Too Much or Not Enough?

Have you ever looked back at an old photograph of yourself and been shocked at how different you used to look? What on earth made you think that hairstyle was reasonable? And those pants! Chances are you didn’t wake up one day and look completely different - the process of change was gradual and took place over a period of time.

Over the years I have noticed a similar phenomenon as it relates to facial fillers and neuromodulators like Botox. Initially the goal for everyone is to subtly improve their looks. An insidious alteration in motivation sometimes occurs where people seem to desire a change in looks over and above an improvement in looks. They forget what they looked like pre-treatment, and just want to look different than they did last month. The end result of this approach is an undesirable fullness to the face or complete immobility from over treatment.

Facial fillers and Botox can provide subtle changes in appearance that are aesthetically pleasing. These changes are not permanent, are injected in a physicians office, and require little to no downtime. A softening of lines and wrinkles and subtle increases of volume in the lips and cheeks can create a beautiful result for relatively little commitment in terms of time and money.  Dermal fillers and neuromodulators are the quintessential example of a case where more is not better.

Our team works with our patients to establish subtle improvements that are beautiful but do not reach the threshold of looking altered. I believe it is important to document my patients’ appearance photographically, with the aim to maintain the ideal result over the long term.