Get Discounts on Restylane Injections with a Gilt City Deal

Dr. Yoho has a full medical aesthetic spa in his Pasadena location, and invites you to get a voucher toward facial fillers with a deal from Gilt City. $49 will buy you a voucher worth $100 toward a 1 mL treatment with Restylane or a family product. Limit 3. Or for $149, you will receive a $300 voucher toward a 2mL treatment.

Restylane and related fillers use hyaluronic acid. This filler mimics a chemical in the body, and has become a popular filler because of its soft, smooth, natural results. It can be used to plump up facial wrinkles and folds. These folds can become moderate to severe with age, and filling them helps to restore a smoother, more youthful appearance. Injectable fillers are often used in the problem areas around the mouth and are occasionally used to plump the lips, cheeks, or even the brow as well. Popular treatments include the laugh lines or nasolabial folds—those “parenthesis” lines that curve around the corners of the mouth. “Marionette” lines can develop that run from the corners of the mouth down to the chin, and these also respond very well to Restylane injections.

Skillful medical aestheticians can do wonders with hyaluronic acid fillers. They can greatly smooth the facial lines without causing an unnatural frozen look, and can last about a year or even longer. It is important to find a skilled technician. Dr. Yoho’s specialists will consult with you to determine the best treatment options. Restylane has very little downtime, and low occurrences of complications such as lumps or bruising. The vouchers must be used by September 30, 2012, so call our office today, and purchase your voucher. See the limitations and terms on the Gilt City offer before purchasing.

What About Getting Botox at the Shopping Mall?

The quality of your Botox results depends on three things:

1. The number of units of Botox that you receive.

2. Exactly where those units are placed.

3. The concentration of the solution used.

The Botox injection community has shifted toward using both

· more units per volume of salt water injected into the face for fewer complications

· more units total for effectiveness and probably longevity

There are many, many subtleties to the placement of Botox. The most important thing for most women is for the medicine to relax the muscles that depress or bring down the eyebrows, which are the muscles between the eyebrows and the muscles out to the side of the eyebrows. In the hands of the best Botox administrators, very little Botox is placed in the forehead because this tends to drop the eyebrows. When proper Botox placement is achieved there is a beautiful eyebrow arch, and when the proper amount of Botox is used it will last longer.

I think any good registered nurse can be trained to administer Botox, and I have no doubt that there are a few Botox administrators who are operating in malls and at parties and other informal settings who do a great job. However, your chances of getting consistently excellent results are better if you stick with an established surgeon and understand that what he is doing did take training, practice and experience and is not easily duplicated without a similar background. It is not the M.D. after the name that counts, but rather the technique when using Botox.

It's Never Too Late to Start Wearing Daily Sunscreen

Big Sur redwoods 2

The new sunscreens are fantastic compared to what existed in the past. There are two spectra of damaging light that sunscreens need to block: ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB). The UVB are the burning rays, and the chemicals that are typically used in sunscreens do a pretty effective job of blocking these rays. The new chemicals don’t usually cause sensitivity or allergic reactions, either.

The big problem is UVA. These rays penetrate deeply into the skin, destroy facial fat deposits, and cause long-term damage that isn’t marked by immediate sunburn. There had been no chemical way to block these, so the clever scientists were able to make physical particles smaller and smaller until they could be rubbed into the skin and actually block out a great deal of the radiation. Formerly, zinc oxide (or Desinex) cream was used by skiers, lifeguards and other people who needed heavy-duty ultraviolet protection. Zinc oxide preparations were available in colors, so you may remember skiers putting colored cream on their noses and cheeks like war paint. However, the new preparations contain micronized (very, very small) particles that can be rubbed in, and are virtually colorless on the skin. These also generally don’t cause any allergies, but they might be a little bit less elegant than the more creamy chemicals that are used to block UVB.

Our particular proprietary sunscreen contains the particulate zinc and iron that can be rubbed into the skin and is a good alternative, particularly for those with dark skin. For those needing the total block, such as those being treated for dark spots on their skin, or people who’ve had cancers or who really understand how important it is to keep the sun off of their skin, we recommend Fallene Coat Total Block. This contains both the particulate block for the UVA and the chemical block for UVB. You can buy this online or in many pharmacies.

One last consideration is vitamin D deficiency, which is somewhat controversial but thought to be a relatively common thing due to the sunscreens. It doesn’t do any harm to take a vitamin D supplement, 5000 IU per day, which is more than is generally recommended by the FDA.

Scared of Needles But Want the Benefits of a Cosmetic Specialist?

Seattle Harbor at Night

We are specialists in “scaredy-cat” patients. Are you afraid of needles? Dr. Yoho has special techniques to make your experience in surgery or even a minimally invasive procedure as painless as possible. For example, he has a method where he starts an I.V. using a very tiny needle and a tiny amount of local anesthetic and almost no pain is perceived by the patient. Before the local anesthetic is put into the skin, he scratches the area in order to fool the nerves and most people feel nothing at all.

