Extracted from “StarFit4Life, Sunday 12 May 2013”
How do you spot someone has undergone some aesthetic procedure?
With over 14 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures performed in 2012, chances are that you may know someone (or know someone who knows someone) who has had Botox, a nose job or a breast augmentation.
Sure, it’s easy to spot bad plastic surgery – the “trout pouts” and the “puffy face” – but what about the subtle changes and minor tweaks?
Whether you’re wondering if your favourite celebrity had a breast enhancement or if your next door neighbour’s nose looks slightly different, there are telltale signs of plastic surgery.
“These days, it seems like everyone – and their mother – is getting a little “nip ‘n tuck”, says Dr Paul Carniol, a clinical professor at the New Jersey Medical School in the US. “With constant advances in the plastic surgery world, procedures are producing subtler and more natural results. So it can be harder to spot faces or other body parts that may have gone under the knife.”
Dr Carniol reveals top signs to look for if you suspect someone’s undergone plastic surgery.
Breast Augmentation
Position. Breasts that are too high up on the chest or too rounded have been augmented, as natural breasts start around the armpit height and have a more gradual slope. While a pushup bra can give the illusion of height, breasts that still remain under the chin once it’s been removed have likely had work done.
Spacing. Breasts that sit too far apart are likely a result of poor positioning during surgery.
Stretch marks. Stretch marks on the breasts can of course occur naturally due to weight loss, gain and breastfeeding, but drastic changes in the bust size due to surgery will also cause the skin to stretch.
Proportion. Consider the proportion of her breasts to the rest of her body. Large breasts on a very slim build may look disproportionate, and could be indicative of a little help.
Movement. Natural breasts move with the body, falling forward when a woman leans over and falling flat and to the side when she lies on her back. Breasts that have been augmented often lack this natural movement and remain pert at all times – a key indicator that surgery has been performed.
Facelift
Altered hairline. Frequently, when excess skin is repositioned too high, the hairline in the temple area will move up and back, giving the patient a receding hairline.
The same is true in a coronal browlift, where the incision in the scalp pulls the hairline back, resulting in too large forehead.
Both of these problems are easier to prevent than repair. All that needs to be done is that the incision for each procedure should be at the hairline so that no hair-bearing tissue is removed or repositioned.
Excessively high brows. Nothing scares patients more than the thought of looking surprised for the rest of their lives. Fortunately, excessive brow elevation is easily prevented. The most important thing is for the patient and the plastic surgeon to agree ahead of time what the goal of the procedure is.
Rotated or distorted ears. If too much tension is placed on the skin around the ears, two problems can develop.
One is that the ear will rotate so it will look more sideways than the normal near vertical. Even worse is when too much tension on the ear lobe causes stretching of the lobe and results in the “pixie-ear deformity”. Both of these problems can be prevented if the surgeon makes sure to anchor any tissue under tension to a deep structure such as muscle or bone. When this is done, the ears usually look normal after a facelift.
Occasionally, with the passage of time, ears that looked good immediately after surgery will elongate.
In men who have had a facelift it is possible for the beard-containing skin to move behind the ears.
Some people look artificially tight after facelift. With the passage of time, people lose facial volume as well as develop loose facial skin. If this volume loss is not addressed, people can look tight and “shrunken” rather than full and rejuvenated.
Liposuction
Loose skin. If too much fat is removed during a procedure or the patient isn’t blessed with elastic skin, it can result in sagging skin where the liposuction was performed. The person will have less fat but probably won’t like their new look.
The bulge. See if there are any unusual bulges on the person’s body. One unfortunate side effect of liposuction is little pockets of fat appearing irregularly – this can be corrected with additional surgery.
Lip injections
Look at the lips. If lip plumping is not performed artistically, the lips will have an unnatural contour and a “trout mouth” appearance. Most people have a fuller lower lip than upper lip, but often patients who’ve received filler have disproportionately full upper lips. This also may have give them a “trout mouth” appearance.
Consider the mobility of the person’s lips. Excessive lip plumping injections can make it harder to pursue the lips and make other finely tuned facial gestures. If the person can’t pucker up naturally, a lip procedure is probably the culprit.
See if there’s lots of swelling. Recent patients will have very full, swollen mouths.
Botox and other neuromodulators
In order to obtain a natural appearing result with Botox and other neuromodulators, it is important that the physician performing the treatments has a good understanding of the facial musculature.
Among the telltale signs of neuromodulators, including Botox, is overarching of the eyebrows, over-depression of the central portion of the eyebrows, unnatural loss of all forehead motion and excessive depression of the eyebrows.
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