|  One
of the great traditions of this holiday time of year is to
watch old home movies and sift through family photographs.
There's Dad, logging the tree into the house. Here's one of
Mom setting the turkey on the dining table, and oh man, look
at that, she's wearing one of those aprons like Donna Reed,
Check this out, it's Aunt Mim on Christmas morning before
she combed her hair. Look at this one of their matching red
flannel pajamas.
The
older we get, the closer we hold the photographs to our eyes.
And then we begin to see the differences, subtle changes it
seemed, that is, until contrasted with pictures decade to
decade. It's in the looking back that we see all too inevitably
what's ahead. Genetically, that is.
"I
need emergency Botox after the Thanksgiving I had. Check out
my new frown lines," one woman is overheard saying to
another at lunch, Besides being a festive holiday time of
year, end of year is when many people use the funds they've
accrued in their health care Flex Benefit Spending Accounts
for medical treatment not covered by insurance. Others give
the gift of youthfulness to themselves.
Dr.
Jeffrey Raval of Faces First makes a point of not travelling
during the holidays simply because of the number of patients
who want treatment before Dec.31 of any year. A facial cosmetic
surgeon, Dr. Raval's reputation is that of being the "Nose
Guy" in Denver, performing outstanding rhinoplasty and
rhinoplasty revisions, an even more difficult procedure because
of the complication of scar tissue.
Dr.
Raval was most recently named the Division Head for ENT at
Swedish Hospital. He earned his bachelor's in biology from
the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and received his
medical doctorate with distinction from the same school.
He
did his residency and internship at the Department of Otolaryngology
at the University of Miami in Florida, and is board certified
by the American Board of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery.
He
earned the third highest score in the country on his Facial
Plastics Board exam.
He
joined Faces First, with offices at Harvard Park Medical Center
and in Lone Tree, and splits his time between the two offices
and the two practices - Ear, Nose & Throat; and a cosmetic
surgery center including all services from facial plastics
to an esthetician.
That's
where the possibility comes in. Although treatment is equally
available to men and women, Dr. Raval's caseload is generally
80 percent women and 20 percent men. While the typically rhinoplasty
patient is a woman in her 20s and 30s, the breakdown of other
cosmetic procedures spans the decades.
Patients
in their twenties through their fifties are seeking Botox
and collagen injections. In fact, it's something many are
doing earlier to delay the inevitable wrinkling process. (Botox
injections numb the muscle tissue underlying the skin, disabling
the muscle from being able to twist into a wrinkle.)
Patients
turn to eyelid surgery ( to eliminate the droop and puffiness
where once there was definition) and forehead lifts (to elevate
the brow back to its original position) in their late thirties
through fifties. And those in their mid-fifties to older tend
to opt for facelifts.
Patients
of every age are taking advantage of CO2 laser skin texturfacing
to eliminate fine lines and wrinkles, regaining the freshness
of their skin's appearance that was lost over time and through
sun exposure. Then there are microdermabrasion and laser treatments
too. The results are strikingly apparent in the before and
after photographs Dr. Raval has taken of his patients. The
message is that there's an innovative new treatment to handle
almost any wish. Recovery, too, is greatly enhanced using
less invasive methods of surgery.
The
bruising for eyelid surgery only lasts 10 to 14 days. The
tenderness from a brow lift is also. Some of the laser treatments
allow patients to leave Dr. Raval's office and head right
back to work. Botox is something that can be accomplished
on a lunch hour and no one even knows and Dr. Raval offers
a 10 percent discount on the first treatment and free touch-ups
two weeks after treatment.
Face
it; Maybe it's worth whispering something suggestive into
Santa's ear. |
