Does This Make Me Plastic?

I had a cosmetic procedure done yesterday.

On one hand, I'm thrilled.

On the other hand, I have a nagging fear of waking up tomorrow as a plastic doll.

Dolls are kind of freaky-scary when you think about it.

(Also, I'm completely surrounded by freaky-plastic people on a daily basis!)

Then there's the issue of BOTH of my hands.  

They hurt.

Yes, my hands are a little sore.

The treatment was a nonsurgical hand treatment.

I've had enough necessary surgeries to last my entire life, after all.

Remember when I wrote about The Plastic Surgery Party?

One thing I wrote was, "There's one product I'm really intrigued by.  In fact, I'd like to buy it by the barrel and take baths in it.  I'll tell you more about it soon."

Let's back up for a minute.  I've always had pretty hands.  I can look in the mirror and find fault with almost all of my body parts, but I've been complimented on my hands my entire life.  In fact, when I was in college I earned extra money by being a hand model.  

My hands are still okay.  I don't (yet?) have any brown spots or wrinkles on them.  However, I've never had one ounce of body fat or cushion on my hands.  I have fat to spare from everywhere else on my body, but I've got tiny wrists, hands and fingers.

For the last ten years I've stared at my mom's hands and thought they look younger than mine.  My mom is thirty years older than I am.  What little hand collagen I had disappeared from my hands at an early age.  Basically, I have a very thin sheet of skin covering bone.  My hands look decades older than my actual age.

It's been a huge annoyance for me.  I don't mind aging awkwardly gracefully, but I really don't want a very visible body part looking years (decades!) older than I really am.

I know a lot of women, at least here in Orange County, use "fillers" to plump up their hands.  The problem is, fillers don't last long.  It seems like a waste of money to me, so I've never wanted to try them.

In any case, when I went to The Plastic Surgery Party, I learned about a product which can be injected into your hands.  It isn't a "filler."  In fact, after it's injected you don't see any results for about three months.  

What does this product do?

It causes your body to make it's own collagen.

Now do you understand why I'd love to take a bath in it?

This is the problem with having friends in the plastic surgery business.  They tell me about products and inventions I otherwise wouldn't know about.  I was probably better off being oblivious to the latest and greatest in anti-aging.

Most people get injected 2-3 times over a twelve week period (the standard treatment) and then not again for around three years.  Three years later, or so, a touch up injection is used because as we continue to age more collagen is lost from our skin.

The product is called Sculptra and it's been used on HIV patients for years to add volume to their faces.  It's got a proven track record.  My readers in Europe are probably familiar with it also because it has been used there cosmetically since 1999.  Recently, it's moved into the spectrum of cosmetic use here in the United States.

This post is not sponsored by Sculptra; they don't even know I'm writing it.

(But they will, I'm sure.)

Every company I write about ends up tracking me down sooner or later.

Lately, sooner.

Dear Sculptra, Can you mail me enough product to take a bath in every night?

* Ahem *

A lot of women in The OC now use Sculptra on their face.  I know it sounds weird, but my face looks about the age I actually am and I'm okay with that.  Sure, I'd love to rid myself of the crows feet around my eyes and blah, blah, blah - but I'm okay with it.  It's my hands that look ancient.  Getting a little padding on my skeletal hands fullness from my own body's collagen will make me feel better about my pet peeve.

In six weeks I'll go back and have my second treatment.  Yesterday, I took "before" photos.  In three months, I'll take "after" photos and show both sets of photos to you then.

Will anyone else notice a change in my hands?

Probably not, but I'll feel better about a body part that's really bothered me for a long time.

And really, that's what this is about ...

Feeling a little better about something which has made me self conscious for years.

Would you consider a nonsurgical cosmetic procedure?  (Botox, Peels, Fillers or something like Sculptra?)

© Twenty Four At Heart

Comments

[Mo "Mad Dog" Stoneskin]

This is all a bit beyond me, but I hope it does make a difference, and looking forward to seeing photographic evidence, and more importantly, that Sculptra track you down and pay you millions...

[Deidre]

I hope it works! I Can't wait to see some pics. Can you post some hand model photos of yours?

[di]

Sure... I'd try the Sculptra..... er, well I think I would. maybe. perhaps.

DI

[[email protected]]

Wow, never heard of this. Sounds cool. I think I'd try certain things, especially non surgical. Good luck!

[Kelly]

I'm intrigued. Can't wait to see before and after photos.

[Tami]

Would I try a nonsurgical treatment?
Yes, I already do.
I use botox on the furrow between my eyebrows!

[Jan]

I don't know. I recently told Beloved that I'd like to get an eye lift some time, and he looked at me like I'd lost my mind - the man thinks all this "anti-aging" stuff is silly. Of course, he's a man and there's not nearly the cultural pressure for men to remain forever young as there is for women.

I am intrigued to see your before and after photos, though.

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Surely there will be photos?

[Michelle Pixie]

I am awaiting the photos as well!

[Deborah]

Are you thinking about sculptra? I had it done one time by a board certified plastic surgeon who didnt do it right. He said he knew what he was doing. I regret it every day. He put it under my eyes and it resulted in a cheek bone infection some months later after months of pain. I still have chronic inflammation from the product. I takes a long time to be absorbed by the body. I am 2 years out and have had 2 surgeries to get it out and it can not be surgically removed. go to sites like realself.com or sculptadamage.com before you have this poly l lactic acid crystals injected into your body. Not everyone has a good result

[Twenty Four At Heart]

Readers: Deborah's comment comes from a med-spa email address. I think full disclosure is important. Sculptra is not intended for use around the eyes. This is stated clearly on their website and NO ethical "board certified plastic surgeon" would ever put it under someone's eyes. Like any cosmetic procedure, you need to do your research ahead of time and most importantly, find someone highly qualified to perform any procedures you're interested in. Why would deborah have had two surgeries to remove a product which "can not be surgically removed"???

[Jack]

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I walked around OC and just pricked random women with a pen. Would there be a great whooshing noise of air escaping.

Or would it be a whooshing noise of pepper spray being sprayed in my face as their friends called the police. Some things are better left unsaid and undone. ;)

[Linda Tustin]

You go girl! We all deserve our indulgences. In my opinion you, more than most. ((((hugs))))

[Duchess]

I've worried about my hands for a while now. I have small, slender hands. A friend -- actually my Engineer friend I wrote about in my blog recently said his mother always declared that when women got older they developed paws or claws.

I am definitely in the claws camp. I guess that means I could use some collagen too!

But I don't live in Orange County and I have no money, so I think it will be claws for me.

I look forward to your before and after pictures! I know how to dream.

[Ginger]

I, too, have the thin layer of skin covering bones. And I am also starting to develope some healthy age spots on my hands. However, unlike you, I am no longer 24, I am, sadly, the ripe old age of (almost) 53. What bothers me the MOST about my body? Something I hardly ever hear anyone else complain about...my KNEES. They have fallen and they can't get up!

Seriously, if you know of any product or procedures that can help sagging knees....I would love you forever if you'd tell us about it. (I was never a leg model, but I've been told I could have been.)