Not All Plastic Surgery Guarantees A Youthful Look!

In the movie business, cameras are everywhere.  Close up images of stars' faces are broadcast on the big screen, the television, and the internet.  Needless to say, those who are in the public eye are always mindful of the changes that age imposes.  In Hollywood, where plastic surgeons abound, there are unlimited options for facial rejuvenation.  The list of menu items is mind boggling, or one might say face boggling:  injections of fillers, implantations of plastic cheek "bones", threads looped under the chin and under the skin, liposuction, and, ultimately, amputation of unwanted skin through traditional face "lifts".

Peer pressure is a huge factor here.  For example, many teenagers are now getting breast lifts, nose jobs, cheek implants, and are competing with their mothers' age groups for cosmetic procedures.  In some cases these procedures can be justified as one-time fixes.  But often there is a temptation to become "addicted" to constant tinkering, and the results are not always satisfactory. 

Toned muscles always look more natural than injected ones.  That's why people go to the gym to lift weights, not just shoot injections into their biceps!  And nothing provides a better substrate for the skin than great tone on the underlying muscles.  
 
In today's economy, people are looking for ways to save money by following the "DIY" or "do it yourself" model.  Instead of going to a spa or medical setting to have your facial muscles toned (temporarily) using a $12,000 machine, why not capture the same results with your own machine.  For less than the cost of one spa treatment, your own FaceMaster will become your favorite beauty secret, just like it is for hundreds of thousands of satisfied users.

It is clear that many people will want many services on their faces.  But none of the surgeon's list will tone their facial muscles, in fact they usually need more toning after procedures. If you have had plastic surgery the FaceMaster is an ideal way to re-tone your facial muscles, and to maintain your youthful appearance, the natural way.

To read more about Lisa Rinna's comments on her face, visit http://www.usmagazine.com/news/lisa-rinna-i-looked-like-a-freak-after-too-much-plastic-surgery. 

To learn more about the FaceMaster, visit FaceMaster.com. 

Dr. Hanson welcomes your comments, and would be pleased to take your questions.

Bell's palsy is a paralysis of the motor nerve to one side of the face. Most sufferers wish Sir Charles Bell would take it back, even though the Scottish surgeon has been dead a couple of centuries.  The nerve in question is the facial nerve, otherwise known as the 7th cranial nerve.  The cause of this paralysis is largely unknown, although it can be created by trauma to the nerve, including pressure from a tumor along its pathway, or surgical "nicking" during complicated operations.  Most often, however, it is considered "viral". 

Now a quick word of medical lingo is in order here.  When a patient wants to know what caused their disease, Doctors have hated to say "I don't know" .  So they substitute euphamisms such as "agnostic", "essential", or (my personal favorite here) "idiopathic".  If your doctor tells you your disease is caused by "essential agnostic idiopathy" then you KNOW he/she is stumped!

But an even more obvious clue your doctor has no idea what is causing something can be found with the word "viral".  A thousand years ago, medical writings would blame diseases  like this on "evil spirits".  If we substitute this for "viral" in the modern medical literature, we are right back in the dark ages!  When modern experts further want to sound knowledgeable, they may further identify said virus as "herpes simplex type 1" or whatever.  Sounds like a much more impressive bluff.   But why only one side of the face?  Wouldn't any virus find it just as easy to settle on both sides?  Why not on the back of the head, or for that matter the arm or the leg; they have nerves there too!  Don't ask too many questions, as the experts may start to confabulate here.  And yes, sometimes we just don't know it all!

 Bell's palsy affects men and women equally, from childhood to old age, and on either side of the face .  About 40,000 Americans each year will develop this condition.  Usually it appears spontaneously, with no fever or incedent to announce it. It can get better by itself, with about half the patients seeing recovery in a few weeks.  However, some cases will last months, and many will last for years.  Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Cretien acquired his Bell's palsy in his youth, and still has it in his senior years.

In any event, when half your face is paralyzed, you do look odd, as this picture shows.  

But in terms of function, this half-faced paralysis can be a real problem.  The eyelids usually don't close fully, leaving the corneal surface of the eye to dry out.  Often eyedrops and tape are required to moisten and shut the lids at night.  Also, eating soup can be a catastrophe.  Not to mention spaghetti.   A crystal wine glass becomes a dribble cup.  You need to wear a bib just to give a toast.  

