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Q: I have had quite noticeable under eye hemosiderin staining since a rhinoplasty nearly 20 years ago. I’ve had several laser treatments over the years and am currently applying a hydroquinone cream. Nothing has ever truly worked, but I still hold out hope. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. A:  Hemosiderin staining represents the deposition […]

Q:  Dr. Eppley, do you perform the procedure, laser blepharoplasty? I have read about it and it seems the way to go if you want your eyes done. A: The term or procedure, laser blepharoplasty, can mean several seemingly similar but different things. The use of the laser in blepharoplasty or eyelid surgery can mean […]

Q:  I have been self conscious about these bumps on my forehead ever since high school and that has been 8 years ago. It all started when I shaved my head and a friend asked me how I got the horns (bumps) on my forehead. Then my girlfriend  (ex-girlfriend now) said the same thing and then my cousin. So every […]

Q: I have a very asymmetrical jawline and am thinking about having a custom implant formed to the side of my jaw with the deficiency. For the rest of my face, I am hoping to achieve a balanced look, trying to get the best of both sides of my face, without exactly mirroring either side. […]

Q: I would like some information about facelifts.  Do you do lower face/neck lifts.? How much is the average facelift?  Do you have financing for facelift procedures? A: Very detailed information on facelift surgery can be found on my blog, www.exploreplasticsurgery.com. Just search under facelift and more than 50 articles on various aspects of facelift […]

Q: Have you ever used a patient’s own fat to fill in the nasolabial folds?  I had it done in the past and it seems to last longer than other injectable fillers. Besides, I find it more appealling as it is completely natural. A: The nasolabial folds have been injected with every conceivable form of injectable […]

Q:  Can “love handle” surgery be combined with the hip and inner thigh area? I have lost several pounds through the years. I was told laser treatment to melt the fat would be the way to go, but not sure what would happen with the excess skin? A: It is very common to combine at […]

Although eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) treats only a small area of the face, it has a dramatic impact on facial appearance. Dollar for dollar, blepharoplasty surgery has the best value of  any plastic surgery procedure of the face because it is seen by all in everyday conversations. The eyes show age more than any other body […]

Q: How soon should I quit smoking before my facelift? I have smoked for nearly 30 years and I know it has not helped me age well. I think a facelift will really help me look better but I don’t want to have any problems after surgery. On the flip side of that coin, when […]

Q: Hello Doctor, I just had juverderm ultra injected into my lips several weeks ago. But I am not happy with the amount of lip size that I got from it. I am interested in having more filler put in and want to change to Aquamid.  Is it safe to use Aquamid a few weeks after having a Juvederm […]

Q: Hello, I am a 28-year old male with very prominent brow bones and I would like to have them reduced to a normal size and shape.  What is involved in doing this kind of plastic surgery? Are there any significant risks and do you think the results will be worth it? Thank you very […]

Q: I’m interested in customized mandibular angle implants for enhancement and to camoflage asymmetry and a contour defect from previous corrective jaw surgeries. I’ve had several jaw surgeries in the past. I had corrective jaw surgery which involved moving the lower jaw and chin forward. This surgery did not go very well. Due to an […]

Q: My daughter had a breast reduction at the age of 14. She is now 19 and would like to have implants to bring some shape and fullness back to her breasts. Can you explain what happened? It seems like we are going in reverse. Once her breasts were too big, now they are too […]

Q: I had a facelift last year but am unhappy with some ‘dogears’ in my scar under my chin. Can this be improved by extending the scar? A: Most full or more complete facelifts involve an incision under the chin. (submental incision) This is done to access the central neck area for fat removal and […]

Q: I am interested in a brow lift or botox treatment…maybe a facelift. I am 43 years old and I believe I look ten years older. Do you know if I could try one procedure now and then gradually work up to a progressive series of surgeries? A: The wonderful thing about the many procedures […]

The mixing of religion and plastic surgery are an unlikely pair that on the surface go together like oil and water. The current Gulf oil leak brings vivid images of how such things don’t go well even though they are closely aligned by proximity. Those considering plastic surgery with deep personal convictions undoubtedly feel like […]

Q: I had cheek implants placed over10years ago and an oral and maxillofacial surgeon told me one of them is infected. It started with a visit to the dentist.I had 2 fillings done in my upper molars.The freezing was in the same area the implants are and this somehow caused one of them to get infected. […]

Q: I am 53 yrs. old and have very deep nasolabial folds (more so on one side than the other).  I don’t know why they are so deep at my age but they are. I was interested in the “Cutting out” of the fold, however, my question is what happens to the cheek? Would the […]

Q: I was just wondering if Dr. Eppley could do scar revision on old keloid acne scars. I went to a Dermatologist over 7 years ago and he told me that plastic surgeons could remove the scars with great success. I am very self conscious and I love to swim, but I haven’t really done […]

Q: Hello Dr. Eppley. I’m a 25 yr old male who is dissatisfied with my cheeks. They are very round and full, and give me a infantile or boyish look, rather than a more angular, defined, masculine one. I’m pretty thin so weight loss is not an option.  I’m wondering what my surgical options are. Apparently […]

Q: I am writing to you because I have a very troublesome scar on one of my cheeks.  The scar has been there for a long time since I was 5 years old. At that time I had some type of cyst removed which left a bad scar. It has bothered me for over 20 years […]

Q: I am writing to inquiry about a calf implant for my daughter. She has developed a  rather significant difference in the size of her calfs now that she is a teenager. While it was slightly apparent as a child, it has become real obvious as a 15 year-old teenager. It bothers her to the […]

Q: I have a strange question for you Dr. Eppley but I am very curious. I am going to get breast augmentation in the near future and am an avid swimmer. My friend told me that it might interfere with me swimming. She said she heard that breast implants will act like floats and slow […]

Q : I had a facelift right after this past Christmas. While it turned out great and I wouldn’t change a thing, I forgot to ask my plastic surgeon how long it would last. What is your take on the longevity of facelift surgery? What can I expect to look like five years from  now? […]

Q: Dr. Eppley, I’m hoping you will be able to advise based on your article on conservative vs aggressive liposuction and the trade-off with skin contouring. Would you please tell me what my options are to correct the skin irregularities on my upper arms as a result of liposuction done severalyears ago? Would weight training or […]

Q: I am wondering about reducing an area of my upper lip. Here is the problem.  When I was younger, I had an incident that cut an area of my upper lip.  My lip healed fine and the cut mark is no longer there.  However, it appears that an excess of fat or tissue (not […]

Q: I had my face injected with fat and it was initially overfilled. The doctor that did it said it would go down and look more normal but it has not. Can anything be done to make the fat go away or at least become less full? A: Fat injections to the face is a […]

Q: Can you undo cheek dimple surgery I had done about 10 years ago? If so, how is it done? A: The surgical making of cheek dimples is different from what causes natural cheek dimples. Anatomically, natural cheek dimples have been shown to be present from a split in the zygomaticus nuscle which runs from […]

Q:  Dr. Eppley, I am unhappy with what was done to my jaw angles. The procedure was done using a saw-like tool that was used to cut off bone from my jaw angles. I think they took too much bone. I don’t want to go back to exactly the way my jaw angle was before, […]

Q: I don’t have a butt and my tail bone sticks out further then my butt. I have an pronounced tail bone and don’t have a butt. It hurts to sit long periods of time because of my tail bone and having no butt. My butt is really small and has no outside fat or […]