The age fix : a leading plastic surgeon reveals how to really look 10 years younger

289 Pages·2016·1.91 MB·English

by  Youn

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This book is lovingly dedicated to my mom, who never
seems to age.
INTRODUCTION
As a preteen, I had a feature that interfered with my confidence. I had a genetic
condition called mandibular prognathism, sometimes called Hapsburg jaw. This
condition causes the lower jaw to grow much faster and larger than the upper
jaw. The result: My jaw began to grow, and grow, and grow, to my horror and
consternation. There I was in junior high school, and my jaw and I (I thought of
it almost as its own entity) made Jay Leno look weak chinned. Believe me, when
you are a skinny, geeky eleven-year-old Asian kid with Coke-bottle glasses and
a bowl haircut who is already terrified to talk to girls, a monster chin does not
help the situation at all.
At first, my chin was merely prominent. Then it became an architectural
feature. When you could set a drink on it, I wanted to hide in my room. High
school is humiliating enough, but for a nerd with a monster jaw, it’s pretty much
unbearable. Every day, my chin grew larger. I examined it in the mirror. I used a
hand mirror to check my profile. Yep, there it was, in all its glory, preceding me
into every room I entered, practically announcing my presence: “Hey,
everybody! Look at me! I’m Tony’s ginormous chin! Oh, and Tony’s here, too.
He’s back behind me somewhere.”
I wanted to do something about it. I wanted plastic surgery, but my parents
didn’t like the idea. They thought I looked fine. (Of course they did. Sheesh!)
However, by the time I finished high school, even my parents couldn’t deny that
my chin had taken on a life and a personality of its own. They finally consented
to plastic surgery, and after that, everything changed for me. The young man I
was becoming on the inside finally resembled how I looked on the outside. That
was exactly what I was going for—I didn’t want to change my face out of
vanity. I just wanted to look like myself. What that surgery did for my self-
esteem (and eventual recognition by members of the opposite sex) inspired me to
become a plastic surgeon.
But this isn’t a book about plastic surgery. This is a book about bringing
your outside in line with your inside. This is a book about options. Maybe you
are fifty, and although you hear fifty is the new thirty, what you see in the mirror
is only a distant relation to how you remember yourself in your thirties. It
doesn’t have to be that way. Maybe you are forty but you still feel twenty-five,
and your reflection startles and alarms you because it isn’t the you that you feel
like inside. I have answers. Maybe you are thirty and you are seeing the first
signs of aging, like crow’s-feet and forehead wrinkles, but you still want to rock
a bikini. You can.
Sure, aging is natural, but does it have to happen so soon? I can’t stop you
from aging, but I can stop you from looking like you are aging. Aging happens
more rapidly and dramatically in some people than in others, but there are
remedies, solutions, and fixes that don’t involve surgery. In fact, most of them
shouldn’t involve surgery, in my opinion. I may be writing myself out of
patients, but I can’t recommend that everybody go under the knife. It’s simply
not necessary. You can look younger, your skin can look smoother and brighter,
and you can feel better without plastic surgery. This book will show you how.
Nonsurgical techniques can’t solve every problem, and I’ll be sure to level
with you when that’s the case, but with the advent of technology and chemistry
behind the antiaging revolution, they sure can solve a lot of problems that you
may have right now. And I’m going to tell you all about those nonsurgical
techniques—I’ll also tell you when those so-called miracle products don’t really
do much of anything and when you should save your money for something more
effective or enjoyable (like a glass of wine or a massage—both have antiaging
properties!).
Fortunately for all of us who are concerned with the superficial effects of
aging, there are many, many effective products—from topical creams to fancy
technological devices—that really do make a difference. I strongly believe that
nonsurgical treatments are the future of plastic surgery, and a source of real and
meaningful solutions for those of you out there who would do almost anything to
get rid of the sagging neck, the fine lines, the sun damage, the cellulite, or the
bags under your eyes—anything except surgery.
In this book, I’ll address all your cosmetic issues and show you everything
you can do to turn back the clock and correct the minor (and even some of the
major) things that really bug you, from stretch marks to wrinkles, from natural
frowns to varicose veins, from yellow teeth to body odor. For each problem,
you’ll get a full range of strategies, from natural remedies to the latest cutting-
edge products and tools. I’ve even provided you with an Age-Fix diet plan, to
keep you younger from the inside out, starting today.
I’m not that guy on an infomercial trying to sell you a miracle. I’m the guy
you can go out for a drink with after work and know he’ll tell you what’s what.
Wouldn’t it be great if you had a friend who happened to be a plastic surgeon,
and you could ask that friend anything and get a straight answer? That’s me, and
that’s this book.
I’ll also be perfectly frank with you about what you can expect with
different levels of treatment. And despite the premise of this book, I’ll even tell
you when plastic surgery really is the only good option. (This is true sometimes,
but less often than you might think.)
In other words, this is a book you can trust, with information you can use,
that really will make a difference in the reflection you see in the mirror. It is a
bible of cosmetic remedies. Pick your trouble spots and watch the calendar flip
backward. Watch your skin tighten, your flab firm up, your wrinkles melt, and
your eccentricities morph into assets. All of this is possible… without surgery.
The answers lie within these pages, so let’s get an age fix. Let’s dive in. You’re
going to come out looking like a younger version of you.
1 YOUTH and BEAUTY

