McKeown Medical
167 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4SQ
Date posted — 21.10.24
The eyes are often described as the window to the soul. They are also often one of the first parts of the face to show signs of ageing, conferring a tired or worried look. It’s little wonder, therefore, that there is a lot of interest in treatments that help to reduce signs of ageing around the eyes.
One of the most common signs of ageing around the eyes is wrinkles at the sides of the eyes, known colloquially as ‘crow feet‘ or more technically as ‘lateral canthal rhytids’. These lines are usually caused by repetitive movement of the underlying orbicularis oculi muscle. Treating these lines using anti-wrinkle injections, which act to reduce the underlying muscle activity, is, therefore, one of the most popular treatments for eye wrinkles.
It is derived from a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum. Contrary to popular opinion, you are not being injected with harmful bacteria. Nor are you even being injected with a full toxin – the drug is simply derived from the toxin produced by the bacteria, similar to the way many other types of drugs are manufactured.
When injected in small doses, the drug blocks the nerve endings from stimulating the muscles to contract – causing the muscle to relax, usually for a few months at a time.
The anti-wrinkle procedure is relatively straightforward. It involves injecting small amounts of diluted drug into targeted facial muscles. In order to achieve the best results, you should make sure you are treated by an experienced doctor who intuitively understands the balance of anatomy, physiology and pharmacology to allow them to tailor the advice and treatment to your own unique circumstances to achieve the best results.
You can usually start to see the results of the treatment within a few days, although it typically takes up to two weeks to see the full results.
Before your anti-wrinkle treatment, it’s important that your doctor takes a full medical history, including what medications you take, any allergies you may have and how you have reacted to previous cosmetic procedures. By having a detailed understanding of your background, your doctor can make the most appropriate recommendations to ensure you achieve optimal results.
After the treatment, it is quite normal to see some immediate redness and swelling at the injection site. This normally resolves within a few minutes – typically by the time you get back to the car. It is much less common to develop any bruising. If this happens, it can usually be camouflaged with some make-up and will go away like any normal bruise.
It is quite common to develop a headache following treatment – this can affect up to 1 in 10 patients. If you develop a headache, you can take over-the-counter pain medication like paracetamol (or Tylenol if you are in the US).
Much less commonly, you can develop drooping of the eyelid or eyebrow. This usually affects around 1 in 3000 patients and is usually associated with the treatment of the frown muscles. If you are only being treated with anti-wrinkle injections around the eyes, then you should be safe from this side effect.
Crow’s feet and frown lines often occur together, along with drooping of the brow and eyelids. It is common to combine the treatment of wrinkles around the eyes with the treatment of frown lines in the same session. By employing this combination approach, it is possible to achieve a subtle brow lift, which many patients benefit from.
It’s crucial to have realistic expectations about the results of anti-wrinkle treatments. Whilst it is usually possible to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles, no one can guarantee that you will necessarily look any younger. Most people find that they look the same, just a little more rested.
Repeat treatments are necessary to maintain the results. The effects of each session typically last between three to six months.
The success of any cosmetic treatment largely depends on the skill and experience of the doctor performing the procedure. Make sure you always see an experienced doctor, not just for the technical aspects of performing the procedure – but for the right advice on which treatment is the best one for your needs. Practising medicine involves both art and science, which always improves with experience, so make sure you get the best advice possible for your own circumstances.
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Loose Skin After Weight Loss or GLP-1 Injections: Why the Right Treatment Varies So Much From Person to Person and...
A surgical facelift and a non-surgical facelift solve different problems. One addresses skin laxity and structural descent, the other volume...
How Quantum RF Can Help Tighten Loose Arm Skin After GLP-1 Weight Loss
This is not a facelift.
This patient is just one week after The Quantum Lift, immediately after having her tape removed - you can still see a little residual adhesive on her cheeks.
The Quantum Lift is our new minimally invasive approach to rejuvenating the lower face and neck. We first use precision liposuction to remove excess fat from beneath the chin and around the jowls, sculpting a cleaner jawline. We then use QuantumRF beneath the skin to contract and tighten the tissues of the lower face and neck.
What has impressed me most about QuantumRF is the degree of tissue contraction we can achieve. You can actually see the tissues tightening during the procedure itself, but that`s only the beginning. Most patients are through the main recovery within a week or two, while tightening and collagen remodelling continue for 3–6 months afterwards.
So, at only one week, this is still a very early result but she`s already delighted with the improvement.
No facelift. One week post-treatment. And plenty more improvement still to come.
What do you think?
Dr Rhona is back!
We’re delighted to share that Dr Rhona Cameron will be returning to clinic at the beginning of September following her maternity leave and her diary is now open for appointments!
We know many of you have been looking forward to seeing Rhona again, and we’re so pleased to welcome her back!
If you’d like to book an appointment with Dr Rhona, you can do so via our website or app, or contact the team on 0141 370 0509.
We’ve shown you lots of side profiles from the Quantum Lift, but what does it look like from the front?
