dr jake's approach
a bit of history
When anti-wrinkle and dermal filler treatments first became available in the early 2000's, the aims were quite simple. We saw lines on a face and froze or filled them. The basic principle of this approach was easy to understand - less wrinkles means younger right? Or does it..?
Older techniques like this are now very out-dated. Even to the untrained eye, the results can often look 'fake' and it's usually obvious to see that something has been done. The areas treated can look heavy and this is perceived as looking 'unnatural'.
In the last 10 years, cosmetic medicine, our understanding of facial anatomy, the aging process and injectable technologies have all significantly improved to create even better results. But the most important factor is the skill, artistic eye and experience of your injector. This will have the biggest impact on creating beautiful and natural-looking results.
the face
The gold standard approach to treating face is to first to educate people about their own features. We need to see our own face as being unique and special. The vast majority of people usually don't really known what their own face looks like in detail. If you think about it, how often do you watch yourself talk, interact with people or create the range of expressions that your face usually makes?
Instead, patients tend to focus on the more obvious facial features that we see when we look in a mirror such as the lip shape or the deepest and most obvious wrinkles. If we're truthful, we also tend to pose when we look at ourselves to try and look our best! But this isn't reality and this is where an expert injector will distinguish themselves by treating both your resting and dynamic features.
It's extremely important to look at all of your facial features and to balance these in the correct proportions. This harmony of your features is often referred to as the 'golden' or 'phi' ratio. At the same time we also need to take into account your age, sex, ethnicity, job and social circumstances so that your treatment respects how you want to be seen by others.
And even if you just want to do something very simple to start with, that's ok. But it's absolutely crucial in your consultation to gauge other factors. For example, your willingness to accept some minor downtime after your treatment including swelling or bruising. By understanding you as a person, the bespoke nature of your treatment can be fine-tuned so that we go as fast or as slow as you like.