Get your free consultation
with a licensed aesthetician
Treatments performed or
supervised by William M.
Ramsdell, M.D., Medical
Director of Central Texas
Dermatology Clinic
Treatments
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Blepharoplasty
The Results: Refreshed Eyes for a Younger Look
If puffiness and droopy eyelids are affecting your expressions, appearance, and outlook, blepharoplasty can give you a real lift. Upper blepharoplasty reduces excess skin, fat, muscle tissue, and wrinkles. Lower blepharoplasty gets rid of wrinkling skin and the prominent fat pads that result in undereye bags.
The Treatment
Dr. Ramsdell uses a CO2 laser to remove the skin, muscle, and/or fat tissue required for the desired effect. Blepharoplasty on the upper eyelids involves making a very fine incision in the crease above the eye, which is closed with sutures. With lower blepharoplasty, the doctor works through tiny incisions on the back of the lower eyelids. No sutures are necessary.
Residual loose skin can be removed wtih laser resurfacing, usually performed at the same time as the blepharoplasty.
The Schedule
An upper or lower blepharoplasty takes approximately 30 to 60 minutes, plus a visit with the doctor the day after the treatment. Upper blepharoplasty requires an additional office visit five to seven days after treatment for suture removal.
To minimize the risk of bleeding and bruising, you should avoid aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and similar anti-inflammatory medications for 10 days before and seven days after treatment. You should not drink alcohol seven days before and five days after treatment. Do not engage in vigorous exercise for 10 days after treatment.
Precautions
Rare risks and side effects include poor healing with skin loss or scarring, nerve or muscle damage, impairment of eye function, decrease in tear production, or the inability to close the eyes completely.
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Jowl and Neck Lift
The Results: Regain Your Youthful Contours in a Surprisingly Short Time
Otherwise youthful faces are often aged prematurely by jowls and a saggy neck. The jowl and neck lift is a minimally invasive way to restore youthful contours to your neck and jawline without major surgery and with a very brief recovery period. Patients are often surprised when they realize what dramatic results can be achieved using only local anesthesia in an outpatient setting.
The Treatment
After administering a local anesthetic, Dr. Ramsdell performs tumescent liposuction to eliminate excess fat. Sagging neck muscles or vertical bands can be improved via a small incision beneath the chin if necessary. The procedure can be combined with an S-Lift if lower facial laxity is present.
The Schedule
Recovery is usually rapid. Bandages are removed after three days, and you can resume normal activities and mild exercise.
Precautions
The procedure is safe and well-tolerated, but as with any type of surgery, complications can occur. In addition to the usual complications of surgery, such as infection, bleeding, scarring, and drug reactions, a branch of the facial nerve that runs along the jawline may be damaged. This would result in drooping, usually temporary, of one or both sides of the mouth. It is possible that the skin could heal with an irregular contour and that vertical bands may not completely disappear, or may recur. If a chin implant is placed, it is possible that it may migrate.
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Tumescent Liposuction
The Results: Lose Problem Fat Forever — Quickly and Safely
When diet and exercise won’t budge stubborn areas of fat, tumescent liposuction may be the answer. Requiring only a local anesthetic and a mild sedative, this treatment offers dramatic results with minimal pain, blood loss, and risk. Tumescent liposuction may be performed on the waist, abdomen, inner and outer thighs, buttocks, arms, chin, neck, jowls, and cheeks.
The Treatment
A solution is injected into the targeted area, causing tumescence (swelling). Fat cells are then suctioned out through a tiny metal wand. Bulging areas are reduced to more shapely contours, and the fat cells are gone forever.
The Schedule
The day before liposuction, you are given an oral antibiotic. The day of the treatment, we take “before” photos and mark the targeted areas with a pen. You are given a mild sedative, then we inject a salline solution containing an anesthetic and an agent that reduces bleeding into the targeted areas.
The treatment is followed by a brief recovery period. Then you are ready to go home. You will wear a compression bandage for several days. Some patients resume mild exercise the day after treatment. Most are comfortable returning to regular activities after a few days.
Precautions
As with any surgery, tumescent liposuction involves the risk of infection, bleeding, scarring, and allergic reactions. The treatment has a good safety record, however, and remains one of the most popular cosmetic procedures performed today.
See an Expert — Free
Only an expert can evaluate your condition and recommend the treatment or program of treatments to best meet your expectations. Make a fully informed decision. Explore all your options.
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S-Lift
The Results: A Youthful Neck and Jawline Without Major Surgery
The best time for an S-Lift is when you first start noticing the signs of aging in your lower face and neck. This quick treatment produces dramatic, natural-looking results with minimal downtime and less risk and expense than with a conventional face lift. Sagging or drooping skin around the cheeks, jawline, and neck is eliminated before it becomes serious enough to warrant major surgery.
The Treatment
The S-Lift is usually combined with tumescent liposuction of the jowls and neck. We inject an anesthetic solution into the treatment area, which lifts the skin from underlying tissue. If we are performing liposuction, we suction excess fat out through small incisions beneath the ears and jowls at this time.
Continuing with the S-Lift, we make an “s”-shaped incision in front of the ears and place sutures beneath the skin to tighten the lower face and neck areas. Excess skin is removed, and the incisions are closed with sutures. The resulting scar is hard to detect within the natural contours. Usually, there is no scar behind the ears — a telltale sign of a traditional face lift.
The Schedule
The S-Lift is performed in our office under local anesthesia. You can return home the same day and should be able to return to your normal schedule after just a few days.
Precautions
You can expect some swelling and bruising, but these conditions should disappear after a few days. Complications are possible, as with any surgery, but they are infrequent with the S-Lift. Because the possibility of complications is significanty greater for current smokers, Dr. Ramsdell does not perform the S-Lift on patients who smoke.
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See an Expert — Free
Only an expert can evaluate your condition and recommend the treatment or program of treatments to best meet your expectations. Make a fully informed decision. Explore all your options.
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wrinkle relaxers
