According to the Aesthetic Society, aesthetic procedures brought in $11.8 billion in revenue for the year 2022. A big number for an industry that has undoubtedly evolved from a hush-hush subject to a more talked about topic—thanks in part to social media. Even with a more “open-book” conversation, there’s likely still a whole lot of options you might not know plastic surgeons offer. Here, the experts share some of the lesser-known surgical solutions that they can safely and skillfully perform.
Endoscopic Browlift
New York plastic surgeon Elie Levine, MD estimates that about five times a week, patients come into his office asking to do their upper eyelids. “They mention that they may have seen other practitioners who recommended removing upper eyelid skin,” he shares, adding that, sometimes, that option is the correct procedure. “But often the issue is not upper eyelid skin, but the brow position and what they really would benefit from is an endoscopic browlift. However, not every practitioner is trained to perfume it, nor does everyone have the equipment to do it. It is a frequent procedure of mine that makes people look bright, happy, awake and youthful and is consistently under performed.”
Lateral Browlift
Noting that not all browlifts are the same, La Jolla, CA plastic surgeon Robert Singer, MD adds that a close cousin of this surgery is the lateral browlift, which is non-endoscopic with limited incisions. According to the Aesthetic Society, the lateral browlift uses a small portion of the ends of “the coronal technique incision to elevate the outside part of the eyebrows under direct vision without an endoscope.” While this technique hides the resulting scars in the temporal hairline, it does not address the center area of the brow, but it can reduce crow’s-feet.
Inverted Nipple Correction
As people become more comfortable with their bodies, Dr. Levine says he sees fashion that reveals or highlights the nipple as much more common. “If one has an inverted nipple or nipples, this can easily be corrected in a procedure under local,” he explains. “It takes a little over an hour and has virtually no downtime and recovery.”
“Beckham Pecs”
Last month, the New York Post reported on an off-the-radar aesthetic request: Men requesting nipple reductions to resemble David Beckham’s small, symmetrical, “almond-shaped” nipples. Dr. Levine performs the procedure and calls the soccer star–inspired surgery “a growing trend.”
Lip Lift
You may have heard of this term, but do you know what it can correct? “For people with a large space between their upper lip and their nose—either due to their genetic predisposition or aging—a lip lift that both narrows the space, as well as volumizes the lip, is an option,” Dr. Levine says. “This is one procedure that is becoming more and more popular,” adds Dr. Singer.
“Corner Lift”
At Encino, CA plastic surgeon George Sanders, MD’s, practice, patients will often request a lift to the corner of their mouth. “That can be done by means of a facial lift, as well as with the use of fillers in the cheek region, which will exert an upward lifting effect,” he explains. “Another procedure, which works quite well, is a direct excision of skin above the corner of the mouth, producing a very nice ‘corner lift.’ A small scar does result, but if the patient has natural skin creases in the area, as many do, it’s beautifully concealed. Plus, there’s a rapid recovery and a long-lasting result.”
Fold Excision
Another procedure that Dr. Sanders says not everyone knows about is an “alternative” solution that involves the nasolabial folds. “These are traditionally treated through facial lifting or with facial fillers,” he says. “Another alternative, however, is to excise the folds. The resultant scar is hidden in the crease, which in many patients is quite deep to start with. For men, this works particularly well and is a procedure that has a rapid recovery and an excellent result.”
Hair-Graft Scar Treatment
Dr. Sanders also pegs one post-surgery scar treatment as being lesser-known in his book. “This one involves concealing scars in the temple area that follow facial lifting. The scar from the incision along the hairline is usually well concealed by the hair. If not, however, it’s a simple matter to place hair grafts so as to hide the scar within the hair.”
Neck Contouring
Nashville plastic surgeon Daniel A. Hatef, MD says he thinks all the options that come with a necklift may not be totally transparent. “I think that deep neck contouring is something that not a lot of patients are familiar with. When I do a necklift, it’s not so much of a lift as a neck volume reduction. I remove subplatysmal fat, shave submandibular glands, tighten digastric muscles, and shape deep cervical fascia to elevate the hyoid bone. However, this is painstaking and adds to downtime, aka neck swelling.”
Cinderella Surgery
While not typically done by plastic surgeons, the term “Cinderella surgery” technically encompasses several different procedures—including the correction of hammertoes, bunions and long second toe. It can also be called “foot feminization surgery,” as the outcome leaves the foot slimmer and slightly smaller than before.
