Cosmetic Surgery For Women

Labiaplasty Surgery is An Outpatient Procedure

2020-02-01T21:23:00.000-05:00

Labiaplasty is an outpatient procedure at our office that can be done with either local anesthesia with sedation or general anesthesia. The goal of the surgery is to provide symmetrical, attractive genitalia, so excess labial skin is removed and incisions are closed with absorbable sutures. There is no need to subsequently remove stitches.

You should be able to sit and walk on the day of the surgery, although it’s also important to get adequate rest. More rigorous exercise can begin about a month after the procedure. You should also postpone having sexual intercourse for 4 to 6 weeks.

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Dr. Jeffrey H. Donaldson, a board certified Columbus, Ohio, plastic surgeon, offers patients a unique, outpatient option for labiaplasty. Columbus, OH women can have the procedure performed at the Donaldson Plastic Surgery Center without general anesthesia or a prolonged recovery. This advanced approach has created opportunities for many women to achieve their goals with less hassle and downtime – and the results are excellent.

According to Dr. Donaldson, labial skin and soft tissue redundancy are common among women of childbearing age. He says, “Pregnancy, childbirth, genetics, sexual activity and age can all contribute to labial hypertrophy, or the enlargement and stretching of the labia minora. Women who have this condition are not alone, although they may feel that way because of the sensitive nature of the problem.”

The condition, says Dr. Donaldson, is often not limited to aesthetic concerns. “Many of my patients first seek treatment because of functional issues. They may have pain during intercourse, while riding a bike, or when sitting for long periods of time because of folding or pinching. It can also create problems with personal hygiene, or limit the types of pants or swimsuits that may be worn.” Surgery can safely correct these problems on an outpatient basis with durable results and minimal recovery.

In Columbus, Ohio, labiaplasty is not necessarily a new procedure, but Dr. Donaldson has pursued the most innovative and refined techniques. He believes that traditional “amputation” methods should be abandoned in favor of gentler infolding and restructuring of protuberant labial tissue. This maintains the labial edge, and creates more natural looking results while reducing size and restoring position.

According to Dr. Donaldson, the procedure is minimally invasive and routinely praised. Donaldson comments, “I perform almost all labiaplasties under local anesthesia in my office, and they are usually finished in less than an hour. Afterward, my patients are overwhelmingly thrilled with their function and appearance. ” Many patients describe improved self-confidence, especially during intimate circumstances.

The recovery period lasts several days, and the sutures dissolve naturally. Most patients can return to athletic and sexual activities after several weeks.

For women in Columbus, OH, labiaplasty should be performed by a board certified plastic surgeon with extensive experience. The surgeon's staff should be attuned to the sensitive nature of this condition, and provide discretion and care when handling this corrective procedure.

For more information on labiaplasty, Columbus, Ohio, plastic surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Donaldson, invites you to visit his website at http://www.donaldsonplasticsurgery.com or contact his office at 614-442-7610 or Donaldson Plastic Surgery, 4661 Sawmill Road, Columbus, OH 43220.

About Dr. Donaldson

Dr. Jeffrey H. Donaldson is a board certified Columbus, OH, plastic surgeon who owns the Donaldson Plastic Surgery Center. He has worked to improve and refine his techniques for labiaplasty. Columbus, Ohio patients who are seeking this procedure appreciate the staff's discretion and confidentiality. In addition to labiaplasty, the Columbus, OH plastic surgeon performs cosmetic and reconstructive procedures of the face, breast, and body for both men and women.

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Brr, Can Frigid Temps Lead to Weight Loss?

2020-01-30T18:03:00.003-05:00

Finally, an upside to the frigid temperatures that have gripped much of the nation -- all the shivering could help shed a few pounds. The body wants to maintain a balance, a homeostasis of 98.6 degrees. If you make it cold, the body will do everything it can to get back to 98.6. And it has to burn calories to do that -- heat equals calories.

No need to spend money on cryotherapy or CoolSculpting (Just another way to freeze fat) when you can use winter to lose that winter weight. People can burn up to 50 percent more calories by exposing themselves to below-freezing temperatures, which causes the body to work overtime.

There's actually a type of fat called brown adipose tissue -- BAT. Cold can trigger this BAT. It actually produces heat, and you burn fat tissue. In environments as mild as 60 degrees, some of these people saw metabolism rates boost by as much as 20 percent.

But be warned exposure to extreme cold, especially through ice baths, could cause complications in people with cardiovascular problems or even induce cardiac arrhythmia in those at risk. Some should consult a physician before attempting some of these techniques.

Drinking ice water first thing in the morning can rev up the metabolism. Reduce the temperature in your house to 64 degrees or less and try to get used to the temperature without bundling up with a blanket or wearing a sweater.

Here are some at-home tips to try thermal dieting:

1) Place an ice back on the back of your neck and on your upper chest for 30 minutes while reading or watching TV to rev up your metabolism.

2) Take cold showers: Try taking 30-minute cold showers for the maximum benefit, but shorter showers help too. For an abridged version, gradually lower the temperature in the shower to 68 degrees over the course of five minutes, then stand in the cold stream for two to three minutes straight before getting out.

3) Immediately upon waking, start drinking ice cold water and continue sipping ice water throughout the day.

4) Go for "chill walks." Make sure to bundle up extremities such as your hands, feet, ears and head, and then go for a walk in the cold in summer exercise attire. Consider working up to this kind of walk by slowly taking off layers of clothing. Be sure to carry your coat with you, so that you can warm up should you become too cold.

What to Expect from a Dermaplaning Facial

2020-01-29T16:47:00.002-05:00

If you follow the latest in skin-care trends, you're probably aware of the popular professional procedure that promises to leave the skin smooth and glowing by removing dead skin cells AND unwanted facial hair (so long, peach fuzz).

My skin is really dry and my aesthetician recommended dermaplaning with my normal facial that I get every 6-8 weeks. She said removing the dry dead skin will allow all the moisturizing products used during the facial to increase hydration and I’ll see less dry itchy skin between appointments.

I asked how often other clients used this technique. It all depends on their skin type; some monthly without a facial, while some will do the procedure with a facial others will alternate one month facial the next month dermaplaning.

How does dermaplaning work? Dermaplaning is performed on the face, under the chin, and on the sides of the neck. It is quick and painless. After properly cleansing and prepping the skin, a trained aesthetician or skin-care professional holds the skin taut and uses a 10-gauge scalpel held at a 45-degree angle to gently exfoliate the skin by scraping off the top layer of dead cells. This procedure also removes vellus hair (commonly referred to as peach fuzz).

An aesthetician might also often combine dermaplaning with a salicylic, lactic, or glycolic acid peel (depending on your skin type) to enhance the treatment's exfoliation. Or a Dermaplaning itself is a physical exfoliation; combining it with a chemical peel helps reduce acne scars, brown spots from sun damage, and clogged pores. On its own, the cost ranges from $55, but with a facial around $120. Combing with a peel, it'll run you about $150 to $200. Typically, a cooling and hydrating mask will be applied following the treatment, which is intended to calm and soothe the skin.

What skin types benefit from dermaplaning? Nearly all skin types can benefit from dermaplaning, as long as there are no severe pustular or cystic breakouts going on. People with thin, easily irritated skin should avoid dermaplaning with a peel, which is probably just too much exfoliation.

Dermaplaning will help reduce the appearance of acne scars, remove peach fuzz and leave the skin smooth and glowing. Plus, there is no recovery time. You have the procedure and are ready to return to your day. Who wouldn’t want that?

Will dermaplaning cause the hair on my face to grow back thicker? Many people are under the impression that shaving hair causes it to grow back thicker and darker, but that is actually not the case. Dermaplaning will not cause the vellus hair on your face to grow back thicker or darker. Re-growth after shaving may feel slightly different because the hair has been cut straight across. However, if shaving (or dermaplaning) actually made hair growth back thicker and darker, I believe we would have just discovered a cure for male baldness.

How often should I get dermaplaning done. An aesthetician will help you figure out a schedule. Each time you get dermaplaned, you're removing about two to three weeks' worth of dead skin cells. I’ll let you know how mine goes. Maybe I’ll even let her take before and after pictures.

New App BuildMyBod

2011-06-26T22:10:00.000-04:00

There really is an app for everything today, including elective body modification. A plastic surgeon named Dr. Jonathan Kaplan has announced that he has launched a new app that will be offered globally called BuildMyBod. The app will run on iOS devices and allows someone thinking about plastic surgery to build their own perfect figure in the virtual world.

The app not only points to the sections of the body that you might want to work on, but also gives you the fees for the surgery as well. The fee schedule even gives the cost of the anesthesiologist as well. The app offers procedures for men and women to check out. The clinic the doctor that invented the app works in is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but the app helps prospective patients find surgeons around the country. The app launched on iOS devices and a version is being developed now for Android devices as well.

BuildMyBod from Jonathan Kaplan M.D. on Vimeo.

According to Kaplan, “Consumers want information to make better buying decisions, especially about cosmetic surgery, where prices for the same procedures can vary by as much as 35%. As the dramatic growth in the development of apps for the iPhone shows, people want the convenience of having information they can use to make important decisions on their phones. It seemed logical that being able to research cosmetic surgeons and procedures that way would be of real value to consumers and surgeons.”

Vampire Facelift

2011-04-05T23:53:00.001-04:00

The Natural Way to Supernatural Results...

Vampire Facelift™ combines the science of beauty with the science of cell biology to create the most beautiful and healthy face in the most natural way--using the youth-generating properties locked in a secret place within your own blood.

Vampire Science Secrets

When a cosmetic physician uses a filler to sculpt the face or mouth, she is trying to replace the volume that is lost with normal aging (loss of muscle and loss of collagen).

If you've had fillers already in the effort to sculpt your face, then what was put in your face probably came as a syringe inside a box.

