Tale of a Patient

A patient came in today for a medical probelm. It turned out that she had seen me years ago, She commented about how well I had aged, and the conversation turned to cosmetic procedures. She told that she was quite unhappy with her surgery that had been performed by a respected local plastic surgeon. She said that all she wanted was a "neck lift" or, in reality a face-lift or MACS-lift. He told her that if he were to operate she would have to have a brow lift and eyelid surgery as well. She reluctantly went along with it because she had been told that he was "the best". She spent over $20,000.

Aside from the fact that she needed a second procedure, she was unhappy because she felt that the surgeon had over-promised. When we mentioned her nasolabial folds she said that she had been told the surgery would improve those. I explained that it was difficult to correct these with a face-lift and she replied that she had no problem with that, but she felt she should have been told that before the procedure.
My evaluation was that she needed filler in her cheeks and she now had "hollow eye", presumably because of the lower lid procedure. I showed her photos of the repair of my lower lid bags using just filler, and she was astonished. She said that her lower lid changes had been no worse than mine.
The current understanding of what is the best approach to facial rejuvenation has evolved. Sometimes even good people don't keep up.

Gerald N. Bock MD
California Skin & Laser Center
Stockton & Lodi, CA