How beautiful do you feel? How young do you look? These are questions that
plague my patients, sometimes more than they need to, but as a plastic surgeon, I
tend to be the one people come to for the answers to their questions about how to
look more beautiful and, especially, younger. They come to me looking for an
age fix.
They’ve come to the right place. In order to give my patients the solutions
they want, I’ve spent the past sixteen years researching the secrets of plastic
surgeons, dermatologists, makeup artists, and dieticians, and I have compiled all
the solutions I’ve discovered to nearly every beauty problem right here in this
book.
But that doesn’t address the real question I want you to think about as you
read through these chapters. I want you to think about what beauty and youth
really mean to you. Are they important? Are they too important? And do you
seek them out of fear, or do you seek them out of an impulse to love and take
care of yourself?
When I think of beauty, the first thing I think of is my wife. She is beautiful
to me, and always will be, no matter what her age. I also think about my mom.
Although she is nearly seventy, her skin is flawless, with barely a wrinkle. Yes, I
may have injected a little Botox (just a little!), but she’s never had any actual
surgery. The real reason she looks so young and beautiful is because she eats the
right foods and lives the right lifestyle, and especially because she takes care of
her skin. Every time she visits me, she goes on a shopping spree in my office.
This petite Korean woman brings a trash bag with her and empties my cabinets
into it. This lotion, that moisturizer, that antioxidant. She loves trying new
products and takes at least two of each for the road. And she uses all of it. It
really shows.
But how can someone who doesn’t have a plastic surgeon in the family
continue to look younger and better, just like my mom has done? My mom has
already given you some clues. You don’t have to spend an awful lot of money,
undergo painful procedures, or burn your skin with lasers. You begin with a firm
foundation: a healthy life. You eat well, you move, and you enjoy yourself. And
if you can use a few products, devices, and home remedies to tweak your
results? All the better.
This book will be your guide. It is a collection of information about how to
address every possible beauty and cosmetic issue—an antiaging resource
providing information on a wide range of appearance-improving strategies from
natural to chemical, simple to super-high-tech, short-term to long-term,
including a dietary intervention for maintaining vitality and youthfulness. From
face to feet, you’ll get the inside scoop on how to bring out your youngest,
freshest, most glowing self. The solutions I offer are actually fairly simple,
whether you are looking to treat that small perceived imperfection that drives
you crazy or do a complete makeover on your face and other parts of your body.
But I also want to emphasize that I’m not here to tell you what I think is
wrong with your skin or your shape or the relative size or firmness of any part of
you. I’m not here to judge how young or old you look, or to weigh in on any of
the eccentricities, irregularities, and signature features that make you who you
are. We all have our beauty issues, and as we age, we take on more… battle
scars, stretch marks, crow’s-feet, and laugh lines are all badges of honor, the
beautiful patina of a fully lived life. There is nothing wrong with having any
feature if it doesn’t bother you.
But what if it does bother you? What if it interferes with your peace of
mind, your happiness, your self-esteem (whether it should or not)? Knowing I’m
a plastic surgeon, is there something you would like to tell me or show me,
maybe in confidence, that you wish you could fix? Something that you wish was
different—younger, smoother, smaller, larger, tighter, or higher than it is right
now? Maybe there is just this one little thing that keeps you from feeling good
about yourself—an eccentricity or an irregularity or an age-related alteration that
you don’t like when you see it in the mirror. If that sounds like you, then I’m
here to help. No judgment, just solutions.
FROM DIY TO OTC TO OR
In this book, I cover many different types of techniques, gadgets, products, and
remedies, and even a few procedures that can maximize your assets and help you
look younger. Some of them you can make at home. Some of them you can buy
at your local pharmacy. Some of them require a prescription from a medical
doctor. Some (just a few) require an operating room. I offer you many options
because I want you to have a lot of choices. Maybe mixing up a face cream in
your own kitchen sounds like your idea of fun. Go for it! I’ve got recipes. Maybe
spending a little extra money on a really high-quality wrinkle cream or eye
cream is in your budget and on your list. Great! I’ll tell you where to spend your
money and where not to waste it. Maybe you are Botox curious. Cool! I’ll tell
you what you need to know (and allay your worst fears). Maybe having your
doctor use a high-tech laser on your stretch marks or sagging skin is totally you.
Awesome! I’ll tell you exactly what you should know before you go.
From nose to toes, I’ve got secrets that will rejuvenate you, but before we
get into those chapters, I want to take just a short time to explain the differences
between the kinds of treatments I’ll be talking about.
Several levels of intervention are possible for just about every body part
you would like to improve. Essentially they come down to these four:
1. Natural: These interventions use the products of nature, like fruits or
milk or oil, many of which you probably have in your own kitchen. Can
you say “DIY”?
2. Chemical: These interventions use chemistry to your benefit. Many of
these chemicals are derived from or synthesized from natural compounds
but have been altered to be stronger and more potent. Some of these
products are available over the counter, and some require a prescription
from your plastic surgeon, dermatologist, or other doctor.
3. Technical: These are the gadgets, devices, and machines that aren’t
surgical in nature but that can make a real difference in how your skin
looks. They includes things like lasers, pulsed light, ultrasound, and
radiofrequency waves. These devices are very expensive, so most of the
time you would require a visit to the doctor to use them. There are a few
less powerful gadgets that you could invest in for home use.
4. Surgical: These are (obviously) the interventions that require a surgeon’s
practiced hand and include things like brow lifts, facelifts, breast
augmentation, and liposuction. This is not the focus of this book, which is
about the many, many nonsurgical antiaging resources available to you.
However, if you do decide that you need plastic surgery for an issue that
can’t be handled any other way (and these do exist—I’ll be sure to let you
know), I’ll give you a little bit of information to guide you.
Some people definitely gravitate toward the natural side of things. They like
mixing up their own skincare remedies at home and saving money on a DIY