Cosmetic Surgery, Health and Fitness Information - The Adams Center, Boston, MA

Combination of Facial Treatments for Best Results

Our face is the most visible thing others see on a daily basis. As we age, our face is often the area that looks oldest first. But, what contributes to premature facial aging and what makes us look old? More importantly, can we reverse the process?

Several things can contribute to facial aging. The obvious answer is “age”. While that’s very true, environmental factors, diet, chemicals we use on or around our face, whether or not we moisturize, weather, smoking, and a host of other factors also contribute. So what makes us look old? Wrinkles around our eyes, mouth, forehead, etc. are often cited, but some of the other signs of an aging face include sagging skin, age spots, redness, and more.

The good news is that these things can be treated, and in many cases largely reversed. Patients come to me with the idea that they want a facelift (either a mini-facelift, or a full facelift). But, a facelift only corrects part of the issue. It’s like providing half an answer on a test. We're discovering that a combination of surgical and non-surgical treatments works best for treating all of the changes that happen when we age.

One of the combinations that I’ve found to be the most effective is a facelift combined with a TotalFX treatment. The facelift is the perfect tool to remove more advanced wrinkles, lift sagging skin, redefine the jaw-line, and contour the neck; while the TotalFX laser is great for correcting brown spots, redness and other pigmentation issues, scarring, and further tightening the skin. Additionally, TotalFX will help in the long-term by stimulating collagen development to help further plump the skin for future wrinkle reduction.

By combining these two treatments, we improve a wider range of age related issues.

Contact me by e-mail, or by calling me at The Adams Center in my Peabody office at 978-531-0550, or 617-262-2208 in my Boston office for more information on this post, or any other information in my Blog.

Dr. Bill Adams is a greater Boston area board certified plastic surgeon with over 25 years of experience in the field. 

Laser Cellulite Removal & Body Contouring

SmoothShapes represents a significant breakthrough in how quickly and easily cellulite can be treated!

Cellulite, which is often described as looking like “cottage cheese,” is a common issue that affects millions of women and men. It is often found on the backs of the thighs, or buttocks. The underlying causes of cellulite include edema, impaired blood circulation and decreased metabolism.

My typical patient has a pretty high fitness level. We’re not talking about people who have let themselves go for years, and all of a sudden want the latest ‘quick fix.’ Patients often come to me after trying various exercise programs, biking, running, weights, etc. Cellulite is one of the most difficult body issues to fix, and exercise alone is rarely an effective control measure.

Elemé Medical developed SmoothShapes based on their proprietary technology known as “Photomology.” The Photomology process works by combining laser and light energy with contoured rollers and a vacuum system to reduce the appearance of cellulite. SmoothShapes remodels your body’s natural collagen to help smooth and tighten the skin long-term.

The SmoothShapes procedure is actually very pleasant. It feels like a deep tissue massage with a slight warming to the skin. Best of all, there’s no downtime. While some patients see an improvement after one treatment, 6 or 8 treatments are usually recommended.

Another non-surgical procedure that shows promise in body-contouring is Zerona, by Erchonia. Zerona utilizes a low frequency laser scanner to help liquefy fatty tissue under the skin, which then gets passed through the body during the detoxification process. This laser device has been used for years to help break up fat cells prior to a traditional Liposuction.

I’ve recently begun using Zerona on its own to perform body contouring - no surgery required. Clinical testing of Zerona as a stand-alone procedure has shown that patients treated with the system averaged a loss of 3-4 inches, with some losing as much as 9 inches. Additionally, Zerona uses a low level laser that produces no heat, making this a comfortable procedure for patients with no down time.

I like to combine procedures to produce maximum results for my patients. SmoothShapes is a great procedure to combine with either Zerona non-surgical body-sculpting procedure, or a traditional Liposuction for an overall lower body reshaping.

The rapid developments in effective non-surgical procedures to do things that used to require a surgical procedure have been amazing.

Contact me by e-mail, or by calling me at The Adams Center in my Peabody office at 978-531-0550, or 617-262-2208 in my Boston office for more information on this post, or any other information in my Blog.

Dr. Bill Adams is a greater Boston area board certified plastic surgeon with over 25 years of experience in the field.

A-Fit at The Adams Center

Our newly developed Adams Center Fitness Program, "A-Fit," is designed to work in conjunction with the Zerona non-surgical body-sculpting laser.

The A-Fit program incorporates several healthy lifestyle principles:

• Help with goal setting
• Help developing a personal training plan to fit your needs and fitness goals
• Personal training advice
• Nutrition plan consultation

Our staff personal trainer, Lexi Cruse will be leading this great new program.

