Does it seem like some of your skincare products are reading more like a food label these days? With ingredients like enzymes, vitamins, probiotics, soy and more, the line between food and personal care is becoming blurry. The question is, do these ingredients do anything for your skin?

While there are many types of facials, enzyme facials have become very popular. Enzymes have two primary uses in skin care,  for exfoliation and anti-inflammation. Certain enzymes are effective exfoliants and can be a gentler option than other methods such as scrubs and microdermabrasion. The upper layer of your skin is mostly made of dead skin cells containing keratin protein. The enzymes work by specifically breaking down the keratin protein, resulting in smoother skin.

Our exclusive Enzyme Facial Treatment is designed to energize the skin cells with a unique rejuvenating enzyme process. The Enzyme Facial Treatment uses a blend of digestive enzymes, fruit acids, resorcinol, hydroxyacetic acid, herbal extracts and distillates. Call for your FREE cosmetic consultation and find out more about Enzyme Facials. $59 dollars now through August 15th.

Microneedling (also known as collagen induction therapy) is a skin-rejuvenating procedure in which tiny needles create punctures in the top layer of skin with the goal of improving overall texture and appearance. Once an old-school beauty treatment, microneedling is making a comeback among both the skincare-obsessed and A-listers alike.

The treatment works well and is long-lasting which is why some use it proactively to combat wrinkles and fine lines as they first appear. Another noticeable benefit of microneelding is that It can help reduce pore size and improve texture adding a more even tone to the skin. By promoting collagen growth, microneedling may help reverse signs of aging (such as fine lines), fade acne scars, and make skin look refreshed.

Until the end of May Orland Park Plastic Surgery is running a special on Microneedling - $199. Call for your FREE cosmetic consultation and see how microneedling can improve the look of your skin. For more information check out our webpage. You can also find an article on the benefits of Microneedling by clicking this link.

Now you can improve the appearance of your aging hands with RADIESSE®, the only dermal filler proven to immediately restore volume loss in hands for smooth, natural-looking results that won’t give away your age.

In just one treatment, RADIESSE® for hands provides immediate volume restoration to enhance the appearance of your hands, and it continues to work stimulating the body to produce its own natural collagen.

• Helps restore a more youthful appearance to hands
• Quick, in-office treatment  
• Reduces the appearance of tendons and veins
• Delivers smooth, natural-looking results that last up to a year in most patients
• Immediate results that last

More than 86% of patients reported an improvement in the appearance of their hands 12 months after treatment with RADIESSE®, according to a recent clinical study. RADIESSE® is the only filler currently used in the face that is also approved for use in the hands.

This is a quick in-office procedure, less than 15 minutes. Can be done as an add-on to your existing appointment or on a lunch time break. Mention this blog and receive $100 off RADIESSE® for hands now until July 31st.

Being a mom is one of the most challenging, frustrating, yet rewarding experiences a woman can have. You put forth blood, sweat and tears, not to mention an untold strain on your whole body during pregnancy. It really boils down to the genetics of your skin and fascia as to how well you can bounce back after the weight gain and abdominal stretching from your baby. Many women lament that despite dieting, exercising and lots and lots of willpower your body is never the same as it was prior to child bearing. Fortunately, for the masses of dissatisfied women, there are options in Plastic Surgery to boost your self-confidence and your body image.

Here is a list of body corrections (Mommy Makeover) that can be performed in tandem or separately to improve the shape and how you feel about your physique.

BREAST - During pregnancy, the glandular component of the breast must enlarge to ready for the enhanced production of milk. Additionally, weight gain with fat storage all governed by the hormonal changes can increase the breast size immensely. Unfortunately, fetal regulation also makes skin "stretchy" to accommodate the increased girth of the breast and abdomen. After the resumption of normal non-pregnant hormones and the lack of need for lactation, the breast volume will revert back to baseline and can even reduce in overall size compared to the original baseline. Unfortunately, many times the skin does not have the ability to shrink to the original size and will stay expanded resulting in a larger skin brazier with same or even less fill than before resulting in "saggy" breast shape. With increased skin length from the breast fold to the nipple it moves the breast mound lower on the chest with less upper pole fullness. I hear many women call their breasts "sad" in appearance when they come in for consultation. Okay, enough depressing thoughts... what can be done? If the skin is not excessively enlarged, the nipple-areolar complex is correct and the fold to nipple distance is not greatly elongated, the solution can be to place a silicone gel implant to act as a shaper and a filler of the breast envelope restoring a pleasing breast shape. If the breast has a low positioned nipple-areolar complex, with or without increase skin length from the fold to the nipple-areolar complex, then a mastopexy (breast lift) is required. Often times tissue volume might need to be enhanced to provide better shape and upper pole fullness, thus an implant or fat grafting can be incorporated at the same time. Sometimes upper pole fullness can be accomplished by transposing extra breast tissue in the lower pole and positioning it on the chest wall deep to the rest of the breast to enhance fullness.