Also, many “non-invasive” procedures are performed with just numbing cream placed on the face. Dr. Yoho believes that all of his patients should have a chance to go to sleep briefly if they wish, and accordingly, offers his “non-invasive” patients no-charge sedation for their procedure. Of course, they need to be accompanied by a person who can drive them home, but they generally feel fine within 15 minutes of waking up, because the sedation medicine is so short acting.

Additionally, we use a special Botox needle that most people can’t feel. It’s a 32-gauge needle, which is smaller than was ever available a few years ago. By pressing the fingernail into the area to be injected, the nerves again are fooled and often the patients feel no injection for the Botox.

About Breast Implant Warranties

For all patients that have had Mentor implants within the last ten years: you can switch to saline whether you have a deflation or not, and all you have to do is pay $300 for each implant to go from saline to silicone, which are over the muscle and much better. They’ve come out with a new silicone implant that’s made of gel and FDA-approved and people have had a great success with it.

Allergan implants are a little different, and you can call our office and give us your information. If you are ten years out, you still get $1,200 or $2,400 if you upgraded. And they will replace one side, possibly two.

But you’re more than welcome to call our office at 626-585-0800 and ask us about the warranties on the implants, because many people are coming up on the ten-year cutoff.

Have You Heard About the Liposuction Revolution?

Dr. Yoho (while NOT performing liposuction) and friends

There is a new device that we have had for several months that has revolutionized our ability to extract fat in a safe, even fashion. This instrument is a mechanical device which rotates 360 degrees in each direction every second. And this motion is safe and makes the liposuctionist's ability to extract fat in an even, rapid fashion much better. 

Our experience with this has been all positive. We've never had any significant complications. We seem to be cutting our times down by about 25 or 30 percent, which helps the patient because they receive less anesthetic and therefore are not as groggy after the case. Having them get in the compression garment sooner is a big advantage because the tissues don't have time to get swollen. 

There is nothing else different about how we do the procedure; we use the same local anesthetic and the same sedation techniques we describe in our other blogs, and the operation by the surgeon mimics identically the stroking that is necessary in the older technique. 

We would like you to come in and we can show you this device and tell you more about how it has improved our liposuction results in practice.

The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

We believe our Fractionated CO2 laser, the SmartXide DOT is absolutely fantastic and many of the experts in the field have said that it’s a huge advancement in laser technology. 

The technique is that the laser sprays tiny treatment areas—literally, many tens of thousands of them onto the face with each treatment.  It leaves bridges of normal skin in between the treated areas which are very tiny and which allow the face to regenerate in a very natural fashion.  The treatment takes about fifteen minutes. 

We have had great results with people of all different skin types; and particularly with moderate, intermediate skin types such as Hispanic and Middle Eastern skin types.  The color improvement can be marvelous.

Please come in for your free consultation as soon as you can so you can get your laser treatment lined up.  We offer free sedation if you have a driver--and your experience will be a very pleasant and relaxing one; furthermore, you won’t even remember the procedure!!!



Fractional Laser Improves Skin Color Irregularities in Previously Laser-Damaged Skin

Gorgeous getaway--Dr. Yoho vacation photo

We have a patient who had a prior laser procedure on her neck and had irregular pigmentation where there were some white areas and some darker areas. This individual had this problem for over ten years and had tried all kinds of things, including the Fraxel laser treatment, which is another wavelength than the fractional CO2 laser, even though the names sound very similar. 

With a couple of fractional CO2 laser treatments with our SmartXide DOT laser, all of the skin on her neck evened out to a healthy tan color and the “splotchiness” went away. We think that these fractional CO2 treatments stimulated the pigment in the areas that were lighter and also took away pigment in the areas that were darker. It just has a very nice quality of evening the skin texture and color and making a much more pleasing and youthful finish on the skin. It has been quoted to be one of the biggest advances in laser technology we've had in the last 15 years by at least one famous dermatologist, and we believe this is true. We have more or less abandoned use of the other treatment modalities for light and intermediate depth peels because the fractionated laser works so well. 

We only charge $750 for a full-face laser treatment and a bit more for face and neck and chest. Many of the dermatology offices charge twice this. We use this as an accompanying treatment in many of our surgeries and the patients really appreciate their results.

Did You Know That the Upper Pelvic Area of Female Anatomy Has Different Standards of Beauty in Different Cultures?

In certain South American cultures, the area below the belly and above the vagina is deemed very beautiful if it’s plump and even a little over weight by most American standards. Certain people and certain cultures like this area bigger, and fat transplant can accomplish this if you think that your area is too thin.

For the most part, however, American women like this area liposuctioned when we liposuction the rest of their trunk area or torso. We do this as a matter of course unless there are other requests.

We occasionally come across someone who has a different standard of beauty and for these people fat transplant is not appropriate.

So it’s entirely up to you. We can change your body the way that you think is best by either fat transplant or liposuction. Please come in for your consultation to see just what we can do for you.


All the best,


Robert Yoho, M.D.

Botox and the New Botox Medications

One of Dr. Yoho's daughters at the Louvre

Botox is one of the most popular cosmetic procedure options ever, and certainly there are more Botox treatments than any other kind of cosmetic surgery performed in America. Unfortunately, the material only has an affect for three to four months or a bit longer and has to be repeated, but the good side is that if you repeat it regularly for a year at three-month intervals to four-month intervals, less Botox is probably needed.

