Archive for July, 2013

Iron Out Neck Wrinkles with a New Jersey Neck Lift!

The earliest signs of aging manifest themselves in the neck – from fatty jowls to turkey wattles to crepey, discolored skin. Dr. Larry Weinstein recommends a New Jersey neck lift for clients wanting to tighten the skin around the neck as well as lift its underlying muscles. A neck lift, also known as platysmaplasty, can either be a stand-alone procedure or done in conjunction with a face lift.

Pre-Surgery: Things to Consider

Apart from aging, other factors which can contribute to extreme neck sagging include dramatic weight loss and genetic influences. Dr. Weinstein will thoroughly assess your current status to make sure if a New Jersey platysmaplasty is right for you.

By and large, the best candidates include those who are in excellent health condition, non-smokers, and have excellent skin elasticity. It is also best for the client to have realistic expectations. Before the surgery, Dr. Weinstein may also order a series of lab tests to confirm your current health status. It is essential for you to stop taking herbal remedies and anti-inflammatory drugs two weeks before the surgery. These substances could increase bleeding during the procedure.

More Natural and Relaxed

Dr. Weinstein will gently and carefully lift your neck skin into a more youthful look. Since the latest techniques are utilized, you will be assured of a more “natural and relaxed” apperance in the outcome. At the Weinstein Plastic Surgery Center, an “overpulled look” is so last season. To achieve your own cosmetic goals, Dr. Weinstein may also perform other procedures such as liposuction of neck and fat deposits.

Possible Risks and Complications

All surgical procedures come with risks. Below are the associated risks with neck lifts:

1. Excessive bleeding and/or blood clot formation
2. Loss or changes in sensation
3. Skin discoloration and/or irregularities in skin contour
4. Persistent swelling
5. Infection
6. Visible scarring as a result of poor neck reconstruction techniques

Recovery

After the procedure, Dr. Weinstein will wrap a sterile pressure dressing around your neck and the chin area. You may feel tightness around your neck but will certainly disappear in a few hours as the anesthesia wears off. Possible swelling and bruising may occur during the first 3 days after surgery. You can expect for the dressings to be removed in 7-10 days.

For more information on how to iron out your neck wrinkles, contact Dr. Weinstein today!

Posted in face procedures, Plastic Surgery on July 24th, 2013

Plastic Surgery Trends 2013: Silicone Breast Implants Becoming More Popular

A recent report in The Wall Street Journal revealed that the use of silicone in breast augmentation has grown exponentially over the years since its re-approval by the FDA 6 years ago. In 2012, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reported that 72 percent of all breast augmentation cases in the country employed silicone implants. For residents of New Jersey and New York Metro area, Dr. Larry Weinstein is their trusted New Jersey breast augmentation surgeon using silicone implants.

New Silicone Implant Approved
As of February 20, 2013, the Natrelle 410 Highly Cohesive Anatomically Shaped Silicone-Gel Filled Breast Implant is officially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for breast augmentation and reconstruction. Natrelle, the 4th silicone implant approved by FDA, is currently manufactured by Allergan, Inc.

According to its manufacturer, the Natrelle implants contain more cross-linking (more bonds linking one silicone chain to the other) than its earlier counterparts, thus making the newly-approved implant firmer. The FDA approval was a result of a series of studies for 7 years which looked at 941 women using Natrelle 410 implants.

Significant Improvement Over the Years
The report further stated that the implants are very useful in breast reconstructions surgeries, particularly following a single-side mastectomy when there is a need to match the original shape of the patient’s remaining breast tissues.

To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. Weinstein concerning silicone implants, get in touch with us at our Chester Clinic by calling us at (908)879.2222 or by filling out this contact form. Make an appointment today and experience the life changing effects of plastic surgery!

Posted in breast augmentation, breast enhancement, Breast Implants, Plastic Surgery, Plastic Surgery News on July 15th, 2013

Treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome with Dr. Weinstein

We have heard much about the prevention and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) for year nows. However, information on how to treat the musculoskeletal disorder is often left out of the conversation. With both males and females equally affected, hand function loss can be treated through surgery, several non-surgical alternatives, or a combination of both. Dr. Larry Weinstein performs several New York hand surgeries, one of which is aimed at treating carpal tunnel syndrome.

