Beat the "Zoom gloom" and touch up your appearance for the holidays

The holidays are coming! After months of hiding under a mask, wearing athleisure clothing and maintaining a relatively isolated existence, here is hoping that the holiday time will provide a reason to put on your best face and finally pull some nicer clothing out of the closet!

Maybe after all those Zoom calls, you are feeling you need a pick-me-up since that "Touch Up Appearance" button does not exist in your day to day life. Now is the time to start planning, and while you plan on your gift-giving, do not forget yourself!

Treatments like Botox and dermal fillers provide impactful facial refreshing without any telltale scars and little downtime.

Smoothing lines

Botox helps relax lines in the upper face, including the area between the brows, the forehead and the smile lines on the side of the eyes. New applications that have been performed safely include softening the lip area, allowing for fuller lip appearance by relaxing the muscle around the mouth, as well as improving banding in the neck and minimizing facial pores.

These injections provide great impact for low cost, running less than $1,000 for a complete treatment around the eyes.

Restoring fullness

Fillers help replenish deflated areas in the face including the cheeks, lips and areas around the mouth. Aging universally reduces cheek fullness and lip softness which can be replenished by filler treatments tailored to the region of the face undergoing treatment.

Popular fill locations include the cheeks, lines from the nose to lip ("nasolabial lines" or "marionette lines"), lips and chin region. New applications include filler to the jaw angle to create a more sculpted look along the jawline and filler to the nose to improve contours. Newer fillers have better longevity, with lip filler lasting over one year and cheek filler lasting over two years.

Fillers are also created to provide more soft infiltration of the tissues, feeling less lumpy or ropey, particularly around the mouth. The price point is also not super high, with one syringe of filler running somewhere between $500 and $900, depending on the filler and the region of the country.

All of these treatments may be accomplished in an office visit. Within 45 minutes you will be done. Fillers look good right away and often modulate within the face to look even better over the ensuing six weeks. Botox takes about two weeks to kick in. Secondary treatment to maintain results varies. Injectables may require 4-6 months, and many fillers last over a year.

Choosing a plastic surgeon for your injectables

Warning: Injectables are a gateway "drug." If you try one you will likely be back for more! So celebrate yourself before you celebrate your family and friends this coming holiday. Be sure to find a board-certified plastic surgeon near you who will provide you the best advice.