Wedding preparation for most brides revolves around two aspects: (1) How beautiful the venue will be, and (2) how lovely you will look walking down the aisle.
When it comes to the latter, many people turn to cosmetic surgery as a means to enhance how they look and feel about themselves. How you look matters because while your professional wedding photographer may take the effort to ensure that you look your best in every single image, your wedding guests snapping on their high megapixel camera phones most probably will not (and most of these images will go on the Internet by the end of the night).
It makes sense to want to look your best and fortunately, the stigma towards cosmetic surgery is slowly changing towards acceptance.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there were 17.7 million cosmetic procedures performed in the United States alone in 2018. Of these, 15.9 million were minimally-invasive procedures (e.g., Botox, chemical peels, soft tissue fillers). The most popular cosmetic surgical procedures included breast augmentation, liposuction, nose reshaping, and eyelid surgery.
Here are 5 cosmetic procedures you can consider before your wedding day.
1. Breast augmentation
How it works
Breast augmentation, mammoplasty, breast implant, or boob job is a surgical procedure that is done to either achieve some symmetry on your breasts or enlarge them. The procedure is done by inserting implants in your breasts to get the required results. It is the perfect procedure to undergo if the volume of your breasts has been reducing with time.
It is important that you discuss with your surgeon on which incision is best for you. For example, the Victorian Cosmetic Institute details four types of incisions on their webpage and notes that the transaxillary has the highest rate of complications and, therefore, is not recommended.
Down time
After undergoing breast augmentation, you will require a total of 6 months for you to be able to go about regular business, like gown fitting. It will, however, take you only two weeks to heal, but you may still experience some pain in the area. Therefore, only consider breast augmentation if your wedding date is still a year away to ensure the best outcome.
2. Rhinoplasty
How it works
Nose shaping is yet another beauty procedure that is aimed at improving the outlook of your nose. In 2018, 213,780 people underwent the transformation making it the third most popular beauty procedure in the United States.
What rhinoplasty does is that it makes you end up with a perfect appearance of your nose. You can go for this procedure to remove a bump from the nose, align the angle between your nose and mouth or narrow the width of the nostril.
Down time
Rhinoplasty will require you to set aside plenty of time since downtime usually differs. There are those people who will take a shorter period while others will take longer. You should thus set aside about 7 to 8 months.
3. Tattoo Removal
How it works
You might have decided to get a tattoo at some point in your life, but now you do not want it visible in your wedding photos. Laser removal is the most commonly performed type of tattoo removal. Using lasers, this process breaks down the ink particles into smaller particles. Prior to this technique, dermabrasion, TCA, scrubbing the skin with salt, and cryosurgery were common methods of removing tattoos.
“The number of sessions it takes to remove a tattoo will depend on the type of tattoo and where it was done. For example, tribal tattoos are large and have a lot of ink, and therefore, takes more sessions to remove completely.” – says Briana, manager of Face of Man.
Down time
The procedures usually take a longer time. This is because what the process does is that it fades off the tattoo, leaving a plain skin. You will thus require to give yourself a downtime of up to a year before your big day.
4. Botox
How it works
Botox or dermal fillers ensures that you have a young and refreshed face with no face lines whatsoever. It makes you look more attractive and appealing. The procedure is considered minimally-invasive surgery. With a successful procedure and the right consulting practitioner, you will walk down the aisle looking much younger.
Down time
Botox or fillers start showing results after seven days. You will, however, require more time to manage the effects. This can be around four months.
5. Teeth Whitening
How it works
Strictly speaking, teeth whitening is not a cosmetic procedure as it falls under the purview of an endodontist.
Unlike whitening toothpastes, internal teeth bleaching carried out by a trained dental specialist such as those from Australian Dental Specialists requires opening the tooth. The process involves inserting a chemical oxidising agent within the tooth. This is left in the tooth for up to 14-days before being replaced with more chemicals until the tooth achieves the level of whiteness desired. Once done, the hole is filled.
Down time
Unless for emergencies, it is best not to leave any dental procedures too close to the wedding. Since each tooth takes 2-6 weeks, you should consider speaking to an endodontist sooner rather than later.
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