So the real question here (for those cases unlucky to not clear up quickly on their own) is not "what causes it?".  Rather it is: "can anyone please fix this?"

Oral steroids are the standard here, but they are more of a "hail mary pass" to use the football vernacular.  Side effects are a concern, and the drug goes everywhere, not just to the one nerve on one side of the face.  Much better results are seen with medical acupuncture, which inserts needles strategically into points along the underlying nerve branches.

 I have treated literally hundreds of Bell's cases with electrical micro-current applied to sterile acupuncture needles, with virtually full recovery in most, including some with over ten years of non-response to other treatments.  I have also trained dozens of M.D.'s from around the US in my offices in Denver, and they have had similar success in their own practices.  E-stim with micro current is particularly dramatic, as it can be seen to work immediately.  The muscles visibly "twitch" as they are selectively stimulated, and the nerve-muscle connection begins to resume its function.  Usually within a three visits we can start to demonstrate recovery, and further visits will take the face back to full normalcy.  We normally treat twice a week for the first six visits, then cut back to weekly or even monthly depending on speed of recovery. 

Between visits, find great improvement is seen with e-stim in a home machine version.  The same microcurrent is applied as that which we use through the needles, but no needles are used.  Simply by touching the moistened wand tips to the correct anatomical sites on the face, the home unit will make the 22 muscles on each side of the face start to twitch, and begin to resume their tone.  The machine I recommend to my patients is the FaceMaster.  Full disclosure (if not full modesty) compells me to  mention that I co-founded the FaceMaster company (with former Apple Notebook lead engineer Rodger Mohme), and have been delighted to see it pass through rigorous FDA study, to gain clearance as an effective cosmetic device for toning the facial muscles.  Suzanne Somers loves hers so much she tells everyone it is her "best beauty secret", and the first thing she wanted replaced when her home burned down. 

So, even if you don't have Bell's Palsy (and especially if you do!), use electrostimulation to tone your muscles.  Volume builds up beneath the skin.  Eyelids firm up their droopiness, cheek muscles lessen their sagging, wrinkles diminish, and the angles of the mouth turn from frown to smile.  Once my patients have seen how effective it is they do not want to stop using it on both sides of their faces. 

We welcome your comments and questions. 

For more information on Dr. Hanson's medical acupuncture practice, visit www.peterhansonmd.com For an MD in your area, visit http://www.medicalacupuncture.org/. 

For more information on the FaceMaster, and to read other blogs by Dr. Hanson, visit FaceMaster.com. 

In today's difficult economy, visits to the spa have been relegated to a lower priority.  Not only do they cost a lot of money, but it takes a lot of time out of one's day to drive, park, sign in, sit in the waiting room, then finally have your esthetician begin an hour of facial muscle toning.  All this, and it only lasts about a week.  (Much like weight lifting will do in toning your body muscles). 

So, with an eye to practicality, modern customers are turning their faces towards home.  By doing-it-themselves, they save time, and will save face.  By owning their own FaceMaster, they will spend less than the cost of one spa treatment to OWN their own machine.  Talk about a great bargain!

Skin care does not just involve the surface, any more than fresh shingles can fix an old, sagging roof.  We need to address the full picture, including the infrastructure.  The 22 muscles underneath each side of the face are mostly attached to the bone beneath, then fixed to the skin.  Like every muscle we have, they plump up with exercise, and shrivel or atrophy with disuse.  Unfortunately one cannot find an exercise station for "face" at the gym.  That's why spas have performed millions of facial muscle toning treatments over the past four decades.

But for all the difficulties in exercising sagging muscles in the face, these muscles have one advantage over the bigger muscles of the body; they are conveniently placed close to the surface.  This means that they lend themselves to stimulation with micro-current from the surface of the skin.  No matter what anti-aging techiques one does, the face still needs active attention.  Toned muscles give youthful looks, and toned facial muscles rejuvenate one's appearance. 

After the muscles are toned the face looks like it had a makeover, the skin tightens, the facial lines diminish,  and your friends will notice your great appearance...all without surgery! 

So don't dispair the next time you look in the mirror.  Take control of your body's muscles by exercising in the gym, through yoga or pilates, or through your favorite sports.  And take control of your face's muscles by buying your own FaceMaster®.  With a toned face as a basis, all your other anti-aging efforts will work better: diet, hydration, exercise, mental activity, and time management.