The popularity of image enhancements has grown in recent years, and is no longer reserved for the rich and famous. Today, change is within everyone’s reach. A change in your outward appearance — especially an area you’ve been self conscious about — can boost your self-confidence and give you the physical appearance you’ve always imagined. The options truly are endless. With your image at stake, and so many important questions to answer, it’s important to do research before committing to a procedure. Here are profiles of some of the leading experts in their respective fields.
Lifestyle Lift
Lifestyle Lift
Ever look in the mirror and wonder, “Who is that?” Are you constantly pulling your face a little tighter to see how you’d look without sagging skin or those hard-to-ignore frown lines and wrinkles? Do the “outer you” and the “inner you” not quite match up?
Now you can remove years of aging in about an hour with the Lifestyle Lift® procedure, an alternative to the traditional facelift.
Unlike a traditional facelift, which involves general anesthesia and requires substantial recovery time, the Lifestyle Lift® procedure involves local anesthesia (similar to a dental procedure) and allows patients to get back to their normal routines quickly and safely.
“Our program enables surgeons to perform more Lifestyle Lift® procedures in a month than most surgeons perform during their careers,” explains Terrie Selinski, Lifestyle Lift® center manager. “This specialization allows our doctors to become the best, most experienced surgeons in the field of plastic and cosmetic surgery. As a result, Lifestyle Lift® has an outstanding safety record. Our rate for complications is less than 0.5 percent, far lower than the average rate as reported in peer-reviewed medical journals.”
The procedure lifts and secures the sagging skin and deeper muscle tissue from the lower face and neck, with the incision concealed along the hairline. Patients are comfortable, relaxed, and alert throughout. (Some even nap.) Typically, patients return to their regular routine in about a week. For more information, visit lifestylelift.com or call 800-940-9913.
Visualization Software for Breast Augmentation
At most plastic surgery clinics, patients interested in testing out the size of their new implants have to slip clumsy silicone inserts into stretchy bras. This method can be very inaccurate and confusing, especially for women with asymmetrical breasts. The Vectra XT 3D Camera is a new technology that allows female patients to see a virtual image of different sizes and types of implants on their own frames. Edina Plastic Surgery is the only plastic surgery practice in Minnesota to utilize this technology; a technology that is revolutionizing the field of plastic surgery. The camera uses special simulation software on a 3D photo, and allows patients to see how their body will look with implants from a wide variety of angles; standing up or lying down. “This new camera and technology opens up the lines of communication between the patient and the surgeon so that we know we’re all on the same page, shooting for the same goal,” explains Dr. Robert Wilke, one of the board-certified plastic surgeons on staff. “Now our patients can have an excellent visual image of what their results will be.” For more information, visit edinaplasticsurgery.com or call 952-925-1765 for a free consultation.
Cool Sculpting
If you exercise and eat right, yet just cannot get rid of stubborn love handles, bulging bra fat, thick inner or outer thighs, jiggly upper arms, or lower belly fat, CoolSculpting®—a new FDA-approved procedure that targets and crystallizes fat cells without surgery, anesthesia, or downtime—could be the answer.
“Crystallized fat cells gradually die off, and are naturally eliminated from the body,” explains Dr. Barry LaBine, a board-certified dermatologist with Refine Dermatique in Sartell, one of the clinics to offer the new CoolSculpting® body contouring technology. “In the weeks and months following treatment, remaining fat cells condense, reducing the fat layer. The result is usually up to a 20-25 percent reduction in the treated fat layer.”
The procedure is frequently performed at Dermatology Consultants, with locations in Eagan, St. Paul, Vadnais Heights, and Woodbury.
One treatment takes about an hour and can produce a noticeable improvement within weeks, says Dr. Cortney White, one of the 18 board-certified dermatologists on staff at Dermatology Consultants. The cost is roughly one-sixth the amount of a liposuction procedure, has minimal discomfort, and carries no risks of anesthesia. “You lie there and read a magazine or use your iPad while the treatment happens,” Dr. White explains. The procedure is so effective many of the doctors on staff at Dermatoloy Consultants have treated themselves. For more information, visit efinedermatique.com • 320-253-3435, or dermatologyconsultants.com • 651-209-1600.
Smile Makeover
According to a recent American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry survey, nearly all — 99.7 percent — Americans believe that a smile is an important social asset. The same survey reports that 74 percent of adults believe that an unattractive smile with discolored or broken teeth can hurt a person’s chances for career success. The good news is, thanks to cosmetic dentistry and smile makeovers, you don’t have to live with a smile you’re too embarrassed to share.
While general dentistry focuses on oral hygiene and preventing, diagnosing, and treating oral disease (dental problems that require necessary treatment), dentists with advanced training in cosmetic dentistry procedures also specialize in improving the appearance of a person’s teeth, mouth, and smile — providing elective, or desired, treatments or services.
The procedures are perfect for people who are too self-conscious to smile because their teeth are crooked, irregular, chipped, broken, or discolored. Highly skilled cosmetic dentists like Dr. Nancy Norling of Minneapolis can reshape your teeth, close spaces, restore worn or short teeth, and even alter the length of your teeth.
Dr. Norling — an Accredited Fellow of the prestigious American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (the AACD uses a rigorous accreditation and fellowship process demonstrating a dentist’s proficiency in cosmetic dental procedures) — is described as “truly an artist” who merges technology, beauty, function, and natural aesthetics to closely mimic nature’s design. When patients leave her office with an improved smile, they leave not only with an attractive new look, but also a major boost in confidence and self-esteem. For more information, visit drnorling.com or call 952-544-4129.
Liquid Facelift
Charles E. Crutchfield III, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology at the University of Minnesota Medical School and medical director of Crutchfield Dermatology, is passionate about skincare. He sees a wide range of patients at his Eagan clinic. Whether you’re hoping to get rid of unwanted smile lines or wrinkles, sagging skin, or droopy eyelids, now there’s a noninvasive cosmetic procedure than can mirror the enhanced looks of a traditional facelift.
“I like to use lots of little things that work together synergistically to produce a fantastic result,” he explains. “We use a combination of platelet-rich plasma injections (Selphyl), Botox Cosmetic injections, Restylane injections, the Skin Active program, and laser treatments.”
Compared to traditional facelifts, the liquid facelift offers a speedier recovery, lower cost, no biopsies/stitches, and is a much less invasive procedure overall.
“We have had some almost miraculous results combining these different modalities, providing patients with a more youthful and vibrant appearance.”
For more information, visit crutchfielddermatology.com or call 651-209-3600.
Dr. Crutchfield stresses the importance of having a skilled dermatologist perform all skincare procedures. You only have one face, don’t shop around based solely on price. Look at the dermatologist’s education, experience, and patient referrals. “The bitterness of poor quality lasts much longer than the sweetness of low price,” he points out.
He suggests visiting www.SafeAndEthicalDoctors.com, a website featuring a group of conscientious and dedicated local aesthetic physicians who will see patients before, during, and after all procedures, guaranteeing patient satisfaction through safety, ethical treatments, and expertise.