resolved.

The most common ailment associated with large breasts is neck and back pain, but there are other issues that can arise throughout the years. It can influence self-esteem and confidence as well, which is why it’s an important conversation to have even though it’s not always what we think about when talking about breast augmentation.

Regardless of what your reasoning might be for seeking out information on breast reduction surgery, the main thing is to do what’s best for your body. Be sure to discuss options and concerns with your doctor and listen to what they have to say. It’s your body and you should be in control of what happens to it. If you’re having physical pain or issues with the way your large breasts look, don’t let someone else convince you to not get the surgery. You’re the one that has to live with it.

If you’re thinking about undergoing breast reduction surgery, here are some things you may not know about the procedure.

Interesting Facts About Breast Reduction Surgery

1. Breast Reduction Will Leave Scars

As with most surgical procedures, incisions will be made in the body. In the case of breast reduction surgery, different surgeons use different methods, but in almost all methods the goal is to hide the surgical scars as best as possible.

Unfortunately it’s almost impossible to hide them completely, but most surgeons will make sure that the scars are easily covered by clothing or when wearing a bathing suit. Typically the incisions are made around the nipple area and then down to the folds under your breasts. This allows for the scar to be hidden in most cases unless the breasts are fully exposed.

If you’re worried about the visible scars, be sure to communicate that to your doctor so that they can show you example photos of fully healed incisions on patients they’ve performed the surgery on.

2. Breast Reduction Surgery is More Common Than You May Think

The most popular form of plastic surgery is breast enlargement or augmentation, but you never really hear about people undergoing breast reduction surgery. There’s this stigma around the fact that enlarging your breasts is seemingly ok, but making them smaller isn’t. And there shouldn’t be.

In fact, more women than you think have undergone breast reduction surgery throughout their lives. Breast sizes can change for a number of reasons and sometimes women just don’t like the feeling of having larger breasts, or aren’t comfortable with the way they cause the rest of their body to feel.

If you’re considering breast reduction surgery, know that there are a lot of women out there that undergo the same procedure every year and there’s nothing to be worried about. Do what’s best for you.

3. Breast Reduction Surgery May Also Include a Breast Lift

While breast reduction surgery and breast lift surgery are two entirely different procedures, in most cases doctors will perform a breast lift while you are undergoing a breast reduction. By doing a breast lift while doing a reduction, doctors are able to better shape the breasts, and the skin around the breast, to fit the new shape.

In the case of a breast lift, only excess skin is removed to help enhance and reshape sagging breasts, whereas in a breast reduction, excess fat and breast tissue is removed as well to help reduce the shape. By performing both of these procedures at once, you know you’re going to get the best looking and feeling breasts possible.

4. Breast Feeding and Nipple Sensitivity Can Be Affected

When undergoing any procedure having to do with your breasts, there is always a chance that you could be left with less sensation in your nipples. This also pertains to breast reduction surgery, so it’s important to understand the risks involved. If you’re concerned about nipple sensitivity after your surgery, talk with your doctor before the procedure as there are some techniques that can be applied during the surgery to help minimize any nipple numbness you may experience.

In addition to nipple sensitivity, about half of women who undergo a breast reduction procedure experience difficulty in breast feeding. This doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to breast feed, it just means that some women find it more difficult. Unfortunately, there’s no way to predict who may suffer from these issues until the time comes.

5. Men Can Receive Breast Reduction Surgery

We’ve been talking a lot about women undergoing breast reduction surgery, but did you know that men can do it too? Known as Gynecomastia, male breast reduction surgery is more common than you may think. With reduced testosterone in the body, sometimes male breasts can grow larger than you may want. In most cases they aren’t causing physical problems like they do in females, but they can make a lot of men feel self-conscious or uncomfortable.

If you’re interested in breast reduction surgery, please contact us today! Our team of experts can help answer any questions may have regarding this surgery and Dr. Adams is one of the best surgeons in the business.