Signs and Symptoms

The most common signs and symptoms of CTS include:

1. numbness and tingling of one’s fingers
2. chronic pain in the thumb area which can extend as far as your neck
3. unusual range in temperature and/or touch senstation
4. burning sensation from wrist to fingers
5. inflammation in the hands and/or forearm
6. stiffness of fingers early in the morning

Who’s at Risk?

CTS is primarily a result of increased pressure of the median nerve which passes through the wrist’s carpal tunnel formed by bone and ligament. Your median nerve carries nerve impulses from the brain down to your hands.

Individuals who are at risk of CTS include those who work for jobs involving repeated movements of the hands and fingers for long periods of time. For the past decades, the disorder has been greatly reported amongst jack hammer operators, assembly line workers, housewives and athletes. With the advent of technology and highly specialized jobs, CTS has greatly increased amongst workers who frequently use personal computers.

Treatment with Dr. Weinstein

Mild symptoms with CTS are treated with resting hands, fingers and wrist. Anti-inflammatory drugs and wrist splints are also taken into consideration. However, moderate to severe signs may need to be remedied with surgery. Dr. Weinstein takes extra care in preparing and performing surgeries in treating CTS.

To be able to access the tissue causing pressure into the median nerve, Dr. Weinstein makes an incision in your palm down to your wrist. He will then remove the tissue, or a section of it, to relieve pain and nerve pressure as well as restore hand function. To promote healing while temporarily restricting motion, a large dressing and a splint may be employed. Scarring will be less noticeable when proper wound care is applied. Surgical outcomes may vary depending on the extent of nerve damage.

If you’re interested in finding out your surgical options in treating carpal tunnel syndrome, visit Dr. Weinstein today for a personal consultation.

Posted in Body Procedures, Dr. Larry Weinstein, Plastic Surgery on July 9th, 2013

Bitchy resting face’ is real (kind of). But there’s hope

The concept of “bitchy resting face” may have started off as a joke, but ever since the video went live – garnering more than 2 million hits on the comedy site Funny or Die and YouTube – scores of women have come forward to own up to the “disorder.”

Actress Anna Paquin of True Blood bemoaned her “BRF” during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live last week, saying that despite being happy and satisfied with her life, her default face makes her look like she “wants to kill people.” Jezebel’s Kristine Gutierrez, on the other hand, celebrated her “chronic bitch face,” proclaiming “it’s not my responsibility to be everyone’s sunshine.”

“I need to print this on business cards so I can hand it out to people who stop me and ask why I’m unhappy or angry or tell me to smile on a daily basis,” one commenter wrote in response to the video.
Written by journalist and comedian Taylor Orci, the short video was created as a parody of commercials for seemingly pseudo medical disorders. But does bitchy resting face – and its male equivalent, “a**hole resting face” — actually exist?

Absolutely, says Michigan-based plastic surgeon Dr. Anthony Youn.
“Bitchy resting face is a definite phenomenon that plastic surgeons like myself have described, just never with that term,” he says. “Basically many of us have features that we inherit and/or develop with age that can make us look unpleasant, grumpy, or even, yes, bitchy.”

Youn says many plastic surgeons perform what he calls “expression surgeries,” procedures meant to improve resting facial expressions. “One procedure I perform in the grin lift, used to turn a permanent frown upside down,” he says. “As we age, some of us – myself included – find that the corners of our mouths droop, giving us a grumpy look. This is usually present with a resting face.”

Aside from a downturned mouth, what makes a face look angry or bitchy?
Youn quickly points to the deep vertical lines between eyebrows (often referred to as 11s) as another culprit that can produce an angry or unhappy vibe. Droopy or overly arched eyebrows can also work to create a wrong impression.

He estimates that he performs about 20 “grin lifts” in a year as well as 100 filler procedures to turn up the corners of the mouth. Botox injections to relax those vertical “11s” are much more prevalent. “I probably do 1,500 of those Botox procedures a year,” he says. “We do a lot. We’re very busy with that.”

While age can enhance our grumpy features, Youn says genetics also play a role in a person’s “resting face.”

