12
August
2010
Finally, a Solution for Raccoon Eyes!
There is now a solution for dark pigmentation of eyelids. Dr. Sydney Coleman at TriBeCa Plastic Surgery in New York City has developed a new method for grafting fat which not only smoothes eyelids but also lightens dark circles.
The new technique involves placement of a very thin layer of stem-cell rich concentrated autologous fat (your own fat harvested from a donor site in your abdomen, thigh or lovehandle). As the skin and underlying tissue heal after grafting, the skin color, thickness, tone and quality change dramatically, as can be seen in these before and after photos.
Patient had dark circles around her eyes before (left); After one application of specially processed fat grafts her pigmentation appears normal. Please note the lightening of not only the lower eyelid, but also the upper eyelid. Click on photos for larger images.
Before (left above and below) and after (right) one treatment of upper and lower eyelids with a newly developed approach to fat grafting. Note lightening of darkly pigmented skin around eyes. The upper photographs were taken with a standard flash; the lower comparison was taken using a ring flash.
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Dark eyelid pigmentation is one of the most common cosmetic problems for women and men, and one for which there has been little help. There are a plethora of creams on the market which claim to improve dark circles, but with little proven relief. Darker-skinned individuals are particularly prone to the problem of very darkly pigmented skin not only under the eye, but also around the entire eye, causing them to appear perpetually sleep-deprived.
Dr. Coleman’s procedure is usually done under light, “twilight-“ type anesthesia, and takes about an hour. He places the concentrated fat with special tiny instruments through puncture sites through the skin. There is bruising and swelling afterwards, which can usually be hidden by sunglasses. The bruising can last for three weeks or more, and the change in skin color may take a few months to evolve. Patients feel the wait is worth the effort, and are thrilled with the results.
Dr. Coleman warns that this procedure is not for everyone or for every type of darkness around the eyes. Please call TriBeCa Plastic Surgery at +1 212 571 5200 for more information.
. Written by the office staff at TriBeCa Plastic Surgery
Read about Dr. Coleman’s development of these special procedures in Cosmetic Surgery Times.
For more information please refer to earlier posts concerning eyelids and rejuvenation:
Posted: Ancillary Beauty Treatments, Home, Natural Facial Rejuvenation
27
July
2010
Sydney Coleman, a plastic surgeon in New York City, continues to improve fat grafting methods
Dr. Sydney Coleman is recognized as the world’s leading expert on fat grafting. It has been through his perseverance and insight over the last 22 years that fat grafting is becoming an important part of medicine. In the last four years, Dr. Coleman has improved dramatically the method he uses for fat grafting. The advanced methods he now uses for fat grafting not only increase the predictability of fat graft survival; but also, more importantly, the new techniques maximize the reparative effect of grafted fat on the tissue around which it is placed. Using his newly developed method, fat grafted under sun damaged and aging skin repairs the overlying skin. The eyelid of the patient below demonstrates the dramatic change that grafting fat in one procedure can have on overlying wrinkles.
Before (above) and two years after one procedure to lower eyelids in a 76 year old with no other treatment to her lower eyelids
Fat grafted under skin in the lower eyelid repairs the skin to a more radiant, youthful appearance
Probably through the same mechanism of repair, grafted fat has been shown to repair the tissue damage caused by radiation from cancer treatment. Dr. Coleman has been actively participating in laboratory research at NYU Medical Center, which has enabled him to verify his new advances in grafting fat. This new way of grafting fat increases the predictability of the volume of fat grafted, but more importantly, it maximizes the effect of grafted fat on the tissues around which it is placed.
Dr. Coleman has been speaking at meetings worldwide over the last few months to relate the advances that he has made in the last five years in fat grafting. In June alone he has given lectures in Manchester, UK; Ghent, Belgium; Aachen, Germany; Iceland; and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Earlier this year, he gave a series of lectures at a maxillofacial/craniofacial meeting in Baltimore, at the Egyptian Society of Plastic Surgery meeting outside of Cairo, at an international hand meeting in Paris, at a meeting in Los Cabos in Baja California, at a symposium of the Plastic Surgery Education Foundation meeting in Snowbird, Utah, at a breast meeting in Miami, at the American Alpine Workshop in Plastic Surgery meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and at a Regenerative Surgery meeting in Rome.
And Dr. Coleman continues to travel to Pittsburg monthly to use fat grafting on soldiers with facial war injuries. This is part of an Armed Forces project at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center supervised by the US Department of Defense.
. Written by the office staff at TriBeCa Plastic Surgery
To read the Cosmetic Surgery Times article on the use of fat grafts with stem cells for rejuvenation, please click here.
For further articles about this subject
Posted: Facial Reconstruction, Fat Grafting Research, Home, Natural Facial Rejuvenation
6
July
2010
New York City Plastic Surgeon Sydney Coleman Discusses His Experience with the “Stem Cell Facelift”
A recent article in Cosmetic Surgery Times discusses the effect of concentrated, grafted fat to repair aging and sun-damaged skin. In the article, Dr. Coleman, the pioneer in structural fat grafting, noted that “grafted fat not only provided added volume, but also appeared to reinvigorate surrounding facial tissue, seemingly making it thicker, rosier and generally more youthful-looking.”
Dr. Coleman first began discussing this effect in 1994 at national and international plastic surgery meetings. Today, there is evidence that the effect of the fat is at least in part due to the presence of stem cells in the fat designed to repair injuries to our body. The article notes that Dr. Coleman prefers to think of these hard-working cells as repair cells rather than stem cells. “Fat is not just a storage organ, it is a repair organ. It supplies repair cells that mend bone or skin or whatever part of the body it is called on to help,” Dr. Coleman says in the article. “If you put fat under sun-damaged, aging skin, then (apparently) it perceives that there is a problem, and it is directed by messengers or growth factors to repair the aging skin.”
Before (left) and 3 years & 6 months after (right) one facial fat grafting
In the article, he further said that “A facelift removes the signs of aging, whereas, fat grafting — by restoring volume and then by repairing the damage that is present — actually moves a patient closer to youth than often a facelift does, because the absence of a wrinkle is not the presence of youth.” He further points out that this a completely natural method of rejuvenation without any scars or medications.
Before (above) and after (below) a thin layer of fat grafts to the lower lids. Please note the remarkable improvement in texture, color and pore size of the skin.
Furthermore, through scientific research, Dr. Coleman has verified a method of concentrating fat to remove the oily components and increase the concentration of stem cells and growth factors. This gives the effect of rejuvenation of the skin with only a very thin layer of refined fat. Dr. Coleman has used the same effect to treat radiation injuries as well as trauma to the arms, legs and head.
The New York Times wrote about the effect that a thin layer of fat has on the back of hands, and the photographs in the article demonstrate progressive improvement of the quality of skin over eight years after only one treatment of fat grafting. For more information on the effect of a thin layer of fat grafts to rejuvenation and repair hands, please click here.
To read the Cosmetic Surgery Times article on the use of fat grafts with stem cells for rejuvenation, please click here.
For further articles about this subject
Posted: Home, Natural Facial Rejuvenation
