WHAT’S THE RISK ASSOCIATED WITH ANAESTHESIA?
“I get questions about this all the time, especially from young mothers who are afraid something will happen to them, and their children will be left motherless. The type of anaesthesia we now use has a very rapid onset and metabolizes rapidly. Patients no longer are drowsy for one or two days after surgery. They’re relatively coherent pretty quickly. Anaesthesia today is very safe as long as the patient is healthy, but to ensure safety during surgery we require full lab work, an EKG to see if your heart is healthy, and clearance from your primary doctor if necessary.”
HOW DOES A PATIENT KNOW SHE WON’T WAKE UP LOOKING LIKE A DIFFERENT PERSON?
“In the 1980s and 1990s a facelift created an unnatural windswept look. Today we want the face to have a natural appearance. The goal shouldn’t be to make a patient look like a different person, but if a woman waits too long before having a facelift, she probably will look a little bit different afterwards. If you do it sooner, you’ll just look like a refreshed, better version of yourself. I learned how to do facelifts from Dr. Fritz Barton, a world-renowned surgeon. He always said that the goal for the facelift is to make a patient’s face look like she’s lying down.”
NOW FOR MY FACE
“Don’t worry about offending me,” I told Dr. Sieber when I showed him my photos and asked for recommendations about refreshing my aging face.
“You could use a facelift.”
“OK, exactly what would you do?”
After hearing this frank analysis, I thought it would be nice (cool, fun) to look in the mirror and see a “refreshed, better version of myself,” as Dr. Sieber explained earlier in our interview. I’m not looking to regain confidence, meet a man (well, maybe a smart, rich, funny man), or enter a Baby Boomer pageant. But since I was insecure as a younger woman– never fully realizing that I was actually attractive–I wouldn’t mind getting back some of my “lost youth” now that I’m a (mostly) confident older woman!
ABOUT DR. DAVID SIEBER
Dr. Sieber specializes in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery of the face, breasts and body, and offers a full range of surgical and non-surgical procedures in his northern California practice. Double board-certified, he has completed a specialized fellowship in cosmetic surgery and advanced training in the latest non-surgical procedures, including fillers, Botox, laser skin rejuvenation and fat-loss technologies.
Priding himself on listening to his patients’ concerns and goals, Dr. Sieber works with each one of them to create an optimal treatment plan that will produce excellent results. Using his medical knowledge, experience and artistic eye, his mission is to help patients look natural and refreshed and achieve the best versions of themselves, whether it’s with non-invasive skincare treatments and fillers or with a surgical facelift.
Dr. Sieber believes that less is more, and will never recommend a treatment that he doesn’t feel is right for a patient’s individual anatomy, personality, and goals.
450 Sutter Street #2630
San Francisco, CA 94108
415-915-9000 (office)
415-915-3000 (cell)