Frequently Asked Questions

It depends on the filler used. As an example, JUVÉDERM® is a hyaluronic acid (HA) filler FDA approved to last up to 1 year. We will discuss what you can expect at your appointment.

Dr Basile, himself, eases the injectable filler into the skin using a fine needle to temporarily fill in and augment the treatment area and smooth moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds such as smile lines or parentheses (nasolabial folds) and marionette lines (oral commissures). Fillers protect the treated areas of skin from further folding and devlopement of creases. Fillers can add volume to certain facial features like the lips or cheeks. Fillers may give the skin appearance of a smoother surface and healthier glow.

Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance found in all mammals that helps to hydrate and add volume to your skin. In addition to its use as an aesthetic treatment, hyaluronic acid has also been used for more than 20 years for injection into arthritic joints to aid movement as well as for eye surgeries and wound repair.

If you do not continue treatments, the moderate-to-severe frown lines between your brows will gradually return to the way they looked before treatment.

Although the results are visible, a treatment with BOTOX® Cosmetic will not radically change your facial appearance or make you look as if youve had work done.

Visible results on average last 4 months. Your own results may vary. We will discuss what you can expect at your appointment.

BOTOX® Cosmetic is a prescription medicine that is injected into muscles and used to improve the look of the frown lines between the eyebrows (glabellar lines). It works by blocking nerve impulses to the injected muscles. This reduces muscle activity that causes persistent lines to form between the brows. “Off Label” use of BOTOX includes use in many other areas of the face, as well, where facial expressions have created folds, wrinkles, and creases in the facial skin.

Well, this class of techniques and products are designed precisely to try to obtain significant results without the downtime and risks associated with a surgical intervention. BOTOX® has become the most used Cosmetic Medicine in the world, mostly due to the fact that it is predictable, safe, and wonderfully effective at correcting and preventing the deterioration of skin texture. When used correctly and at the right time it can delay and sometimes avoid the need for surgery. Alternatively, it can be used to prolong the positive effects of a surgical procedure. Injectable fillers are tools which, similarly, can be used to stave off the need for something more invasive. The trick is to start early enough to maintain control of age-related changes.

The answer, of course, depends on exactly what constitutes your kind of work. Most of our patients could return to non-stressful work within a few days, though they are encouraged to take a week off. Week two is limited from upper body straining like waitressing, nursing, or pool cleaning (to name a few examples of physically demanding roles). Chest exercise is off-limits as well. After four weeks there are no more limitations of activity. Rest assured, that at every postoperative visit with the doctor, your permitted activity level is very carefully reviewed, to optimize your healing, safety, and results.

Implants, whether filled with saline or silicone, are not a lifetime device and may need to be replaced. As time goes on the chance that an implant will fail increases proportionately. The rate really depends on the type of implant, its fill volume or its size, and the soft tissue covering it. Implant rupture is only one of many little reasons why a breast augmentation patient might require a reapportion. We often exchange old implants during a surgical revision even if the implant is intact. Therefore the implant longevity statistics are imprecise.Suffice it to say that implants are not “forever”, and even a perfect result will need some maintenance at some point in the future.

Saline implants have some advantages over silicone implants. Silicone implant ruptures are harder to detect. When saline implants rupture, they deflate and the results are usually seen almost immediately. However, saline implants carry many of the same risks, albeit rare, as silicone gel-filled implants, including capsular contracture, infection, pain, and nerve damage, need for re-operation.

Many surgeons and patients with breast implants have the opinion that silicone implants have a more natural look and feel than saline implants due to the fact that silicone gel has a texture similar to breast tissue.

Silicone is derived from silicon, a semi-metallic or metal-like element that in nature combines with oxygen to form silicon dioxide, or silica. Beach sand, crystals, and quartz are silica; in fact, silica is the most common substance on earth. Heating silica with carbon at a high temperature can produce silicon. Further processing can convert the silicon into a long chemical chain, or polymer, called silicone which can be a liquid, gel, or rubbery substance. Various silicones are used in lubricants and oils, as well as in silicone rubber. Silicone can be found in many common household items, such as polishes, suntan and hand lotion, antiperspirants, soaps, processed foods, waterproof coatings, and chewing gum. The FDA has approved many medical devices made of silicone, including replacement heart valves. Clinical Trials for Silicone Implants Since 1992, women could receive silicone gel-filled breast implants only if they become part of a clinical trial, or a controlled study designed to track the potential effects of silicone implants. Clinical trials are required for all drugs and devices regulated by the FDA before they can be used in the general market

Indeed augmentation mammaplasty is currently the most popular cosmetic surgery procedure in the country having taken the lead from liposuction three years ago. It is performed over 350,000 times a year. Breast augmentation with implants has become, in the right hands, a very predictable, controllable, and safe procedure. Women have chosen to use this surgical approach for many reasons. Sometimes the issue is simply that a woman never really developed quite enough breast tissue to give appropriate shape to their torso. Many times the size they had before pregnancy is lost afterwards, along with a firmness and shape they now miss. The breasts tend to suffer most of life’s changes from adolescence, pregnancy, menopause, losing weight/getting in shape, and of course gravity. The breast augmentation procedure is popular because it can make some profound changes in a woman’s posture, confidence level and self esteem.

Yes and no. The fat cells which are removed will never grow back! Gone ! Bye-bye! The relatively small number of fat cells left behind in the area can swell if the patient puts on a large amount of weight. The contour in the operated part of the body therefore can slightly increase over time during an unhealthy shift in body weight, but can never increase in the same proportion as it used to before the surgery!

Although liposuction is very safe and effective, it is still a surgical procedure and carries with it the risks of complication and poor outcome like any other surgery. These problems are rare when Liposuction is performed by a properly trained specialist with board certification and experience.

In women, the most common area treated is the outer thigh. The next most common is the stomach, followed by the inner thigh, flanks and upper back behind the breasts. In men, the flanks or love handles is the most commonly treated area.

Generally, people with a localized area of protruding fat are able to achieve the best reuslts. It is best to be at or slighlty above your normal weight. Good skin elasticity also permits the skin to shrink down to size and best shape after the removal of the fat underneath. Whereas a severely obese patient may not be a good candidate, there is no absolute weight limit for this liposuction.

The tumescent technique refers to the injection beneath the skin of a large volume of salt water mixed with xylocaine and epinephrine. By introducing this fluid into the fat before suctioning it, the surgeon is able to numb the tissues in question, and shrink the blood vessels thereby reducing bleeding, bruising, and swelling. This technique allows some patients to undergo the procedure without general anesthesia, or at least minimizes the amount of anesthetic they need and so shortneing their post- anesthetic effects such as drowsiness and nausea.