The other good news is that a cheaper Botox is available now and this is called Dysport. Despite claims of the manufacturers that one is superior to the other, we find these products in practice to be virtually identical, with the advantage of Dysport being a bit less expensive. Whether or not the surgeon passes this savings on to the patient is up to the individual surgeon.

Also, surgeons are ordering these products from outside of the country. This is actually against the law, but in practice, the material seems to be identical, although the bottles can be identified by someone who knows what they’re looking for. Dr. Yoho does not use out-of-the-country Botox or Dysport. 

The second piece of good news is that a new neuromuscular blocker or muscle relaxer is on the horizon and slated to be marketed this year, hopefully for a lower price even than Dysport. We would love to have a product that lasted longer, but we’ve heard no reports to the effect that this new Botox lasts any longer. Hopefully, though, we will be able to pass the price savings on if the new product turns out to be virtually the same as Botox or Dysport.

So don’t believe any claims that one of these things is better than the other. The skill of the injector, the amount used, and just where the material is placed are the critical variables in how long it lasts and what kind of a result you have. Remember to check with your administering surgeon or medical aesthetician two weeks later if you have any question or problem with your Botox or Dysport result. Often there will be a little irregularity in the response or a problem that can be fixed with a few units of additional material, and we do this for free.

What We Feel is Most Important for Breast Implants After the Operation

Today, Dr. Yoho brings you a two-for-one blog post

We emphasize the big three. Number one, support. Number two, fish oil. And number three, Vitamin E. 
 The support will help maintain the shape of the breast. The breast is sort of like Silly Putty, and it will gradually sag if not supported aggressively with the weight of the implant. Sometimes young people can get away with breasts that don’t sag so much for a while, but in the long run gravity catches up.

The other two things we emphasize after breast surgery involve prevention of capsular contracture. Capsular contracture or firming of the breast implant is the most common problem after breast surgery. We really think that Vitamin E is very helpful and have seen patients who weren’t taking their Vitamin E soften their breasts after starting just the Vitamin E. We recommend 800 IU a day in tablet form. This along with the fish oil can be purchased at vitacost.com.

Fish oil is now regarded as an excellent anti-inflammatory. Dr. Yoho takes it in large quantities himself for foot arthritis. We recommend a teaspoon of the fish oil a day and recommend the purified fish oil such as Nordic Naturals, Carlson’s brand or Eskimo brand fish oils. If you must take the capsules, you can take at least four a day, and if you actually have the start of firming of the breasts, Dr. Yoho may recommend a larger dose for a few months. 

Breast wishes,

 _______________________________



Robert Yoho, M.D.

The Advantage of Coming to See Dr. Yoho for Non-Invasive Procedures If You Are Prone to Anxiety

Did you know that because Dr. Yoho’s office is an accredited surgical center with AAAHC accreditation, Dr. Yoho has the ability to use intravenous medications for your more minor procedures as well as the major ones? We have patients that are scared of needles, which is a common phobia. We administer a little bit of relaxation medicine to these patients so they don’t feel anything at all during their Botox injections. Even for those who don’t have needle anxiety, we have reduced discomfort by using 32-gauge needles, which are the smallest needles commonly used in clinical practice. These can hardly be felt during administration of Botox. 

Additionally, we offer no extra charge sedation for our procedure with the fractionated CO2 laser, a procedure which has been popular and successful. You do need to bring a driver if you have sedation administered to you, but this is the only other requirement. We feel the risks are virtually nonexistent for the small amount of medication you’re given in order to accomplish these procedures in a way that’s pain-free and that erases memory of it. Additionally, you can use these procedures for fillers or any other minor surgical procedure if you are one of those people who is a bit anxious about discomfort. Lastly, we can get that intravenous line in your vein with no pain whatsoever in 90+ percent of the cases and in a fashion that most people won’t notice.

 

How Much Does It Cost For My Facial Procedures?

Moment from a great family vacation (not related to facial surgery).

Many people desire correction of one or two facial problems, such as a very weak chin or saggy eyelids. However, traditionally and very reasonably, when we work on a face, we often will correct all the defects in one appointment. This can include facelift, eyelids, skin resurfacing with peeling, and Botox and filler. Additionally, in most patients facial implants are very helpful, especially in older patients who have lost their fat volume.

Although we price our facelifts at $4,999, we’re willing to do whatever is appropriate for your face for $10,000. This includes all the above treatments, with the exception of nose surgery, which is a whole other specialty and a separate operation, in our view. We will evaluate you and do whatever is appropriate and whatever procedures you agree to have for this price. We think this is reasonable because the typical facelifts are at least $7,500. Facial implants range from $2,500 to $7,000 for one area and the peels can be $800 to $4,000. Eyelids range from $2,500 to $5,000 for uppers and the same for lowers.

We always use our sedation technique with a single agent and our patients don’t have to undergo general anesthesia. They have a reasonably comfortable experience with any nausea or problems afterwards being extremely rare. This is all included in the above pricing scheme.