Hand Rejuvenation

By now you’re probably quite aware of many of the different cosmetic procedures available to help you restore a more youthful appearance to your face and body, but have you heard of hand rejuvenation? That’s right; you can even restore the fountain of youth to your hands. Dr. Arslanian is the top plastic surgeon in Atlanta and an expert in the hand rejuvenation procedure.

Here, he and his team at Arslanian Plastic Surgery break down the procedure to give you a better idea of what you can expect. We often spend so much time, energy, and money to keep our faces looking as young and beautiful as possible. As plastic surgeons, we can help make you look years younger, but often your hands can be the tell-tale sign of your real age.

That is because our hand’s age just like our face does. They lose fat and volume over time, and our skin becomes thinner and less elastic. This leads to thin, bony hands with exposed knuckles and veins which give a perception of fragility.

About Hand Rejuvenation

You might have noticed that our hands tend to show our age sooner than the other parts of our body, but have you considered why that is? It’s because the skin and collagen in our hands are very thin, to begin with. As we age, this thin layer reduces, exposing veins, tendons, and bones more prominently. Beyond having the thin layer of skin and fat protecting them, our hands are also almost always exposed to sunlight and the elements. This means dark spots, wrinkles, lines, and precancerous growths will also show up earlier on the hands than elsewhere in the body.

In fact, the best way to make a good estimate of a person’s age is actually to look at their hands, not their face. Although facial cosmetic procedures can help a person look much younger, their hands may reveal the truth, that is, unless they’ve had hand rejuvenation as well.

Hand rejuvenation is a procedure in which youth can be injected (sometimes literally) back into your hands. The procedure is gaining popularity as more and more people want to correct the tell-tale signs of aging that lead them to not even wanting to look down at their own hands. Hand rejuvenation helps to restore your hands to their former glory by bringing back the volume underneath the skin, as well as correcting unsightly age or sun spots and other blemishes.

Hand Rejuvenation Treatments

Arslanian Plastic Surgery offers two different hand rejuvenation procedures: Dermal Fillers and Fat Transfer.

Dermal Fillers

Dermal fillers can restore your hands to their former, more natural and youthful volume. These fillers are injected right under the skin into the collagen layer in your hands which will enhance the natural collagen that remains. The process will help your hands look smooth and natural, but is not a permanent procedure. While the effects are instant, Dermal fillers typically only last for a year at most, so you will need to repeat the process to maintain the look of your more youthful hands.

Fat Transfer

Fat transfer, also known as soft tissue augmentation, is a process in which fat cells are taken from other parts of your body and transplanted into your hands to give them a fuller look. While dermal fillers are synthetic, fat transfer uses natural soft tissue from your own body. This helps to plump the tissues in your hands and give them a more youthful appearance. Just like with dermal fillers, the results of a fat transfer will be immediate, but will also require routine maintenance.

Benefits

We spend so much time trying to make our faces look younger that we often forget about our hands, but our hand’s age just like our faces do. In fact, our hands will start to show wear and tear earlier than our faces. The hands will lose their fat and volume and become less elastic, leading to thin, bony hands with exposes veins, knuckles, tendons, and an overall older appearance. Not to mention what a lifetime of exposure to the sun and elements can do to your skin.

Hand rejuvenation can reverse these effects of aging and give you fuller, more youthful looking hands again. The process will make you happy with how your hands look, and you will no longer be distracted or embarrassed by their appearance.

Good Candidates

Anyone who is unhappy with the appearance of their hands will make a good candidate for a hand rejuvenation procedure. The surgery is not overly invasive, and thus there aren’t many requirements for who can have a procedure done. Typically, local anesthesia will be all that’s required for hand rejuvenation. In short, anyone who wants their hands to look younger makes a good candidate for the procedure.

Candidates should be aware that the procedure is not a permanent solution, and is designed for improvement, not perfection. Therefore patients need to have realistic goals going into their hand rejuvenation procedure.

