Dr. Jeffrey Lee is a Harvard trained plastic surgeon serving patients in the greater Boston area. He specializes in cosmetic procedures of the face, breast, body, as well as nonsurgical treatments such as Botox and Juvederm. Dr. Lee’s vision for patient care blends both safety, as well as optimal aesthetic outcomes. “I am first and foremost a doctor. My primary objective is to keep things safe and if something is unsafe or not worth the risk, I will tell you. I also tell all of my patients that I always reserve the right to change the plan if it becomes a safety issue.

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Boston-based breast expert Dr. Lee dishes on his aesthetic enhancement trend predictions this year. Here’s what he said:

2020 saw a lot of changes in aesthetic trends as a result of the pandemic. Wearing a mask brought on mask-ne even in people who never had acne in their life. Medical grade skincare regimens really became popular as patients really needed to find a balance between strong enough to work but gentle enough to not irritate your skin under a mask. It also created a huge demand for Botox because people were focusing so much more on the forehead and eyes which is where Botox is most widely used. In terms of procedures, I noticed a huge increase in demand for face and neck procedures as people wanted to present themselves better on Zoom or other video conferencing software. Patients had no idea what they looked like until they saw themselves on a Zoom call which is typically not very flattering.

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I see this trend continuing into 2021 as work schedules have become more flexible due to either working from home or working less hours as a whole. What is really exciting for 2021 are the advances in minimally invasive skin tightening procedures. Skin tightening most of the time requires surgery and a scar of some sort. The investment of time, energy, recovery, and cost was something many people were not willing to undergo even if they had been thinking about it for a long time. What is exciting is that for the first time, the options for skin tightening without long incisions actual work. As a surgeon, I was the biggest skeptic when it came to these technologies but FaceTite has really made me a believer. The most popular areas for this treatment is for the lower face and neck, but it can be used anywhere in the body. You can really get some great results with a procedure under local anesthesia and have minimal downtime. No sutures to remove, no long recovery, and it is significantly less costly when compared to a more involved surgery. It truly is an exciting time to be a plastic surgeon and the demand over the past couple of months is already quite staggering.