ABDOMEN - Hormones during pregnancy direct adaptive body changes that allow healthy growth of the baby, but unfortunately create lasting changes to a women's body. The abdominal skin stretches and often can result in stretch marks (tears in the dermis with intact epidermis). Excess skin rarely retracts in these cases, leading to hanging skin that drapes over the pelvis. Next, the abdominal wall is distorted to accommodate the growing fetus resulting in separation of the paired rectus muscles leading to increased abdominal circumference with permanent bulges in the abdominal wall both above and below the umbilicus. This unfortunately cannot be reduced with abdominal exercise because the stretched fascia between the muscles is not contractile and will not respond to muscle strengthening. Additional weight changes with aging often can be manifested with increased abdominal girth from excess fatty tissue. So what can a Mommy Makeover achieve in the abdomen?

If skin quality is excellent and the abdominal wall is only minimally distorted often liposuction with the addition of additional energy sources such as ultrasonic energy (VASER), oscillating power hand-piece (PAL), or hydraulic power can result in removal of excess fat and create skin retraction/redistribution to improve contour. However, many women will need a full abdominoplasty with correction of excess fat with liposuction, removal of excess lower abdominal skin with tissue resection, and abdominal wall restoration by returning the rectus muscles together with a permanent suturing technique. This can result in excellent contour of the abdomen but you will trade the contour for a scar. Most people are surprised how long the scar has to be to create the contouring necessary. Once acquainted with the results, most women will gladly trade a scar for the results of a flat smooth abdomen.

BACK AND FLANKS - Some women can realize their goals by correcting the anterior abdomen by itself. However, many women if given the opportunity would love to three dimensionally correct their torso by sculpting their midback (bra line folds) and flanks (muffin tops) at the same time as their abdomens to circumferentially adjust their shape. This can make a tremendous change on how clothing can be worn and how the individual feels about themselves. Liposuction makes a great deal of improvement by releasing all the ligamentous attachments between the back and flanks and the superficial skin (which results in rolls on the back) and allows even removal of fat and the skin to re-drape much smoother.

LEGS - Some women naturally store adipose tissue in their lateral or medial thighs. Depending on the skin quality and the potential for the tissue to re-drape or tighten, fatty tissue can be sculpted just as on the back.

BUTTOCK - Popular trends in body shape can change just like in fashion over time. The introduction of the Latin culture into the United States in conjunction with pop culture personalities have made the appearance of a full contour buttock something to aspire to. My preference for buttock augmentation is with fat grafting and not with a prosthesis. Utilizing concepts of tissue equilibration and liposculpturing we can remove unwanted fatty tissue, harvest it as a graft, and utilize the fat as a volumizer of the buttock, all while improving the contour of the rest of the body. Women who have gained and lost weight may have loose sagging skin of the buttock and restoring volume can shape and lift the buttock with little or no scarring.

Women who are unhappy with their physical appearance after giving birth to one or multiple children can restore the body to a better place with a Mommy Makeover. To me this represents more than one area of the body to be rejuvenated simultaneously to make the woman feel refreshed and erase some of the "battle scars" of pregnancy so she can feel more confident in her appearance.

For more information please visit our before and after photo gallery of our Mommy Makeovers. Ask about our Mommy Makeover Special going on now. $1000 dollars off. Call for your FREE consultation. 708.873.9600

Dermabrasion and dermaplaning help to "refinish" the skin's top layers through a method of controlled surgical scraping. The treatments soften the sharp edges of surface irregularities, giving the skin a smoother appearance.

Dermabrasion is most often used to improve the look of facial skin left scarred by accidents or previous surgery, or to smooth out fine facial wrinkles. It's also sometimes used to remove the pre-cancerous growths called keratoses. Dermaplaning is also commonly used to treat deep acne scars.

Both dermabrasion and dermaplaning are in office procedures and can be performed on small areas of skin or on the entire face. They can be used alone, or in conjunction with other procedures such as facelift, scar removal or revision, or chemical peel.

Please call our office for your free consultation and to book your appointment. Be sure to ask about our monthly and new patient specials. We look forward to hearing from you!