Cosmetic care
Our practice
Welcome to the new VCU Facial Surgery and Cosmetic Care practice! Our practice can handle all of your facial and skincare needs from injectables to surgical options. We offer medical grade chemical peels and cosmeceutical homecare products to improve the health of your skin, injectable Botox®, various fillers to soften lines and restore lost volume, and a full range of surgical options for the neck and face. We are also one of the area’s only providers of Ultherapy®, an FDA-approved non-invasive skin tightening device.
As a new patient, you will receive a comprehensive consultation and evaluation of your face and neck. Our providers will listen to your goals and create a personalized treatment plan that incorporates aesthetic procedures, injectables, and surgical options that help you put your best face forward. Whether it is injectables or surgery, our goal is make you look as young as you feel!
Injectable and skincare services
Wrinkles and creases can form from practically any facial movement, including frowning, squinting, raising eyebrows, and even smiling, but the severity of the wrinkle will vary from person to person. Neuromodulators (brand names Botox® and Xeomin®) are collectively known as botulinum type A injections and are commonly used to smooth lines of expression, as well as to treat muscle spasms, teeth grinding, and excessive sweating. The treatment effect typically lasts 3-4 months, after which time the treatment should be repeated to maintain results.
If you are looking to soften lines at rest, restore youthful volume, or improve facial contours without surgery, fillers may be the right treatment for you. Dermal fillers, most commonly made up of a hyaluronic acid gel, are commonly used for cheek enhancement, lip enhancement, and smoothing of the nasolabial folds and Marionette lines around the mouth. Fillers can even be used to treat atrophic or depressed scars, sharpen the contour of the chin and jawline, and replenish hollow temples. They provide a safe and effective strategy for treating mild to moderate lines and wrinkles. They are usually best for patients in their 20s to 50s, but can be used in patients into their 60s or 70s depending on the specific needs of the patient.
Our practice is happy to partner with Allē to offer patients rewards on BotoxⓇ and JuvedermⓇ products!
The skin is our largest organ, and with constant exposure to sun, pollution, and dry conditioned air, it needs a lot of TLC to keep it healthy! We can maintain your skin with regular facials or chemical peels that provide the following benefits:
- Even skin tone, reduced brown spots and melasma
- Smoother texture
- Deep hydration for dry skin and relief of mild eczema
- Improvement in fine lines
- Deep cleansing of pores and refined pore appearance
- Reduced acne
- Increase in collagen production from regular exfoliation
- Glowing skin surface from the removal of dead cell build-up
After your skin treatment, we can customize a homecare routine that will treat your skin with anti-aging ingredients every day! Our providers will select products based on your skin type and concerns so that you receive a customized regimen. We are proud to offer PCA Skin and Revision professional products.
Ultherapy® is a unique, FDA-approved skin-tightening treatment that uses ultrasound waves to create thousands of tiny thermal coagulation zones at different levels in the skin to stimulate collagen production. Ultherapy is the only skin tightening device that allows visualization of the layers of the skin below the surface, so your provider can actually use the ultrasound to “see” where the best bands of collagen are located and target the depth of your treatment. As your skin builds more collagen over the 6 months following treatment, you will notice a natural tightening and lifting of your skin. Another advantage of Ultherapy is that there is absolutely no downtime after treatment, so it’s perfect for professionals with busy schedules! Treatments may be repeated yearly, or as needed to maintain your results.
Surgical consultation
For some patients, surgical options are the best way to achieve their desired outcome. In these cases, we invite you to schedule a surgical consultation with Dr. Hawkins who has Cosmetic Procedure Certification from the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health Professions and has facial cosmetic privileges at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System. Dr. Hawkins received his DMD from the University of Pittsburgh and completed a 4 year hospital residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at VCUHS. During his residency, he dedicated and focused an extensive amount of time to facial cosmetic surgery, not only at VCUHS, but also with some of the area’s leading cosmetic surgeons.
Hawkins’ approach to patient care is that no two patients are identical and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. His background in maxillofacial surgery allows him to provide a comprehensive evaluation and diagnosis ranging from underlying bony abnormalities through various soft tissue and skin changes to formulate an anatomy-based treatment plan. Ultimately and most importantly, he will listen to your desires and goals without ever pressuring you into a proposed treatment.
Surgical options
Addresses “bags around the eyes” and excess skin of the eyelids. This procedure along with laser resurfacing can help improve the “tired look” as we age. It can also improve upper eyelids to aid in make-up application.
Addresses “sagging” eyelids and eyebrows. Oftentimes, patients feel that they need eyelid surgery to correct excess eyelid skin when in reality it is their eyebrow that is drooping. Blepharoplasty and brow lift procedures can be performed simultaneously if the patient is a good candidate. There are a variety of techniques that can be used to accomplish a brow lift.
Targets jowls (the pouching that occurs in the lower part of our cheek) and laxity of neck skin. This surgery greatly provides an overall more youthful profile for the lower face and neck. A variety of facelifts are offered to fit the needs and desires of each patient. Oftentimes, facial implants can be excellent adjuncts to enhance the midface while a facelift addresses the lower face and neck.
Can be performed separately from a facelift to address excess neck skin.
Targets banding of the superficial muscles of the neck.
Designed for fat removal in areas below the skin. Single areas can be targeted or multiple areas can be treated at once.
To correct various cosmetic deformities of the ear such as a “protruding ear”. This can be performed in children and adults, especially when children are bullied and teased in school about the appearance of their ears.
To restore volume and improve facial profile in areas such as cheeks and chin. This is a great option if you are satisfied with the appearance of cheek fillers in the past and do not want the continued cost of yearly cheek filler injections.
Decrease fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes and mouth. This can be a great addition to eyelid surgery, or for fine perioral lines that can be difficult to address with filler alone.
To correct a deficient chin to provide a “stronger” profile appearance. This can often be advantageous compared to a chin implant if a vertical change in the chin is needed or if a patient does not prefer a chin implant.
This involves correction of the position of the upper jaw, the lower jaw, or a combination of both jaws. This is not only a cosmetic surgery, but also a functional surgery. If misdiagnosed, it is not uncommon for various other cosmetic surgeries to be performed when what truly would be the best treatment for the patient is repositioning of the underlying jaws.