1) I’m 45 with great cleavage, but too much sun exposure caused brown spots and wrinkles in my décolletage. What can I do?
Women tend to have this problem because they wear more low-cut shirts, unlike men, who tend to wear t-shirts.
As a result, the décolletage gets a lot of damage over the years. This includes wrinkles, pigmentation issues and blood vessel problems.
“You’re really looking at light therapy as your main treatment,” Dr. Popp said. “Intense Pulse Light (IPL) treatment is used on blood vessels and pigmentation.
If you have wrinkles when the breasts are pushed together, you can inject fillers to help with that, he said.
2) I want bigger cheekbones without surgery. What are my other choices?
Fillers are your best course of action. You can use off-the-shelf fillers or use your own fat, Dr. Popp says.
Cheek implants used to be the go-to treatment, but fillers are quicker and non-surgical. So more people choose fillers.
“Restylane Lyft and Juvederm Voluma are two fillers specifically designed to add volume, which is what you want in higher or larger cheekbones,” he said.
He said a person’s own fat will last longer, but it’s a bigger process because you first have to collect the patient’s fact through liposuction.
Off-the-shelf fillers don’t require surgery. These are manufactured fillers.
“I use hyaluronic acid fillers because HA is a naturally occurring substance in the human body and is reversible,” Dr. Popp said.
“So if someone has fillers put in and doesn’t like it, you can inject an enzyme in that area to melt the fillers away.”
3) I take chondroitin and glucosamine for joint pain. Can I still take them before surgery?
“Yes. Most of the things we ask people to stop whether you have your knee replaced or a facelift, we look at things that would hamper the surgery itself,” Dr. Popp said.
“Our biggest fears as surgeons are things that inhibit blood clotting or promote bleeding.”
The long list of things you cannot take before surgery includes aspirin, fish oil, garlic, large doses of Vitamin E, Aleve, Motrin and Ibuprofen.
Dr. Popp said chondroitin sulfate is not linked to any clot inhibiters or excessive bleeding.
Got a question for Dr. Popp? Call today and set up your free consultation, 402-391-4558.
