I am often asked how Michael Jackson looked the way he did prior to his death.

I answer that by saying he had unrealistic expectations and found a surgeon who told him what he wanted to hear. There you have the makings of a disaster!

Last week I saw a patient from the East Coast who exemplifies this issue. Let’s call her Mary. She looked like Jennifer Lawrence, who is someone I would not operate on because she doesn’t need anything done.

Mary was an attractive woman who was of normal weight, size and pretty. She had had her nose done as well as her cheeks and upper lip.

When I asked her what bothered her she said she thought her nose could be further refined and thought she DEFINITELY needed a mini facelift. She is 22 years old.

I explained to her that her nose did not need any further surgery since it looked great and the risk outweighed the gain.

Furthermore, that she had NO excess skin to be removed and this would only leave her with wide scars since her skin was too tight at 22 years of age. She absolutely disagreed with me pulling back the skin on her cheeks to show me what she wanted done and how “simple” this would be.

I then explained to her that I only make money when I operate on people, so she should understand this if nothing else. Furthermore, I told her that she could walk five minutes from my office and find 10 plastic surgeons willing to operate on her, but she still remained adamant. I told her I thought that a therapist might help her as she was very pretty and no surgery was indicated.

This made her even angrier.

I said, “Don’t you realize I’m not making any money when I tell you NOT to have surgery? I only make money when I do surgery on you. So you should really pay attention when I tell you that. I am trying to prevent you from having a very bad result if you have surgery– that 50 percent of my practice is revision noses and faces who have had bad results–not just minor problems that most surgeons have rarely.”

Well, she did not care and unfortunately left in a huff and will probably find a surgeon to do what she wants and will start down the road of misery.

Good surgeons try to guide their patients and some have better skills than others to do more complex work. But patients like Mary want something that cannot be achieved, so make sure you see a surgeon who will tell you if what you want will improve your looks or create those awful plastic surgery results that many celebrities get because they go to a surgeon who tells them what they want to hear.

Here are two women in their 20s who wanted plastic surgery. This is what happens when a doctor operates on you without considering your age and if you really need it. 

-Dr. Toby Mayer

Rhinoplasty surgeons should have a great deal of experience. They call it the “practice” of medicine for a reason. Rhinoplasty is probably the most difficult cosmetic procedure since it takes 1 year to see the final result of your work.There have been many surgeons who do outstanding work into their 80′s. It is not the hands that deteriorate with advanced age it would be the mind. If the surgeon is excellent he will keep this—if he doesn’t know who u r the day of surgery, u might want a different surgeon–just kidding!

-Dr. Toby Mayer

In this forum we frequently talk about beauty and facial proportions first described by Da Vinci. The frontal hairline, which helps to frame the face in both men and women, will influence facial balance. In men we are all aware of the common problem of male pattern baldness and the medical and surgical alternatives to treat this condition.

The majority of women have normal forehead height which is 1/3^rd of the face. If that is a normal forehead, many years ago the term “fivehead” was coined to describe a bigger forehead. I’ve not heard that term for a long time but recently I’ve seen it twice; tmz.com had a piece on this last month and Tyra Banks is producing an autobiographical comedy called Fiveheads. There are many examples of beautiful women with fiveheads such as Beyonce, Vanessa Williams, and Angelina Jolie but many women do not like this feature which is distracting and will limit their hair styles. That is why we continue to see women from all over the world to have our hairline lowering procedure, which we described many years ago.

In this technique we lower the hairline and shorten the forehead , bury hair follicles which produce hair that will grow through and in front of the incision so it will not be seen after healing is complete.

We thank TMZ and Tyra Banks for reminding us about this innovative description of the unwanted physical characteristic of a “Fivehead” which can be eliminated.

-Dr. Richard Fleming

Beverly Hills, CA (PRWEB) February 13, 2013

Hollywood’s most sought after celebrity plastic surgeons in Beverly Hills, Richard W. Fleming M.D. and Toby G. Mayer M.D. have released their 16th annual Hollywood’s Hottest Looks survey.

According to Dr. Fleming and Dr. Mayer, whose posh Beverly Hills practice enjoys a world wide reputation with an international and Tony clientele, the results of their 16th annual survey shows that while their patients do not want to look identical to their favorite celebrity, they do consider the style and features of various celebrity faces and bodies as the standard of beauty.

“Our Beverly Hills plastic surgery patients want to look rested and energetic and, most of all, youthful like the celebrities they see on television, the big screen, on the internet, and glossy magazines,” explained Dr. Richard W. Fleming, co-director of The Beverly Hills Institute of Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery with his partner, Dr. Toby G. Mayer.

With the heightened awareness of celebrity cosmetic surgery, our patients do tell us exactly what they want.  Because of the overwhelming response from patients, this survey reflects those requests illustrating the most coveted celebrity plastic surgery features.

For both the male and female celebrities, votes were cast for most desirable nose, hair, eyes, lips, chin, cheeks, body, and skin. To find out if your favorite male and female celebrities were voted to have the most desirable features in Hollywood, check out the tabulated results by visiting the Hollywood’s Hottest Looks Results Page on their website.

Read the full article at: http://www.prweb.com/releases/Hollywoods-Hottest-Looks/Beverly-Hills/prweb10421620.htm

-Dr. Richard Fleming

With the evolution of techniques in aesthetic surgery some things are constant. Patients still look to Hollywood for standards of beauty. Over the years we have kept track of the celebrities patients reference when they describe physical features they admire. The results of our 16th Annual Hollywood’s Hottest Looks Survey will be released this week. You can participate in the survey by going to our Hollywood’s Hottest Looks Survey.

