Neck and jowl treatments from Riverbanks Clinic

There are a lot of people out there suffering from neck and jowl issues, who spend a lot of money on face creams but ignore this vital part of the body. Nothing says 'aging' like saggy jowls or a wrinkly neck!

Thanks to recent technological advances, here at Riverbanks, Dr Ravi Jain is now happy to offer you non-surgical treatment options which can help improve the appearance of necks and jowls.

For sagging jowls, take a look at:

• Dermal fillers


• Sculptra - collagen stimulator


• Accent Radio Frequency Skin Tightening


• VASER Liposelection

All of these can help tighten and firm up the skin, improve jaw smoothness and reduce saginess of jowls.

For neck bands and wrinkles, consider:

• A treatment of botox


• SmartXide DOT therapy (laser re-surfacing)

Both will help with neck bands and wrinkles and leave you with younger looking, rejuvenated skin.

Fed up of lipstick bleed?

There's nothing worse. You've got the outift, the hair looks great, and you've spent nearly an hour putting on your make-up. You look PERFECT.

Reaching the party you grab a glass of champagne, smile, laugh and chat your way around the room, confident in the fact that you'relooking great.

And then you find a mirror. And stop. And stare at the lipstick filtering from the edge of your lips, no longer matt perfect, but spidering out and filling the 'barely there to the naked eye' wrinkles around your mouth.

It's enough to ruin an evening, isn't it?

The problem is that fine lines and wrinkles are pretty much a fact of life as we get older - and the ones around the mouth are hard to disguise as make-up just 'sinks in' to them and draws more attention!

Thankfully, there are ways to deal with them.

At Riverbanks Clinic we offer a range of treatments to help smooth out lip creases, and improve the outline, shape and size of your lips.

Lip and mouth lines can be treated with dermal fillers for an instantly revitalised look, although muscle-relaxing treatments such as botox are particularly effective ways of correcting downward-pointing mouth corners and reducing creases in the longer term.

Results can last between 6-9 months with fillers such as Restylane and Juvéderm^® Ultra, and 3 – 4 months with botox.

So if you'd like to spend an evening without hovering near a mirror, why not get in touch with us now?

Does Botox give you 'Bunny lines'?

There's been some reports in the tabloids recently about the advent of 'bunny lines' in people who've had Botox.


Ruby Room tells us:

Bunny lines are horizontal wrinkles that form across the ridge of the nose - they become more apparent when people smile. As we age, bunny lines will form naturally from years of making facial expressions.

However, when the rest of the face is Botoxed, bunny lines are often the only place the face can move freely, and as a result they become deeper.

But worry not! If you're visiting a qualified professional and not overdoing the Botox or Azzalure, then you won't end up looking like Thumper!

If this, or any other press story about Botox / Azzalure has you worried, have a chat with one of our team at Riverbanks Clinic and we'll put your mind at rest!

Are you hampering Anti Ageing Treatments with a bad skincare routine?

Women opting for anti-ageing surgery but want to keep that all important 'natural' look are preferring less invasive treatments but could be making the job harder by not looking after their skin properly, a leading cosmetic expert reveals.

Dr Ravi Jain, Medical Director of Riverbanks Clinic has voiced concerns that whilst managing the rising demand for natural looking non-invasive skin treatments is now a top priority for many salons, basic skincare and skin health is often overlooked and this is having a profound effect on how successful the treatments are for patients with damaged skin.

"Natural beauty is not just about adding some volume to the skin here or injecting some Botox there, it is also about assessing the general health of the skin itself and taking necessary steps to restore and rejuvenate the skin prior to any treatment. Damage caused to the skin by overexposure to the sun can contribute massively to how a treatment not only reacts with the skin but the long term results and so before any you do anything, you need to get your skin healthy," says Dr Jain.

If you suffer from sun damaged-skin and are noticing fine lines and wrinkles appearing, sun spots emerging or a general tightening and sagging of the skin, Dr Jain recommends taking the following steps to rejunvenate tired skin.