With the Vampire Facelift™ procedure, the filler does not come from a box, it comes from you!

The cosmetic physician takes your blood in the way you would normally give blood for a lab test (same method and about the same amount).

Then she (by one of several methods) separates the platelets from the other main components of the blood.

Next, she activates the platelets to produce platelet-rich fibrin matrix (PRFM).

PRFM is like a gel, similar to the other fillers, and can be injected to sculpt the face--and it came from your body. But, here's the best part: not only does PRFM cause an increase in the volume, but also PRFM acts like a rejuvenating agent with at least 7 growth factors normally used by your body in healing.

When the growth factors activate the unipotent stem cells of the skin, then the unipotent stem cells generate New Skin, New Blood Flow, New Collagen--New Tissue! Not only do you see more volume (as with other fillers), but you also see a younger more glowing complexion.

You do not need to transplant stem cells...they are already there! Without unipotent stem cells, you would not be able to heal a wound.

In this video (from April 2010), Dr. Runels made history by announcing the first of his designer procedures, the Vampire Facelift™...

How It’s Done

Blood is removed from a vein in the patient’s arm.

The blood is processed to isolate the platelets from other blood components.

The platelets are then activated using one of several methods, the most common being exposure to calcium chloride, to form the PRFM (a rejuvenating elixir made by the person’s platelets).

This gel is then injected back into multiple areas of the face in the specific areas that define the Vampire Facelift™ to induce growth of new collagen, skin tissue, and blood vessels around each injection site.

Collectively, this activity lifts the skin away from the bone, creates skin volume and new blood flow, thereby sculpting the face and creating a younger complexion for a more youthful and more aesthetically appealing appearance.

This improvement continues for approximately 12 weeks and then lasts at least 15 months.

Zerona Cold Laser Treatments

2011-03-09T23:37:00.000-05:00

Treatment with the Zerona laser is easy, painless, and carefree. Each session takes less than an hour; the low-level laser is used for a total of 40 minutes. The laser is applied to the targeted area, which is generally a combination of the waist, hips, and thighs, for 20 minutes. The patient then turns over and the very same treatment is applied to the opposite side. The minimum suggested treatment period is two weeks, with three full sessions each week. You should consult your physician about the maximum results for your body type, weight, and target loss.

Many patients have described the session as relaxing, and even Zen. Some even try to catch up on phone calls with friends and loved ones as they lay down. You simply lay in a comfortable, stationary position for twenty minutes at a time, in a relaxed environment, while the cold laser does all of the work. Since the Zerona uses cold laser technology, you feel nothing during the procedure. You may feel a bit different and lighter as you exit the treatment center due to the bio-stimulation that begins in your body.

While all doctors’ recommendations are different, many will suggest that you increase your fiber and water intake leading up to the procedure to increase the speed of results. Others may encourage a detoxifying footbath or massage immediately following treatment. Each of these procedures is voluntary, and varies from office to office. What remains the same are the results.

You are always welcome to listen to music, or just close your eyes and rest during the procedure. Listening to white noise such as running water or ocean waves is always a relaxing way to spend the forty-minute sessions. Ultimately, the treatment with a Zerona laser is a stark contrast to traditional methods of fat reduction procedures such as liposuction and gastric-bypass surgery. With Zerona, you can simply lie down, relax, and let the laser do all the work.

Face exercise: a fountain of youth?

2011-03-03T19:30:00.000-05:00

The platinum blonde you see here is Greer Childers, the 60-ish founder of the BodyFlex workout. In the clip above, filmed in the 1990s, the perky, tanned, and toned exercise instructor demonstrates a face exercise called the Lion. First, she instructs, make an "O" shape with your mouth, then drop it down so you're stretching the top half of your face. Next, stick out your tongue. With your "O" mouth down and your tongue extended, look up to the sky and hold your breath. (Childers exhales and inhales as if she is sucking in the last bit of oxygen on Earth.)

If you follow her lead, Childers promises, this exercise will "lift and smooth out the skin"—an all-natural face-lift. The comments below the video on YouTube express some skepticism. "It looks like she's exorcising demons out of her," says one. "I pissed my pants laughing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" writes another.

Proponents of facial exercise have long been the butt of jokes. I may look like a freak when I'm squatting at the gym, but at least I have plenty of company, and I can claim I'm working on improving my muscular strength. Face workouts, by contrast, are taboo both because they look idiotic, and because women (and men) prefer to hide the things they do to prevent the ravages of age.
One of those women, I learned recently, is my mother. During a recent call home, I mentioned that I'd been watching that hilarious Greer Childers video. That's when my mom confessed: She does face exercises, in secret, in the bathroom. I never knew. Neither did my father.

My mother is mentally stable, and she has few wrinkles for a woman of her age. Does that mean these crazy contortions might actually slow down the aging process? Is it time that we pay face-exercisers the respect they've long been denied?

Facial exercise is no recent fad—some historians even claim it helped Cleopatra keep her jowls at bay. In the early 20^th century, a man named Sanford Bennett wrote rapturously about his face workouts in a book called Exercising in Bed. Troubled by how quickly his face and body had aged, Bennett began exercising at age 50; after two decades, he was a regular Benjamin Button, known by some as "the man who grew young at 70." Jack LaLanne, TV's "godfather of fitness," was also a proponent of face exercise. "You know why so many of you students look older than your years?" LaLanne asked his audience. "And why your jowls are hanging and your chin is hanging and your neck's all craggy looking? … Because the muscles are out of shape!"

That's not the half of it—the face-exercise field is full of people who market their system as the first and the best. Senta Maria Rungé, author of 1961's Face Lifting by Exercise, claimed to be the true originator—the pioneer of "the only method in the world by which one can lift the face naturally and restore a youthful contour."

There's also Californian Carole Maggio, who founded her business, Facercise, in 1981. "I was newly married to a man 16 years my senior," she says, explaining the origins of her career. "After six months of marriage, he sweetly whispered into my ear, 'You're prematurely aging.' " Maggio, already a spa owner, began putting her face through the paces. When friends and clients asked about her newly youthful looks, she spread the gospel with a trio of books. Maggio says she's traveled to 18 countries to tell men and women about Facercise and claims to have advised King Hussein and Queen Noor of Jordan. (She has also since remarried.)

Carolyn Cleaves at age 61Then there's 65-year-old Carolyn Cleaves, the founder of Carolyn's Facial Fitness in Washington State. A former model with a degree in English literature from Harvard—she repeats this fact several times during our interview—Cleaves says the skin on her face started to sag after she lost 50 pounds. She didn't want to get a face-lift, lest she look like her expressionless mother. Cleaves' solution: designing her own facial exercise program—15 minutes, 28 exercises, three to five times a week—complete with DVDs, books, and a skincare line.

I am 22 and don't have any wrinkles—yet. Even so, Maggio and Cleaves told me that I'm already far, far behind on my exercising. To make up for lost time, I went to see Valeria Georgescu, the leading face-exercise guru in Washington, D.C. Georgescu is the creator of FACE (Facial Activation Conscious Engagement) Val-U. (Yes, it's a play on her name.) She's 46, works at the Mandarin Oriental spa, and has been exercising her face for 20 years. She doesn't have a single wrinkle.

On a recent Friday afternoon, I met Georgescu in the Mandarin's quiet, incensed downstairs spa. The first advice she offers is that I shouldn't sleep with the side of my face touching the pillow—it presses and contracts the facial muscles. Already, I'm not feeling good about my facercising future—sleeping is generally an activity I relish for its lack of rules.

I have vowed, though, to keep an open mind. And so we begin with some basics. Georgescu starts by sliding on long white gloves. It's important, she says, never to touch your face while exercising it because fingertips are textured and have a damaging grip.

Georgescu tells her clients to exercise their faces for five minutes each morning and five minutes in the evening, working the forehead, cheeks, eyes, lips, and chin. First, she teaches me Greer Childers' classic Edvard Munch face. Next, we move into an eye squeeze. The goal here is to contract the side of your eye, where crow's feet nest, without moving the other parts of your face. (Give it a try—it's like a much creepier version of a wink.) After that, I'm tasked with moving my labial fold, the part near the side of my nose where lines inevitably form. (Georgescu likens this look to that weird quivering snarl on a dog's face just before he bites.) After raising my cheeks up and down to get the facial blood flowing, I repeat the phrase Oooooooh, chaaaaaaals, like I'm saying Charles in a British accent but dropping the r. Georgescu tells me to exaggerate the vowels with my face movements, puckering for the first part, then spreading into a half-smile as I contract my cheeks. Oooooooh, chaaaaaaals.

None of these exercises was easy—my cheeks actually went into spasm after Oooooooh, chaaaaaaals. I found it particularly tough to isolate individual muscles; when Georgescu told me to move the area around my eyes, I couldn't do it without flexing the rest of my face. The other big challenge was stopping myself from laughing. Thankfully, Georgescu and her cohort don't take offense. "I just laugh with them, why not?" says Carolyn Cleaves. "I'm laughing all the way to looking youthful. Go ahead and make fun of me."

While laughing is OK, Georgescu says there are some things a face exerciser is not permitted to do. "You ever see runners?" Georgescu asks me. "They have horrible faces." I stay quiet and nod. I do not mention that I run half-marathons. "[Runners] don't contract their faces," she says. "They kind of let it flop. And every time it flops, it stretches, like a breast."

Before I resign myself to a life without sleeping or running, I should probably figure out whether any of these claims make sense. When I question Cleaves, Georgescu, and Maggio about scientific research, they instruct me to look at their clients' before-and-after pictures. "Try it for a month, five minutes a day, and that's your research," Georgescu says.

What does the medical establishment have to say? Dr. Murad Alam, the chief of cutaneous and aesthetic surgery at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, says there's basically no research in the field of facial exercise. Just because we don't have hard numbers doesn't mean the exercises don't work, he says. There just haven't been any controlled, scientific studies to prove or disprove their efficacy.

