From Gender Dysphoria to Gender Euphoria Using Minimally Invasive Facial Transformation

Once in the shadow of the gay pride movement, the transgender community is now front and center in the LGBTQIA+ conversation. Cynthia Elliott, MD, owner and primary practitioner of Skinspirations, recognizes the urgency for transgender individuals to reconcile the conflict between their inner truth and outward appearance. Non-surgical aesthetic treatments provide quick and dramatic results, often within an hour or less, with little downtime, and are much more affordable than surgical procedures. For transgender individuals, minimally invasive cosmetic treatments can go a long way toward relieving their gender dysphoria by creating better harmony between their physical and innermost selves.

CLEARWATER, Fla., July 10, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- From LGB to LGBTQIA+, there was an evolution within the Pride Revolution. The well-known acronym, whose letters represent self-affirming pride, equality, and inclusivity, has had its own journey of discovery toward its broader identity. For the lesbian and gay community in the 1960s and '70s, the addition of the "B" for bisexual was considered controversial, as the bisexual movement was seen as a "half-step out of the closet" and only a stone's throw away from heterosexuality. The "T" representing transsexuality was perceived as even farther afield from the formative goals of the gay and lesbian alliance.(1) However, in the fullness of time, the LGBTQIA+ movement has come to represent acceptance, freedom, and self-expression. The University of San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Resource Center describes the 21st-century PRIDE values as evoking ? Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity, and Excellence ? building a collaborative culture unified in its shared values and beliefs that helps to set expectations and drive decision-making that inspires action.(2) Cynthia Elliott, MD, owner and primary practitioner of Skinspirations, notes, "The growing appeal and destigmatization of aesthetic medical treatments across all genders creates unique opportunities for clinicians to do their part in supporting transgender individuals on their lifelong journey of self-discovery and self-expression."

Recent data from a Pew Research Center survey indicates a remarkable shift in the percentage of transgender individuals in the United States across generations. Among adults under 30, 5.1% identify as trans or nonbinary, with 2.0% identifying as trans men or trans women and 3.0% considering themselves nonbinary (neither strictly a man nor a woman). The percentage drops to 1.6% for adults aged 30 to 49 and further down to 0.3% for those over 50.(3)

Individuals of all genders are learning that there are non-surgical aesthetic treatments to help them look as feminine, masculine, or androgynous as they prefer. While some individuals identify with traditional binary gender roles, others prefer to express themselves somewhere on the spectrum between feminine and masculine.(4)

At Skinspirations, increasingly popular gender-aligning facial aesthetic treatments include enhancing masculine features by crafting strong chins and chiseled jawlines with horizontal brows or feminizing faces by permanently erasing facial hair and creating higher cheekbones, fuller lips, and tapered chins. These transformations are possible using injectable treatments, laser hair removal, and non-surgical body contouring.

Dr. Elliott encourages her patients to communicate their goals candidly, adding, "I had a new patient who presented to me as a man; when I asked him what he'd like to change, he answered, 'I want cheeks like yours.' When I told him he would look very feminine if I gave him cheeks like mine, he answered, 'Exactly.' We both knew at that moment what his appearance goals were. Over the following months, we elevated his brows, tapered his chin with filler, and narrowed his jawline with Botox; one of my aestheticians even lent him a skirt. It was a gratifying project for all of us."

About Dr. Cynthia Elliott and Skinspirations
Cynthia Elliott, M.D., is the owner and primary practitioner of Skinspirations, a cosmetic and regenerative medical practice that provides injectable and laser aesthetic treatments, professional skincare, body contouring, and regenerative treatments for aesthetic and musculoskeletal concerns. Located in Clearwater, Florida, Dr. Elliott is valued for her medical expertise and her training on the national level for the makers of Botox® Cosmetic and Juvéderm and internationally for Cutera Lasers. Her patients seek her expertise, knowing that she and her long-tenured staff have trained many professionals in the Tampa Bay area. Skinspirations has performed over 88,000 cosmetic medical treatments since 2005 and is known for the most effective aesthetic and regenerative medical treatments available, providing the quality results that other practitioners are still trying to learn. Dr. Elliott, whose medical training began in emergency medicine, currently serves as an expert witness in Cosmetic Medicine for the Florida Board of Medicine. For more information, visit http://www.skinspirations.com.

References:
1.Writer, S. (2017, March 6). It took us a long time to add the "t" to LGB. The Columbus Dispatch. dispatch.com/story/opinion/columns/2017/03/07/it-took-us-long-time/22014018007/.
2. Pride values. LGBT Resource Center. (n.d.). //lgbt.ucsf.edu/pride-values.
3. Brown, A. (2022, June 7). About 5% of young adults in the U.S. say their gender is different from their sex assigned at birth. Pew Research Center. pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/06/07/about-5-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-say-their-gender-is-different-from-their-sex-assigned-at-birth/.
4. De Boulle, K., Furuyama, N., Heydenrych, I., Keaney, T., Rivkin, A., Wong, V., Silberberg, M. (2021, May 13). Considerations for the use of minimally invasive aesthetic procedures for facial remodeling in transgender individuals. Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8128506/.

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