When Exercise is Bad for You

 

At my Atlanta plastic surgery office, we emphasize overall good health; after all, there's no point in having cosmetic surgery to improve your looks if you have no intention to maintain those improvements. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is an essential part of maintenance. However, while we all know that working out is good for us, you may not know that the kind of work-outs you engage in could be contributing to premature aging! Since you don’t want your exercise regimen to make you look older than your years, here are some tips!

Runner’s Face

Many joggers and runners have a habit of tensing their faces while running. Do you? Habitually frowning during exercise routines can contribute to wrinkling, especially around the eyes and mouth. Further, if you don’t hydrate adequately before and after your run or other exercise, you can have increased free-radical damage to your skin. In addition, physician grade skin care products, such as those available at our Atlanta medispa, will help maintain your skin's moisture levels.

Following the Bouncing Breasts

High-impact exercises like running, either on a treadmill or on the road, as well as jumping rope, bouncing on a rebounder and other active sports, contributes to breast sagging by stretching the ligaments in your breasts. It’s essential that you have an excellent, supportive workout bra to support your breasts. Today, when you’re doing your workout, give a little check to see how much bounce your breasts are experiencing while you exercise. If it seems like too much bounce is going on, find a better bra! An additional tip: putting bras in the dryer can weaken the elastic support of the bras. Hang them on a rack to dry instead and your bras will last longer.

Sun and Exercise

While a little sun is always a good source of Vitamin D, you should never be outdoors without sunscreen. You can experience sun damage even during the winter or on cloudy days, as the rays are always there. And, please wear sunglasses if it’s bright outside, to protect your tender eye tissues. Having an occasional chemical peel or microdermabrasion treatment in our Atlanta cosmetic surgery office can help maintain your skin's condition.

Regular workouts are an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. We want you to enjoy your exercise routines and benefit from them, but please think about the tips above and incorporate them into your daily dose of health!

To your health & beauty,

Dr. Carmen Kavali

Board Certified Atlanta Plastic Surgeon

Study Shows Green Tea Extract Shrinks Tumors

According to an article recently published in the journal Nanomedicine, a laboratory study at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, showed that 40% of human skin cancer tumors disappeared using a compound based on green tea.

The compound, called epigallocatechin gallate, is an extract from green tea leaves. In the laboratory study, 40% of tumors disappeared after a month of treatment, while an additional 30% of tumors shrank.

Previous attempts to take advantage of the anti-cancer properties of green tea were based on IV drips, which didn’t deliver a high enough concentration of the extract to the actual tumors. In the Strathclyde study, a targeted delivery system was created, which piggybacked the extract with proteins that contained iron molecules. Apparently, this was the magic bullet.  

Although clinical trials on humans may be several years in the offing, Dr. Christine Dufes, a senior lecturer at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, and research leader, had this to say, "This research could open doors to new treatments for what is still one of the biggest killer diseases in many countries. With the targeted delivery system, it's taken straight to the tumours without any effect on normal tissue. When we used our method, the green tea extract reduced the size of many of the tumours every day, in some cases removing them altogether. These are very encouraging results, which we hope could pave the way for new and effective cancer treatments.”

Here in Atlanta, skin cancer is fairly common. We get plenty of sun and people love to be out in it. Although there are various treatments for skin cancer, the best "treatment" is to avoid it in the first place through the use of high SPF creams and even cosmetics. Come into my plastic surgery office in Atlanta and get some of the best sunscreen available on the market. You'll enjoy excellent protection and, hopefully, avoid not just skin cancer but the aging effects of too much sun exposure as well! 

To your health and wellness,

Dr. Carmen Kavali

Spring Cleaning for Your Face?

Spring has sprung and while some of you are spring-cleaning your homes, many of you are coming into our Atlanta plastic surgery and skin renewal practice to spring-clean your skin, too! The dry winter weather, stress or sun damage could be to blame but as seen on The Doctors, 3 non-invasive facial rejuvenation procedures can clear the cobwebs, and buff and shine your face for a fresh, spring look.

Laser The Cobwebs (Spider Veins) Away

Facial spider veins aren’t painful but they certainly are embarrassing. Damage from the sun can cause the tiny facial blood vessels to dilate, as can aging. Spider veins can appear on any skin type but they tend to be more visible on fair-complected people. Covering them with makeup works for a few hours, but longer-term results can be gained over your lunch break with little or no downtime. Both the IPL (photo-facial) and the Alexandrite/YAG laser can be used to be treat most skin types, as they target the red blood cells, causing the vessels to collapse, shrink and in most cases, disappear. If more appear later on (a common occurrence), another treatment can zap them away!

Buff Away Dead Skin

We have lots of great chemical peels to refresh the skin: Skin Medica's Vitalize Peel, for instance. This peel addresses several skin conditions, such as hyperpigmentation, melasma and sun damage. After only one treatment you’ll see visible improvement. After a series, you’ll see more significant results. Little or no downtime is the norm with the Vitalize Peel, so come in during lunch for your peel!

       

Need some skin tightening? Known as “the lift without a knife,” Refirme lasering results in immediate lifting and firming of facial skin through a combination of radiofrequency waves with infrared light. The Refirme laser has become a favorite of our Atlanta patients who want tighter and firmer skin on the spot, without visible post-treatment marks.

