Which Problems Can Upper Blepharoplasty Fix?

Do you have droopy eyelids? If so, you’re not alone! Droopy eyelids are a huge reason why people turn to upper-eyelid surgery, also known as upper blepharoplasty, to remove excess skin from the upper eyelids. This leaves the eyes looking more youthful and less saggy.

Why Do Our Upper Eyelids Sag?

As we age, the skin of the upper eyelids begins to lose its elasticity. This, combined with the natural pull from gravitational forces, can lead to excess sagging skin. Excess skin on the upper eyelids can droop over a person’s eyelashes and impede vision.

Why Should You Undergo This Surgery?

If you want to improve the appearance of your eyes and get an alert look, you certainly should consider undergoing an upper blepharoplasty. This procedure is suitable for people with wrinkles on their eyelids, eyelid puffiness, and sagging lids. 

Ideally, it is done for people who are above thirty-five years of age. However, those who are genetically predisposed to droopy eyelids can consider this surgery at an earlier age.

Upper blepharoplasty can significantly improve your appearance by removing signs of the aging process from the upper eyelids. Drooping upper eyelids and fine age lines can make a person look constantly tired or older than they really are.

Who Shouldn’t Get This Procedure?

You need to be in good health so that the surgery does not lead to any other complications. Smokers are advised to avoid this surgery or give up smoking several weeks prior to the operation. Smoking increases the chances of complications after undergoing an upper-blepharoplasty procedure.

If your condition is affecting your vision, you may have an eye exam conducted by an ophthalmologist. Dr. Yamamoto evaluates other eye-related conditions like a dry eye and eye diseases before deciding if you're able to safely get an upper blepharoplasty. It is highly essential to get a consultation done with Dr. Yamamoto prior to the surgery.

Which Problems Can Upper Blepharoplasty Fix?

Upper blepharoplasty is suitable for fixing the following conditions: • Drooping upper eyelids • Impeded peripheral vision as a result of sagging skin • Heavy eyelids caused by excess fat deposits • Fine wrinkles in the eyelids

Which Conditions Will Upper Blepharoplasty Not Resolve?

This surgery is not a suitable treatment option for the following conditions: • Crow’s feet • Dark circles under the eyes

Your Consultation for Upper Blepharoplasty

During your initial consultation for an upper-eyelid lift, you and Dr. Yamamoto will discuss your aesthetic goals and expectations for the procedure. He will go into detail regarding the procedure itself, along with the recovery process. The two of you will discuss your complete medical history, and a physical examination will be performed to ensure that the procedure is right for you.

Contact Us for a Blepharoplasty

Address your blepharoplasty concerns with us at our office. Dr. Yamamoto is a double-board-certified facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon who has the years of experience required to give you excellent aesthetic results. To discuss the procedure in greater detail with a skilled medical professional, contact our office and set up a consultation with Dr. Kyle Yamamoto.

The Mini-Yummy Lift Offers Many Benefits

As we grow older, signs of the aging process appear on our faces naturally. The most common sign of facial aging is sagging around the jawline, cheeks, and neck.

Luckily, cosmetic advances have led to a procedure called a mini-facelift. Dr. Yamamoto’s specialized take on this procedure is the Mini-Yummy Lift, which he uses to correct early signs of aging such as jowls and a sagging jawline.

The Ideal Candidate for a Mini Yummy-Lift

A candidate for a Mini-Yummy Lift is a younger patient who is just starting to see visible sagging in the lower part of the face. People in their 40s or 50s might also qualify as good candidates for the surgery.

People who want to opt for a Mini-Yummy Lift rarely have excess face and neck fat. Leading a healthy lifestyle also plays a significant role in determining whether a Mini-Yummy Lift is appropriate for a person; any surgical procedure requires the patient to be in good overall health.

Benefits of a Mini-Yummy Lift

1. Offers Long-Lasting Results: The results of a Mini-Yummy Lift last longer than many other cosmetic procedures. They can last for five years or longer, depending on whether you lead a healthy lifestyle.

