CASE STUDY #2: Nasal Reshaping (rhinoplasty)     Susan Jones, 36, of Ft. Lauderdale, had been dreaming about having her nose reshaped since she was 15.     "I had a long European nose with a hump on top and a droop at the tip," she says. "As I got older, the droop became even more pronounced. Before seeing Dr. Levens, I had done alot of esearch, visited many plastic surgeons. What he recommended was exactly what I had in mind - make it shorter, remove the hump and droop but retain the overall character of my nose.     "He was hosting a seminar that week so I went and became even more impressed with the facilities, his credentials and his warm, honest manner. I ecided to have the surgery." The Procedure     Rhinoplasty is the 4th most popular cosmetic surgery in the U.S. The procedure Dr. Levens performed achieved each of Susan's goals.     "Rhinoplasty can dramatically change the overall appearance of the face by creating a better balance of facial features," Dr. Levens says. "It can correct results of aging such as a drooping nose tip, or deformities such as a large hump or bulbous tip. It can change the size of the nasal bridge, reduce nose size and width, change nostril shape or the angle between nose and upper lip, and reshape the tip.     "But it's critical to carefully plan and execute rhinoplasty to ensure that negatives are corrected while preserving the patient's individuality so the reshaped nose will blend aesthetically with the rest of the face and not appear overly corrected."     During Susan's procedure, Dr. Levens carefully reshaped the cartilage and bone which make up the nose's framework. In some cases, all sutures are internal. In this case, he made tiny external incisions between the nostrils to gain maximum control for sculpting the tip. The skin was then redraped and sutured. Tape and a nasal splint and packing were then applied to secure and cushion the framework changes. The Results     "Ten days after my facelift, I went to the beauty shop and the pedicurist took one look at me and said, 'Okay, what did you have done?' Even though I wasn't fully recovered, the improvement was obvious. Others in the shop that day also came over and remarked how great my face looked.     "I've had nothing but positive comments — and people no longer tell me I look tired. I'm very happy with the results and glad I finally decided to have the procedures."

    This procedure, popular with both men and women, uses small tubes (cannulas) inserted through tiny incisions, to remove excess fat deposits from specific locations--neck, upper arms, upper or lower abdomen, flank areas (love handles), back, inner or outer thighs, hips (saddlebags), buttocks, knees, calves, and ankles. Small suction tubes are inserted and passed back and forth until an appropriate amount of fat has been removed. The cannula is then moved a small distance, and the process is repeated. The entire bulging area is treated, carefully removing small amounts of fat at a time, and constantly checking fat thickness and contour as suctioning proceeds. A thin layer of normal fat is left beneath the skin to prevent rippling or dimpling of the skin surface. Incisions are carefully closed with stitches leaving small scars in concealed areas when possible.

This patient had torso-slimming lipoplasty
on her abdomen.