Aesthetic Medicine News published a story on the top trends for 2011 in aesthetic medicine.  The big topics were body shaping, medical weight loss, skin treatments, and injectable fillers.

In the article (click here), Dr. Mok discusses CoolSculpting by Zeltiq.  It promises to be a growing procedure in 2011 because it effectively reduces fat areas without surgery. Dr. Kotlus also describes the fractional CO2 laser, ActiveFX and DeepFX, for wrinkle reduction.  

The general trends are towards less-invasive, more technology-driven approaches to aesthetic improvement.

A new laser treatment for eyelid wrinkles was published by Dr. Kotlus in the latest issue of Dermatologic Surgery, a peer-reviewed journal.  He describes a "dual-depth" laser treatment using the fractional CO2 laser on the eyelid skin.  The laser is also called ActiveFX and DeepFX, two applications of the laser that treat different levels of the skin.  By treating superficial and deep skin layers at the same time, Dr. Kotlus has been able to improve surface sun damage, brown spots, and deep wrinkles in one treatment. 

Shown here is a patient who received the dual-depth laser treatment at the same time as a lower eyelid lift to shift bulging fat, reducing the appearance of lower eyelid bags. The laser enhances the lower eyelid lift by firming the eyelid skin and creating a smoother appearance. Patients should expect about a week of redness after the laser, although swelling can last longer than a week.