Anna R, 39 year old homemaker. Foot Facial Treatments™.
My husband is very successful and keeps us in a great lifestyle. Our two children are in school all day and I keep the house and children in order. My other task is looking my best for my husband, his business associates, and for me. I used to fight the battle of the bulge, but I exercise portion control and my trainer comes to our apartment three times a week and I am slim and fit. Its winter now and my heels are callused, cracked, and painful. Or I should say were callused, cracked, and painful. Just before Christmas a friend took me to the Institute Beauté for her “Foot Facial Treatment.” When she suggested I have one I responded, “your what?” “Just come,” she insisted. “You’ll see.” This was decadent, even for me. I lay back in a comfortable chair as soft music played in the background. The treatment started with reflexology. I don’t know if it helped my gallbladder or my spleen, but it certainly helped me. This was followed by messaging my feet with Kosher salt mixed with mineral oil and tea tree oil. I don’t know if the salt had Gods blessing, but it certainly had mine. 45 minutes later I was done and they made me get up and leave. I purchased a “Foot Facial Kit” which I use every night at home. After three Foot Facial Treatments™ the thick cracked calluses were gone and my feet were soft and attractive again. And at night my husband loves them, and me. While the Institute Beauté gave me my cure, I still love the treatments. You can see me there every Tuesday morning at 11 am, after all, I deserve it, I am a very successful homemaker.
William R: 48 year old physician
I am tall, good looking, successful, athletic, and of course modest. Well 4 out of five ain’t bad. I play racquetball twice a week and won the last club match. I know that I sound arrogant, but don’t you wish you were me. For the last 2 years I have also been modest about my feet. Three of the toenails on my right foot are thickened, yellow, splitting, and painful. My athletes foot had long ago stopped responding to those “miracle” over the counter remedies. I went to see the celebrity foot doctor, Suzanne Levine, DPM. If she was good enough for the hosts of morning show anchors, she just might be good enough for me. Anyway she the third of three foot doctors I had gone to. Dr. Levine said I had fungal infections of my nails and recalcitrant athlete’s foot. I knew that. Her associate, Dr. Everett Lautin and she prescribed a regimen of oral and topical antifungal agents, urea cream and filing of my thickened nails, nail whitening agent, and Botox. Botox for my feet? “Yes.” Said Dr. Levine. “Didn’t you ever notice that your feet stink?” I thought, well yes, but… “You have hyperhidrosis and bromhidrosis. The Botox will reduce the excess sweating and help eliminate your problems.” I didn’t say anything and consented to the regimen. (Later that day I looked up bromhidrosis in the medical dictionary. It means foul smelling sweat.) “You should not drink alcohol while taking the oral antifungal.” Six weeks of no drinking versus thickened, yellow, painful nails. I agreed. Six weeks later and my athletes foot is a memory and my nails are pink and pain free. My racquetball is better than ever, and I wear clogs when showering in the gym.
Joan R: 38 year old interior decorator and “Manolo lover”
I am slim, attractive, and modest. Really. Well except for my feet. I have claws at the end of my toes. Well not really claws, but my toes stand up and are uneven with bumps on the tops. Not only were my feet unattractive, and painful, so were the shoes I was forces to wear. When the prince came, no glass slipper would fit my feet—and my dream would move on. I read an article in the New York Times about Dr. Suzanne Levine and a procedure she had developed to tailor the feet for the shoes. It sounded a bit strange, but, I had been waiting a long time for my prince. My friends suggested that I was crazy and “why don’t you just were sneakers all the time?” No one, certainly no woman, should have to wear sneakers all the time. I was off to see the wizard, off to Dr. Levine. “How much does it hurt? How often? Which shoes do you have to wear? Why?” That was Dr. Levine’s greeting. She was talking from the elevation of her Jimmy Choos. “No, I don’t operate to make your feet fit your shoes. I operate to reduce the pain of your hammertoes and corns.” I was worried that I might never see my prince. “Of course a side benefit is to restore an even natural arc to your toes. Your feet will not only feel better, they will look better.” Well, well, and, and, I was holding my breath. “And you will be able to wear stylish shoes. In moderation.” YES! After the surgery I was back to work in four days. Wearing a lumbering, black, ugly, “post operative shoe” with Velcro closure. Yuck. Two months after the surgery the swelling was gone. And three months after the surgery on started wearing my first pair of Manolos. A gift given to me by my new fiancée.
Susan Q: 62 year old teacher: “Spider vein erasure”
I don’t know where the years went, but my students keep getting younger and younger. It is a cliché but, I don’t remember growing older. My legs were once my most attractive feature. Three children, a mother and grandmother with spider veins and varicose, how could I escape I didn’t. My legs and feet looked like a roadmap. Black nylons and long skirts hid the problem. They also added to my older look. Not good! Then about six months ago a friend sent me to The Institute Beauté. Dr. Levine and Dr. Lautin recommended two treatments to erase the roadmap: laser elimination of the spider veins and injection sclerotherapy of the varicose veins. Dr. Lautin also recommended that I wear graded support hose for a least two weeks after the treatment and because of my predisposition to spider veins, whenever possible afterwards. I agreed to both treatments. In the last six months I had four sessions of laser and injection sclerotherapy. The roadmap is not quite gone, but it now looks only like a small town. I wear the support hose often. And I often wear short skirts again and show off my rejuvenated pins on the beach.
John J: 54 year old investment banker: “Scar reduction”
I lunged for the tennis ball and heard my ankle pop. It wasn’t worth the point. The fracture repair required surgery. The result of the surgery was good. I play tennis again. The scars, not so pretty. I am not vain but, I like to stand out for my abilities and prowess, not my scars. Dr. Levine and her associate Dr. Lautin told me they were called “hypertrophic scars” and that they would decrease with injections of steroids and a “Cool Touch Laser.” I have had three treatments with the laser and two injections. They didn’t hurt that much. I didn’t flinch. The scars aren’t gone, but you can’t see them unless you for look for them. Only I do that. I am again only recognized for my prowess on the court. Now I only lunge for the ball occasionally.
Elizabeth R: 43 year old ballet instructor: “Pillows for the feet™”
I was 3 years old when I received my first pair of ballet slippers. They were my first love. By age four I was taking 2 lessons per week, every week. By age six I was competing. My feet did my bidding, and they did it well. The care of my feet was never a concern. Never, until I was thirteen years old and was preparing for my first national competition. Four hours a day for three months, and then my first twinge of pain. After the competition my mother and my doctor made me take two weeks off and my recovery was complete. That was at age thirteen, forty years ago—I am not thirteen anymore. There have been many loves since, none measured up to my first love, and now there is no,… now I am between loves. Thirty years of ballet took there toll on my feet and the padding on my soles has diminished. Now I can seldom practice and never perform—even walking on the sidewalks of New York causes burning on the bottom of my feet. I love teaching ballet, I love watching my students progress, I love sharing their joy, but, I wish… I wish I could still fly across the stage. Well my wish came true. One month ago I went to see Dr. Suzanne Levine at the Institute Beauté. “As we age we gain fat everywhere, almost. We lose fat on our cheeks and the bottom of our feet.” Dr. Levine explained this and suggested a solution. Dr. Levine injected something called Sculptra into the balls of my feet. “This will stimulate your body to make collagen and restore some of the lost padding.” It worked! I am a ballerina once more. I am still a teacher, but now I am again an example and a fellow performer.