Contact me by e-mail, or by calling me at The Adams Center in my Peabody office at 978-531-0550, or 617-262-2208 in my Boston office for more information on this post, or any other information in my Blog.

Dr. Bill Adams is a greater Boston area board certified plastic surgeon with over 25 years of experience in the field.

The Adams Center Welcomes Lexi Cruse

Alexandra Cruse (or Lexi as she likes to be called) is the latest addition to the staff of The Adams Center.
 
Not only is Lexi a highly trained Medical Aesthetician, but she's also our new staff personal trainer.

 

Lexi's specialties include laser and aesthetic procedures such as IPL, Microdermabrasion, MicroPeels, Laser Hair Removal, and more. Additionally, she's an expert in Environ, Obagi, and other skin care products.

 

Lexi has had her Group Exercise Certifications since 1985, and has been a Certified Personal Trainer since 1994. She has trained hundreds of clients in a variety of disciplines including aerobics, weight training, and more.

She will be working in conjunction with Dr. Adams to provide advanced skin care as well as perform laser procedures.

 

In addition, Lexi will be working with new and former patients in our newly developed Adams Center Fitness Program, also know as A-FIT, which will incorporate fitness and nutritional consultation, as well as the implementation of Zerona, the non-invasive laser treatment for fat reduction.

Contact me by e-mail, or by calling me at The Adams Center in my Peabody office at 978-531-0550, or 617-262-2208 in my Boston office for more information on this post, or any other information in my Blog.

Dr. Bill Adams is a greater Boston area board certified plastic surgeon with over 25 years of experience in the field.

Zerona Advances in Non-Surgical Body Contouring/Liposuction

Recently, there have been several breakthroughs in non-surgical body sculpting, either for cellulite reduction or for fat reduction. One of these is the new Zerona™ system from ERCHONIA®, which was recently cleared by the FDA for use in laser assisted liposuction.

The Zerona Laser Scanner is designed to be used as either an aid during surgical Liposuction, or as a stand-alone non-invasive body contouring method. The system works by utilizing a low frequency laser scanner to help liquefy fatty tissue under the skin, which then gets passed through the body during the detoxification process.

Zerona has shown decent results during clinical testing as a stand-alone procedure. Patients treated with the system averaged a loss of 3-4 inches, with some losing as much as 9 inches, compared to a placebo group that lost only a half an inch. Additionally, testing has shown Zerona to be a very comfortable procedure for patients. Since the system uses a low level laser, no heat is produced, so most patients say they didn’t feel anything.

Treatment takes 40 minutes and needs to be administered three times a week over a two week period for best results.

Unlike other procedures, Zerona allows patients to continue their daily activities without interruptions from surgery, pain, wounds or garments.

Contact me by e-mail, or by calling me at The Adams Center in my Peabody office at 978-531-0550, or 617-262-2208 in my Boston office for more information on this post, or any other information in my Blog.

Dr. Bill Adams is a greater Boston area board certified plastic surgeon with over 25 years of experience in the field.

LightSheer DUET - The Gold Standard in Laser Hair Removal

The new LightSheer DUET by Lumenis is the Gold Standard in laser hair removal.

The DUET system offers several innovative improvements over previous laser hair removal systems. Vacuum assisted technology combined with a dramatic increase in the laser spot size enables a greater depth of penetration, and improved absorption of energy at the hair follicle. These improvements mean the treatment times are reduced by 75% in many cases, for instance we can treat backs and legs comfortably in about 15 minutes, without anesthetics and gels. Other areas may take even less time.

The number of treatments required depends on several factors including hair and skin type. Laser hair removal treats hair in an active growth phase. Since all hairs are not in this phase at the same time, more than one treatment may be necessary for the best results.

LightSheer DUET is a quick and pain free way to permanently remove unwanted hair from your legs, back, face, bikini, and other areas of your body where unwanted hair is a problem.

Contact me by e-mail, or by calling me at The Adams Center in my Peabody office at 978-531-0550, or 617-262-2208 in my Boston office for more information on this post, or any other information in my Blog.

Dr. Bill Adams is a greater Boston area board certified plastic surgeon with over 25 years of experience in the field.

Popular Summer Procedures

There's always a rush right before summer starts of people trying to shape up to look their best.

Some people worry that particular surgeries or non-surgical laser procedures can not be done during the summer months, but most actually can be performed, particularly the surgeries; however, we often suggest patients minimize their sun exposure and wear sunscreen to protect more sensitive skin.