Julianne Barclay, a 47-year-old stay-at-home mom from Vancouver, Wash., readily admits to having a “bitchy resting face” – which she attributes to her Norwegian roots – and says she’s passed it along to her daughter.

“We’ve always joked about our resting faces looking like bitchy faces,” she says. “Sometimes it works in our favor as a natural deterrent to people we’d rather not deal with. But most of the time we laugh, thinking of all the potential friends who got away because we had ‘bitch’ written all over our faces.”

Youn says fillers, Botox and procedures like grin lifts can all help people counteract a bad case of BRF. But simply training yourself to smile more also works.

Ann-Marie Stillion, a communication strategist and artist from Seattle, says she’s recently made an effort to wear a smile when in public after having her resting face repeatedly misinterpreted by strangers, friends, and colleagues. “I look mad when I am thinking which has gotten me in a whole lot of trouble,” she says. “So, I smile a lot now, not because I’m so happy but because I know it makes people more comfortable. It’s good for your face, too.”

Stillion says part of her hates having to paste on a grin whenever she leaves the house because of the deeper cultural implications. “Culturally, women are not allowed to be thoughtful and serious,” she says. “And it’s also a cultural imperative that women are expected to smile and make men happy. It’s like our ‘job’.” Despite the annoyance of appeasing creepy dudes who expect women to “Smile!” on command, she admits the way we present ourselves to others is crucial.

“I feel like I have a stupid smile,” she says. “But I do employ it now, especially when I’m engaged with new people. If I think they may be intimidated, I slap on a smile and it makes a whole lot of difference. It’s good to be mindful of what you’re projecting to other people. And it’s good to smile, to give other people warmth.”

Just don’t go too far. You might end up with the same condition Anna Paquin says her husband and co-star Stephen Moyer suffers from: “happy resting face.” Dr. Weinstein “Botox and fillers with a liquid face lift can make an immediate difference with little or no down time”.

Posted in face procedures on July 5th, 2013

How Scars are Formed and How Scarfix Can Help

Scars, whether large or small, are almost always unwanted. No one wants to have them around. But scars are actually a result of wound healing – humans and some animals often replace the skin lost in wounds through a scar rather than a new identical skin tissue. Dr. Larry Weinstein brings his deftness, experience and extraordinary attention to details when it comes to reducing scar appearance through a New Jersey Scarfix derma-repair treatment.

Scar Formation

Damage to your dermis, the deep, thicker layer of your skin, will produce new collagen fibers to mend the resulting wound from the trauma. The collagen fibers will turn into a new scar tissue, exhibiting new texture and quality than the surrounding skin.

Scar Strength

Your scar tissue will never be as strong as the normal skin tissue surrounding it. For the next 3 to 4 weeks following trauma, the scar could be easily reopened by another trauma. On its 6th week, it will most likely achieve half of its final strength. For the next 12 months, it will regain strength to withstand mild to moderate injury. However, it will never attain the same strength as that of its surrounding skin.

Scar Appearance

Collagen production is the primary mechanism which drives scar tissue formation. Maximum collagen production is achieved during the first 4 to 6 weeks until the wound closes down. Around this time, the scar will appear red, firm and slightly raised. It may usually take a year for the scar to finally “settle down” and achieve its final appearance.

Scar Treatments

There are different forms of treatments in reducing the appearance of scars. These types include:

1. Surgery – this form of treatment will not remove the scar but could significantly reduce its appearance and make it less noticeable. However, surgery is not recommended for hypertrophic scars as they may recur.
2. Steroid and filler injections – are employed to allow hypertrophic scars to flatten and soften their appearance.
3. Dermabrasion – is very useful in cases of hypertrophic scars. The technique removes the superficial portion of the skin
4. Radiotherapy – is used in extreme cases of keloid scarring.
5. Topical treatments – may reduce the appearance of scars with consistent use.

Dr. Weinstein offers Scarfix™, a derma-repair treatment for scars resulting from wounds, surgery, burns, cysts of acne, etc. Scarfix™ prevents hypertrophy and keloids. Scarfix™ gel can also be used in skin repair treatment for roseola and recent stretch marks. Contact him today for an initial consultation by calling 908-879-2222.

Posted in Dr. Larry Weinstein, Skin Care on July 2nd, 2013

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