2. Improves Facial Laxity, Giving You a Younger Look: A Mini-Yummy Lift provides natural-looking rejuvenation, as the procedure focuses on tightening tissues that are sagging on the jawline. With a Mini-Yummy Lift, Dr. Yamamoto tightens the underlying facial muscles along with the skin.

3. Is Shorter and Less Invasive: A Mini-Yummy Lift is shorter and less invasive than a full facelift, since less tissue is altered. It is a limited-incision procedure and only takes around 90 minutes to perform. During a Mini-Yummy Lift, Dr. Yamamoto uses suture techniques to lift the underlying facial muscles. Only a small amount of excess skin is trimmed away.

4. Does Not Require General Anesthesia: A Mini-Yummy Lift is an in-office procedure, and only local anesthesia is needed. There are a lot of patients who prefer this procedure because patients feel less tired and nauseous afterward in comparison to general anesthesia. When surgeons use local anesthesia, patients can get back to their daily activities a lot faster.

5. Offers a Faster Recovery: Because of the shorter incisions and the lack of general anesthesia, patients recover much faster from a Mini-Yummy Lift. Most patients are awake right after the surgery and are free to return to daily work in less than a week. Most people only need to rest for a short time after having this procedure performed.

Getting Started with Your Mini-Yummy Lift

Does a Mini-Yummy Lift seem like the right procedure for you? To discuss this procedure in greater detail with a skilled medical professional, contact our office and set up an informative consultation with Dr. Kyle Yamamoto.

Dr. Yamamoto is a double-board-certified facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon with the years of experience needed to get you excellent facelift results. During your consultation, the two of you will discuss your aesthetic goals and expectations for the procedure.

Hiding Incisions in Facial Plastic Surgery

A very common question I get at virtually all my consults is: “where are the incisions?”  This is a very valid question and something that every patient should understand well.  As facial plastic surgeons, how do we plan incisions that are not noticeable?

We can use three main areas that help hide any potential incision as much as possible.

• along the curvature of facial features
• parallel with relaxed skin tension lines
• within the hair

Natural curves are a great place to hide incisions.  For example, our curves and contour of the ear, the nose, the chin, or the jawline give us facial shape. Any incisions that follow those facial contours will “blend in” to their surroundings.  These areas are commonly used for cosmetic procedures.

Relaxed skin tension lines are those lines that you see when you express your face (smiling, frowning, raising your eye brows, etc.).  Muscles of the face pull on the skin to create facial expression. That muscle pull also creates natural folds in the skin.  Any incisions that are placed parallel to or within those lines also blend in very well.  These lines are commonly used for reconstructive procedures.

Finally, any incisions within the hair hide very well.  Hair can cover up any potential scar or imperfection.  In addition, when an area heals well, hair can grow through a scar or previous incision site, covering the area even better.

Facial plastic surgery is unique in that incisions must be planned even more precisely than other areas. We cannot cover our faces with clothing! Careful planning and design of incisions are important in not only giving you the best result, but also avoiding any noticeable scarring during the healing process.

Here’s to the beautiful human face,

-Dr. Yamamoto

What makes a skin product medical grade?

This question comes up a lot lately, and I think it’s important to understand the main differences between skin care products that you can by over-the-counter (OTC) compared to those that you can only purchase from a doctor’s office.

The key is looking at the ingredients. What are the main ingredients or active medicines in the product? More importantly, HOW MUCH of the ingredients are in the product? Due to FDA regulations, once the amount of certain ingredients in a product become high enough, they need to be sold by a physician to ensure safety and compliance of that product.

For example, hydroquinone is an ingredient in skin lightener creams.  You can purchase creams with hydroquinone OTC at a maximum percentage of 2%.  In my office, you can get hydroquinone with concentrations of up to 8-10%.

Higher concentration means more aggressive treatment. This can be very beneficial for those who are looking for a more significant result.

Also, don’t forget that purchasing a medical-grade skin care product from a physician also comes with expert guidance.  We can help you with everything from which products are best, what is the best way to use them, what combinations of products work the best, and what result you can expect to see. 

