Cosmetic Surgery Concerns for Hispanics

The Hispanic population has almost doubled since 1990 and is projected to triple in the U.S. by 2050. To cater to the needs of this growing population, AARP recently launched VIVA for Latinos.

With the increased population has also come a increased affluence and the ability to address concerns about appearance. So much so that Dr. Sam Rizk, a board certified NYC facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon, has seen a significant increase in Hispanic patients in the past several years.

His experience, coupled with his unique computer imaging technique, has made him something of an expert on the specific traits of Latino and Hispanic facial features. In addition to the popularity of rhinoplasty (nose jobs), the most common requests in the 45–55-year-old age range tend to be for facelifts and correcting a double chin.

Because of the thicker skin, Dr. Rizk says, he can go deeper and away from the surface area of the skin, which allows for less bruising and less stretching of the skin.

For rhinoplasty, the request to have the fatty tip thinned out requires a particular precision. Dr. Rizk has develop singular approaches to  the specific ethnicities which he explains on his website, here.

The Hispanic face also has more fat under the chin, but "its placement is different than that of Caucasians," Dr. Rizk explains. The fat collects underneath the muscle, called the Platysma, rather than on top of it. "It’s too dangerous to use liposuction under this muscle," Dr. Rizk says, but the 3-D imaging allows him to get close to the muscle and resculpt the fat under there, to thin out the chin and neck area. 

With facelifts, the concern tends to be about scarring. Latino skin is more prone to hypertrophic scarring which can lead to keloid scars. But because the skin is thicker, that allow surgeons to make the incision for a facelift to be made inside the ear (as opposed to in  front of the ear; where on Caucasian skin, the scar is less noticeable).

Dr. Rizk has also developed a protocol involving silicone gel and other preventative measures to keep scars from becoming hypertrophic.

Dr. Rizk can already be seen on Telemundo explaining the rhinoplasty procedure.  

Perhaps, with AARP VIVA extending into web, radio and television [“VIVA Su Segunda Juventud is an hour-long, Spanish-language TV series featuring topics relevant to Latinas age 40 and over”], we’ll see him there too, talking about his technique for facelift procedures on ethnic skin.