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New Haven, Connecticut – Providence, Rhode Island
Archive for December, 2011
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
No. That is utterly silly! Smoking does diminish blood flow to the skin via the constricting effects of nicotine on blood vessels. This in turn can magnify the aging process of skin where loss of thickness is partly due to poor nutrition as result of decreased blood supply. One can argue that thinner skin will fold more easily like an accordion and indeed this is partly why people have wrinkles around the mouth. The main reason for vertical skin folds around the mouth is the sphincteric action of the muscle around the mouth: obicularis oris. This muscle is used constantly throughout our lives and it is attached to our skin to allow different movements of our mouth. The constriction of the muscle will cause accordion-like vertical lines to appear. Women have more pronounced lines develope earlier than men. Why? Men’s skin is thicker with a better blood supply to support the beard. The combination prevents wrinkle formation for a longer time in men than in women. It certainly isn’t because men smoke less than women!
Posted in Laser skin treatment, Skin care | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
Recent media attention to the relatively new reconstructive procedure of major facial transplantation for total or near total destruction of the human face has raised interesting points worth teaching. First, as most people realize, this surgery is not cosmetic! The purpose is to reconstruct a face that bears as much resemblance to facial features as possible. Once the initial transplant is successful, in terms of a stable blood supply and no rejection, the long process of recreating features that resemble the face begins. Through serial procedures the transplant that looks like a badly made mask takes on human shape. The skin is scored and sutured from the inside to recreate folds from the nose to the lips, muscles attach via scarring to the skin to recreate smile and frown lines where possible. Much that is done to give characteristics of facial features is completely the opposite what is the goal for cosmetic patients! Yes, it is nice to soften these features as we get older, but they should not be eliminated as they clearly (as demonstrated by facial transplantation) identify us.
Posted in Cosmetic surgery, psychology | No Comments »
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