1. Maximise skin health by effective exfoliation and hydration therapies such as alpha-hydroxy acid skin care programmes and peels. Ensure you use an antioxidant SPF 30 in the summer and 15 in the winter, every single day. (try Priori AHA or Idenbenone)

2. To correct pigmentation and broken veins consider a course of IPL/laser during the winter months.

3. Consider botulinum toxin or dermal filler injections for fine lines and wrinkles, caused by sun damage.

"Prevention is always the key to maintaining natural, healthy looking skin and many people simply don't realise the damage they've already caused to their skin, even if it looks ok on the surface. I'd recommend anyone who has over exposed their skin in the past to go and have their skin analysed under a facial scanner. That way, they'll see exactly what state their skin is in now and can then take the best steps to improve their skincare routine and slow down the ageing process as they get older," says Dr Jain.

Special Offer: Visit Riverbanks Clinic and have a skin analysis consultation including facial scanner analysis for just £25 if you quote ref: SUNBLOG1 when making your booking. Call 01582 762877 for more details. Offer valid until Feb 1 2010.

Getting rid of acne with Botox

More Botox news - the famous anti-wrinkle treatment is also being hailed as a miracle cure for acne on The Plastic Surgery Channel this week (video below).

"Shah has used Botox to treat acne in 100 patients. He has found that injecting Botox into the skin can essentially “freeze” the pores into place. This quickly prevents them from producing excess oil, and as a result, patients no longer experience the greasy clogging in their pores that leads to acne."

The segment ends with a warning that care must be taken, and we reiterate that - always see a qualified reputable practitioner when considering Botox - remember, Dr Ravi Jain of Riverbanks Clinic is a qualified, reputable and experienced practitioner, with plenty of testimonials from happy and satisfied patients.

Curing depression with Botox ?

We've spoken at length in the past about the many uses for Botox - it's not all wrinkles and crow's feet, as we keep telling you!

You may have read in The Times over the weekend that Botox is now being tested as a cure for depression.

“The basic principle is that there is feedback from the body to the brain so the brain always knows what the body is doing,” said Marc Axel Wollmer, the psychiatrist in charge of the trials being held jointly at Basle University, Switzerland, and Hanover University, Germany.

“If we have an emotion like joy or grief we also have a facial expression that corresponds,” he said. “Studies indicate that if we deliberately produce a facial expression, there is a change in feeling.”

The article goes on to relate this to the age old advice that if you're nervous at a party, smiling will help you to enjoy it more, as the body takes its cue from the facial expression.

An initial test of using Botox for depression on 10 people showed that of the 10, 9 are no longer depressed and the 10th has reported that he/she feels better.

It's early days, but we'll keep you posted, both here and at our Riverbanks Clinic website!

Gordon Ramsay admits Botox on chin - was it worth it?

The Daily Mail asked a few weeks ago whether Gordon Ramsay had resorted to Botox on that famous craggy, lined face of his, using the following pictures as 'proof' that he had a less lined forehead:

He joked about it then, but reports over the weekend state that he has indeed undertaken Botox - on his chin!

You would imagine that Gordon more than most would realise that his famously lined face is part of his appeal (or so my female friends tell me!), but the famously Botoxed Simon Cowell is alleged to have talked him into it.

Gordon is quoted as saying "“Anyway, I was getting a complex for the first time in my life, so I did it. Botox. A jab here and one here. And no one has f****** noticed."

What do you think? Tell us in the comments below whether you think he looks better, worse, or no different.

Of course, this 'story' proves that it's not only women who decide that Botox will make them look and feel better - at Riverbanks we regularly treat men as well as women. So, if you're a man, looking in the mirror and not liking the wrinkles you see, why not contact us and see what we can do?

Sweatox - it's Botox for the underarms!

When you hear the word 'Botox', it's all too easy to think of middle aged women getting rid of their wrinkles, but (as we've spoken about before) Botox has all sorts of uses, not just keeping the aging process at bay.

It's the time of year that embarrassing sweat patches can ruin a great day out, but Botox can help by freezing the nerves that are attached to sweat glands, thus eliminating the humiliation of 'great outfit, shame about the sweat stains'.

Whether you're plagued by hyperhydrosis, or simply get sweaty when hot, or nervous, then Botox could very wel be the answer for you.

It's a quick and easy process, effective and long lasting, and one that more and more people are turning to in the UK, where it's been dubbed 'Sweatox' by the press.

If you have problems with overactive sweat glands, and want to stay dry and fresh this summer, why not give it a go? Contact us to find out more.

