Winter 2005 Newsletter

Word of Mouth Travels

The Austin-Weston Center Surgeons Teach Their Techniques to Other Cosmetic Surgeons

For the 12th consecutive year, Drs. Weston, Sigal and Poindexter were invited to teach their innovative techniques at the largest gathering of plastic surgery professionals in the world.  Plastic Surgery 2005, the annual meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) in Chicago, attracted more than 3,000 medical professionals from the United States, Canada and abroad.

Our nationally respected team of talented Austin-Weston surgeons taught a course about rejuvenating the aging mouth.  Many surgeons do not address the mouth directly when performing facial rejuvenation, which often makes the face look unbalanced and unnatural.  Our surgeons have developed and refined special surgical techniques that address the mouth as part of the entire facial rejuvenation, making the face look 10 to 15 years younger, in contrast to the usual 7 to 10 years younger from facelift and eyelid surgery alone.

Our surgeons, along with several members of our staff, attended this international conference to keep abreast of the latest advances in cosmetic surgery.  Each attended in keeping with our vision to provide our plastic surgery patients with an unprecedented level of service and care.

Caption:  Drs. Weston, Poindexter and Sigal shared their expertise at a national cosmetic surgery convention.

Are you struggling to find a gift for that person who has everything?  For the present that always fits perfectly, never goes out of style and is sure to please even the most finicky person on your list, consider a Gift Certificate to our Aesthetique.

Everyone can benefit from professional skincare treatments and a home maintenance regimen.  Wendy Canzanese, our licensed aesthetician, performs customized facials that are as pampering and relaxing as they are good for your skin.  Give a loved one, friend or co-worker the gift of nurturing their skin and well being.

The response was overwhelming from people around the world opening their hearts, homes and wallets to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.  The devastating effects certainly hit close to home for us at The Austin-Weston Center.  Debbie Marinucci, one of our operating room nurses, was born and raised in New Orleans. She still has dozens of relatives in the area who were unfortunately displaced by the hurricane destruction.

When the staff at The Austin-Weston Center learned of the shocking effects of the first storm, they jumped into action, quickly collecting donations.  More than $1,000 was contributed from the staff along with food, clothing, supplies and a backup generator.  Debbie and Jan Setnor, also an OR nurse, rented a U-Haul truck and they delivered the supplies to Debbie’s family of 29 who were staying in one house in Baton Rouge.

The Austin-Weston Center has “adopted” Debbie’s family and will continue to support them in the coming months.  “It’s just a big family here at The Austin-Weston Center and now we have added more family members,” Debbie said.

Please keep Debbie’s family in your thoughts as they and many others continue rebuilding their lives.

Caption:  Debbie Marinucci and Jan Setnor drove this truck of items donated by the Austin-Weston staff to help Hurricane Katrina victims.

As this year comes to an end, we would like to express our gratitude to our wonderful patients, whose support has made The Austin-Weston Center so successful.  Your continued support, friendship, enthusiasm, the many referrals and your belief in us have been invaluable.

It is always such a pleasure serving you.  We look forward to another amazing year together.  All of us at The Austin-Weston Center wish you and your family a beautiful holiday season!

The Austin-Weston Center’s second annual community blood drive on September 10 was a great success.  We achieved our goal of 60 appointments and donated 38 pints of blood to the Chesapeake Region American Red Cross.  Thank you to everyone who participated in this important life-saving event.  Our doctors and staff hope to make this an even bigger event next year.

As a reflection of our commitment to bring you the very best in professional skin care, we proudly introduce the Colorescience line of mineral makeup.  Recommended by plastic surgeons and dermatologists, the natural anti-microbial properties in this unique mineral makeup support the healing process and deter breakouts, allowing for usage immediately following cosmetic procedures and facial treatments.

The natural pigments in Colorescience Makeup reflect light so that the color seems to come from within, softening features while giving your skin a youthful glow.

·         Natural look and feel

·         Stays on all day

·         Formulated for all skin types, especially sensitive skin

·         Anti-inflammatory

·         Antiseptic, soothing and helps to keep the skin clean

·         No harmful ingredients to irritate the skin or clog the pores

·         Water resistant

What’s more -- Colorescience brand mineral makeup has a full spectrum sunscreen built into its formulation so it actively protects your skin, no matter what your lifestyle.

We have a complete array of foundations, eyeshadows, eyeliners, lipsticks and more.  Stop by our Aesthetique for a makeup application and instruction and take home Colorescience Mineral Makeup products today.

Caption:  This woman is shown after a laser treatment wearing camouflaging Colorescience Mineral Makeup.

You know that one of our areas of expertise at The Austin-Weston Center is facial rejuvenation.  Several articles have recently been published about our innovative techniques for rejuvenating the aging mouth.  We are very proud to be recognized and featured nationally on BeautyNova.com as well as in Cosmetic Surgery Times and Cosmetic Surgery News.

The story of our relief efforts with Hurricane Katrina was featured twice in the Reston Connection newspaper, as well as nationally in Same Day Surgery magazine.

Wendy Canzanese, our Medical Aesthetician, contributed to a feature article in the September issue of Dermascope, teaching other estheticians how to partner with a cosmetic surgeon.  She was also quoted in a November Dermascope article on providing exceptional customer service.

You can visit our website at www.austin-weston.com to read these articles and others that have been published about us.

Time was, only dentists spent their days looking down in the mouth.

But, even after a full face lift, many makeover patients are left with mouths that do not look happy or younger.  The reason: the marionette lines, those folds of skin that run down toward your chin from the corners of the mouth often aren’t taken out by a traditional facelift.  Moreover, the nasolabial folds, the lines running from the corner of the nose to the corner of the mouth, are sometimes left showing after a full facial surgical rejuvenation.

“As we get older, the corners of the mouth naturally turn down, making us look unhappy and not as young looking as we feel inside,” says George Weston, M.D., a co- founding plastic surgeon at the Austin-Weston Center for Cosmetic Surgery in Reston, Virginia, where, he says, the procedure was invented twenty years ago.

“Many patients report they are weary of people asking if something is wrong – due to the downturned mouth -- or if they are tired,” says Dr. Weston.

The mouth lift takes about half an hour and is usually done at the same time as a face lift,” says Dr. Weston.  “Scars are hidden in the red part of the lips and can not be seen from inches away.”

The actual surgical technique involves removing excess skin through the lip incision, making the area around the mouth smoother, tighter and less angry looking.

A mouth lift can also include plumping up the lips which the passing years may have thinned.  Fat injections usually work to plump the kissers up, along with laser or dermabrasion resurfacing.  About one-quarter of the fat injections last indefinitely while about 75 percent eventually shrink back.

“A corner mouth lift not only makes the face look five years younger, but the face has a more natural and less-operated on ‘tight’ look,” says Dr. Weston.

And all of that can make puckering up for a smooch from a special somebody way more appealing.

 

Caption:  This patient is 50 years old.  She had a lip lift, corner mouth lift, lower lip advancement, fat to lips and wrinkles and peri-oral dermabrasion.

 

Caption:  This patient is 53 years old.  She had a face/neck lift, corner mouth lift and direct excision marionette folds.

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