-Dr. Richard Fleming

The best rhinoplasty surgeons have few if any “bad results”. Rather, they are results that the patient may feel are not “perfect”. In 35 years of performing rhinoplasty, I have found that many patients who I could only get “good” results on were happier than some patients that got a fabulous result. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the objective of the best surgeons is to try to find out what the PATIENT wants and not necessarily what the surgeon wants.

-Dr. Toby Mayer

Oxygen facials have come a long way since Madonna made them famous as the Red Carpet must-have treatment

Oxygen is central to life, health, and beauty. The element has been a mainstay of skin care for ages – whether it is being harnessed in Benzoyl Peroxide formulation to target p. acne bacteria or carried internally to nourish cells by stimulating the skin via massage, peels, or exfoliants. Healthy skin depends on it.

Oxygen machines harness these benefits and multiply them exponentially. The machines concentrate oxygen in the air to very high levels, and then push it deep into the skin. This nourishes the tissue immensely. Vitamins, minerals, and enzymes – or even light peeling chemicals – are added into the pressurized air flow to deliver powerful stuff into active layers of the skin.

Oxygen facial treatments boast instant plumping and stimulating effects, because they fill the skin “to max capacicty” with healthy hydrators and antioxidants. Their real power is in accelerating the road to new, healthy skin. This makes them a perfect finish to dermaplanes, microdermabrasions and peels – guaratneeing fast, flawless healing.

Patients and surgeons have been aware of the importance of eyebrow position for many years. That is why we developed the Trichophytic Hairline Browlift to elevate low brows and preserve or improve the patient’s hairline location.

For men and women the eyes are a strong focal point in facial beauty and attractiveness. The brows are an important part of this aesthetic unit because they frame the eyebrow-eyelid complex. Only recently have we focused on the thickness and continuity of hair within the brows. In patients who want fuller and thicker brows, techniques such as tattooing provide less than ideal temporary improvement. Hair transplants placed in the brows achieve a permanent, natural result.

Hair transplants are done to improve the appearance of the eyebrows in patients who have: 1) lost hair secondary to aggressive plucking of the brows, 2) congenital absence of hair, 3) thin or low density brows, 4) lost hair secondary to scarring following trauma or a direct browlift, and 5) lost hair secondary to infection, hormonal imbalance, or diseases such as alopecia areata,. These transplants can improve brow location, contour, and density.

One hair micrografts are taken from specific areas of the scalp to match the caliper of the existing brow hair. The number of grafts will depend on the needs of each individual patient. Because the grafts are taken from the scalp the hair must be occasionally trimmed.

While hair transplantation is a relatively easy procedure this is a technically and aesthetically demanding operation. Surgery to enhance and reconstruct the eyebrows is rewarding for both surgeon and patient.

-Dr. Richard Fleming

There is a basic formula to choosing the right cleanser

Taking care of your skin is very complicated these days. “Basic” care includes juggling complicated home regimens and frequent visits to a specialist. Do you ever get so confused that you don’t even know where to begin?

At our practice, we are finding many people aren’t even sure how to cleanse anymore – the very first step!

Let’s break it down. Cleansers are used to

1) take off makeup
2) lightly exfoliate surface dead skin cells
3) remove excessive buildup of dirt, oil, sweat
4) remove bacteria.

Depending on your lifestyle some or all may apply, but everybody will benefit by cleansing at least once a day in the evening.

1) If you use a cleanser to remove makeup, choose an oil or cream. These cut through makeup. Dry skin will be soothed by the texture. If you have oily skin or larger pores, finish with a balanced toner or gel cleanser to guarantee residue won’t remain on the skin to clog later.

NeutraCleanse gently cuts through makeup and dirt in seconds

2) Nowadays there are designated exfoliants (from surface to aggressive) appropriate for every skin type to use. Exfoliation achieved by cleaning is simply a side benefit.

3) If you’ve cleaned a kitchen, you probably know that “oil cleans oil”. For this reason, many people like to use oil-based cleansers to clean the skin of grease and dirt. Modern surfactants in gels and foams also do the job, though maybe not as quickly. Either is suitable, but finish with a toner for oily skin with larger pores.

4) We all have bacteria on our skin – we would be in trouble without it! Still we need to clean the dirt and excess oil that bacteria thrives on to keep things in balance. Any type of cleanser will achieve this (see the last paragraph). People suffering from certain types of acne have a higher concentration of acne-specific bacteria deep in their pores. They can use any type of cleanser to remove the dirt, sweat and oil to keep surface bacteria in balance. Then it is best to use a targeted treatment product that delivers anti-bacterial and exfoliating ingredients far down in the pore where that specific bacteria proliferate.

1. REMOVING THE EXCESS SAGGING SKIN

2. CUTTING THE WRINKLE MUSCLES TO PREVENT AND LESSEN WRINKLES WITHOUT BOTOX–The muscles are carefully divided at the same surgery.

3. FOREHEAD LIFTING WITH THE IRREGULAR TRICHOPHYTIC FOREHEAD LIFT–This is a procedure that  we developed to raise the brows and feminize and make a younger look WITHOUT removing any hair. The hair grows thru, not behind, the scar.

4l HAIRLINE LOWERING– The hairline can be lowered at the same time depending on the looseness of the scalp. If the scalp is tight, we use the Fleming-Mayer Tissue Expander to lower it up to 1-2 inches.

5. BALDING TREATMENT — men or women with frontal balding can have the Fleming-Mayer Flap to give natural density without texture change to give a full head of hair.

We create a natural, youthful  look to a previous sad, tired and angry face. Look at the photos and videos of patients done this way.

Schedule a Consultation today to see if any of these procedure might be right for you.

-Dr. Toby Mayer