Botox works because it paralyzes muscles: If you stop moving your forehead, you don't get wrinkles. Since relaxing certain muscles reduces wrinkling, it's possible that tightening other facial muscles could have a similar effect. But certain realities of aging can't be wiped away with exercise. Over time, the amount of collagen and elastic in our skin decreases, giving our faces a crepe-paper-like appearance. Malar fat pads in the face also move and thin, creating wrinkles. Make wacky faces all you want—none of this is going to change.

But even if the wrinkle-abatement claims seem dubious, there are other reasons to exercise your face. Toward the end of my session, Georgescu confesses she is worried about me. "You have engaged nothing in your face at all when I speak," she chides. "You know how you lost that? From cell phones and from the Internet—because you're always texting and you're not looking."

She's right: My countenance is not in a constant, Lucille Ball-esque state of animation. Not only is my lack of facial engagement jump starting my aging process—Georgescu says it also may explain my recent dating drought. Flirting, she says, requires facial muscles. If I consciously raise and engage my face during the day, she promises I'll attract more attention.

On the Metro ride back from the Mandarin, I try to practice. An older man, his face expressionless, is sitting next to me reading a book. I try to smile at him; he stares back quizzically. I contract my cheeks, relax my forehead, and attempt to contort my muscles into some kind of Mona Lisa smile. By the end of the ride, I'm exhausted, my cheeks hurt, and no one has flirted with me. Then again, I'm just a beginner—perhaps practice makes perfect. Oooooooh, chaaaaaaals. Oooooooh, chaaaaaaals. …

resource: Slate Magazine

Friday on The Dr. Oz Show - Plastic Surgery Procedures for 2011

2011-01-10T18:07:00.003-05:00

10 forecasts for cosmetic surgery in 2011

2011-01-07T17:48:00.002-05:00

This year will see even greater interest in cosmetic medicine than in the past, if doctors’ forecasts hold up. Plastic surgeons and dermatologists always predict booming business ahead, of course, but this time they may be right.

They’re expecting a comeback from the recent economic slump, which cut into patients’ ability, if not their interest, in getting cosmetic treatments, especially surgery. From 2008 to 2009, for example, the number of facelifts dropped 30 percent, while breast implant operations were down 12 percent and tummy tucks, 13 percent. Figures for 2010 are not yet available.

If consumer income economy rebounds, as many predict, cosmetic doctors’ offices are likely to fill up again.

“As the economy continues to improve, people will return,” says plastic surgeon Dr. David Shafer of New York.

That’s just one of many trends to look for this year:

SKIPPING THE SURGERY
In recent years, patients seeking to fight the signs of aging have been eagerly embracing alternatives to plastic surgery, and that trend is likely to continue.

Facelifts are down 40 percent in the past five years, while injections of fillers such as Juvederm, made by Irvine-based Allergan, are up 49 percent, according to surveys by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, or ASAPS, based in Garden Grove.

In the coming year, “demand for facelifts and other facial rejuvenation surgery will increase,” the ASAPS forecasts. That prediction is based on the shaky assumption that non-surgical alternatives haven’t permanently undercut the market for surgery.

“The trend toward more non-invasive plastic surgical procedures will continue,” says plastic surgeon Dr. Michael A. Persky of Encino. Among the examples he cites are long-lasting fillers such as Sculptra; medium-powered lasers such as Fraxel for skin care; and the newly approved Cool Sculpting device from Zeltiq, which uses cold temperature to shrink unwanted fat.

“There will continue to be an increase in non-surgical procedures which will fill, tighten and uplift skin,” predicts plastic surgeon Dr. Ed Domanskis of Newport Beach, although he foresees a return of surgical patients too. He also expects patients will want doctors use new skin-tightening devices in parts of the body that currently a seldom treated.

“We will extend their use to different parts of the body, like the knees as well as excess skin over the elbows,” he says.

LOTS OF FAT FIGHTERS
“Non-surgical, non-invasive body contouring devices will continue to rule,” says says plastic surgery consultant Wendy Lewis.

“Zeltiq Coolsculpting was the most significant FDA approval in this space of 2010, marking the first scientifically proven non-invasive fat reduction treatment, and there are more systems to come. More variations on [radio frequency]-, heat- and light-based energy for fat melting and skin tightening are on the horizon.”

An injectable fat-fighting drug is also possible this year, she says.

“If Kythera gets FDA approval for its fat-dissolving drug based on phosphatidylcholine in 2011 or 2012, it has the potential to revolutionize the body-contouring market by providing a clinically proven injectable solution to localized fat deposits,” Lewis says.

Plastic surgeon Dr. John Di Saia of San Clemente and Orange predicts that patients will remain fascinated with new fat-fighting technologies, but he is skeptical about the results.

“Gimmicks in medicine and less invasive technologies will continue to attain public attention in 2011. Zeltiq, for example, will likely have a period of popularity, but then ‘cool off’ as actual results temper consumer decision making,” he says.

“This is the pattern seen with new technology for ‘fat fighters’ over the past decade. No new technology has commanded the market for long and there have been several in the last decade or so. We have had ultrasound-assisted liposuction, power-assisted liposuction, laser-assisted liposuction, injectable ‘fat dissolvers,’ and multiple marketing-assisted variations on these themes. Consumers continue to be wowed by marketing and frequently do not investigate before they partake. ” Di Saia says.

FILLERS GALORE

“My 2011 forecast definitely includes fillers, such as Juvederm, Radiesse and Artefill, becoming more and more popular,” says dermatologist Dr. Lorrie Klein of Laguna Niguel. “I predict they collectively will become as popular as Botox, as more and more aging baby boomers see their faces ‘sinking’ and also realize that filler treatments, if done expertly, can rejuvenate the face as well or better than a surgical facelift.”

That forecast assumes a big leap in popularity for various fillers, which totaled about 1.6 million procedures in 2009, compared to 2.6 million for injections of Allergan’s Botox and similar wrinkle-fighting drugs.
The ASAPS doesn’t dismiss the work of plastic surgeons, but it makes a similar forecast: “The growth and popularity of cosmetic injectables (Botox, Dysport, Sculptra, Radiesse, Evolence, Juvederm, Restylane, Perlane etc.) will continue to increase as products continue to evolve and new players enter the market.”

YEAR OF THE CHEEKS

“I also predict that cheeks will become the ‘new lips,’ ” Klein says. “Women and also men are seeking a younger, fresher look that Botox can only provide a part of. I have seen an exponential growth in cheek plumping in my practice during 2010 and expect it to continue to grow as the baby boomers become educated about what is making them look older, and how to fix it.”

“It’s not about just filling in wrinkles anymore, it’s about ‘re-inflating’ the cheeks, chin, temples and other facial areas that are no longer smooth or rounded,” she says.

Reality TV star Heidi Montag is one of many stars who has had fat injections to plump up her cheeks, although few admit it, as Montag does.

Actress Heather Locklear also may have had filler injected into her cheeks, according to Shafer. Many cosmetic doctors think actress Megan Fox has done so, and actress Raquel Welch apparently has too, says plastic surgeon Dr. Tony Youn. Klein believes that actresses Demi Moore and Madonna have also made their cheeks more prominent with injections.

BUTT ALSO

“Celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Beyonce, and Jennifer Lopez have made a shapely rear-end a must have accessory,” says the ASAPS. “In the coming year patients will be seeking posterior body lifts, buttock lifts, surgical and nonsurgical buttock augmentations to shape and augment their buttocks.”

FAT IS YOUR FRIEND

Many plastic surgeons also extract patients’ fat from the abdomen, then inject it to plump up other parts of the body.

“Fat transfers … to face, hands, buttocks and breasts will grow significantly in 2011,” predicts cosmetic surgeon Dr. Andre Berger of Beverly Hills.

“Fat grafting will continue to improve and become more defined, detailed,” and be used in more parts of the body, says plastic surgeon Dr. Ashkan Ghavami of Beverly Hills. “I have seen a huge increase and demand for buttock fat transfer and this will continue to trend upward.”

Such fat transfers, particularly with technologies that concentrate the fat’s stem-cell content, are a hot topic. “hot,” Lewis says, but independent medical researchers haven’t yet figured out the degree to which those techniques are actually effective or whether they’re just a hot marketing phenomenon.
Lewis expects that 2011 will produce more clarity. “New data will help cut through the confusion,” she predicts.

BETTER BOTOX

Some doctors foresee the introduction of more effective drugs similar to Botox.
Plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Fleming of Beverly Hills predicts that the wrinkle-smoothing effects of these products won’t fade after three-plus months, as Botox tends to do.

Domanskis goes further. “A Botox product will be developed that will last longer and even be a cream type that will penetrate the skin and not require an injection,” he says.

His forecast of a Botox-like cream has a basis in fact, but Domanskis may be overly optimistic about the timing. Revance Therapeutics, based in Mountain View, Calif., says clinical trials of its no-needle Botox-like lotion will be done in 2012.

RECOVERING FROM WEIGHT LOSS

America’s battle with obesity could lead to more business for plastic surgeons.

“The number of patients seeking bariatric surgery will continue to skyrocket. There were approximately 200,000 gastric bypass procedures performed just this past year. There are about 5,000 plastic surgeons. If even a small fraction of these patients who have lost massive amounts of weight undergo cosmetic procedures to remove the hanging, excess skin, their numbers will overwhelm plastic surgeon’s capabilities!” Domanskis says.

The ASAPS agrees: “As our population increasingly realizes the dangers and health consequences of obesity, the number of patients seeking plastic surgery procedures for body contouring after dramatic weight loss (abdominoplasty, lower body lift, upper arm lift, etc.) will rise in 2011.”

