Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Your health
I was delighted to spend a day at the National Running Show in Birmingham and was enthused by bags of A-list celebrities talking about the sport.
The show was so well done, with famous faces appearing on four stages. What I loved was just how inclusive it was. There was loads to appreciate, whether you were a new ‘Couch to 5k’ runner or a crazy multi-day ultra runner, like me.
Just about every brand worth looking at had a stand, as did lots of smaller businesses with new ideas in clothing, nutrition or race recovery. The show also gave you a chance to meet running legends and I found it motivating to grab a few words with those who have reached the peak yet remain so humble.
Like Steve Cram, the middle-distance legend and now BBC athletics commentator.
The show was a magnet for so many people I have met over the years too. It was quite emotional to see some of them again as we had shared experience of some form of hardship that if you were not there you would not understand.
I walked away with my head full of ideas to improve what I do both in running but also in a charitable way for Prostate Cancer UK.
I had the seeds sown for future dream races and, just like with the Long Distance Walkers Association the week before, I felt privileged to rub shoulders with so many people from all walks of life about a shared passion.
So if your love of something special may be on the wane, find a way to meet up with like-minded people to feed off each other’s passion. It may just provide the kick-start you need to go again.
Until next week,
Kev
justgiving.com/fundraising/kevin-webber8
Big lips, razor-sharp cheekbones, doll-like skin… thousands of young women yearn for what has become known as Love Island Face.
But just how easy is it to achieve reality TV “perfection”, and what are the dangers?
Fillers, Botox and “tweakments” are becoming increasingly common in young women.
So, armed with pictures of glamorous Love Islanders both past and present, I visited Dr Ross Perry of Cosmedics in London’s Harley Street to ask exactly what procedures I’d need to get “the look”.
During the consultation, he explained the lengthy processes, along with the risks I’d be taking as part of my transformation – which would cost more than 10 grand.
First, Dr Perry asked me to pull various expressions and say what I wanted to change.
“In order to get rid of your forehead wrinkles and lift your eyebrows, we’d need to inject Botox into your frown,” he explained.
“To get the exaggerated look, we’d also need to put some Botox on either side of your brows.”
Pulling my cheesiest grin to show the lines on my lower face, Dr Perry suggested further Botox in the lines around my mouth, the side of my nose and my chin, which would slim down my jaw.
A full face of Botox would set me back £400.
Then we started on injectable fillers, which help fill in facial wrinkles and restore a smoother appearance.
“We don’t tend to put fillers in the forehead but you could put fillers into each temple to lift the brow,” Dr Perry said.
“Then we could put fillers into the nose if you have a bump, then along the cheekbones to give you what we call the ‘model look’.
“We can also put fillers into the corners of your mouth to lift them up,” he continued.
“Then we could fill in the chin area to push it out and give you a defined jawline.”
Finally, the holy grail of fillers – the lips – which current Love
LUCKY ESCAPE Norman Allen
Islander Shaughna Phillips claims are her best feature.
The bill for all this? Approximately £1,200. But even after we’d ticked off all the injectables, Dr Perry said I couldn’t stop there.
“You’ve got a bit of acne and a few broken blood vessels so you could have laser and IPL treatment to get rid of that,” he said.
“You could have CoolSculpting [a procedure which freezes fat cells from the face] to give your jawline a bit more definition and
INITIAL COSTS COST OF YEARLY UPKEEP Botox £400 Botox every four months: £400 Brows & lashes £500 per time
Cheek fillers £800 Fillers each year: up to £1,200
Lip fillers £400 each time
Teeth veneers £3,000 Brow microblading every six
Chin cool sculpting £600 months: £350
Laser treatment £150 Fake lashes: £150 every six weeks Hair extensions £250 Hair extensions: £250 every
New makeup £200 six weeks
GTROATANLD: T£O6T,3A0L0FOR FIRST YETAORT:A£L10E,A25CH0 YEAR: £6,500
get rid of puppy fat. Then you can have microblading, which involves tattooing hair-strokes on to the face to make your eyebrows more
I’d just returned from a walking holiday in the Lake District when I discovered blood in my urine. It was just a little at first, but an hour later it was really red.
It was a frightening discovery and I was worried about what it might mean. I got an emergency GP appointment and was sent for a cystoscopy.
I was given the bad news on the same day as the test – I was told they had found a growth in my bladder which needed further investigation.
I thought my future was going to be bleak. Doctors at
defined.” To get the full Love Island look, Dr Perry said I’d need a new smile, with veneers costing up to £3,000. He added: “Part of this look is ex can’t and
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Spire Leeds Hospital found two tumours and, a month later, I had surgery. But because I’d got checked out as soon as I had symptoms, it was good news.
The cancer had been caught early and hadn’t invaded the muscle of my bladder.
It worries me that people might ignore small symptoms and convince themselves they are unimportant, but this is the best time to be checked as early intervention is the key. I’m so glad that I went to my doctor. Norman Allen, 81, Leeds