Aesthetic Medicine

Archive for the ‘Aesthetic Medicine | Rinnova’ Category

A more youthful version of yourself can easily be accomplished without major surgery! We can restore a more youthful face depending on what we wish to change or restore. The facial rejuvenation is more easily accomplished if we divide the face in three parts: the upper, mid face and lower face.

The upper face can be improved by focusing on the eye brows, upper and lower eye lids and crows feet. The lateral eye brows can be elevated with a simple temporal stitch to give gentle lift and open up the eyes. The upper eye lids can be tightened using an ablative laser or a simple blepharoplasty. The puffy lower eye lids (festoons) can be easily eliminated with a percutaneous laser in 15 minutes without any incisions. The fat under the lower eyelids is addressed with a few bursts of the LipoTherme laser beam. The crow’s feet are greatly reduced or eliminated with the skin tightening LipoTherme laser or the Erbium ablative laser or both.

The middle face is not always treated with a full face lift. I use the laser to tighten the facial tissue from the inside followed by a laser to rejuvenate the skin from the outside. The laser can also remove wrinkles and uneven skin pigmentation. Here we can also use the patients own fat to fill in the larger wrinkles resistant to the laser. The mokers lines are also treated by placing the laser beam directly below the skin of the upper lip. Lip augmentation can also be performed with fat transfer or a lip implant. Silhouette sutures, used in Europe to restore the mid face, are placed in less than an hour with minimal down time. The silhouette sutures can be used in combination with the laser that tightens the skin from the inside and a very small and barely visible mini face lift incision.

The lower face can be rejuvenated with liposuction of the neck, chin jowls with the lipolaser not only to melt away the fat but also to tighten the skin. If wrinkles are very pronounced, a small and barely visible incision is made behind the ear to give a beautiful neck lift.

Some people do require a full face lift, which involves gentle restoration of the upper, mid and lower face. These procedures are performed in our surgery center under local anesthesia and, if needed, under conscious sedation. The patient has minimal down time and a quick recovery. All procedures are tailored to the individual needs of the patient.

With the economic crunch causing people across the country to tighten up their belts, it’s not surprising that at-home treatments are growing in popularity as people try to avoid the additional cost of visiting a physician. While people may accomplish a lower price point, they also run a significant risk of harm to themselves.

Injectables such as Botox, Dysport, and Juvederm, as well as dermatological treatments such as chemical peels require special training for proper use, as several women have found out. More and more horror stories are popping up in the media and through my colleagues.

I hear about paramedics, who think that they can handle giving themselves dermal injections since they use needles daily. They use products that claim to be a facial filler to plump up wrinkles. They inject these products under the eyes and near the mouth. They feel fine at first, but the next morning they wake up with huge bags under the eyes and a large pustule on the cheeks.

This DIY practice is extremely dangerous: a few millimeters off, you can puncture your eyeball or hit a blood vessel, possibly causing blindness.

I hear about people buying dermal filler products from some websites that may look legitimate, but are not authorized to dispense prescription drugs. These websites state that the products they sell are similar to Dysport, Botox and other injectables. Customers are instructed to watch a video and start injecting themselves away.

FYI, both Dysport and Botox carry a black-box label, meaning they have a risk of serious side effects. While the risk is low, there is concern that the toxin can spread and cause severe and even deadly respiratory problems. Both products belong only in the hands of trained professionals. Generic products are not approved by FDA, and may contain harmful substances. Beware of  the illegal sale of prescription drugs online, and please do not inject yourself.

Schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs and the options we can offer. Our charges are very competitive and you will have a peace of mind that the procedure is done correctly and by a physician.

Laser technologies are expanding our horizons when it comes to non-invasive, safe and fast treatments of common skin and nail problems. Take toenail fungus for example. About 50% of Americans in the 50-70 year old age group have these thick, yellowish-brown, chipped and foul smelling toe nails.

Have you seen Lamisil TV commercials where ugly blobby creatures open up a human toenail and get into the nail bed? Those guys are a nasty group of fungi called dermatophytes who thrive off keratin, the nail’s protein substance.

Also referred to as Onychomycosis, fungal nail infections affect about 30 million people in the U.S. and can have serious consequences to the elderly, diabetics, and immune compromised individuals. In addition to causing difficulty and pain when walking or running, infections underneath the surface of the nail are often accompanied by a secondary bacterial and/or yeast infection in the nail plate.

All conventional treatment options for Onychomycosis have a maximum of 50% cure rate. That is provided your doctor has done some mechanical and/or chemical therapies and established a very strict regimen for you, which involves a combination of oral medications and prescription topical solutions. All oral drugs have some level of toxicity, and may have serious side effects for your liver.

Over the counter creams have less than 8% efficacy.

At Rinova we have developed a comprehensive course of laser-based treatment of the toenail fungus. The laser beam goes through the nail causing microbial damage and instantly kills the fungi that cause Onychomycosis. The procedure takes 15-20 minutes for ten toes. There is no downtime, and you can do anything you want right after the treatment.

Results are not immediate, as it will take 9-12 months for the new non-infected toenail to grow out. You will have to follow a regimen to prevent the re-infection but oral medication will no longer be part of it.

Any treatment of Onychomycosis is considered aesthetic, and insurance companies do not cover it. The cost will range from $1,100 to $1,300 depending on the severity of the case and includes two treatments, post-laser care kit and follow-up visits. Several financing options, starting at $29.95 per month, are available to fit your needs.