HAIR AGAIN

Two experts foresee an expansion in hair restoration procedures.
“The Neograft system of automated hair grafting is a significant development because it opens up hair transplantation to many more clinics and consumers,” Lewis says.

Hair-transplant specialist Dr. Alan J. Bauman of Boca Raton, Fla., says, “Less invasive hair transplant procedures using advanced devices (like NeoGraft) that help the surgeon efficiently transplant healthy follicles with no linear scar will continue be a top area for R&D over the next few years.”But he also foresees an expansion of hair-loss treatments: “compounded ‘designer’ minoxidil (like Formula 82M), at-home laser treatments (LaserCaps and handhelds), in addition to new diagnostic tests and tools like hair loss genetic testing and the HairCheck trichometer.”

WHAT NOT TO EXPECT
A year ago, a new variety of breast implants called “gummy bear” implants seemed close to approval by the Food and Drug Administration. Now that seems less likely, Lewis says.

“No one is even talking about gummy bear implants coming in the U.S. anymore, since the regulatory process has virtually crippled the industry from launching new products,” she says.

resource: The Orange County Register

Botox – More than an Anti-Aging Treatment

2010-10-21T01:06:00.001-04:00

Originally utilized in the seventies for the treatment of patients with various movement disorders, Botox injections (Botunlinum Toxin A) were used in small doses to kill off the nerve cells within the muscles responsible for the offending disorder reversing the severity of the movement. Dr. Caruthers, a pioneer of this revolutionary treatment, discovered that many of his patients also experienced anti-aging benefits as a result of their treatment. After further experimentation, Botox Cosmetic Treatments where born.

This discovery of the Botox injection, as an anti-aging treatment, revolutionized the cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery world. Since then, there have been a number of other comparative treatments including Collagen injections, developed however Botox injections still remain the most popular treatment due to its non-permanency and cost effectiveness.

The Botox treatment however is not just for a pretty face, although it has built its reputation through the successful treatment of forehead wrinkles, eye wrinkles and lines in cosmetic surgery for thousands of men and women€“ it also has many other uses in the cosmetic market. Some of these include injection into the balls of the feet.

Superstars such as Victoria Beckham and Sarah Jessica Parker are famous for high heels. This love of stilettos comes at a cost. Many women experience pain in the balls of their feet from continuous wearing of high heels. Botox injections, once every three months, is used to relax the muscles and reduce the pain.

Another condition that benefits from Botox injections are headaches and migraines. Much of this pain is caused by muscle spasm and over tight muscles. Botox treatment can stop these conditions from occurring.

Hyperhydrosis is when someone has uncontrolled sweating and botox can stop it. Botox injected into the correct sweat glands, can stop this embarrassing affliction – the rise in this treatment is meteoric. Cade Witnish, M.D. of Harlequin Medical, a Cosmetic Surgery Clinic in London, says Botox injections for hyperhydrosis treatment has increased in the plastic surgery market by 400% in the last year.

Botox remains the number one treatment in the cosmetic surgery industry. Botox anti-aging still remains number one, but other botox treatment such as in cosmetic surgery for men, migraine, high heels (balls of feet) and other botox cosmetic treatments are growing faster.

So there you have it, Botox is not just for anti-aging, but for all other cosmetic surgery treatment purposes as a cure all. It has been a long reign at the top of the plastic surgery world, but I don'€™t think this anti-aging super heavyweight is going anywhere soon. Many have tried and failed and it will be interesting to see what product will be the next contender to try and take the place of botox injection as the king of cosmetic surgery jungle.
resource: World news

FDA Approves Weight Loss Methods Zeltiq and Zerona

2010-09-16T00:14:00.000-04:00

If you can't diet or exercise it off, you can now try to freeze or zap it off. The Food and Drug Administration gave the green light for new weight loss treatments: one that freezes fat cells and another that uses a low-energy laser to shrink them.

For those that have a few annoying extra pounds or a bit of a bulge in all the wrong places, Zeltiq, may be the answer. Cleared last week by the FDA as a body contouring treatment, it uses a gel patch attached to a machine that freezes unwanted fat cells, causing them to self-destruct and get re-absorbed into the body over several months.

On the market for about a year, the drug was originally approved by the FDA to anesthetize and cool the skin before dermatology procedures. But doctors found that the device worked in the battle of the bulge as well.

"This is a big deal," plastic surgeon Lawrence Bass told "Good Morning America."

"It's the first time the FDA has cleared a non-invasive fat-reduction technology."

Former dancer and avid exerciser Lisa Pittonyak was a Zeltiq customer eight months ago to combat "my lower abdomen little pouch that I have."

"It's always bugged me, my whole life," she said. "At first it was a strange pulling feeling, a little painful," she said. "And after about five or 10 minutes, you basically get numb."

Although she's only lost about half an inch, she said she feels better about her body and that the $1,500 price was worth it.

"Bathing suit, summer time, the jeans, wearing tighter clothing," she said, ticking off the reasons how Zeltiq worked for her. "And not feeling like I have that little bulge."

Zeltiq, approved recently by the Food and Drug Administration as a weight-loss treatment, uses a gel patch and a machine that freezes unwanted fat cells, causing them to self-destruct and then re-absorb into the body over several months.

(ABC News)

New Fat-Fighting Treatments Hitting the Market

In addition to Zeltiq, the FDA also cleared another weight-loss method called Zerona, which aims a low-energy laser at troublesome areas, forcing the fat cells to empty in a matter of weeks.

"They certainly don't replace diet and exercise," Bass said, "but they're another option for a subset of patients that just need to take a little bit off."

The FDA clearance can mean a bonanza for marketers who can use that for pronouncement in advertising. The fat-freezing device has been used "off label" for fat-busting. It's manufacturers have solid scientific evidence to support its effectiveness in freezing on average 22 percent of the fat layer reduction. It's mostly for people of normal body weight with just a few nagging trouble spots.

The laser device, in contrast, is the first of its kind to receive FDA clearance which means, while safe, the body of scientific evidence is less robust and less well-documented. But unlike liposuction, these treatments are non-invasive, meaning there's virtually no down time and very little physical risks.

The laser device, in contrast, is the first of its kind to receive FDA clearance which means, while safe, the body of scientific evidence is less robust and less well-documented. But unlike liposuction, these treatments are non-invasive, meaning there's virtually no down time and very little physical risks.

New weight-loss treatments are always sought as more and more Americans struggle with expanding waistlines.

The FDA is also expected to review a weight-loss pill known as Contrave in December. The drug shows promise: Researchers found that clinical trial participants began losing weight four weeks after starting the drug regimen and lost an average of 6.1 percent of their body fat after more than a year of treatment.

But, so far, none of the weight-loss treatments seems to be magic pill. Some have embarrassing gastrointestinal side effects and doctors have continuously stressed that pills and lasers are never meant to replace old-fashioned diet and exercise.
resource: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/freezing-fat-fda-green-lights-weight-loss-treatment/story?id=11641994&page=2

Cosmetic Surgery for Women: Who do you go to for vaginal mole removal?

2010-07-15T22:01:00.000-04:00

Moles are natural growths seen on every human skin although there are people who would prefer getting rid of it through any natural or clinical way because of how it appears on the skin. My advise is to see a qualified dermatologist, gynecologist or cosmetic surgeon to remove a vaginal mole or any mole. There are at least three acceptable methods of removing moles namely - shaving or full excision, laser surgery, and electrocautery.

Shaving or full excision
Shaving is a procedure that needs the mole and the surrounding skin to be surgically removed through anesthetic injection. Anesthesia tends to numb the site for surgery and render the mole to be raised at a level that will make it easier for the surgeon to remove it. Once the anesthesia is already making its mark by making the skin feel no pain, a scalpel will be used to slice off the mole and a bit of tissues surrounding it. Once it is sliced off, the wound will be cauterized to prevent bleeding from continuing.

On the other hand, full excision is excising the growth and adjacent tissues including portions of subcutaneous tissues underneath it. Edges of the skin are stitched together so that tissues will be given time to naturally attached themselves and heal. This kind of technique will leave the incision line which the surgeon tries to minimize.

These two kinds of methods for removal can leave hidden cells underneath the skin that may result to another skin growth of the mole on the same spot where it was excised. For patients who have fear in the sight of bleeding or low pain tolerance, this kind of procedure is not that suitable.

Laser Surgery
This procedure is considered as one of the cleanest and most sophisticated work of clinical art although, this is also one of the most expensive and selective processes that one can opt to choose. Selective in a way that only flat growth is allowed to utilize this kind of procedure. For growths which are raised, it is quite impossible to go with this procedure because the light waves that are released from the laser won’t be able to penetrate deep into the skin tissue to pronounce a satisfactory job. For the procedure to be considered as successful, it must not leave any kind of mark or scar on the skin. This will depend on the person’s skin qualification to produce the good results.

Electrocautery
This is more advisable for skin tags and warts but is not commonly advised to mole removal although it might work by using heat in order to burn the mole from the skin. This is not a popular method because of the painful effects on the skin and forms of scarring to the skin. Several treatments are needed to finally remove the mole and not just through electrocautery.

12 Crazy Types of Cosmetic Surgery

2010-07-02T10:33:00.000-04:00

Botox, dermal fillers, breast implants and liposuction are bread-and-butter cosmetic procedures for plastic surgeons and dermatologists, but sometimes patients demand much, much more.

For example, dimple surgery, cankle liposuction, and collagen injections into the feet to make high heels less painful.

The Daily Beast online news site has assembled a slide show featuring 12 such varieties of cosmetic procedures that it labels “ridiculous,” including some that don’t deserve that label.

Local cosmetic doctors know of them, but don’t have much good to say about them. Here’s a rundown:

RISKY

Dimpleplasty. Wish you had dimples like Colin Firth or Jennifer Garner? It’s doable, but risky in the long-term.