In particular, those who wish to restore lost volume to their hands, improve discoloration that has occurred due to sun and age spots, or wants to decrease the wrinkles in their hands and improve the firmness of the skin will make good candidates. There may be other reasons someone may wish to have hand rejuvenation, such as boosting their self-confidence and becoming less self-conscious about the appearance of their hands. Overall, candidates are seeking to achieve smoothing, more full-looking hands to regain a more youthful look.

Consultation

Since all hands, situations, and circumstances are unique to each individual, Dr. Arslanian will meet with you to learn your goals, take a look at your hands, and give you a personal recommendation during your consultation that will fit your specific needs. He will choose the procedure that best matches your desires and physical make-up. Sometimes, it may even be a combination of the two procedures. No matter which is chosen, Dr. Arslanian will give you a detailed explanation of what you can expect during and after the procedure so there will be no surprises at any point.

This will give you a realistic expectation for your results, and give you a plan moving forward. For years, surgeons have tried injecting fat into the hands which is a viable solution. The problem can be a longer recovery, persistent swelling and bruising, and cost. Now we have some better alternatives. Dermal Fillers have been used for years to restore volume in the face, and they can also be used to restore a youthful look to the hands.

After a consultation with Dr. Arslanian, a quick and nearly painless procedure can be done in the office that will leave your hands looking youthful and plump before you walk out the door with minimal recovery and results lasting 6-12 months.

The Treatment Process

As we mentioned above, there are two options for hand rejuvenation: Dermal Fillers and Fat Transfer.

Dermal Fillers

For a long time, the fat transfer has been the only option for hand rejuvenation. The problem is, it is very expensive, can cause persistent swelling and bruising, has a longer recovery period, and even costs more. Enter Dermal Fillers to provide a better option.

Long used to restore volume in the face, Dermal Fillers have now also become a viable option to restore a youthful look to your hands. The dermal filler material is a synthetic gel that mimics the natural collagen in your hands. You will first have a consultation with Dr. Arslanian, after which you will undergo a quick and nearly painless procedure. The effects of a dermal filler are instant and will typically last six to 12 months. You will walk out the door with a minimal recovery period and immediate results.

Currently, the only dermal filler approved by the FDA to be used on the hands is Radiesses, which is made up of calcium hydroxylapatite (CaHA) microspheres that are suspended in an aqueous gel carrier. This filler is broken down and absorbed by your body over time. As an added benefit, the procedure can help promote the natural production of collagen, which means you may need less filler for subsequent treatments. In addition, other fillers such as Juvederm can also be used, although they are listed as off-label. Dr. Arslanian has experience with Juvderm and prefers this filler over others for the reason that it is extremely safe and reversible. Dr. Arslanian can help you decide what filler is best for you.

The filler is injected directly underneath the skin into the dermis to help boost the volume in your hands and bring back some plumpness. When the skin is raised, tendons, joints, and veins become less prominent; It also takes away lines and wrinkles.

Fat Transfer

Although Dermal Fillers are becoming a more popular option, the fat transfer procedure is still available. In this procedure, Dr. Arslanian will graft your own naturally occurring fatty tissue from an area of your body that has some to spare, and inject it into the back of your hands. This will have the same results as a dermal filler — increased plumpness, reduced prominence of blood vessels, bones and tendons, and removal of lines and wrinkles — but does come at a higher price with increased recovery time. In this procedure, a tiny incision is made to the area the doctor will take the fat from, and then draw out a few vials.

This harvested fat will then be processed and purified on site before it is injected back into your hands in strategic locations. The procedure will restore the volume underneath the skin and produce the results listed above. A fat transfer may have a longer recovery period but also can last longer than a dermal filler.

Results

The results of a hand rejuvenation procedure will be immediate and typically last up to a year. Your hands will appear fuller, wrinkles and lines will be gone, your bones, tendons, and veins will be less prominent, and you can be proud of the appearance of your hands once again. The process quite literally injects youth back into your hands.

There will be a short recovery period involved in the procedure, and the possibility for some minor swelling, but overall, it is a very low-risk, high-reward process.

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