Learn more at www.LaserForToe.com and schedule an appointment online.

In 2002, about ten years after Botox had been widely accepted the world wide, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first botulinum toxin for the cosmetic reduction of movement related facial wrinkles, Allergan’s Botox Cosmetic.

Since then it has become one of the most popular minimally-invasive cosmetic treatments in the United States with more than 2.8 million procedures performed in 2008 alone.

On April 30, 2009, Dysport (Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp., Scottsdale, AZ) became the second botulinum toxin approved for cosmetic use. The product has been commercially available in Europe since the early 1990’s and is approved for aesthetic use in 27 countries. While worldwide experience is plentiful, physicians in the United States are eagerly putting the neurotoxin to the test.

So what’s the difference between the two products? Both have a central core molecule which serves as the “active” portion of the neurotoxin and both have the same mechanism of action. The main difference is that the two products have a different array of associated “non-active” proteins which are complexed around the active core. All in all, the two products will function nearly identically and have the same duration of action, however there may be some subtle advantages to Dysport. Read the rest of this entry »

As we approach “the most wonderful time of the year” and start thinking about gifts to others, why not do something good for yourself? If you care about how you look and how others see you, now is the time to act.

Aesthetic medicine has made a giant leap in the last couple of years but few people are aware of many non-invasive and affordable medical treatments that can dramatically improve your looks and enhance the quality of your life. Your transformation can be accomplished in one sitting and with minimal down time. No nips, cuts, tucks or pain. Say good-by to the wrinkles around your eyes and lips to look great for the holidays and at least the next five years.

Thermage is a favorite treatment that renews collagen while tightening the skin on the face and neck, as well as a beautiful eye brow lift. The Lipotherm laser is the most powerful yet gentle laser on the market that will melt away fat permanently while tightening the skin, sculpting your neck, chin and eliminating the jowls.
Sequential use of two different lasers, which we call Bimodal Facial Rejuvenation, is a new procedure, which delivers profound and long lasting results, visibly tightening the connective tissue of the skin, removing fine to mild wrinkles, scars, age spots, large pores, and even acne scars.

The proven “liquid face lift” using Botox, Dysport, Evolence and other injectable fillers can make you look rested and many years younger. Get rid of that tired and sad look and brighten up your eyes and your smile!

It’s amazing what we can do with your own fat! We can take it from one part of the body and inject in the other to re-contour your body and facial lines. If Mother Nature gave you too much fat in one area but was stingy in the other, – such as your breasts, buttock or face – we can change this around!

Modern liposuction techniques can effectively reshape the abdomen, arms, inner and outer thighs, flanks, knees, calves and give you the body that will make you look wonderful. Again, no pain, no down time!

Many men want Dr. Cappiello to permanently eliminate the male breasts, double chin, jowls, belly and love handles. Rinnova invites all men reading this to let us show you how much better you can look.

Every year we all make resolutions to try to look and feel better about ourselves, but this year RINNOVA will help you actually do it!

Please use this code: RINNOVA-BLOG101 when calling 727-942-7000 for an appointment or sign up now to receive a generous discount or a free gift.

Happy Holidays!

Gerard Cappiello MD, FACOG, FACS

In Florida alone, more than 12,000 new breast cancer cases are estimated to be diagnosed in 2009. To help find a cure for the disease, thousands of men and women gathered the last weekend of October to walk 60 miles in three days, and to raise over $4 million for non-profit foundations leading the breast cancer awareness initiative. Since its inception in 2003, more than $400 million has been raised through Breast Cancer 3-Day donations, contributions and sponsorships.

Rinnova Med-Surgical & Laser Institute is still accepting applications for a free breast restoration surgery for a cancer survivor in Tampa Bay. Please help spread the word.

The walkers, many of them breast cancer survivors, started at Sand Key Park in Clearwater on Friday and walked through the Pinellas county communities of Largo, Seminole, Treasure Island and Madeira Beach to cross the finish line in Spa Beach Park in St. Petersburg.

It’s an emotional finish filled with tears.

Our Boo-tox/Dysport on October 30th was fun for all guests. We enjoyed seeing some of our loyal patients as well as meet a few new people. We decided to do it again for the Thanksgiving!

Mark your calendar:

Wednesday, November 18
9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Countryside office

Bring your friends and family, but make sure to register so we can plan accordingly.

We look forward to seeing you!

BOO-tox & Dysport
Party at Rinnova

Friday October 30 from 9:00 to 2:00 pm
R.S.V.P. by October 27th
(727) 942-7000 or (727) 938-3332

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Rinnova’s Holiday office has enhanced the array of aesthetic services providing the latest laser technology for hair removal, skin tightening, vein, Rosacea and acne treatments, tattoo removal, BOTOX, Dysport, Evolence, medical-grade facials and more. Rinnova clients can expect outstanding medical beauty procedures with treatments that have changed many lives.

We encourage our patients to come for a free consultation and make a commitment to beauty and anti-aging. We are here to put you on the fast track to health and looking good the entire journey.

All our prices have been dramatically reduced to compensate for the struggling economy.

For more information on how to schedule your free appointment, please contact us now.

Rinnova is the pioneer of many cosmetic treatments in Tarpon Springs-Holiday area and specializes in all surgical and non-surgical treatments and naturopathic remedies to enhance your appearance with the latest cutting-edge technology and the most experienced medical staff and medical doctor.