Face & Skin
There are a number of procedures to used to change the appearance of your skin and face. Some are presented below along with a brief outline of the procedure.
The following are a mixture of both surgical and non-surgical. Follow the link in the item title or within the text for more detailed information sheets.
Lines & Wrinkles
Dynamic wrinkles on the face arise from contraction of the underlying muscles every time you smile, laugh or frown. These lines can be softened with injections of botulinum toxin. Botulinum toxin is not a new drug. It has been used over 10 years to treat muscular problems including eye deviation, eyelid spasm and facial spasms.
Botox
Botulinum toxin acts by blocking the impulses from the nerves to the muscles of expression. It relaxes the muscles so it treats facial lines caused primarily by the action of the muscles on the skin. The ideal area to treat are those wrinkles caused by muscles that have no significant function. Examples include the deep crease between the eyebrows, crow’s’ feet wrinkles and forehead lines. Recent research has shown some benefit in treating lines around the mouth and on the neck.
The procedure cannot improve wrinkles due to ageing and sun-damaged skin since they are not related to facial muscle contractions. It will not improve sagging skin either.
Fillers – Such as Juvederm and Restylane
Only temporary fillers are used, or fat.
Fillers may be used to increase or restore volume, to smooth out wrinkles, or to lift depressions such as scars.
Fillers or fat may be used to sculpt a face which has lost volume as in “THE LIQUID FACELIFT”. Miss Sassoon has over ten years’ experience in using fillers.
Miss Sassoon favours the following hyaluronic acid fillers:
Juvederm Ultra and Voluma
Restylane and Restylane Perlane
Miss Sassoon is very experienced in the use of fat for volume enhancement, and was a member of the National Group which set the guidelines for Safe Fat Transfer.
Please note that often a combination of fillers and paralyzing agent (ie botulinum toxin) may be indicated.
Facelift
A method of drawing the skin tighter by surgery – this does not last more than a couple of years. Patients are urged to consider using fillers to replace the lost fat under the skin, restoring a youthful appearance in a more natural way. Miss Sassoon offers fat grafting as a longer lasting alternative to the conventional ‘facelift’.
The procedure can take years off your face by filling out the sagging skin that inevitably occurs as you get older, first collecting fat cells from an alternative area on the body and injecting it to replace the lost plumpness of youth. Find more information by clicking the link to surgical fat transfer “facelifts”
Moles & Skin Lesions
Moles: A kind of skin cancer called malignant melanoma often shows itself by a change in the normal look or feel of a skin mole. Of course most changes do not mean that a cancer has developed. But if it has it is important to deal with it right away. Malignant melanoma is curable when found early and treated quickly.
If you think you might have a malignant melanoma – Show it to your Doctor. Don’t delay.
Ear Correction
Between 1 and 2 % of the UK population consider their ears to be too prominent. In many cases the shape and lie of the ears is inherited. The most prominent ears often lack a normal fold and sometimes one ear is more prominent than the other.
When an ear is noted to be too prominent within the first few weeks of life it is possible to reshape using a small splint to the rim. The older the child the the more stiff is the cartilage and a longer period of splint application is required. By the age of 6 months the cartilage is too hard to be remoulded and a surgical solution is required.
Eyelid Surgery
The skin loses its elasticity and our muscles slacken with age. For the eyelids this results in an accumulation of loose skin which collects as folds in the upper lids and forms deepening creases in the lower lids. At the same time there is a slackening of the muscle beneath the skin allowing the fat, which cushions the eyes in their sockets, to protrude forward giving the appearance of ‘bagginess’. In some families an inherited tendency can cause bags to form before any skin changes.
Bagginess can often appear worse in the morning, particularly with prolonged stress and lack of sleep. Drooping of the eyelids is also an effect of the ageing process and aggravates the accumulation of the skin in the upper eyelids.
An eyelid reduction, or Blepharoplasty, removes the surplus skin and protruding fat to produce a more alert appearance and reduces the morning swelling.