This lovely patient is just four weeks after her procedure, and I think the front view really shows how much we can change while still keeping the face looking soft and natural.
As part of her Quantum Lift, we removed unwanted fat from beneath the chin and around the jowls. Rather than simply discarding that fat, we used some of it to restore volume to her chin and jawline, helping to replace some of the volume she had lost over time and bring back a little of the youthful softness to the lower face.
You’ll also notice a small amount of lumpiness beneath the chin. At four weeks, this is very common after liposuction in this area and is part of the healing process. She’s now using firmer massage to help soften this over the coming weeks, and we would expect the result to continue settling and refining.
Most importantly, she’s absolutely over the moon with the change, and we are too!
What do you think of the front view?
Once again, the combination treatment wins the day!
This patient came to us hating her neck and jowls, but she would not consider anything invasive. Treating the neck is always a challenge especially with non-invasive treatments only.
For this patient we first of all reduced the fat under the chin using CoolSculpting, then we did some hyaluronic acid under the mandible to define the jaw and finally we did some Sofwave to tighten the skin.
The patient is over the moon with her results. What do you think?
There is no single "best" facial rejuvenation treatment - only the treatment that`s right for the individual patient.
For patients with more advanced facial ageing, significant jowls and loose skin of the neck, a deep plane facelift remains the gold standard. In the right hands, it can achieve results that more significant than what we can do with less invasive treatments.
This is one of our recent patients following deep plane face and neck lift surgery, performed by the incredibly talented @bramhallplasticsurgery. It`s always a privilege to work alongside Russell and see the exceptional results he consistently achieves.
One of the things I`m most proud of at McKeown Medical is that we`re a genuinely multidisciplinary team. We don`t believe every patient needs fillers. We don`t believe every patient needs surgery either. We offer injectables, lasers, minimally invasive procedures like the Quantum Lift, and facelift surgery because different patients, at different stages of the ageing process, need different solutions.
Our job isn`t to sell you a procedure - its to help you choose the right one.
If you want to have a conversation about which option is right for you, you can send us some pics by PM.
#DeepPlaneFacelift #Facelift #NeckLift #FacialRejuvenation #PlasticSurgery #AestheticMedicine #NaturalResults #McKeownMedical #Glasgow #PlasticSurgeon
I genuinely think the Quantum Lift is changing what is possible for patients who want to improve their jawline and neck, but do not want to undergo facelift surgery.
I have used earlier generations of skin-tightening technology and, honestly, I was often underwhelmed by the results. This is different.
By combining precise power-assisted liposuction, targeted treatment of the neck muscle where needed, and QuantumRF skin tightening, we can address the three things that most commonly age the lower face and neck: muscle, fat and skin.
This patient is shown just 24 hours after treatment. There is still swelling to settle, but the early change in her jawline and neck contour is already clear.
I have also included clips from the procedure for anyone who likes seeing the technical side of what we do.
Would you consider a minimally invasive alternative to facelift surgery for your jawline or neck, or would you rather go straight to surgery?
And this is why we LOVE combination treatments in the clinic!
Different parts of the face age in different ways. And even different layers of the same part sometimes age differently, which is why we often need to combine treatments to achieve the best overall effect for each patient.
This lovely patient first underwent some laser resurfacing to her eyelid area to take away the lines and wrinkles and tighten the skin. Then we used some HA to blend the contour below the eye and cheek. Finally, we addressed the lower part of the face and neck with some Sofwave to tighten the skin and Sculptra to give her more connective tissue support.
She is over the moon with her improvement. What do you think?
The biggest mistake I see after weight loss? People choose a treatment before understanding what`s actually causing their loose skin.
Not all "loose skin" is the same, which is why the right treatment for one person can be completely wrong for another.
If you`ve lost weight and aren`t sure which option is right for you, the first step isn`t choosing a device. It`s getting the right diagnosis.
Looking for some advice? Send us a DM to get started.
The Quantum Lift!
We introduced this new technique only a few weeks ago and, well, it’s going even better than expected. This is one of our patients before and immediately after. I always warn my patients that I cannot give them a surgical facelift result with a procedure that doesn’t involve cutting but honestly, in this case, I think we got pretty close to a facelift result and closer than I was expecting.
First we remove some fat from under the chin and jawline before the quantum goes in to tighten the skin. I have included a picture of the neck after the we had removed fat from both sides, but only applied the quantum to her right side. You can see how much difference there is when I try to pinch the skin. In the non-treated skin I skin still pinch an inch (or two) but on the treated side there is very little to pinch, because the tissues have shrunk down so much.
The patient tolerated the procedure very well under simple local anaesthetic without sedation and we had a nice chat throughout. Afterwards she had a cup of tea and then went home with her husband half an hour later.
I have been very excited about The Quantum Lift for a while, but I’m only getting more excited the more I do. I really believe this is a massive step towards an effective way to rejuvenate the lower face and neck whilst avoiding traditional facelift scars.