Beautiful Journeys
Med Spa Portrait No. 1 – Reunion Swagger
by Catherine Durboraw, M.D.
In Monaco this year, surrounded by so much beauty and inspiration, with a little time away to contemplate, I returned to a particular passion: what it really means to enhance the beauty that exists in each one of us.
Since last fall, I’ve been working with a patient who, at 51, was starting to worry about more dramatic changes despite looking good for her age. She shared her concerns about sagging jowls, increasing skin laxity, loss of facial contour and definition, and a stubborn pocket of fat under her chin that had her hating her profile.
When we first met, I began by reminding her she’s already beautiful, and while no longer could she rely on her 25, or even 35-year-old expectations, she still radiates a lovely confidence. I had a sense that’s what she needed to hear, and moreover, it was true. She also shared that she had a 30th college reunion coming up with about six months to prepare; for her, it was important to return with that ‘walk a little taller swagger’ she’d had so much of in school, that only comes when you’re feeling great inside and out.
We embarked on a six-month-long aesthetic care journey, where we helped her with a combination of treatments. To address skin laxity concerns, we did two rounds of Ultherapy – which uses ultrasound waves to achieve non-surgical lifting and tightening by revving up the dormant collagen in the deep tissue plane. We boosted these with PRP – which takes the rejuvenating power of your body’s own platelet-rich plasma and uses it to supercharge Ultherapy results and natural collagen production. I call both of these treatments ‘golden wait-awhiles’ because amazingly, they start slow and build to a full result over 4 – 6 months, while you look better and better and younger and younger. Your friends will be asking what’s your Benjamin Button-like secret to reverse aging!
We also did three rounds of CoolSculpting in the submental area, to help permanently melt away her stubborn fat and say goodbye to that extra chin. And we did very light Dysport and dermal fillers to help maintain facial contours, help erase frown lines, soften nasolabial folds (she laughs a lot!), and lift the brow line to open up her huge blue eyes.
Of course, the in-office consultation was so important because we built her treatment plan together, and I could help her feel comfortable and confident with the custom approach we chose. For me, it’s always so gratifying to get to know a person’s story, their hopes and dreams, what their own personal sense of beauty means to them – and how they want to express it as they age and continue to grow. But best of all is seeing the results, together! Of course, we love the enhanced physical qualities, but even more so, the thrill people feel when they see subtle changes that make such a difference.
Operation Reunion Was a Success
Here she is rocking Duke Blue … as she commandeered the photo booth for her own glamour shots, you can tell she’s not feeling very confident (ha!).
I asked her to share some thoughts on her journey and how she feels today. She explained:
“I’d heard middle-aged women talk about how they went from being appreciated for their beauty to feeling invisible. For the first time, I felt like that was happening to me. There’s such a connection between how you feel about yourself and your appearance and how people respond to you – I love how the Amy Schumer movie ‘I Feel Pretty’ captures that truth to hilarious effect.
When I met Catherine, she saw me the way I (used to) see myself – and helped me find a natural and non-invasive way to lift some of that lax and bring back a much more youthful facial contour. I can’t believe how awesome the ‘golden wait-awhiles’ are – I could see immediate improvement, and it just kept getting better and better. I’ve been saying it’s an aging vain girl’s wildest dream!
I went from almost dreading the reunion (which was so unlike me) to loving every minute, as the photo evidence shows! Catherine is an amazing doctor – she listens, she sees what’s possible and makes you feel great all along the journey. I’m her patient for life.”
I just love how great this patient is feeling again about her refreshed appearance and her sense of possibility at age 51 (which, by the way, is practically a baby these days!) I’m looking forward to building a long term, trusted partnership with her ‘to get through this thing called life’ (with credit to Prince, ‘at least you got friends!’). After all, we’re in this together – we all want to age gracefully on our own terms, being happy and feeling confident along the way. It’s just more fun when we can help each other shine!
Come on in to talk about YOUR beauty hopes and dreams, and together we can create a plan. I look forward to seeing you.
The post A Patient’s Beautiful Journey at CFA Beauty Medical Spa Idaho Falls appeared first on The Center for Aesthetics Blepharoplasty & Medical Aesthetics.
