Just like everything else, cosmetic surgery is constantly evolving. As preferences change and technology continues to offer us alternatives, cosmetic trends adapt to suit.
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We spoke to Dr. William Mooney, a leading ENT and Specialist Rhinoplasty surgeon and founder of Face Plus MediSpa, about what we can expect from the cosmetic world over the next 12 months.
“We have fantastic new developments in facial cosmetics. It’s exciting because it results in better outcomes for patients,” says Dr. Mooney.
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While many people have, in the past, used images of celebrities to guide surgeons on what they want to look like, Dr. Mooney says the days of replicating certain features of the stars are long gone.
“It was always a problem because the best nose/face is your nose/face – just a better version of it. So, trying to replicate an Angelina Jolie face on someone else’s face was forever going to be a bad idea.”
Instead, the growing presence of face-altering apps like Snapchat and Facetune has taken charge, with clients coming in and consulting with surgeons using their own modified images.
“It’s useful because it is far easier to make a better version of their own face, rather than a face and features that belong to someone else,” explains Dr. Mooney. “However, I do caution against it creating unrealistic expectations for patients.”
From Medical to Cosmetic
There is now a rise in treatments which first began as medical procedures, with patients wanting the physical change without necessarily having the medical issue in the first place.
“It is a natural genesis of any treatment to find all of its potential uses,” says Dr. Mooney. “We used to inject the Masseter muscles (chewing muscles) to decrease swelling and teeth grinding at night time and the result was a slimmer, more feminine face. Now, people are asking for that procedure just to get a slimmer face.”
The practice also applies to facial rejuvenation, with Platelet Rich Plasma Treatment (PRP) – which was originally used by sports doctors to help with sporting injuries – now a popular face and skin treatment, as well as for baldness.
“Remember that botox started as a medical treatment for Myokymia (flickering of the eye) and it still has a myriad of medical uses, but of course it is most commonly known as a cosmetic anti-wrinkle treatment.”
The Ageing Population
With the rise of the average life expectancy age, cosmetic surgery has opened up to a whole new generation of people.
“Using a smattering of muscle relaxants and a facial which works on a 20 or 30 something year old, isn’t going to cut the mustard on a 78-year-old face,” says Dr. Mooney. “We have developed a lot of deep space fillers, which are essential in loss of volume.”
“There is a really significant loss of volume in this age group – so counteracting that is very difficult, but effective if you’ve got a good injector combined with more diligent skincare regimes.”
‘Wrapping Paper’ and Skin Care
Dr. Mooney also stresses the importance of skincare when it comes to cosmetic procedures.
“The technique for cosmetics for a long time was ignoring the wrapping paper (the skin) to jump to needles, injectables and muscle relaxants straight away,” he says.
“‘Skin care, skin care, skin care’ is the rallying call for 2018 for cosmetics. The techniques to do this, of course, are preventative but new skincare regimes of advanced gentle lasers, combined with intelligent rejuvenating, result driven facials and other techniques such as PRP, skin tightening are the new age/ cutting edge of good cosmetic facial technology.”
Lunchtime Procedures
Patients are seeking faster results from shorter surgeries and limited budgets, leading to a rise in what Dr. Mooney describes as “lunchtime procedures.”
“Fewer patients want to have formal surgery and more and more want to have a minimal down time procedure, like lunch-time face lifts and non-surgical rhinoplasty,” he explains. “I always counsel patients that formal assessment is necessary and usually results in a better outcome. But in many cases, patients have a minor deformity in their nose and this can be repaired and fixed with injectable rhinoplasty with zero downtime at a fraction of the cost of formal rhinoplasty.”
“Imagine having a mid and lower third face face-lift and going back to work confidently and comfortably the next day?”
