Thomas Kelly
1 October 2020
There’s more than one way to achieve smooth skin and a taut body – and people will always disagree over which is best.
But whether you prefer the rigours of a monthly gym membership, or a one-off visit to your local Cosmetic Surgery Clinic, here are the processes and procedures that can help you to tackle six main causes of complaints among those with body image concerns.
Eye Bags and Face Wrinkles
Your face is the part of you that most people probably look at on a daily basis, so it makes sense that you should be self-aware.
Non-surgical methods of tackling eye bags and wrinkles range from getting enough sleep to cucumber slices or tea bags on the eyes, and a general commitment to moisturising to stay looking healthy and youthful.
Just remember that many cosmetics companies now advise you to use a separate moisturiser for your eyes than for the rest of your face – and as the skin around your eyes will draw moisture inwards, you don’t need to go too close to your eyeball when applying creams.
Surgical alternatives include facelifts, and intensive pulsed light therapies that can tackle wrinkles by targeting the collagen within the skin itself.
These procedures are well established within cosmetic medicine, so should usually be able to be carried out at your convenience, and often with minimal healing time required afterwards.
General Skin Wrinkling
For all-over wrinkling, your options are more limited, however again hydration is the non-surgical approach.
Swimming regularly can help to get moisture into your body, which you can then trap in place by applying cream or oil as soon as you get to the changing room.
Surgical alternatives can include targeted operations to remove any excess skin – for example, if you have lost a large amount of weight – collagen injections and pulsed light treatments to reinvigorate the skin’s own natural collagen.
Excess Stomach Fat
Stomach fat is probably the main reason why many people join a gym, and working out on a cross-trainer or treadmill can help to build your core muscle strength and give you an all-over cardiovascular workout.
Eating healthily can complement this, with fresh fruits and vegetables, along with a reduction in fatty dairy products and fried foods, one way to cut the calories.
However, if you’re already overweight, you may find it difficult to shift some of the fat – and surgical options like liposuction or a gastric band are a good way to give your willpower a much-needed boost.
Acne and Skin Blemishes
Minimising acne and skin blemishes through healthy eating and clean living is a realistic option in some, however not all cases.
Exfoliating is fashionable, however abrasive skin cleansers can actually cause more problems by over-stimulating your skin’s production of its own natural oils.
Acne treatments can be non-surgical, and may involve pulsed light to rejuvenate the skin cells in smaller scars, or dermal fillers to literally reconstruct deeper or larger scars.
Nose Shape
If you dislike your nose, there are certain things you can try – and some of them are enough to overcome only a slightly misshapen nose without requiring surgery.
Your choice of glasses, if you wear them, is one way to balance a larger nose by enhancing the appearance of your eyes, while a well-sculpted hairstyle can frame your face well whatever you look like.
Rhinoplasty is of course the surgical alternative – one of the longest-used procedures in existence, it has become a commonplace practice in all good cosmetic surgery clinics, and is both safe and effective.
Breast Size, Shape and Position
Among women, breast size, shape and position are all major issues where self-image is concerned.
Exercise can do a lot to help here, by ensuring the muscles in the chest are well developed – both to keep the breasts at a pleasing size and shape, and to help them to remain in the right position into later life.
Again, though, breast enhancement is a commonplace procedure, particularly where weight loss has left the breast tissue out of position, and should again be seen as a safe process with fairly swift recovery times.