And often in the end, the cost difference can be minimal to non-existent. Remember that most medical grade skin care products do not have a large budget for marketing and advertising that you see with many big OTC products. That cost savings helps keep prices lower for medical-grade products.

With more active ingredients, expert guidance from our office, and similar pricing to OTC products, you are truly getting more for your money when using medical-grade skin care products at home. Consider these products as the “insurance on your investment” of keeping your face young and healthy.

Here’s to the beautiful human face,

-Dr. Yamamoto 

What kind of sunscreen is best?

Summer is in full swing! By now you have undoubtedly taken advantage of what Northern Nevada has to offer in the summer including hiking, biking, and the beach. How are you taking care of your face during the summer months?

One of the most common questions I get in my office is: “if I could pick just one thing to do for my face, what do you suggest?”  My answer is always the same and is very appropriate this time of year: sunscreen!

Protecting your face from sun damage over the summer, and quite honestly, everyday throughout your life, is the single most important thing to do for your face. Sun exposure contributes to early aging of the skin (think of sun spots and fine wrinkles), loss of elastin or “stretchiness” of the skin (those dreaded jowls and sagging neck skin), and increases your risk of skin cancer. Those who continually protect their face from the sun will enjoy more youthful skin, fewer problems with sun spots, and have a lower risk of developing suspicious lesions that turn into skin cancer.

In that case, what is the best way to protect your face from the sun?

Big hats (go beyond the baseball cap or trucker hat and think bigger, like a big brimmed straw hat or cowboy hat) and regular, consistent sunscreen are your best bets. When it comes to sunscreen, a lot of different products exist. While impossible to talk about all types of sunscreens in this column (I do have a 30-minute presentation just on sunscreen that I like to give this time of year), I think some basics are very important:

• There are 2 types of sunscreens – physical sunblocks and chemical sunscreens
• Physical sunblocks reflect the UV light from the sun like a mirror, while chemical sunscreens break down the UV light in the skin.
• The chemical blocks are the most common and what you will typically find at a drug store.  They are cheaper to produce, and therefore cheaper to purchase.
• Physical blocks contain either zinc oxide or titanium oxide or both. Think of the old school zinc sunblocks of the past (the lifeguard with the white nose). The modern sunblocks, however, are made to no longer be white and blend into the skin. Some are even tinted to the color of your skin.

While either type can work for your skin, I prefer physical block sunscreen for a few reasons:

·         Because physical blocks sit on your skin and do not soak in, they are more hypoallergenic compared to chemical blocks.

• Because the UV light is reflected off your skin with the physical blocks, oxidative damage with breakdown of the UV light is prevented, eliminating some theoretical skin aging with chemical sunscreens.
• Physical blocks tend to be more broad spectrum compared to many chemical sunscreen ingredients and protect from both UVA and UVB

Finally, regardless of what sunscreen you choose, here are some key tips:

• The SPF of the sunscreen should be at least 30 or higher.
• Make a habit of putting sunscreen on your face every day in the morning, all year long. Find one with a facial moisturizer mixed in to make it even easier.
• Apply sunscreen every 80-120 minutes if you are going to have prolonged exposure to the sun during the day.

·         Finally, remember your kids! Sun exposure as a child can have significant effects on you when you get older, so be sure to apply sunscreen to your kids any time they will be out in the sun.  They will thank you for it in the future.

If you are looking for some great, medical-grade sunscreens that protect you from the sun and are good for your skin, we have a very popular line here at our office. It’s the best, most useful gift of the season!

Here’s to the beautiful human face,

-Dr. Yamamoto

The “Liquid Facelift” – How to get an improved, natural result without surgery

More often lately, I have patients come to my office asking, “What is a liquid facelift?”

This has been a very popular topic and is worthy of some discussion. “How can I get a natural lift without surgery?” With the advances of dermal fillers, we can offer a myriad of non-surgical procedures to lift, enhance, and smooth areas of the face without surgery.  So how does non-surgical lifting work?