Breast Augmentations and body sculpting liposuctions are two of the most often requested pre-summer procedures. Both can be done before summer, and require a fairly short downtime.

With a breast augmentation, there are well over 100 implant options between the styles and textures, type and implant position that can effect how long recovery might take. We minimize this with a medication delivery system called an I-Flow Comfort Pump. Recovery is typically 2 weeks.

Liposuction is also popular this time of year, and perfectly safe. We can perform smaller areas of liposuction under a local anesthesia with oral sedation. This method allows us a smaller window of time, so larger procedures aren't possible. However, we can do larger areas under a general anesthesia. Full recovery is also about 2 weeks in most cases.

ActiveFX, DeepFX, and TotalFX represent an amazing breakthrough in non-surgical wrinkle reduction. All of these can be performed during the summer. These procedures utilize a non-ablative fractional laser system, so healing time is shortened. Recovery time is an amazingly short 1 week or less in most cases.

Contact me by e-mail, or by calling me at The Adams Center in my Peabody office at 978-531-0550, or 617-262-2208 in my Boston office for more information on this post, or any other information in my Blog.

Dr. Bill Adams is a greater Boston area board certified plastic surgeon with over 25 years of experience in the field.

My New Adams Center Website is Live!

The new Adams Center website is live!

We recently launched our exciting new website which has several great features:

• Beautiful new design
• Before and After images for many surgical and non-surgical treatments
• More intuitive, easy to follow navigation
• Monthly Specials and an Upcoming Specials pages to help you plan for the coming month
• A huge, regularly updated FAQ section
• Enhanced store featuring two new product lines

Please keep in mind that we’re still going through the site and making some small corrections.

We think you’re going to love the new look and feel, so take a look. We’d love to hear your feedback.

Contact me by e-mail, or by calling me at The Adams Center in my Peabody office at 978-531-0550, or 617-262-2208 in my Boston office for more information on this post, or any other information in my Blog.

Dr. Bill Adams is a greater Boston area board certified plastic surgeon with over 25 years of experience in the field.

Breakthroughs in Non-Surgical Body Sculpting

Recently, there have been several breakthroughs in non-surgical body sculpting, either for cellulite reduction or for fat reduction. One of these is the new Zerona™ system from ERCHONIA®, which was recently cleared by the FDA for use in laser assisted liposuction.

The Zerona Laser Scanner is designed to be used as either an aid during surgical Liposuction, or as a stand-alone non-invasive body contouring method. The system works by utilizing a low frequency laser scanner to help liquefy fatty tissue under the skin, which then gets passed through the body during the detoxification process.

Zerona has shown decent results during clinical testing as a stand-alone procedure. Patients treated with the system averaged a loss of 3-4 inches, with some losing as much as 9 inches, compared to a placebo group that lost only a half an inch. Additionally, testing has shown Zerona to be a very comfortable procedure for patients. Since the system uses a low level laser, no heat is produced, so most patients say they didn’t feel anything.

Treatment takes 40 minutes and needs to be administered three times a week over a two week period for best results.

Unlike other procedures, Zerona allows patients to continue their daily activities without interruptions from surgery, pain, wounds or garments.

Contact me by e-mail, or by calling me at The Adams Center in my Peabody office at 978-531-0550, or 617-262-2208 in my Boston office for more information on this post, or any other information in my Blog.

Dr. Bill Adams is a greater Boston area board certified plastic surgeon with over 25 years of experience in the field.

Can I have multiple procedures done during the same visit?

I’ve received several questions from patients really on whether or not they can have multiple procedures done during the same visit.

The short answer is yes, you can. However, the real limiter is the type of anesthesia selected.

Take liposuction for example. We often do smaller areas of liposuction under a local anesthesia with oral sedation. This method allows us a smaller window of time, so larger procedures aren’t possible. However, we can do larger areas under a general anesthesia. This also allows us to do combinations of surgeries.

A recent patient wanted to have liposuction and breast augmentation done at the same time as part of a “Mommy Makeover.” While we only did those two surgeries for that patient, I’ve had patients choose to have liposuction, breast augmentation with a breast lift, and a blepharoplasty. So there are fewer limitations under general anesthesia.

Having multiple procedures done at the same time is actually a smart choice for most of us. There is usually a shorter overall recovery time, a lower overall cost, and in many cases, we’re finding that combination treatments actually provide better results.

Contact me by e-mail, or by calling me at The Adams Center in my Peabody office at 978-531-0550, or 617-262-2208 in my Boston office for more information on this post, or any other information in my Blog.

Dr. Bill Adams is a greater Boston area board certified plastic surgeon with over 25 years of experience in the field.