FDA Approves Plastic Surgery Breakthrough For People Of Color
Finally… A Face Lift Alternative For People Of Color!
Plastic surgery among minorities is skyrocketing 10% per year.
Surveys show more African, Hispanic, and Asian Americans are seeking larger breasts, refined noses, and tighter eyelids than ever before.
But there’s one procedure most people of color won’t risk: a face lift.
“The danger is creating a keloid,” says facial plastic surgeon Dr. Anil Shah. Keloids are ugly red raised scars that can grow worse with each passing month. They’re unpredictable, very difficult to remove, and can result even after minor surgery.
Dr. Shah says, “Keloids are notorious for occurring after a minilift, also called a LiteLift. That procedure puts more tension on sutures. The skin stretches out and heavy scarring moves in.”
The outcome is so disastrous many experts advise people of color to avoid face lifts entirely.
But now a new minimally invasive procedure allows the country’s 100 million people of color to get many of the benefits of a face lift for the first time.
“The FDA has just approved the world’s most advanced treatment for loose facial and neck skin,” says Dr. Shah. “It’s a huge development for anyone with darker skin. They finally have access to an effective face lift alternative.” The board certified facial plastic surgeon practices in Chicago and is affiliated with the University of Chicago.
The new technology allows facial plastic surgeons to safely apply heat just under the skin for the first time. The result predictably melts underlying fat and tightens the skin above without burning it.
Studies show the new procedure instantly tightens the skin by 40%. “It’s quite amazing,” says Dr. Shah. “You see the facial skin tighten by the end of the procedure!” The University of Chicago affiliated facial plastic surgeon is the first locally certified to use the treatment.
The half hour office procedure is done under local anesthesia and doesn’t require sutures. Dr. Shah inserts a 4” handheld cannula just one-fourteenth inch in diameter under the skin. The cannula’s tip emits computer-controlled thermal energy. A sensor hovering just above the skin constantly measures the tip’s temperature and energy. The device’s specific frequencies simultaneously destroy nearby fat and tighten the skin’s collagen.
Patients experience swelling for 3-4 days that gradually subsides. Then over the next six weeks to three months, their face continues to look younger by the day.
Dr. Shah says, “Since there’s no danger of burning and no suture scars, there’s no risk of developing keloids.”
He continues, “Until now all I could offer patients of color was injectables or surface treatments. But those produce far less dramatic, far more temporary results.
Results from the new procedure, called FaceTite, last about five years. That also makes the procedure the best financial value for patients. Dr. Shah says, “I tell patients they’ll look up to a decade younger for about five years…that’s about $1000 per year.”
Costs are further reduced because the facial plastic surgeon can choose to tighten only specific areas such as the lower eyes, brow, cheek, or neck.
Dr. Shah says the best minority candidates for the procedure are men and women in their 30’s or 40’s with minimal skin laxity. However, he says many older patients have also benefitted from the new procedure. He says, “A 70-year-old may say she wants to look 65. She doesn’t want a radical transformation; simply to look better for her age.”
Dr. Shah says, “People of color, like everyone else, want to look younger. Now for the first we can finally give them the equal opportunity to accomplish just that.”
For more information contact:Anil R. Shah M.D @ 312-944-0117
Michael Breen M.D., @ 312-321-6911