Botox isn't just Amanda Holden!

It always surprises people when I tell them that Botox isn't just a great anti wrinkle treatment, it's also used in the medical profession at times.

So it's nice to see this piece in the Times about Australian stroke victim Russell McPhee, who is walking again for the first time in 20 years, thanks to the aid of Botox.

Mr McPhee, now 49, had a stroke at the age of 26 and was left in a wheelchair and unable to walk.

It's still early days, but he can now walk the length of a room with help, and 100 metres with a walking frame, which is fantastic news.

It's nice to see a good story in the press - Botox isn't just Amanda Holden!

Botox - not just for foreheads

It's interesting to see people's reactions to the word 'Botox'. It's usually instantly thought of as something celebs use to get rid of their frown lines, but there's so much more that it can be used for (an article on this is in the pipeline).

Which is why it was nice to read this piece today about little Romy Raye. Romy was born prematurely weighing just 1pound 3 ounces, and has Cerebral Palsy. The form of CP that she has means that her leg muscles contract, and the Botox helps to stop that becoming permanent. The results last around 3 months, and little Romy seems to be doing well, if the gorgeous pictures are anything to go by!

An inspirational blog - if you have some time I highly recommend it.

Does cosmetic surgery have to mean going under the knife?

At the age of 50, Janet Cunliffe decided that she wanted to do something about her appearance. 

Her long term relationship had ended, she had moved in with her 22 year old daughter, and was desperately in need of something to cheer her up.

While many women would have settled for a new haircut or a fling with a toyboy, Ms Cunliffe decided to travel to Croatia and have cosmetic surgery on her lips, breasts, eyes and nose, to the tune of £10,000. 

Money well spent? Well the papers are raving about how she looks just like her daughter, and you can see the results for yourself above.

I just can't help thinking that the operations and 'going under the knife' were unnecessary, and travelling to a foreign country to have these procedures is fraught with unknown dangers.

Maybe Ms Cunliffe didn't know that there is a much easier and safer way?

For example:

• Macrolane breast enhancement could have given her the boob job of her dreams
  
• Vaser lipo-selection and Smart Lipo could have contoured her body and got rid of her cellulite
• Botox anti-wrinkle treatment could have smoothed out any wrinkles and crow's feet around the eyes
• Nose mouth and chin treatments don't have to be invasive
• And we could have offered her teeth whitening too!

It's great that she has a new lease of life, and I wish her all the best, but whenever I hear of a woman putting herself through cosmetic surgery and the resultant recovery period, I wish someone had told her about Riverbanks Clinic.

DIY fake Botox kits for sale on Ebay

The Metro alerts its readers today to the fact that DIY fake Botox kits were being sold on auction site eBay before being removed after complaints.

For just £62, eBay users could buy a kit containing powder, needles and a face map.

The kits were available from the US and the original report was filed by Which? editor Sarah Kidner, who says "We were appalled we were able to buy a DIY kit so easily, and we are concerned the internet is becoming a marketplace for cut price cosmetic treatments.

I have to say I'm shocked that these kits were allowed on eBay in the first place. Botox, while perfectly safe in a qualified and professional environment, really shouldn't be attempted by amateurs.

If you're tempted to buy a cut price Botox kit from anywhere, please think twice - the results may not be the results you were looking for, and it could cost a lot more to fix, if it can be treated at all.

Always use a qualified medical professional for any Botox treatment. 

Anna's reaction to Smartlipo is rare

For any of you who saw Anna Richardson on Supersize vs. Superskinny on Ch4 last night, you may have heard her comments regarding her painful experience with Smartlipo.

Anna was not treated at my clinic but as an experienced practitioner in Smartlipo, it sounds to me like Anna had a complication during the procedure which is rare and unusual and must not be regarded as normal. Any surgical and minor surgical procedure does carry some risks which she should have been advised upon, and despite these risks being small, they can still happen as in her case. A repeat procedure at a later date would correct the unevenness.

However, I suppose it does show that the procedure does work as the other arm is noticeably skinnier!

Smartlipo and Vaserlipo are generally much safer procedures than traditional liposuction aslong as they are performed by suitably trained and experienced doctors, so always make sure you choose a practitioner who is skilled and experienced in the specific procedure you are interested in and performs the procedure regularly.