“I’ve done a few for the cheeks, and they work reasonably well,” says plastic surgeon Dr. Val Lambros of Newport Beach. “I have concerns about how the dimple looks in 10 15 years. A dimple turns into a crease with time. A dimple arguably looks good. A crease does not.”

Plastic surgeon Dr. John Di Saia of San Clemente and Anaheim agrees. “This is risky and unreliable — how it might turn out is less than predictable. It is not a common request either.”

Chin cleft surgery. This procedure, like a dimpleplasty, is “fraught with problems,” says plastic surgeon Dr. Edward Domanskis of Newport Beach. “One needs only look at Michael Jackson, trying to look past his nose, to his chin. Unfortunately, the results of trying to create a chin cleft/dimple result in a totally unnatural appearance, primarily due to the dynamic muscular forces in those areas. If a patient wants to draw attention to herself/himself, then this is a good procedure!”

Lambros is less worried about the procedure. “It’s a look. It can be done and some people like it,” he says.
Abdominal etching. The idea of tailoring your fat to look like muscle seems outrageously wrong-headed, but this operation is growing in popularity among men. They turn to VASER devices and others to “sculpt grooves in layers of fat to suggest a muscular appearance,” in the words of Daily Beast.

Plastic surgeon Dr. Marcel Daniels of Long Beach says, “Nineteen years of private practice has taught me that there are very few shortcuts in life and abdominal etching isn’t one of them. To create the
illusion of musculature, lines of scar are created on the underside of the skin with the intervening fat now looking like bulging muscles. Sounds good so far! If the patient gains any weight (and most of us do as we get older) the bulges can stop looking like muscle and look just plain bizarre! Buyer beware!”

Lambros agrees: “When you take down the fat so much, the abdomen has the possibility of looking funny with time. My concern isn’t for the young guy. It’s for when that young guy is 50 and puts on 20 pounds and his skin isn’t so good. He will put on fat where there is fat and he will not where the fat has been taken away. Might look very odd. Plastic surgeons, like patients, tend to live for the moment.”

Domanskis says, “Most patients want as much definition as possible but the risks of complications like scarring, unevenness, are very real no matter what type of liposuction is used. This is where the plastic surgeon’s experience as to how much fat under the skin can be removed safely without causing problems is extremely important.”

LESS RISKY
Cankle liposuction. For an estimated price of $5,000 to $8,000, it’s possible to have the fat sucked out of chubby ankles, known as “cankles.”

“It has been considered dangerous,” warns Di Saia. Other doctors aren’t so worried.

“It’s just liposuction and this has a long tradition in lipo surgery,” Lambros says.

“This is not that unusual,” says Domanskis. “A patient requesting a reduction in the size of her calves with liposuction may also have unwanted fat accumulation around her ankles. Liposuction can remove this also, primarily on either side of the ankle, through a single extremely small cut. The amount of fat removed is usually quite small. … The final appearance in the ankle and calf area is usually not seen for at least six months because of prolonged swelling.”

Patients might be disappointed with the results, warns Daniels.

“The shape of a woman’s ankle is only partially dependent on fat in the area. The rest is due to bone structure, which can’t be ‘fixed,’ so removing fat from the area may result in a significantly more modest degree of improvement than the patient may hope for. Also since the liposuction is done so far away from the heart, swelling in the feet may take several weeks or even months to resolve,” he says.
NOT REALLY COSMETIC PROCEDURES Eyebrow and eyelash transplants.

Domanskis explains, “Eyebrow and eyelash enhancement with Latisse may not be enough when the patient has suffered a burn of the area. That is when either a narrow strip of hair bearing skin or micrografts are used to reconstruct the burned eyebrow and/or eyelash.”

Dr. Christopher Zachary, chairman of the UCI Department of Dermatology, agrees.

“Facial disfigurement comes in many forms, and so loss of eyebrow hair can be a source of chronic concern, embarassment and social stigmatization in patients who have suffered from trauma, burns, and various medical conditions. Eyebrow transplantation is a most appropriate and ethical procedure, though it is difficult to achieve an optimal esthetic outcome,” he says.

Iris implants. At a price of $5,000 or more, this operation is really for people whose eyes have been damaged, not for those who wish their eye color were different.

“I wouldn’t want my irises messed with no-how,” Lambros says.

IF IT BOTHERS YOU …
Toe shortening. The estimated price is $2,000 if you think that one toe is too long, or $10,000 for a “complete foot makeover.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” says both Di Saia and Lambros.

“I have never had a patient request this,” says Domanskis. “However, different length adjustments of the hands and/or toes could be indicated for various congenital malformations of these areas to gain more symmetry and deflect attention to the deformity. ”

Belly button surgery. The price of turning an innie into an outie, or vice versa, is as much as $4,000, according to the Daily Beast.

Lambros is dubious. “That sounds like a lot to me for a simple operation,” he says.

Di Saia performs this procedure only during a tummy tuck.

Domanskis is sympathetic about why a woman would want this work done.

“Unfortunately, after pregnancy, the mother’s body does change in appearance, primarily the breasts and abdomen with its belly button. It is perfectly reasonable to try and recapture what one has lost,” he says. “Reshaping the belly button is one part of a tummy tuck but can be done as a separate procedure.”

SO SILLY
Toddler teeth whitening. Did anyone other than Britney Spears ever want this?

“This belongs to the extremely small minority that want their pet’s teeth white also,” says Domanskis.

THE PRICE OF FASHION
Collagen feet fillers. For an estimated price of $225, you can get injections of collagen to cushion yourself against the pains of high heels.

“I have read about it but not had a request,” says Di Saia. “It’s kind of silly as it would need to be repeated frequently.” Just like Botox, doc.

“I really am amazed how women can walk around with those high heels. The cost of reducing any discomfort is a bargain compared to the cost of the shoes,” says Domanskis.

CROSS-CULTURAL
Pubic hair transplant. This is supposedly an Asian phenomenon.

“Every subset of the population and every individual has their conception of beauty, which is somewhat dictated by fashion and cultures,” says Domanskis. “Everyone would agree that it is preferable that one accept their own appearance without alterations but at least plastic surgery is available to help.”

“People have said my beard looks pubic,”: says Lambros. “That’s why I shave.”

Di Saia adds, “It seems most are shaving most of this hair anyway.”

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Gummy-bear implants. They must have been included in this list because of the silly name. But they’re a serious alternative to current types of saline and silicone breast implants.

They’re available, even though they’re still in clinical trials, awaiting action by the Food and Drug Administration. If they live up to their promise, they will eliminate the problem of implant leakage, because their gumminess keeps them intact even if they were to be sliced open.

But many doctors are skeptical about them.

“They still weep silicone gel,” says Di Saia. “I am not a fan of silicone gel and these new implants have not won me over. I’ll stick with the safer saline, thank you.”

Daniels adds:

“While it is true that the gel doesn’t go anywhere even if the implant is cut open, there are trade-offs. The implants can’t be squeezed through an incision due to the thickness of the gel so a significantly larger incision has to be made, and it almost always has to be in the crease of the breast. The areola is rarely big enough to be an option and you can forget about the armpit or belly button [as an incision site].

The actual lifespan of the implant isn’t really known yet, as it hasn’t been in use long enough, so speculation that it is a lifetime implant is merely that — speculation. …

They also cost significantly more than any other implant on the market.”

“They are not all they are cracked up to be,” says Lambros. “You still see and feel irregularities and hardness. I don’t know if there is still no bleed from the gel.”
resource: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/plastic-255946-liposuction-crazy.html

Plastic Cosmetic Alternatives to Get Rid of Smoker's Lip Lines

2010-06-10T13:00:00.000-04:00

How to Get Rid of Lip Lines

©iStockphoto.com/narcisa - floricica buzlea
Lip lines are a typical sign of aging, especially among smokers.

Lipstick lines, smokers' lines, vertical lines -- call them what you will, lip lines are one of the signs of aging you'd rather not have to deal with. Along with crow's feet and sagging neck skin, they're a dead giveaway that you're not really 29.

Natural aging plays a part in the formation of these lines, but so do sun damage and cigarette smoke. In fact, these lines are sometimes called smokers' lines because they're much more common on people who smoke. Not only does smoking age your skin, but you're also performing a repeated action -- on a consistent basis -- that shows wrinkles. The pursing of your lips when you smoke has a long-term effect. The same can also be said for things like drinking through a straw, but people don't usually have a pack-a-day straw habit.
You can try to fight back with everyday anti-aging measures such as wearing sunscreen and using a good moisturizer, but those do more to prevent damage than to reverse it. You can use various cosmetics that claim to fill in wrinkles, stop lipstick from bleeding and condition lips. But sometimes products you apply to the skin's surface just aren't enough to undo the damage and achieve the youthful look you want.

If you're looking for something more than a great lip balm or nutrition advice, you may be surprised to learn that there are several effective options out there. These include fillers that can be injected into your lips to make them look fuller and fill in lines, and laser treatments that cause your skin to produce brand-new tissue.
For some of the options available, as well as their pros and cons, keep on reading.

Causes of Lip Lines

Ultra Bad Ultraviolet

Sun exposure is known to accelerate the signs of aging. This is because UV radiation from the sun damages the collagen and elastin in the skin. Many of the skin problems that we think of as an inevitable part of aging are really caused by sun exposure -- not time. Daily sunscreen is a very good way to avoid facial lines of any kind.

To start, let's look at what causes lip lines. Some of these factors you can control, and some you can't.
One cause of lip lines is, unfortunately, using your lips! Every time you purse your lips to drink through a straw or whistle a tune, you create folds in the skin. Over time, the repetition of this pursing motion can result in permanent creases and lines around your mouth. This is the main reason that people who smoke cigarettes tend to see lip lines develop sooner and more noticeably than nonsmokers do. When you add in the fact that smoking has a drying effect on skin and is known to accelerate the formation of wrinkles and loss of skin tone, it's clear that smoking is a major factor in the formation of lip lines.

