Plastic Surgery Blog

Type 1 and Type 2 Eyelids One of my colleagues came up with the distinction between two types of youthful eyelids.  Type 1 is a very full upper eyelid that hangs almost over the eyeball itself (not quite).  Type 2 eyelid is an eyelid that is much hollower but at the same time still distinguishes […]

When Do I Do an Upper-Eyelid Blepharoplasty and How? But should we always just add fillers or fat to the upper frame of the eyelid and never remove any tissues?  The answer is no.  If the eyelid skin is above the eyelash margin, I rarely if ever remove skin.  Filling fat or fillers into the […]

When Do I Do a Lower-Eyelid Blepharoplasty and How? Like the upper eyelid, I find myself performing many more fat transfers to correct the aging process than traditional eyelid surgery.  Further, if I perform a traditional lower-eyelid procedure I will almost always use some fat transferred to improve the result.  In fact, I look at […]

Recently, I had a lady who at the age of 57 started modeling for the first time in her life thanks in large part to the syringes I have put into her face to make her look better.  Her new boyfriend remarked that she looked better than she had when he saw her 7 years […]

Correcting Fat Loss in IPL Damage: My Thoughts Unfortunately, I have heard a lot on the Internet about facial fat loss following a laser treatment like intense pulsed light therapy, or IPL.  Fortunately, I have never seen a patient of mine with this outcome.  I think partly because this phenomenon is rare and partly because […]

Recovery and Cost of Fillers vs. Fat Grafting I would like to focus on two specific pros and cons with fillers and fat transfer: cost and recovery. In the younger patient (under 35 years of age), fillers typically are the most affordable way to make a face look more youthful. The reason for this is […]

In my effort to find the best filler experience for an individual, I am constantly evolving my injection filler methods and the preferred products that I use to accomplish those goals.  In the past, I was a big advocate of Restylane injectable fillers but of late have found a real passion for Juvederm Ultra Procedures.  Is Juvederm great […]

Top 10 Things People Worry about After a Fat Transfer (During the Recovery Period) When I call one of my patients the night following a fat transfer procedure, I usually mention the top few things that can make them alarmed that will resolve over the period of the next couple of weeks.  Here is that […]

Cannulas for Facial Fillers: The Evolution of My Technique Although I would estimate that only 1% of injectors currently use cannulas rather than standard needles to perform facial fillers, I truly believe that they have become the standard of care in my practice and I would hope the industry soon. I have been using cannulas […]

Fat Grafting:  A Little Everywhere Good taste with clothing means that the items one wears are in harmony, possess style, cut well, and made of good material.  Good cosmetic facial surgery is very similar.  The products (materials) one uses can determine the outcome and certain fillers, e.g., fat, Restylane, and Juvederm, work better in certain […]

Fill vs. Lift in Facial Cosmetic Enhancement This article is a corollary to my other article called the “Two-Finger Rule”. In the article on the “Two-Finger Rule”, I argued that taking two fingers and gently pulling up on the skin would not be achievable with any type of cosmetic procedure since it cannot be exactly […]

Joan Rivers Plastic Surgery: From Overlifted to Overfilled Joan Rivers has been the poster child of bad plastic surgery for quite some time now.  She was one of the most overlifted individuals that anyone has ever witnessed, but I believe that she may have gone overboard in the other direction, which is overfilling. The LA […]

Trusting My Expertise in Facial Plastic Surgery I was giving a lecture a few years ago in Hilton Head when the surgeon before me who is about 30 years older than I am said, “Give a patient what they want not what they need.” I went on stage right after him and said, “I give […]

Use of Microcannulas: A Revolution in My Practice Using Fillers Many of my patients who have been with me for many years have witnessed the revolution in techniques that I have developed for injectable fillers.  Early on I started with rudimentary needle injections.  I then progressed to larger cannulas that I adapted from fat grafting […]

Robert Downey, Jr.:  A Double Standard for Attractiveness I am always looking to understand what makes someone attractive.  I find Robert Downey Jr. better looking now in his 40s than when he was in his twenties. Same thing goes for George Clooney.  The gray hair and some wrinkles are not necessarily a bad thing in […]

Suzanne Somer’s Facial Injections:  Oh My God! Recently, I performed a fat transfer on a lady from Houston who showed me a photograph of Suzanne Somer’s during our preoperative visit the day before the procedure.  She had already sent me an email terribly worried about the procedure, asking whether I would make her look like […]

Madonna’s Cheek Implants Madonna has had some amazing work done and also some very bad work done as well.  The one thing that gained my attention was her cheek augmentation she had a couple of years ago. I believe she underwent cheek implants to make her look younger but the opposite effect occurred, she looked […]

Understanding the Aging Process Using Fat Grafting:  A Glass of Water Emptying The face undergoes significantly less gravitational descent than was once thought.  Although everyone oftentimes takes two fingers to lift up what appears to be sagging, this maneuver does not truly represent what can be accomplished with a lifting procedure nor does it reflect […]

Understanding The Anterior Chin: The Upside Down U Aging of the chin area is one of the most confusing areas because people I believe focus on the wrong thing. Most oftentimes the concern is about a jowl or about a sagging puppet line. Alternatively, it is about the fine lines that can circumscribe the lips, […]

Injectable Rhinoplasty: When, Why and Why Not With the desire for non-invasive techniques today, many patients are turning to injectable rhinoplasty to make themselves feel better about their nose shape without undergoing surgical rhinoplasty. However, is this a good thing?  Who is a good candidate? First, let’s define what injectable rhinoplasty is.  It involves injecting […]

Dr. Lam talks about your face like a bed to understand how fat transfer, fillers, and Botox will help the face for facial rejuvenation.

My first experience with Restylane® was awful, painful and lasted a very short time not as told!!! I screamed everytime the needle went in. I have never had a painless dental block until now. This was truly painless and I hate needles. I did not feel a thing. This was the best experience I have […]