PHOTOS BY JEJ PHOTOS
If you’re serious about self-care this year, one glimpse in the mirror may be all it takes to see where to launch your new confidence campaign! The right procedure, performed by a board certified facial plastic surgeon, can be a game-changer when it comes to putting your best face forward.
FACES & NECKS
If you glance in the mirror and see where a few improvements could make a difference, reach out to Dr. Neal Goldman and the amazing staff of the Goldman Center for Facial Plastic Surgery in Winston-Salem. “Aging faces are still a top concern among patients,” says Dr. Goldman. Yes, during the pandemic and those endless Zoom calls, we found ourselves focusing on faces and necks – up close and personal!
“We are still seeing a steady interest in face and neck lifts,” says Dr. Goldman. “For most women, and now with many more men, these are the two areas most notably marked for improvement, and our practice is 100% specialized, and limited to facial surgery.”
Dr. Goldman has been taking care of aging faces in the Winston-Salem area since 1999, and that includes building a reputation for truly listening to a patient’s concerns, and above all, making them feel at ease. “I truly enjoy my patients and get to know them well because of the time I spend with them before and after surgery. It’s the same reason I perform all my own injections.”
According to Dr. Goldman, people want to know if a face lift is the only option for lifting jowls. “People appreciate a good neck and jawline,” he says. But as we age, the soft tissue and skin of our lower face begins to descend. Fillers can be a possible or temporary fix, but the most fool-proof method – a lower face lift with an experienced surgeon – really provides the most long-lasting results. “It’s not only about the patient’s age, but rather about his or her overall health and outlook on life that makes for a good candidate,” he adds.
NOSES
Have you always hated the bump on your nose? That, along with a tip that is too big or bulbous are the main reasons people seek to change the shape of their nose. However, Dr. Goldman cares about your breathing as well, and tries to improve both the breathing and the shape when he does his surgery. Rhinoplasty is a very precise art, as the nose is a complex structure of interconnecting segments of bone and cartilage. Working together on a detailed surgery plan may begin with computer imaging to receive the desired results. Dr. Goldman and his staff rely on computer imaging to project a patient’s face, nose, and neck area from all angles, and then address potential limitations – always with as much honesty as possible, for realistic expectations. This is particularly helpful for patients who are seeing themselves in photos, and don’t like the side views of their nose (or neck).
EYES
Are well-meaning friends and family mentioning that you look more tired than usual? You’re not alone! Sometimes that not-so-subtle hint nudges us to examine how we can improve a certain feature. For many, it’s the eyes!
“The diagonal drooping of the eyelid occurs with aging (often called lateral hooding), and it’s easy to see why it makes us appear so tired,” explains Dr. Goldman. However, it may be more than just the extra skin that causes issues. “The baby fat on our cheeks and forehead simply deflates over time,” says Dr. Goldman, explaining that’s what makes the most difference in the eye area. “You might delay or avoid surgery by treating the area where the fat deflates with filler.”
Many patients combine eyelid surgery with a brow lift. Hint: If a patient actually lifts their eyebrow to show the doctor exactly what’s bothering them about their eyes, there’s a good chance they may also need a brow lift!
REACHING OUT WORLDWIDE
Dr. Goldman has always had a global vision for helping others, while maintaining his successful practice in Winston-Salem. His organization, HUGS – Help Us Give Smiles, delivers help and compassion to young patients who suffer from facial deformities.
“We help these children be free of humiliation and alienation,” he explains.
As a child growing up around other cultures, Dr. Goldman will tell you he realized, even in his early years, that serving patients worldwide would be part of his personal mission. His first mission trip to Antigua Guatemala in 2010 confirmed the passion that led him to medicine, and surgery in particular. “I always pictured myself working internationally, ever since I first dreamed of becoming a doctor. It is just the picture I always had of what it means to be a doctor,” he explains.
As each HUGS mission trip kicks off, a compassionate group of doctors and medical staff head to Guatemala, Ecuador, Vietnam, and now Peru, with a goal of restoring smiles to children who thought those smiles would be lost forever. Cleft lip and cleft palate are the most common deformities, but Dr. Goldman also focuses on patients with microtia – a congenital deformity where the external ear is not fully developed. Patients often require a series of staged surgeries – allowing the same group of doctors to develop a true bond with patients and their families. HUGS team members, including surgeons, operating room nurses, floor nurses and anesthesiologists, treasure getting to know their patients and the opportunity to spread hope.
In Vietnam, HUGS surgeons not only provide care to the children, but also are teaching the Vietnamese surgeons how to do these surgeries themselves.
Since every trip lands the team in the same country, working at the same hospital, within the same community, on the same week of each year, the process also results in strong relationships.
“What we accomplish with HUGS is bigger than just what we do for the children,” says Dr. Goldman, noting those groups of patients become a wonderful support group within themselves.
“It helps by just bringing this big group of children together, where they see other kids like them with the very same problem,” he says. “Sixty to 80 kids may show up, along with their parents. Some patients live six or seven hours away, sometimes in villages in the jungle where they have never seen another child with their problem. After meeting another child with the same deformity, they don’t feel they are alone anymore.”
Thanks to HUGS surgeries – now over 1500 in number – kids who were bullied or even rejected can now go to school, and children who never thought they would leave their house, now have more opportunity to obtain work as adults.
A graduate of Duke University and the University of Rochester School of Medicine, Dr. Goldman also completed fellowships at the University of Washington. He is double board certified with both the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the American Board of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Goldman and his staff look forward to discussing your best options for looking and feeling your best! The Goldman Center for Facial Plastic Surgery is located at 108 Dornach Way, Advance, NC, 336-245-9595, with a satellite office at 717 Greenway Road, Boone, NC, 828-278-9230. Visit FacialPlasticSurgeryNC.com to learn more about their services, including special assistance for Veterans. To learn more about HUGS, visit HelpUsGiveSmiles.org.
