Dr. Christie Hamilton (left) injected a filler into Karen De Amat’s jaw, while registered nurse Erin Richardson helped at Westlake Dermatology.
On Tuesday, July 27, 2021, at the Westlake Dermatology Department in Houston, patient Karen De Amat (right) looks at the mark drawn by Dr. Kristy L. Hamilton (middle) before the injection. The photo of Erin Richardson RN is on the left.
Dr. Kristy L. Hamilton injected a filler into the face of patient Karen De Amat at Westlake Dermatology in Houston on Tuesday, July 27, 2021.
On Tuesday, July 27, 2021, at the Westlake Dermatology Department in Houston, patient Karen De Amat is looking at her mobile phone, while Dr. Kristy L. Hamilton is injecting fillers and botulinum to her face.
A few months after the pandemic, the 38-year-old entrepreneur found herself focusing on what she called vertical wrinkles and fine lines on her forehead.
“During the Zoom call, I noticed the reaction on my face when I smiled or frowned,” De Amat said during a recent cosmetic surgery at the Westlake Dermatology Department in Houston. “I’m a novice-I just started doing this during the pandemic.”
Since the initial COVID protection measures were cancelled, the demand for cosmetic surgery by plastic surgeons across the country has skyrocketed. But according to Dr. Kristy Hamilton, plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Westlake Dermatology, breast augmentation was not the most popular surgery for the first time.
“This year, we have seen more eye lifts, rhinoplasty and facelifts,” Hamilton said. “Surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures have exploded.”
The American Academy of Plastic Surgery has confirmed that liposuction, rhinoplasty, double eyelid surgery and facial lift are the five most popular cosmetic procedures this year. Across the country, patients have begun to demand “everything from liposuction chin to facial lift, more frequently than ever.”
According to the association, patients want more non-surgical or “medical spa” procedures, such as botulinum and fillers.
Hamilton attributes the prosperity to two things: frequent virtual meetings and people’s freedom to recover under masks. She said that for those who want to improve their self-image but are insecure about “getting the job done”, the choices have changed.
The trend of non-surgical cosmetic surgery is getting younger and younger. People in their 20s and 30s are seeking lip augmentation with fillers and botulinum to grow crow’s feet around the eyes or to outline the chin or “jaw” area.
Hamilton said that the dermatology clinic in the Museum District has gained an important business position and therefore did not close during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. She said that 2020 and 2021 will be an interesting year for plastic surgeons.
Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok facial filters have created a new way of facial recognition for people. Hamilton said that before the pandemic, people brought their filtered photos and asked to look like they saw them on social media.
She said that this is a trend that will not disappear. However, some people want an optimized version of their face without worrying about whether this is an unrealistic change.
“Before, people would bring a photo of a celebrity’s face and ask for adjustments to make it look more like that person,” she said. “But the slightly edited picture gave me an idea of the visual effect the client wanted. It’s still just your face.”
Although new to this exercise, when Hamilton and her assistants arranged a few needles for multiple facial injections, De Amat sat there like a professional.
In July, De Amat asked for forehead Botox injections, cheekbones protruding and “Nefertiti lift”, a procedure that injects fillers along the jaw line and neck to produce a “micro lift” rather than a complete facelift .
Hamilton also used hyaluronic acid fillers to soften De Amat’s nasolabial folds and marionette lines-often referred to as the “smile line.”
De Amat’s lips are “flipped” by fillers to create a bigger pout, while Hamilton injected Botox into her angle of mandibular muscle (a muscle that pulls down the corners of the mouth) for a “happier” rest Face.
Finally, De Amat received mytoxin at the bottom of her face to help reduce teeth grinding while creating a smoother V shape on the chin.
Hamilton said that each is considered minimally invasive, and the patient’s face will be numb before the start.
The filling is composed of hyaluronic acid, which Hamilton says is a kind of “volume” that can retain moisture in the skin to produce a volumizing effect. In the plastic surgery world, it is called liquid face lift, which requires almost no recovery time and is “almost painless.”
When the surgeon started to inject along her cheekbones, the expression on De Amat’s face told a different story. This is a short mistake in her determination to achieve perfection in the virtual meeting selfie.
The pandemic is not over yet, but surgeons want to know whether facial surgery will still be the most popular. Dr. Lee Daniel, a plastic surgeon in Oregon, believes that even if office employees return to the shared workspace, virtual meetings will not take place anywhere.
“Due to the rise of platforms such as Gen Z and TikTok, (millennials) are also keenly aware that they are no longer kids in the neighborhood,” Daniel wrote. “Unlike previous generations, they face 40 years old when living in the online world. Even if the new normal disappears completely, social media will not.”
Julie Garcia is a special correspondent for the Houston Chronicle, focusing on health, fitness and outdoor activities.
Julie is originally from Port Neches, Texas, and has been working as a community reporter in the southern Texas city since 2010. In Beaumont and Port Arthur, she wrote feature reports and breaking news, and then turned to Victorian advocate as an assistant sports editor, writing articles about high school sports and outdoor. Recently, she worked at Corpus Christi Caller-Times, covering areas including city and county government, new business, affordable housing, breaking news, and healthcare. In 2015, she reported on the Memorial Day floods in Wembley, Texas, and in 2017, she was the chief reporter covering the coastal bends affected by Hurricane Harvey. These experiences prompted her to explore environmental news and climate change.
As a textbook-like water sign, Julie advocates people to feel their own feelings and hopes to help people tell their own stories. When not working, she might drive a jeep to look around all the tall buildings.
Do you have a story to tell? Email her Julie.Garcia@chron.com. For everything else, check her on Twitter @reporterjulie.
Post time: Oct-06-2021