Aesthetics

The best way to create a youthful upper eyelid is by understanding it, Nancy Swartz, M.D., told the audience during her presentation, “Understanding and creating the youthful upper eyelid,” at Vegas Cosmetic Surgery 2014.

Improving the contour of the aging neck requires more than a skillful technique, said Fred Fedok, M.D., F.A.C.S., of the McCollough Plastic Surgery Clinic, Gulf Shores, Ala., and Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, Pa., during his presentation, “Unraveling the mystery of the aging upper neck,” at Vegas Cosmetic Surgery 2014. The neck, he argued, has an aesthetic all its own.

Whether your practice is purely aesthetic or a mix of medical and aesthetic, you’re operating a business, and it serves you to understand key business principles to stay successful, say panelists at the VCS 2014 meeting.

Perceived beauty goes beyond numeric values and divine proportions. In fact, beauty in the beholder’s eyes is a collage of geographic, ethnic and demographic influences, according to research published in the March issue of Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.

I have not found any product for eye puffiness in the cosmetic marketplace that work, but there are several categories of products available.

In part 2 of our series on brand identity, Melanie Palm, M.D., elicits the help of expert colleagues that have been successful in developing their own practice brand identities. Dr. Palm poses and responds to questions along with Dr. Tina Alster, Dr. Fredric Brandt, and Dr. Tom Rohrer.

For all our society’s emphasis on physical beauty, nothing is sexier than self-esteem. This was the theme of “Subliminally Exposed,” a performance given by Steven Dayan, M.D., and Valerie Monroe, beauty director of "O, The Oprah Magazine," at Cosmetic Surgery Forum.

With “discount” injectable treatments here to stay, experts say, dermatologists must court sophisticated consumers willing to pay for the quality and expertise that only dermatologists and other core aesthetic specialists offer.

Self-tanning creams are safe, but perhaps an explanation is in order. There have been a very few reported cases of allergic contact dermatitis to self-tanning creams.

Your brand identity is a communication to the world at large of who you are – as a physician, practice, product, and business. If done successfully, the creation of a strong brand identity resonates through all aspects of the practice – the website, logo, clinic space, staff, physician, and any of the associated ventures. Here, Tracy Drumm, Vice President of IF Marketing, offers tips relating to brand identity.

What emotions do these two little words evoke: “public speaking”? Perhaps fear, anxiety, discomfort or agitation? If you are among the greater than 90 percent of Americans that have an aversion to public speaking, the idea of being in the spotlight is enough to make your palms perspire and your heart leap from your chest.

Cellulite creams are the perfect cosmetic because of a wide potential audience and the large body service area that must be covered with cream required frequent purchase. This explains the competitive marketplace, but determining efficacy is another story.

Microsponges are very small sponges that can be loaded with substances for delivery to the skin. The most interesting use of microsponges in OTC (over-the-counter) drug dermatologics is in dandruff shampoos.

Challenges facing physicians in dermatology include marketplace consolidation and competition from non-core providers. These issues are top of mind not just among clinicians themselves but also among the executives of pharmaceutical companies.

The vast majority of us have a fear of public speaking, but much of this fear can be dissolved with practice and preparation. What follows are some practical tips for the dermatologist in how to get and stay involved with the media.

A study published in JAMA Ophthalmology confirms the possibility of off-label filler injections to the forehead causing permanent blindness. Do you include this risk on your patient consent forms?

Jill Waibel, M.D., discusses lasers and light-based technology with Dermatology Times. Dr. Waibel, owner of Miami Dermatology and Laser Institute, will be a panel member at the laser roundtable discussion at the 2014 Vegas Cosmetic Surgery and Aesthetic Dermatology meeting in June.

Treatments for melasma often fail because they do not address both the dermal and epidermal components of the condition, an expert says.

Peer-reviewed data on cosmeceuticals is lacking, but some of the most thoroughly researched offerings include coconut oil and lignin peroxidase, according to experts who spoke at Cosmetic Surgery Forum.

Treating excess pigmentation without hydroquinone requires a multipronged attack, including thoroughly researched agents wherever possible, according to experts at Cosmetic Surgery Forum.

The newest fad in antiperspirant/deodorants worldwide is skin lightening of the armpits combined with moisture and odor control. The need for armpit skin lightening is most pronounced among the higher Fitzpatrick skin types, in which armpit pigmentation is common.

Physicians have greatly changed the ways in which they use photodynamic therapy (PDT) since it was introduced, according to an expert who spoke at the South Beach Symposium recently.

Currently available fillers and filler techniques are changing the way dermatologists approach volume loss in the midface and beyond, according to experts at Cosmetic Surgery Forum, held in Las Vegas.

When considering the pluses, minuses and makeup of currently available fillers, according to an expert speaking at Cosmetic Surgery Forum, dermatologists must rely on their own insights and industriousness rather than manufacturers’ messages.

Many of the new cellulite minimizing creams contain retinol as the ingredient that is called out on the front packaging. Remember that when an ingredient is called out on the packaging, this is not a claim and implies no efficacy.