Another cause of lip lines is loss of lip volume with aging. As you get older, your skin loses collagen and elastin -- the components of skin that give it a full and smooth appearance. In addition, facial fat, which accounts for some of your lips' plumpness, is lost naturally as you age. Lip lines, as well as other facial lines and wrinkles, become more and more visible as these components are lost.

Another main cause of lip lines is thinning skin. As you age, your skin tends to become thinner and more likely to become creased with use. All facial lines, including lip lines, are more visible as skin becomes thinner.
Aside from giving up smoking, it sounds like there's little you can do to avoid lip lines. There are several things you can do to erase them, however. For more information, read on.

Fillers for Lip Lines

Botox for lips?

Because lip lines are related to the facial muscles that you use to purse your lips, Botox injections can be used alone or along with injectable fillers to smooth lip lines.

One way to reduce or eliminate vertical lip lines is to replace some of the volume that has been lost from lips over time. Dermal -- or skin -- fillers can be injected into lips to make them fuller. These procedures are very similar to the ones used to give Hollywood stars their sexy pouts, except that the goal is to replace what Mother Nature gave you and gravity took.

One popular dermal filler is collagen. Collagen from your own body or from a donor can replace the collagen lost due to aging, filling in the lips and smoothing lines. The advantages of collagen are low cost -- it is relatively inexpensive -- and, if the collagen is derived from your own body, low risk of allergic reaction. Collagen treatments have an almost immediate effect, but they're a very temporary solution, lasting only about three months.

Another type of filler that can replace lost lip volume, tightening and smoothing skin, is hyaluronic acid. Several popular lip fillers used by cosmetic surgeons contain this ingredient, though the concentrations vary. These treatments are more long lasting than collagen treatments, lasting up to a year.

A third option is to have fat injected into your lips to reduce lip lines. You may be able to have fat from one part of your body (such as the stomach) extracted, treated and injected. This can reduce the appearance of lip lines and it can give your face a fuller, more youthful look overall. Fat injections can cause lumping or scarring, though, so talk with your surgeon about the risks versus the benefits.
If injection-type fillers don't sound good, however, there are other options. For more information, read on.

Laser Treatments for Lip Lines

Tune in to Radio

If you have fine lines around your lips but don't want to try injectable fillers or laser resurfacing, you might look into treatments that use radio waves to tighten skin and trigger collagen production. These treatments typically take just a short time at the doctor's office and give results after only one treatment. And you can go straight back to the office afterward. Although these procedures won't fix deep lines, they are a good choice for someone who wants a little lip refresher and is low on time.

Laser resurfacing treatments to smooth vertical lip lines are also available. These resurfacing treatments can be used either alone or in combination with injectable lip fillers.

All lasers used for skin resurfacing and rejuvenation use beams of high energy to tighten and repair skin. Although there have been several types of lasers in use over the years, fractional lasers are one of the most popular, gentle and effective.

A fractional laser causes skin to replace damaged and wrinkled skin with new skin. It also encourages the body to produce collagen. You'll probably need three to five treatments, over several months, to get the desired results - which might take a little longer to notice than with injectable fillers (about a week). However, once the initial series is complete, the results can last for a year before another treatment is needed.
There is some discomfort associated with laser treatments, even though a numbing gel is used to minimize any uncomfortable sensations. Redness, swelling and some blistering can occur as well. In addition, there will be some discomfort for a few days following each treatment, and redness that can last a week or more.

When do you need a secondary facelift? How long does a facelift last? What is a tuliplift?

2010-05-31T00:47:00.000-04:00

Facelifts are a very popular form of plastic surgery for men and women. Facelifts involve the cutting of the skin around the ears, and utilizing these incision points to tighten and reduce skin and fat in the face. Although facelifts can make dramatic improvements in a persons appearance – and make that person look years younger – facelifts do not last forever. Prior to getting a first or secondary facelift surgery, a person should understand what is involved in these procedures.

Most people who decide to get a facelift are between the age of 40 and 70 years old. Patients must be in good health and it is recommended that they do not smoke for timeframe before and after surgery. Non-smokers are ideal. There are varying types of facelifts, some of which are designed to do small difference; others are designed to create a large difference throughout the face. The basic idea of a facelift is not to make a first look like a different person; rather it is designed to make a person look younger. The effect of large-scale facelifts can be dramatic.

In addition to the actual facelift, many people get other procedures done at the same time. Some of these procedures, such as laser resurfacing, are designed to improve the appearance of the skin. Others, such as eyelid lifts and neck lifts, are also designed to help reduce wrinkles and make a person look younger.

What to Expect With a Facelift

There are several things a person should expect when getting a face lift. A facelift is a major surgery that will require recovery time and can be very painful and uncomfortable. When a patient goes to get the facelift he or she will either receive local anesthetic and a sedative or general anesthetic. A patient will not be able to do much for a couple of days after the surgery so it is a good idea to have someone available to help.

After the surgery full recovery can take months, although most people are able to return to work in 1 to 4 weeks. Most patients feel significantly better after a few days. Many doctors ask (and may even require) that the patient not smoke for a time period before and after the surgery. This is because smoking can actually impede the healing process to a frightening degree. smoking can also cause excess scarring, which is very bad for recovery from a facelift surgery.

What are the Risks Involved with a Secondary Facelift Surgery?

Because the effect of the facelift conceived in five to 10 years, many individuals who have had facelifts in the past are considering getting a secondary facelift surgery. The risks involved with the secondary facelift surgery are not significantly greater than those involved with a first facelift.

Nine out of ten women would boost bust size with ‘boob jabs’

2010-05-04T22:44:00.000-04:00

resource: STV Living

Bust boost: Many women would like to ehance their breasts.

A survey has found that a massive 89 per cent of women would opt to have a ‘boob jab’ injection in a bid to increase their bra size.

The non-surgical procedure helps women to enhance their busts without having to go under the knife, and can sometimes give a more natural look than breast implants.

The interesting figures were released before the launch of the cosmetic surgery TV chat show, MyFaceMyBody, based on a survey of 523 people in Manchester and London during February this year.
And results showed women aren’t the only ones keen on boosting bra sizes, with nearly a quarter of men admitting they actually prefer real breasts to ‘fake' enhanced ones. A third of women also admitted that their partner or spouse would be happy to stump up the cash to get bigger breasts for them.

But it seems that many are worried about the repercussions of actually going under the knife, with 63 per cent of women saying their main concern of having a boob job is that their breasts would look fake, making the boob jab a more favorable option for many - despite well-publicized concerns about injections in the breast area. Almost half of the women surveyed also believed, incorrectly, that implants can burst at high altitudes.

Face Lift – The Liquid Face Lift is a Hot Trend in Plastic Surgery

2010-05-04T22:27:00.000-04:00

Facial Plastic Surgery

When you think of a face lift, you probably think of scalpels and incisions. But, what if you had a less invasive option that did not require surgery? If that is the sticking point between you and a more youthful lifted countenance, then the solution just might be the revolutionary liquid face lift which is a quite popular alternative to the traditional surgical method.

The solution is a poly-L-lactic acid that is offering similar results for men and women who have lost volume therefore have sagging skin, deep lines and wrinkles and sunken hollowed eyes.

Here’s the low-down on this innovative filler and how it works to put off surgery:

First of all, this solution to facial rejuvenation is low risk. The poly-L-lactic acid is biocompatible so there is no risk of allergic reaction and it is safely reabsorbed into the body over time. And, because it is not a surgical procedure, all the risks that go along with, plastic surgery facial, surgery are eliminated. You can go in on a long lunch hour and have this procedure and be ready to go immediately.

The liquid face lift works because the solution is a dense gel. It is injected into the areas where aging or sickness has caused a loss of volume in the face and fills out the area. It can also be injected into the lines, wrinkles to plump the up and smooth them out.

One of the great benefits of this treatment is that your results will continue to improve over the next few months following the injections. This is because the liquid lift not only adds immediate volume, but it also stimulates the production of collagen which is responsible for the tone and tightness of your skin.

There are other fillers that can be used to improve facial volume, but the poly-L-lactic acid treatment lasts for up to two years whereas other treatments require more frequent maintenance. It can also be combined with other injectable treatments to obtain optimal results.

Of course, if your situation is so severe that you truly need skin removed, the traditional surgical lift may be the best option. Your plastic surgeon will evaluate your face and tell you what the best option is for the results you want.

If you are interested in pursuing this no-invasive method of tightening and plumping, be sure to find the right professional to give you the treatment. A plastic surgeon is the only person who should be using injectables and you should make sure he is board certified and trained in this particular treatment.
While it is a safe procedure, you could still get bad results like over-fill or asymmetry if an inexperienced person does it. You can have a youthful and fresh face without surgery, so what are you waiting for!

Beauty Innovations Stop Grays with a Pill Melt Fat with a Laser Oprah.com

2010-05-04T22:10:00.000-04:00

Ten years ago, we were just starting to hear buzz about Botox. Lasers seemed totally sci-fi. And you probably didn't think you'd soon be using clear plastic strips to bleach your teeth at home. So what innovations will the next decade bring? Will you be tightening your skin with a wand? Not quite. But you may be erasing lines with a topical gel, or slimming your love handles in one afternoon, without a single incision. We canvassed dermatologists, plastic surgeons, dentists, and chemists about what's ahead, and found that the future is looking bright—and very beautiful.