The term “liquid facelift” can be useful to help you imagine what a liquid (in this case, a dermal filler such as Juvederm Voluma®) can do to lift the face. Think of your cheeks and chin as the “coat hanger” of your face.  When we are young and have nice, full cheekbones, the skin of our midface sits up nice and high. As we age and lose volume in the cheeks, the skin in this area starts to droop and sag and cause the classic signs of facial aging.  We see more smile lines, facial creases, and drooping cheeks. The coat hanger’s strength is lost, and the face begins to fall.

A dermal filler can be injected into the cheek area to create more volume. This “liquid” being injected creates the fullness that youthful cheeks have. Making the cheeks rounder and fuller helps naturally bring up the skin in this area and create some lift. This reestablishes the coat hanger of your face and gives you that subtle “facelift” through the cheek region.  Of course, this can all be done very naturally. No huge cheeks or looking like an “alien” are necessary to get the lift and result you want. When injecting the cheeks precisely for a natural look, everybody will notice you look younger, but nobody will know specifically what you did.

A non-surgical “liquid facelift” is a short procedure done in the office.  Discomfort is minimal. Downtime is essentially zero. And results are immediate.

Finally, remember that I personally perform every single one of the injections in my office. I have had the privilege of extensive training in non-surgical facial procedures and bring that experience to every single one of my patients. I want to make sure that every time you visit my office you know you are getting me for your procedure.

Is the “liquid facelift” right for you?  A complimentary, in-office consultation is your best first step in making subtle, natural improvements to your face.

Here's to the beautiful human face,

-Dr. Yamamoto

The Perfect Face, part 4

The Perfect Face, part 4

Now that we have discussed facial symmetry, Golden Ratio proportions, and celebrity features, we will address what is probably the most loaded topic of our series.  How does “the perfect face” differ between cultures?

The plethora of countries, cultures, and ethnicities across the globe make this topic almost impossible to adequately cover.  I will, however, do my best to discuss the main ideas of beauty across cultural lines.

When we think in generalities about the face, we can perceive the differences in each individual that make us unique.  Similarly, we also perceive differences that give a face its ethnic identity.  But even though you can perceive the differences, how well can you describe them?

A picture is worth a thousand words:

This is Esther Honig is an independent journalist from Ohio, who created an “experiment” with her face and photo editors across the globe.  She sent an unedited, no-makeup, basic photo of her face to more than 50 photo editors in dozens of countries with one request: “make me beautiful.” What happened next was a very interesting study in how humans perceive beauty. She received many submissions of her new “beautiful” face and the results are discussion worthy.

After receiving numerous submissions from photo editors, Esther went through the photos and was amazed to discover how her face was changed.  Her skin was made lighter or darker.  Her eye color was changed.  Her eyebrows were made thicker or thinner.  Her eye tilt was changed.  Her lip or cheek structure was altered.  Initially, she could not identify any consistencies or patterns in the changes to her face across the countries and cultures that sent her submissions.

Here are just five examples of what she received:

Argentina

Germany

Greece

















Indonesia

Pakistan

What does this mean?  What does the study show?

Esther says that this project does not necessarily define beauty or determine what we consider “perfect” across the world.  This project helps start the conversation about beauty—something that is prevalent in our lives and something we think about often, but don’t truly know how to define.  Perhaps the inability to define beauty is exactly what creates beauty.

Esther’s study “Before and After” stimulates a great discussion on what we consider the perfect face.  Perhaps the perfect face is not something that can be defined, but rather interpreted differently across cultures, ethnicities, genders, and time.  That’s what makes the face truly beautiful. The idea that we can take something so intricate, complex, and abstract as the face and view it as perfect or beautiful without actually being able to describe it is what makes us human. This is also what makes the specialty of facial plastic surgery endlessly intriguing and challenging.

Think about your own background, ethnicity, and culture and then consider what you perceive to be beautiful. Can you identify your own influences? Those factors may help you better describe why you view a specific human face to be “perfect.”

Watch Buzzfeed’s compilation video on Esther’s photo submissions: https://youtu.be/RT9FmDBrewA

Watch Esther’s TEDx Vancouver talk here: https://youtu.be/WWRXOqYwRkM

And check out Esther Honig’s website here: http://www.estherhonig.com/

Here’s to the beautiful human face,

-Dr. Yamamoto