The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reports that one New York aesthetician has created the “Blackberry facial,” which is designed to treat the wrinkles that may occur from continually looking down to check your phone. The procedure includes a neck peel, a hydrating serum, LED light and oxygen. A New York Daily News reporter who tried the treatment wrote, “At the end of my treatment, the one faint line on my neck did seem a bit fainter. But what I did notice was the smoothness. My neck had a texture of a flower petal.”

Another cell phone side effect can be breakouts on the side of the face where you hold your phone. To alleviate this, try exfoliating that side of the face nightly or try keeping your phone from touching your face. You may also benefit from a skin care plan and products from your dermatologist.

Neck Rejuvenation

If your neck is showing signs of aging, there are a variety of neck rejuvenation options. For instance, if you have neck “bands,” Botox treatments can be used to soften and smooth the neck’s appearance. Laser treatments can help to tighten up loose or sagging skin on the neck.

More invasive options also exist for those looking for more dramatic results. One surgical option is a neck lift to remove excess skin. For excess fat around the chin, jowels and neck, liposuction may be the best option for removing it.

MSN Money said the new statistics, released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, are “yet one more indication that the economy is on the mend,” and Reuters reported that “while nose jobs and breast augmentations may never replace U.S. unemployment data or retail sales as economic indicators, investors pay attention.”

“Traders will look at all kinds of things. Handbag sales, how things are going at Tiffany’s, where people are going on vacation. This is another anecdote for them that helps confirm things are slowly picking up,” said Dennis Gartman, publisher of an investment commentary, referring to the release of the new cosmetic statistics.

Despite unemployment still being high, the increase in cosmetic surgery is a sign to some that spending on “big ticket” items is on its way back.

“I like the thinking,” said Carl Larry, publisher of a daily report covering market fundamentals, who said that traders use any piece of data they think can give them an edge. “It could very well be that we’re seeing more ‘off-road’ spending like this. Anything that is a big ticket item that has little to do with homes or retail is where the money seems to be going.”

“The pre-crisis trend of paying for a $6,000 to $7,000 breast augmentation operation on your credit card definitely changed in 2008 and 2009,” plastic surgeon Phil Haeck said. “Now many people have paid down their debts and have enough confidence in the economy to pay for operations again.”

The survey results, released by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), also showed that over the past two years there was a 45 percent increase in the number of facial procedures performed annually and a 16 percent increase in non-surgical facial procedures.

“Non-surgical procedures are an excellent option for some people, with the added benefits of lower costs and shorter recovery time; two things that are consistently important to those considering facial plastic surgery,” said Dr. Jonathan M. Sykes. “We have been seeing a trend over the past few years that people who want to look and feel younger and rejuvenated are turning to non-surgical, less invasive procedures to obtain the refreshed look they want.”

Botox and hyaluronic acid injections, such as Restylane or Juvederm, were the most popular non-surgical facial procedures last year, according to the AAFPRS, and rhinoplasty, face lift and eyelid surgery were the most performed surgical facial procedures.

Women received the majority of facial procedures: 83 percent of all surgical and non-surgical facial procedures in 2010 were performed on women.

The top surgical procedures for women between the ages of 35 and 60 were brow lifts, facelifts and eyelid surgery, while a nose job was the top surgical procedure performed on younger women (under 35).

Botox, hyaluronic acid injections, nose jobs and hair transplants were the top facial procedures for men.

There was also an increase in ethnic patients seeking facial procedures last year: two out of five surgeons said they had an increase in their Asian American and Hispanic patients in 2010.

To learn more about the survey, visit www.aafprs.org.

Statistics compiled by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) show that for those in the 51-64 age range:

• The number of facelifts dropped from over 75,000 in 2008 to just under 55,000 in 2009
• The number of Botox procedures increased from 672,840 in 2008 to 734,751 in 2009

“If you are a woman who has to come back to work full-time or a man who isn’t going to be able to retire any time soon, you’ve got to look like you can compete,” says Wendy Lewis, a New York–based plastic surgery and skin care consultant. “And if you are working in a field like media where everyone is really young, you don’t just want to look good for your age, you want to look good, period.”

Overall the number of facelifts in the U.S. dropped 29 percent from 2008 and eyelid surgeries dropped 23 percent during the same time frame, according to ASAPS. Meanwhile, Botox and Dysport injections increased 3.8 percent from 2008 to 2009.

Less invasive procedures have several benefits for those in the job market: they require less recovery time and are generally less expensive compared to cosmetic surgical procedures.

Lewis does point out that minimally-invasive treatments can be overdone. “There is a point at which you are going to have a better result and spend less money if you just have a facelift,” she says. In addition, there are some problems, like sagging jowls, that can only be fixed by surgery.

Skin Speaks Spa MD offers a wide array of cosmetic non-surgical procedures, including Fraxel, Thermage, IPL (intense pulsed light), and Juvederm.

Dr. Nathan Newman, a cosmetic surgeon in Beverly Hills, has performed the procedure more than 200 times in the last five years and says he has had “fantastic results.”

However, the article reports there is little evidence of whether stem cell facelifts are effective and how they work. Dr. J. Peter Rubin, who is co-director of the Adipose Stem Cell Center at the University of Pittsburgh, is excited about the potential of stem cells for cosmetic purposes, but says there are many unanswered questions. “Claims are being made that are not supported by the evidence,” he says. 

Rubin think it’s possible that injected stem cells could create new collagen and blood vessels, as they’ve been shown to do in animals studies, but such results haven’t been proved in humans. He adds that no one knows how the stem cells are actually behaving. He also points out that fat injections alone can improve a person’s appearance—without stem cells.

