Each surgical procedure we offer can be applied separately or they can be combined to give you the best possible cosmetic result.

Remember that the goal of facial cosmetic surgery is improvement, not perfection. The facelift surgery diminishes jowls and improves neck contour. It does not restore your appearance of 20 years ago when the elasticity of your skin was tighter. The same concept occurs in rhinoplasty where the goal is improvement not perfection. Each of my patients heal at a different rate and with different healing processes, thus all patients heal differently even if they have had the same operation(s).

Revisional Surgery is more complex to perform as there has been scarring and changes under the skin. If you can, bring your preoperative photos or snapshots as well as the operative notes from the previous surgeon. This will help in the assessment of your condition which will lead to an accurate understanding of what type of surgical changes are possible to get the best improvement.

Some of the Anti-Aging Techniques can be considered as steps to slow the aging process. Skin care maintenance is important to keep your facial skin as health as possible.

Droopy and heavy eyebrows are early signs of aging where the skin under the brow descends, making the eyes appear smaller. Frowning may result in a tense angry look.

This is corrected with a forehead lift, which is performed endoscopically through tiny incisions in the hairline. There may be minimal bruising afterwards and patients are socially acceptable in 2 weeks.

Excessive skin and fat of the upper eyelids causes the eyes to look puffy, hooded, and small. Often there is wrinkling and fat bulges in the lower eyelids that show up as "bags under the eyes". The laser is used as a precise cutting tool, which removes the fat, skin and muscle of the upper lids with minimum bruising afterwards. The fat from the lower lids is removed from behind the eyelid so that there is no scar. The wrinkling can be improved with excision of the extra skin, or with laser resurfacing to shrink and smooth the lower eyelid skin.

This is our most popular surgery; many people do not like their nose.

Daughters often inherit their father's nose and want their noses reduced in size or their tip raised so the nose harmoniously and naturally fits the face. Some want their nasal bridge built up and the nasal tip width narrowed. Rhinoplasty is choosing the right surgical steps to give the most satisfactory result to the patient. Recovery period is 2 weeks.

Collapsed mid face with shrinkage of the cheek mound leads to a haggard drawn appearance. This starts to occur in the forties. It is corrected through a small incision in the upper gum line where a mid face implant is inserted giving a more youthful appearance to the cheeks. Recovery from this surgery is quick, and most patients can be socially acceptable in 2 weeks.

High cheekbones are essential for good facial harmony and they give the face a nice attractive chiseled look. Flat cheekbones emphasize the fullness of the midface. If you wish you had the "high cheekbone" look as seen in many models, these implants will help. These are inserted through a small incision in the upper gum line and placed over the cheek bone to enlarge and raise the malar prominence. Recovery from this surgery is quick, and most patients can be socially acceptable within 1 week.

Deep lip cheek grooves consist of a valley and a hill on the outside of the valley. The simplest technique to correct the problem is to insert Gore-Tex or other permanent fillers through the nose down the bottom of the valley, filling it in, making the groove less deep. A cheek mount lift can also be used to pull up the hill outside the groove. If there is no bruising patients recover within days.

These depressions start at the corners of the mouth and make the mouth appear to turn down. The addition of a permanent 3-Dimension volume filler such as Gore-Tex or AllodermTM is successful in decreasing the depth of the groove. Following surgery there is some swelling that settles quickly, but by 1 week patients look presentable.

Fallen cheek mounds result in deep lip cheek grooves. Lifting the cheek mound is performed through an incision in front of the ear or beside the eye and the mound is lifted and repositioned in a more lateral and upward position thus lessening the depth of the groove. Sometimes Gore-TexTM and other permanent fillers are inserted in the valley of the groove (See lip cheek grooves).

Some ethnic groups as well as Caucasians have lips that are too full. Usually it is the lower lip, but can be the upper lip. A small amount of the inner part of the lips is removed to reduce the vertical height of the red lip. Post operatively, there is some swelling but in 2 weeks most patients are socially acceptable.

There are 3 problems that occur with the aging lip:

1. Lips become thin.
2. Upper lips become wrinkled.
3. The upper lip elongates or lengthens.

As we age the vertical height of the red lip thins and the arch of the lip line flattens. Some people are born with thin lips. Augmentation or enlarging lips can be permanent or temporary. A lip augmentation test allows Dr. Ellis to create the desired size of the lips the patient wishes. Permanent augmentation is performed with the insertion of Gore-TexTM or the use of a permanent injectable filler. For temporary augmentation, collagen or hyaluronic acid fillers are used. Wrinkled lips are treated with the laser (See laser resurfacing). A long white upper lip is treated with a subnasal lip lift where the scar is hidden under the nose.

Some patients have weak chins that need to be moved forward to give a stronger chin profile.

The insertion of a wrap around implant can project the chin and give it some width so that it does not become too pointy. The implant is inserted with a tiny incision under the chin. Patients recover within 2 weeks.

Some patients have chins that appear too large for facial harmony. To reduce the chin, an incision is made in the lower dental gum area inside the mouth. There is a fair amount of swelling postoperatively, but most patients look presentable in 2 weeks.

For the younger patients who have localized areas of fat in the front of their necks or under the jaw line, liposhaving is an excellent technique where the fat is nibbled and vacuumed away. Depending on the volume of fat, no skin tightening procedure is required as the skin is young enough to shrink by itself. The resulting contour becomes more natural.

Some patients do not like narrow jaws where the angle is too soft. Some like the angle to be well defined giving a chiseled look. These implants are placed through the mouth outside the boney jaw and placed at the angle where they become locked in place. There may be more swelling with these implants and it may take 2 weeks to look socially acceptable.

This surgery is a procedure used to "pin back" or reposition protruding ears. This problem frequently causes deep emotional scarring rather than physical impairment in the younger child just going to school and often goes unnoticed by parents. "Twilight" anesthesia is used for adults and a general anesthetic is used for children. There is little discomfort with this surgery.

Aging produces sagging of the cheeks, jowls, and neck. Patients can wait until the sagging is significant or start earlier as preventative maintenance so that sagging does not become too obvious and the changes are subtle. The skin and the deeper tissues are elevated and pulled back with the excess skin being removed. This surgery can be divided into 3 sections: the neck, the jaw line, and the cheek mound. The surgery requires repositioning of the deeper structures under the skin to return to a more youthful appearance. The localized areas of jowl fat can be vacuumed away with liposuction or liposhaving. Recovery can be as prompt as 2 weeks depending on how extensive the surgery was.

With aging, ear lobes become too big. Ear lobe reduction is most often performed at the same time as a facelift surgery, but can be performed as an isolated single procedure. Recovery is quick with minimal bruising.

There are some patients who have had previous cosmetic surgery who have not had a satisfactory result.

With years of teaching and experience, Dr. Ellis can analyze the current problems and suggest what surgical techniques might be needed to get an improved result.

Most cases of revisional surgery occur as a result of steps that were not performed, steps that were performed with too much or too little removed, or cases where there was an abnormal healing process that took place. Careful analysis by Dr. Ellis with the original photos or snap shots and, if possible, the previous operative notes performed by the surgeon will lead to the understanding of the patient's cosmetic and structural problems and what surgical techniques are best used to improve these problems.

Further surgery by Dr. Ellis will lead to an improvement of the problems but perhaps not full resolution of all the problems. Although perfection is the goal, it is not always attained! However, Dr. Ellis guarantees he will do his best to maximize the surgical result.

If you have had problems with a surgical result, Dr. Ellis would like to offer his expertise in facial plastic surgery to help you solve your problem.