More Effective Sun Protection

The sun does a number on your skin: dark spots, wrinkles...not to mention potential cancers. The best protection against all of this damage is sunscreen. And it will soon be more powerful. In the next several years, the FDA will likely approve a proposal requiring sunscreen bottles to carry an SPF value (which denotes protection only from UVB rays) and a designation of its UVA protection level. "The new rules will ensure that sunscreen manufacturers are providing adequate protection from UVA rays," says Steven Wang, MD, director of dermatologic surgery and dermatology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center at Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Once the proposed guidelines go into effect, the FDA will also likely green-light Tinosorb, a sunscreen ingredient that absorbs a wide spectrum of UVA and UVB rays and is currently approved in Europe and South America.

A Slimmer Waistline, Trimmer Hips—No Surgery Necessary

It sounds too good to be true, but it may soon be a reality: Many dermatologists and plastic surgeons are confident that in the coming years they'll be able to eliminate unwanted fat painlessly, without the invasiveness and risks of liposuction. One new technology uses high-intensity focused ultrasound waves to penetrate the skin and break up the fat cells that lie about three-quarters of an inch beneath the surface. Once these cells are destroyed, they are eliminated from the body (some are metabolized as calories and the rest are processed through the liver as waste, along with normal dietary fats). A machine that has harnessed this technology, UltraShape, is currently cleared for use in 57 countries, and its manufacturer is pursuing FDA approval. The UltraShape treatments are said to be relatively painless—"just a slight tingly sensation," says Canadian dermatologist Mark Lupin, MD. Three treatments, spaced two weeks apart, are usually required, with noticeable results seen within a month after each. "On average, patients ultimately see about a two-inch reduction in circumference in the treated area," Lupin says. "And we've seen as much as three inches."

Another new body-contouring option is Zeltiq, a machine that uses intense cold to destroy fat cells (which are more vulnerable to freezing temperatures than surrounding tissue). Like the ultrasound treatment, Zeltiq requires no needles, incisions, anesthesia, or recovery time. It's already FDA approved to cool the skin during other dermatologic procedures, and some doctors are starting to use it off-label to reduce fat. "These technologies are still in the early stages, but they will be perfected over the next decade and we will finally have the ability to eliminate fat without surgery," says Sadick. Big caveat: UltraShape and Zeltiq are not designed to remove large volumes of fat; doctors stress that the machines are most effective on areas of "localized fat," like love handles or back bulges.

Prettier Skin, Without a Doctor's Visit

The past year has given us some effective at-home laser hair-removal options (we've seen impressive results from the Silk'n SensEpil, $499, and the Tria Laser Hair Removal System, $595)—but hair-free legs are just the beginning. "In the not too distant future, lasers and intense pulsed light machines that remove pigment, soften lines, and treat acne will be sitting on bathroom counters next to our toothbrushes," says Tina Alster, MD, clinical professor of dermatology at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. First up: An at-home skin-resurfacing laser will be available for purchase in doctors' offices next year. The device pinpoints small areas of skin with every treatment to gradually improve discoloration and fine lines.

Fuller, Firmer Skin

In 2020 dermatologists probably won't be plumping up fine lines with the injectable hyaluronic acid gels they use today. A few doctors are already using a patient's own blood to create a protein-rich solution that is injected into the skin to fill wrinkles and stimulate collagen production. It's just a hint of what's to come: "In a few years, we'll actually be able to use a patient's own skin tissue as the basis for a custom-tailored filler that will ideally last longer—with no possibility of allergy or rejection," says Ranella Hirsch, MD, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Boston University School of Medicine.

Fewer Grays, No Dye

Researchers are in hot pursuit of a "cure" for gray hair—and they're getting closer. A study published last year showed that gray is caused by hydrogen peroxide and other cell-damaging molecules that build up as we age, bleaching color from the hair. The absence of an enzyme called catalase allows these molecules to accumulate, but EXT Life Sciences, a Michigan-based biotechnology company, believes it has found a chemical compound that can restore catalase and thus return hair to its original color. The company is working to incorporate the ingredient into leave-in conditioners and serums, says cofounder Stanley Terlecky, PhD, professor of pharmacology at Wayne State University School of Medicine. And across the Atlantic, L'Oréal's Paris-based hair biology research group recently identified a pair of genes that may determine the longevity of the cells that give hair its color. L'Oréal scientists are hard at work developing a treatment (either a pill or a topical formula) to block the progressive decline in these color-giving cells and stop—or at least slow—the graying process, says group director Bruno Bernard, PhD.

The Beauty of Stem Cells

A stem cell is an exquisitely blank slate—it has the potential to become a nerve, a muscle, a retina. Or...breast tissue, a hair follicle, elastin. Now that researchers are beginning to tap into these cells' programmable potential—to treat cancer, paralysis, cardiac disease (see page 152 for more on the cells' promise in rebuilding damaged hearts)—the science will inevitably make its way into the cosmetics industry. (Remember, Botox was first developed to treat muscle spasms of the eye, and the hyaluronic acid in facial fillers was used for lubricating joints.) Stem cells could potentially create new collagen, grow new hair, and restore skin color in people with pigmentation disorders, says David Goldberg, MD, director of laser research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Stunning prospects, aren't they?

Thicker Hair

There are currently several over-the-counter handheld lasers marketed for hair growth (one, the HairMax, is FDA approved). But scientists are working on more powerful ways to thicken hair with light. "Soon you may be able to go to the dermatologist and sit under a hood of red-light-emitting diodes that boost hair growth," says Neil Sadick, MD, clinical associate professor of dermatology at New York Presbyterian Hospital–Weill Cornell Medical Center. "The lights increase blood flow to stimulate the follicles."

Hair transplants will also evolve. Today's versions require surgically removing hair from an area of the scalp where growth is dense and transferring it to thinning patches—a technique that's often not feasible for women, who usually experience allover thinning. In the next decade, however, doctors hope to be able to take just one hair follicle and use it to grow your hair in a lab. That hair could then be used to fill out thinning areas—without compromising thickness elsewhere.

A Smoother Brow—Minus the Needles

Doctors will soon be able to rub out fine lines—literally. A new gel that contains botulinum toxin type A penetrates the skin topically to smooth wrinkles. The gel is applied, left on for 30 minutes, then wiped off. "As with injectable Botox, you'll notice lines smoothing after a few days; results last at least three months," says Fredric Brandt, MD, who has conducted early studies on the product. Revance Therapeutics, the biopharmaceutical company behind the drug, hopes it will be FDA approved for use on crow's-feet (it could then be applied "off-label" to other areas of the face) and available in doctors' offices by early 2013.

A Brighter Smile, Faster

"In ten years, I think in-office teeth-whitening will take five to ten minutes, not 45," says Jeff Golub-Evans, DDS. Peroxide will remain the active ingredient in the process, but chemical systems now in development will help it penetrate more quickly. This advance should make at-home teeth-whitening faster, too. And if your teeth are crooked, gapped, or badly stained, getting veneers should be a far simpler process within the next five years, say Marc Lowenberg, DDS. Using camera imaging, dentists will be able to make porcelain veneers right in their offices—and they'll be so thin, they'll require hardly any filing of the natural tooth. Plus, since the veneers will be produced by machine—not by hand as they are now—they'll cost about half as much ($500 to $1,250 per tooth).

resource: http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Beauty-Innovations-That-Will-Happen-in-the-Next-Decade/4

7 New Trends in Cosmetic Surgery

2010-05-03T17:12:00.000-04:00

COSMEDICA'S BLOG

The wizards of beauty are working their magic, whipping up longer-lasting wrinkle fillers, fine-tuning Botox and liposuction treatments — even debuting silicone butt implants. ‘Sculptors’ Fine-Tune Botox, Fillers, Fat-Suctioning Devices

The wizards of beauty are working their magic, whipping up longer-lasting wrinkle fillers, fine-tuning Botox and liposuction treatments — even debuting silicone butt implants. That’s right, butt implants. “The public seems to want this,” James Wells, MD, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, tells WebMD. He is on the clinical faculty of the University of California at Irvine and a private practice plastic surgeon in Long Beach.
Butt Implants. It’s a cultural phenomenon that’s moving northward. “Buttock implants are very popular in South America, where Brazilian women want to have very round, curvaceous buttocks,” Wells tells WebMD. “Breasts are big here, but in Brazil, it’s buttocks.” The implants have a more “solid” covering than breast implants because they must sustain weight, he says. “There’s been an increasing interest from the public, so surgeons want to know more about them.”

Breasts Deliver Drugs. Who knew? Silicone breast implants, because they are covered by permeable membranes, can be drug carriers — in fact, they can act as timed-release drug carriers. Researchers are looking to include a drug in the implant that can reduce the scar that occurs around the implanted breast. “There’s an early suggestion that the drug might help,” Wells says.

Believe in Botox. Male or female, almost everyone wants a younger-looking face. “There are job retention issues,” says Wells. “We see men in their 40s and 50s knowing they need to compete with others in their 20s,and 30s. You and I both hear stories of people with equal talents, but the person who looks better gets the nod. Appearance is a big issue.”

“Botox has probably been the greatest product in the last 20 years,” says Seth A. Yellin, MD, chief of facial plastic surgery at Emory Healthcare. “It has an incredible safety profile — still in my opinion the single thing I would take on a desert island to make people look better.”

First used to treat crow’s feet and eyebrow creases, Botox is making inroads all over the face of America. One popular use: Injecting Botox to soften lines around the mouth — “the ones that make you look angry, even when you’re not. [But] it takes an experienced plastic surgeon to get it right,” he says.

Aesthetic surgeons are perfecting their technique, sharing secrets. If not done right, there’s “risk of losing oral function — you don’t want to do that,” Yellin adds.

Better Than Collagen. A product called Restylane (or Perlane) — very popular around the world as a filler for both wrinkles and lines — acts much like collagen, yet is longer-lasting. However, it is not yet FDA-approved, says Wells.

