• Botox® - A common and popular injectable material that decreases muscular activity and when placed in certain areas on the face, reduces wrinkles, smoothes skin texture, shapes eyebrows, and appears to lift and tighten the skin. It can be used in younger patients to prevent deep wrinkles from developing and to lift and shape eyebrows. Asymmetries with respect to eyebrow position may be improved with Botox. Frown lines and an angry look can be corrected. Older patients benefit from Botox to improve the appearance of wrinkles, creating a smoother, tighter appearance, with eyebrow elevation, and a refreshed, well-rested appearance. It is also used as an adjunct to surgery to maintain results after certain surgical procedures, such as brow lifts and facelifts. It has no associated "down-time", it is extremely safe, cost-effective, but effects are not permanent, lasting 3-6 months, so touch-ups are required. It can also be used to treat excessive sweating from the armpits, and may have a role in improving headaches.
• Injectable fillers - Many products are available to restore volume to the face, and fill wrinkles, depressions, or skin surface irregularities. Fillers plump up creased and sunken areas of the face providing a smoother, more youthful appearance. Some of the common fillers currently being used at Desert Hills Plastic Surgery Center are Restylane, Juvederm, Belotero, Sculptra, Radiesse. and Fat. Oftentimes, a combination of fillers is advised as some products work better in certain areas. Most products are not permanent, which is ideal; as facial contours are always changing as a result of aging, gravitational forces, weight fluctuation, and facial movements. For this reason, touch up or maintenance procedures are required for long-lasting effects. Common areas treated include the nasolabial folds, marionette or oral commissure creases and depressions, vertical lip lines, the lips, smile lines, the jaw line including the pre jowl area and chin, cheeks, temporal hollows, and the lower eyelid hollows. Dr. Brown utilizes a three-dimensional approach to enhance the contours of the face naturally with the addition of volume, in addition to “wrinkle-filling”.
• Hand Rejuvenation - This is an area that is often overlooked. The dorsum (top surface) of the hand can sometimes give your age away. Sunspots, thin skin, and skeletonization of the underlying structures can be improved upon so that your hands look youthful and your jewelry looks attractive. Injectable fillers such as Radiesse can be injected just under the skin of the hands and smoothed, to thicken the skin and immediately improve the appearance of your hands. The procedure is painless with no downtime and immediate results lasting approximately 9 months. Additional improvements in skin quality are obtained with topical anti-aging skin care treatments as well as bleaching products to improve freckling and sun damaged skin.
• Sclerotherapy- Sclerotherapy is a process of eradicating and improving spider veins of the lower extremities. These visible veins are small, with a pink hue, and are commonly found very superficially on the thighs and legs. Sometimes they look like little bruises, and become more noticeable after pregnancy and childbearing. Dr. Brown treats these visible vein clusters in the office with serial injections of hypertonic saline. This effectively causes dehydration of the vessel wall and collapse of the venous cluster. It is a well-tolerated procedure with little to no downtime. Results can be variable from person to person, but the procedure has a high rate of satisfaction. Some patients experience excellent and dramatic improvements, while others notice a gradual fading of a proportion of their treated veins. The goals are a gradual improvement; sometimes several sessions in the office are required spaced one month apart. Results are similar to those patients treated with laser therapy. Patients who have varicose veins or deeper blue visible vessels of larger caliber are not candidates for this treatment.
• Skin care - Skin care is an important adjunct to maintaining a healthy, youthful look.

  There are many products and product lines available which claim to improve skin quality. It gets very confusing as to what products work, and which have the right concentrations of key ingredients. We have experience with all medical based skin care product lines. From this broad based experience, we have developed our own recommended products, which work. These products contain effective concentrations of key ingredients proven to improve the appearance and quality of your skin. These include: retinol, vitamin C, antioxidants, and glycolic and other acids. These products are proven safe and effective in treating and preventing photo damage, and increasing cell turnover to improve skin smoothness, firmness, irregular pigmentation, and the appearance of fine wrinkles. Antioxidants and retexturizers help with immediate skin improvements such as increased tightness and smoothness, and less puffiness. The formulation of these products also has a delivery system, which minimizes irritation, otherwise commonly seen with regular use of retinols and other exfoliants. It is important to carry your skin care treatments down to the neck and chest, and hands so that your skin looks even, healthy, and uniform throughout. Results can be appreciated as early as 4-6 weeks after starting the program. Glycolic acid peels are done in the office to "jump-start" your skin care regimen. These are light exfoliative peels with no downtime, which help with pigmentation issues, fine lines, and irregular surface texture. They also facilitate deeper and more even penetration of your regular skin care products. Peels can be performed once or twice per month for several months, then as maintenance several times per year.

  Transchloroacetic acetic peels are moderate depth chemical peels done in the office. Results are more dramatic and one can expect about 5-6 days of downtime. These can be repeated once or twice per year for the ultimate in skin maintance and a continuous fresh and youthful appearance. Daily sunscreen, avoidance of smoking and tanning, and a healthy diet and exercise is essential to maintaining a fresh face and youthful glow. All patients desiring facial rejuvenation should be on an effective skin care program, which keeps the skin healthy, smooth, and fresh, and to improve and maintain any surgical or non-surgical results.

  
  

Lip Augmentation

Lip augmentation can be done as an isolated procedure or as part of general facial rejuvenation surgery. It can correct genetically thin lips or atrophic lips as a result of aging, lip asymmetry, volume differences between the upper and lower lips, as well as provide volume to reduce wrinkles around the mouth. There are various methods to enhance the lips. Filler substances can be surgically placed or injected to increase lip volume. There are many different filler substances available, both natural and synthetic. All of these materials can also be used to fill wrinkles or facial contour irregularities.