Its always a little odd when fashion directly influences plastic surgery or vice versa. Traditionally, cosmetic surgery has been used to enhance the body, making clothing look better as an added benefit. If one has a tummy tuck, its to make one’s stomach look more toned, not to make that extra-small designer t-shirt look better.

This, however, is quickly changing and footwear is certainly no exception. As popular styles of shoes change, the high heel is getting progressively higher. As most women know, the higher the heel is, the more strain is put on the legs, ankles and back. But plastic surgeons have developed a new way to combat the stress put on the ankles and feet: Restylane injections.

Yep, thats right. The minimally-invasive facial filler is now being used by doctors to add extra cushion and support for the foot and ankle area. Imagine, the comfort and ease with which you can walk in heels, for about 6-9 months, just from having a few injections of Restylane (or, in some cases, Juvederm) in your feet.

New York podiatric surgeon, Suzanne Levine, who teaches the $500 to $1,500 procedure to other doctors, claims she gets calls from patients, especially women in their 40s and older, who want to put the cushioning back in their feet so they can wear higher heels with less strain. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that high-heeled shoes are now perfectly harmless to a woman’s posture.

“It’s like you’re walking on stilts,” says Los Angeles podiatrist, Joshua Kaye. “The ball of your foot is up a couple of inches off the ground in platform shoes. That puts more pressure on the ligaments and soft tissue, instead of the bones.” According to Dr. Kaye, raising the heel more than 3 inches off the ground significantly increases the chances of a sprained or broken ankle, regardless of cosmetic assistance.

Prior to the rise in popularity of plastic surgery, when people became older, it showed. But thanks to modern dermatology and cosmetic surgery, future generations — at least those who will be able to afford it — may never have to endure sagging facial skin or droopy eyelids again.

But the war being waged against dark spots, emaciated muscle tissue, ropey veins and the other usual symptoms of the no-longer-youthful hand is a relatively recent battle, one that can be more challenging than combating facial wrinkles.

The skin on the hands is generally thinner than facial skin. It has the consistency of an eyelid and may be more sensitive to the indignities of time.

One of the most visible signs of aging in the hands is a loss of volume, which creates hands that look bony, with pronounced veins. Many doctors are frequently using sclerotherapy: injecting veins with a solution that shrinks them.

Some doctors inject the hands with fillers such as Restylane to add volume and render veins and tendons less visible. Restylane injections, which are approved by the FDA for use on the face, generally cost around $3,000 and usually takes just one visit. Results may last up to a year, but can sometimes cause short-term problems such as swelling, bruising, sensitivity and itchiness. If done incorrectly, patients face the risk of having a tendon pierced.

Injections are only one of a medley of available techniques. Still, patients are lining up for the procedures.

For some people, the battle is being fought nocturnally, with moisturizing gloves and thick coats of specially formulated hand creams.

The skin care sector of hand creams and treatments has grown more than 60% globally in the last four years, according to a July report from the Nielsen Company, a marketing research company in Illinois.

Nonsynthetic injections are also an option. Dr. Sydney Coleman, a New York plastic surgeon, has developed a procedure over the last decade that involves putting up to a thousand tiny injections of a person’s own fat into their hands; this “fat grafting” procedure, which costs at least $12,000, is done in-office and, despite the likelihood of patients enduring about three weeks of puffiness and redness, the results last over a decade, he says.

With the growing popularity of inexpensive procedures, such as Restylane, prospective patients are learning that their appearance issues can be addressed in smaller, more financially and psychologically managable pieces.

Take Chicago area patient Laura Garcia. Over 10 years ago, her young cousin, sitting in her lap took a healthy tug on her earring, leaving her with a stretched earlobe that sagged progressively more and more over the next ten years.

Rather than let it continue or take steps to have a lengthy and involving invassive surgical procedure, she opted for going the route advocated by a growing number of plastic surgeons: restylane injections.

For years, plastic surgery has been synonymous with face lifts, nose jobs and breast enhancement. However, as trends change, plastic surgeons are focusing on smaller appearance issues and less invassive and expensive procedures, as was the case with Ms. Garcia.

In spite of the questionable economy, the plastic surgery industry reported moderate growth in the U.S. last year and the procedures that grew most were facial fillers, injectables and other non-invassive procedures. Surgeons are anticipating their patients’ needs and responding with cheaper and in many cases, safer alternatives to traditional, invassive procedures.

Traditional plastic surgery procedures can still have certain connotations attached to them; that they’re sought after by the financially well off and somewhat older cross-section of society. However, the inverse of that idea is that physical appearance can drastically influence success or failure in people’s personal and proffessional lives at just about any age.

Especially for people in highly competitive industries, where youthful exuberance and energy are equated with professional success, facial fillers like Restylane are giving people an alternative to plastic surgery that’s convenient, relatively inexpensive and in many cases, safer than the traditional invasive procedures.

This begs the question “Is plastic surgery always about vanity?” If medical insurance can (at least partially) cover costs for having procedures such as Restlyane injections for certain types of jobs like T.V. news anchors and fashion models, the short answer the aforementioned question would be “no”.

This doesn’t mean, however, that the same kind of research and understanding by potential patients shouldn’t be exercised as it would for traditional cosmetic surgery. Not all medical professionals are cosmetic surgery experts and just because someone holds a degree in medicine, this is no guarantee that they posses any kind of specialty skills in cosmetic surgery and ill-informed patients end up paying the price.

It is imperative as a potential patient to do your research, by finding a well-qualified (board certified?) physician, with experience and the appropriate training to administer any kind of cosmetic enhancement, regardless of how involving or invasive the procedure is.