The Matrix IR is a diode laser for facial lines. By heating up the deeper layers of your skin (while protecting your surface skin), it signals collagen to rebuild. It’s great for nasolabial folds, marionette lines, crow’s feet, forehead lines and those little wrinkles around the eyes. Since its energy is fractionated, more intense light energy can be placed, which means it’s highly effective.

Time To Add Some Shine

The last and final step of the spring-cleaning facial rejuvenation is laser skin rejuvenation with our eMatrix (fractionated RF) Laser. This laser treats superficial skin lesions, acne scarring and wrinkles while improving both the texture and tone of your skin. The 3 settings allow for superficial, mid-level and deep skin correction, so it’s easy to tailor for your specific needs. A series of treatments can reveal the beauty and shine that you love!

You can have any of these procedures done during lunch and return to work, looking refreshed and ready for spring! 

To your health & beauty,

Dr. Carmen Kavali

Botox as "Push Present"?

Apparently, Push Presents have become all the rage over the past few years: a present a new Dad gives a New Mom around the time of the baby's birth. I think it's a sweet idea, something to make Mom feel honored, respected, and maybe even a little glamorous after all she's been through during pregnancy and childbirth.

There are plenty of opinions regarding Push Presents: some people think the baby is present enough, and others think it's just a sweet gesture. And there are plenty of ideas for Push Presents--of course the jewelry industry hopes Dad will choose a true bauble for Mom. Fortunoff even has a Push Present registry!

But I just had an expectant mom tell me that she wants Botox and some Fotofacial skin care treatments as her Push Present! Nothing like a little wrinkle reduction and skin smoothing to make a mom feel a little more confident and gorgeous, I say. And, you know, if Mama's happy....

No Bones About It: Why Many Facelifts Look Unnatural

So have you ever wondered why most facelifts look like, well, facelifts?? Why Joan Rivers looks like she's been caught in a wind-tunnel? It's because most facelifts address loose skin, but do nothing to fill the hollows in the face. It's like making a bed by pulling the comforter tight, but leaving the sheets rumpled beneath it.

You probably already know that you lose fat in your face as you age (and tend to find it in your thighs!). But you also lose BONE as you age--the bones in your face literally become thinner, making eyes look more hollow, jawlines look more loose, and cheeks look more flat. A great article from NPR goes into more detail.

In the world of plastic surgery, there has been a lot of attention given to "volumizing" faces. You may have heard about "liquid facelifts". Or lots of different fillers to fix hollows in the face: Sculptra, Restylane, Radiesse, Juvederm, or even your own fat.

To fix an aging face, you have to treat it like a home renovation: address the foundation first (fill the hollows), then spackle and paint (remove loose skin, sculpt the jawline, and start a good skin care routine).

Thanks for stopping by here!

Recession-proof procedures!

The recession may have hit most of us pretty hard, but the 2009 ASAPS cosmetic surgery stats reveal that we still value our appearances. Cosmetic procedures in 2009 were only down about 2%! Of course, the more pricey surgical procedures were down about 17%, which isn't surprising at all. But nonsurgical cosmetic procedures increased by about 1%--that may not sound like much, but when you consider that over 2.5 MILLION Botox procedures were done in 2009, 1% doesn't seem insignificant.

So what were the most common plastic surgeries in 2009? For women, it was breast augmentation, liposuction, eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, and abdominoplasty.

For men, the most common plastic surgeries in 2009 were liposuction, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, gynecomastia treatment (male breast reduction), and hair transplants.

The most common nonsurgical procedures in 2009 were Botox, fillers, laser hair removal, microdermabrasion, and chemical peels.

Thanks for stopping by!

Are you ready for a turnaround for your skin,

a reversal of aging,

a perfect winter wake-up,

an about-face for your face?

Join us on
Tuesday, February 2
for an
All-Day Skin and Makeup Makeover Event

RSVP 404-250-3333 to reserve your time

The Perfect Winter Wake-up:

• Fotofacial treatments are only $125 on Event Day Only
• Microdermabrasion is only $75 on Event Day Only

If you're already thinking about more long-term maintenance,

• Try a Package of 3 Fotofacials for only $700
• or a Package of 3 Fotofacials and 3 Renewal Peels for only $1000
• Packages may be purchased at these special prices anytime during the month of February.
  
  

The Turnaround:

Once your skin is prepped from your Fotofacial or Microdermabrasion, see Mark Lares for a Complimentary Glo-Minerals Makeup Makeover.

Mark is a hair and makeup expert, and we are excited to have him with us for this event.

Whether you need a fresh basic look or a new glamorous look for an upcoming event (Valentine's Day, anyone?), Mark's got you covered. And we've got very special pricing on all Glo-Minerals products--you don't want to miss this one!

The About-Face for Your Face:

Renew and Maintain your skin with SkinMedica products.
Event Day-Only Specials:

• SkinMedica Illuminating Eye Cream and TNS Line Refine for only $100
• SkinMedica TNS Recovery Complex: Buy Two, Get One Free
• Buy one TNS Essential Serum and Get TNS Illuminating Eye Cream FREE
• 10% off All SkinMedica products

Juvederm Special, good anytime through February 14: Get a FREE Vivite Defining Lip Plumper with every 1 cc syringe of Juvederm. (mail-in offer)