Plastic surgeon Michael McGuire, MD, also thinks that stem cell facelifts could offer real advances in cosmetic medicine in the future, but that it is still at least ten years away. “Stem cells have incredible potential. But nobody knows exactly what they do. So they’re marketed to do everything,” he says.

Learn more about “local lift” facelifts, which are performed under local anesthesia.

Their article reported that teenagers who watch cosmetic surgery reality shows, like Extreme Makeover, are more likely to have an interest in cosmetic surgery for themselves.

In one study, Charlotte Markey, a psychology professor at Rutgers–Camden, and Patrick Markey, of Villanova University, surveyed 170 teens (average age 19.77, 59% female) to assess their impression of reality TV shows that feature cosmetic surgery, appearance satisfaction, self-esteem, and their interest in cosmetic surgery.

“Participants who reported favorable impressions of reality television shows featuring cosmetic surgery were more likely to indicate interest in pursuing surgery,” the researchers wrote.

Their second study divided 189 participants into two groups (average age of 19.84, 51% female); half were shown an ‘extreme makeover’ program and the other half a show with a neutral message.

The researchers found that women were more likely to want cosmetic surgery than men, and that the viewers of the cosmetic makeover show were more inclined to consider the procedure for themselves compared those who didn’t view the show.

The two studies were done to “examine the influence of media messages about cosmetic surgery on youths’ interest in altering their own physical appearance,” wrote the researchers.

“There is a cultural context to never be satisfied with our physical selves. It’s the rare person who is either completely oblivious or has developed such a strong counter message to not be affected,” said Dr. Charlotte Markey.

“A correlational and experimental examination of reality television viewing and interest in cosmetic surgery,” is available for purchase at Science Direct.

Dr. Angelo Cuzalina, president-elect of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, says that those who are looking for new jobs and going on job interviews often want the surgery.

“It’s almost becoming a fad. People have the gauging procedure where they gradually stretch out their lobe so it has a giant hole that’s larger than a quarter. But then they want to join the workforce and think their chances for a job might be better if they didn’t have this,” he says.

Dr. Brian Glatt, a plastic surgeon, agrees, saying that he is seeing more patients who gauged their ears as teens but are now outgrowing the trend.

Dr. Patrick Carney performs the surgery using a local anesthetic; he removes any skin surrounding the split to create a clean edge and then stitches the ear back together. Sutures will be put into the lobe and removed within a week.

While patients can expect some scarring, says Dr. Cuzalina, patients should be able to wear regular earrings again after a few months, if desired.

“It’s not a really painful operation to have done, but you may never get the lobe back to its original shape,” Dr. Cuzalina says. “But more people are doing it. It usually takes some change in a person’s life to force them to come in and get the surgery.”

Dr. Carney performs earlobe repair surgery in his Twin Cities offices.

An estimated 6.9% of all minority respondents and 9.9% of white respondents indicated that they have had an invasive or non-invasive cosmetic surgery procedure.  Asians were most likely to report having had cosmetic surgery (11.1%), followed by African-Americans (7.1%), Hispanics (4.6%), and other races (6.2%).

The most common non-invasive cosmetic procedures that Asian respondents reported having were fat injections, dermabrasion, and Botox. Black and Hispanic respondents reported the most common procedures they had were laser hair removal, Botox, and chemical peels.

For invasive procedures, the survey found the most common procedures were facelift (among Asian respondents); tummy tuck (among Hispanic respondents); and liposuction (among African-American respondents).

The survey also revealed that Asian and Hispanic respondents were more likely to indicate cosmetic surgery was popular among members of their racial/ethnic background when compared to African-Americans and all other races. Almost a quarter of those surveyed said they knew someone of the same racial/ethnic background who has had cosmetic surgery.

While more than 30 percent of those surveyed said they would seek out a cosmetic surgeon of the same race/ethnicity as themselves, over half (56.6 percent) said they thought it would be difficult to find a surgeon of the same race/ethnicity as themselves.

Dr. Mark Berman, president of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, says, “Cosmetic surgery is en vogue no matter who you are. Feeling better about yourself and making improvements to your looks is thankfully not limited to a specific race or culture.”

Dr. Carney is a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery; he has five Twin Cities Skin Speaks Spa M.D. locations.

Both cosmetic treatments have similar goals: to correct facial skin laxity.  To measure the results and compare the two treatments, a randomized, blinded, comparative trial was designed.  Doctors mixed photos of patients who underwent both facelift surgery and fractional radiofrequency treatment, then graded them on a 4-point skin laxity scale.

Two findings are especially useful in comparing the two treatments:

• Mean skin laxity improvement of the RF treatment was 37 percent of the surgical facelift
• Patients in the RF group returned to normal activities 24 hours after treatment, while those in the facelift group did the same after 7 to 10 days.

Read more about this study on PubMed.gov

First of all, you won’t need to choose if you see a qualified dermatologist or aeshthetician; they will recommend the best treatment. Your physician might ask how much time you have to allow healing after the treatment. If you’re anticipating an important social event like a wedding or vacation, then microdermabrasion is probably the best.

The depth of exfoliation is very precise with microdermabrasion, so you’re less likely to experience side effects like redness or swelling. The typical healing time with microdermabrasion is also very short – usually 3 days at the most.

Chemical peels come in many different formulas, from light to deep. But the healing time for most chemical peels is slightly longer than with microdermabrasion. If you can spare a week to let the skin heal, go for the chemical peel.

Sometimes an aesthetician will recommend doing both. If done carefully, a light chemical peel such as AHA or salicylic acid can work in combination with microdermabrasion. Just make sure you choose an aesthetician or surgeon that has experience combining these treatments.

• Read more about microdermabrasion in Mpls/St. Paul
• Read more about chemical peels at Skin Speaks Spa