“We’re interested in facilitating its introduction into the American market,” he tells WebMD. “It seems to be easier to use than collagen and has longer staying power. Most tissue fillers, even the person’s own fat, have an uncertain lifespan. The information we have on [Restylane] looks very exciting. We can’t wait to get it through the FDA and use it in this country.”

Restylane is made of hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring molecule in the skin — one that draws water to itself and allows the skin to remain hydrated, explains Yellin. Though created in the laboratory, the injectable form is longer lasting than any other wrinkle fillers — perhaps lasting up to one year. There also are virtually no allergic reactions to Restylane.
“The FDA should be approving it in the second quarter of next year,” he tells WebMD.

Combo Package. Whereas Botox can smooth the wrinkled lines in your face, it often takes fillers to completely get rid of them. “If you have a well-formed crease, Botox will soften it, but it won’t make the well-formed crease disappear,” says Yellin. “Fillers complement Botox. Laser resurfacing can also complement Botox.”

Other wrinkle fillers are in the works, he says. One company is working on a product made from human foreskin. Yellin is developing one made from the placenta, which is normally discarded after delivery.
His theory: Cells extracted from the placenta can be injected into the skin, where they might stimulate cells to grow their own collagen. Normally, human collagen — when injected — does not live long because it does not have a blood supply. “This will have its own blood supply, so it will live,” he tells WebMD. It’s only in the laboratory phase, though, so don’t get too excited.

Speedy Healers. After a face-lift, fibrin glues and tissue sealants help seal wounds quicker, control bleeding and bruising, and reduce swelling — which hasten healing, Wells tells WebMD.

Fibrin glue is another product that mimics nature: “Your body makes a tissue glue in response to an injury,” Wells explains. “When you fall down and scrape your knee, the weeping that creates the scab is fibrin glue. When you have a facelift — or wherever we introduce injury — the body’s process is to leak this material out.”

“I use fibrin glue as a routine part of facial aesthetic procedures, have been doing so for over a year,” says Yellin. The product can be squirted into an area or sprayed — like spray paint, he says. “It’s supposed to seal up any little capillaries, reduce bruising. But it won’t reduce significant bruises.”

Souped-Up Liposuction. New, high-powered suction devices are especially good for the fibrous areas of the male breast, the flank, the love-handle area — or for people who are having their second procedure. Because the device has more power, there is less bruising, says Wells. The machine also allows the surgeon to shape or contour the area more easily.

Liposuction devices that are ultrasound-guided are a bit riskier and less effective, “because they don’t go around curves and bends very easily,” Wells adds. “Also, heat [from the device] can cause some injury to tissue.”

Three-dimensional imaging is a new technology that’s enhancing all plastic surgery procedures, says Wells. “It increases the depth perception of everything we do. Anytime we can use technology to get a sense of thickness or depth, it allows us to make better judgments.”

The Peels. These treatments for sun-damaged skin are practically old news, they’re so popular. Microdermabrasian involves removing the superficial layers in a nonsurgical way to let the undamaged layers come up. These skin layers look healthier; it’s the difference between a younger person and an older person — the thickness of the skin, the turnover rate of the cells, and they’re better hydrated. It’s a series and process of treatments rather than one.

Chemical peels accomplish the same thing, but are a bit more “aggressive” treatment, says Wells.

Just Say No. Not that peels, fillers, and endless suctioning are always the answer, he adds.

Today’s plastic surgeons are taking a more holistic approach to patient care, he tells WebMD. “We can approach a patient’s problems as a surgical exercise, or take a broader perspective regarding the patient’s overall health — dietary habits, smoking, heart disease. Physicians have to think of themselves as physicians first and plastic surgeons second.”

“The plastic surgeon has a responsibility to apply judgment, to tell a patient when it’s not a good idea to have surgery, to suggest alternatives if their unhealthy lifestyle puts them at risk,” he tells WebMD.

Biniki the Butt Bra Gives Boost to Your Assets

2010-03-14T22:19:00.000-04:00

Plastic surgery has never been talked about more openly, which is causing an increasing number of women to find affordable alternatives to the nips and tucks that their favorite celebrities and wealthy socialites have been relying upon.
Butt Bra

The latest fashion item that's gotten all kinds of hype is a butt bra called the Biniki. It's a simple strap design that helps lift and separate your tush for the most appealing. Wearers simply need to tuck their Biniki not so discreetly underneath their favorite panties for a little lift!

Biniki's are available under a different name for men, so there is no gender exclusivity. Consider this a good thing; after the decades men have struggled with bra removal when things start to get hot and heavy, now women will have to feel their pain with this unusual undergarment.
Via: Gizmag http://www.gizmag.com/the-biniki--a-bra-for-your-butt/9243/picture/44093...

The patented Biniki is a US$30 series of straps you wear around the waist and under your bum cheeks to shape, tone, lift and support your derriere and the effect is significant and instant. There’s also a US$40 version for men (the Maniki) and a Throng, a US$30 device worn to achieve the same underwear-less look as a thong without having to floss in all the wrong places.

NO Cosmetic Surgery Face, Nose and Bust Lift

2010-03-12T10:05:00.001-05:00

The non-invasive Oriental medicine approach utilizes acupuncture and chiropractic methods AT THE KAYA KOREAN RESTAURANT, A lecture-demonstration by Dr. Kim Jae Woo from Korea on natural facelift gathered nearly a full room 30 minutes before the start.

Host was Kathy Park, owner of the Kaya Restaurant in Bel-Air (tel. 8950862), and she set the mood by telling the audience she had just had herself treated in November, had previously spent hundreds of thousands on Botox until she discovered the noninvasive type of treatment from Dr. Kim. She showed off her impeccable face that, to those who had known her, was many years younger. Forever young, she quipped.

Dr. Kim is the director of public health and president of the International Oriental Medicine Cosmetic Surgery Society. He’s also CEO and director of Complete Body Oriental Medicine Clinic.

With the aid of an interpreter, Dr. Kim talked about his practice in nonsurgical face-lifting that makes use of acupuncture (the insertion of fine needles to stimulate the flow of vital energy at certain points of the body) in combination with chiropractic methods (the manipulation of the spine, joints and soft tissues) familiar to many who have witnessed sports-related ailments.

Both acupuncture and chiropractic techniques, expectedly, are still considered alternative medicine by practitioners of mainstream medicine and science. But Kim points out that acupuncture operates along that of the principle of tissue regeneration, like laser-light surgery.

The field of cosmetic beautification and enhancement worldwide has grown by leaps and bounds since a mere 30 years ago when patients went under the knife for facelifts, bust augmentation, nose lifts, chin reduction, hair loss, removal of wrinkles, eye treatments, buttock lifts, obesity, vagina plastic surgery. All these are today possible using his noninvasive nonsurgical method, Dr. Kim says.

Most of us in the audience were women (plus a sprinkling of men, including actor Ricky Davao, who wanted treatment of shoulder pains). Many belonged to the medical field while some in the audience had had unhappy experiences with traditional cosmetic surgery. Society figures such as Becky Garcia, Tina Ferreros, Geena Zablan, Cory Quirino and Maurice Arcache were present.

Tina Ferreros had agreed to be the subject of the demonstration. She had been given anesthesia an hour before as she was so nervous about the procedure. “I don’t know why I agreed,” she told the audience.

In action

Kim pointed out the areas of her face that needed treatment—her uneven chin alignment, laugh lines that were deeper on one side, wrinkles, a general imbalance of the joints of her upper body.

He started working on the jaw, inserted acupuncture needles with stems inside her mouth and told her to bite on the stems. He later worked on the side of her face that was sagging and had defined laugh lines: With a single fine needle, he started massaging and manipulating her chin. Then it was all over and he asked the audience for comments.

Tina’s chin did appear more aligned. The procedure on wrinkles and laugh lines would be more obvious after the swelling had subsided. In a month’s time, Kim says, regeneration of tissues would show the difference in her face.

This idea of making the body heal itself is endemic to Chinese and Asian practices. In the Orient there has been traditional resistance to tampering with what God has given. That is why many still prefer going to a “hilot” for body pains, drinking organic herbal juices for various ailments, taking a beauty bath in carabao milk, treating minor itchiness and allergies with guava leaves. Medical tourism records show that the West has likewise been invaded by this thinking.

Foreign visitors to Singapore for cosmetic medical tourism in 2007 was around 350,000, which has more than tripled today. Thailand had around 750,000 in 2008, which now should be around 1.5 million.

In contrast, South Korea had only 50,000 in 2009 even while the cost of similar treatment is 30 percent less than that in the US, and 60 percent less than that in Japan. The main problem, according to research, is that of language, a matter that Dr. Kim and Katy as his agent here are determined to solve.

While not directly confronting traditional medicine, Kim says the popular Botox is at best a temporary solution and cautions that it will weaken muscles which may cause deformity. He says one may look beautiful after going under the knife in one’s youth with bad effects appearing upon reaching one’s 50s.

We are suddenly reminded of the case of one show-biz wife whose problem now has been inadvertently divulged by her mom. Kim is not saying no to surgical procedures en toto, but just advising one should be careful.

The main theory behind Kim’s Oriental medicine practice is not to use anything synthetic inside the body. The final shape of our body is formed by membrane, fats, tendons, muscles, blood vessels, skin and our bone structure, which determine the final form of our body. Dr. Kim shows how we can reshape each of our body parts through various acupuncture techniques, a procedure similar to chiropractic procedures involving enhancement of the muscles and the skin. These will result in delaying aging while becoming healthier at the same time.

In a demonstration of how the body points can rule one’s final appearance, he shows how the muscle beside the spinal cord can affect the appearance of one’s nose. “After stimulating the muscle two to three times a day for a couple of months, you will notice a marked difference in your nose’s appearance. ”

AcuLift -How it works? “The needles create micro-wounds that boost collagen production and blood flow,” and have seen best results in women 35 to 55. They recommend a series of 10 sessions, cost vary but on average are $125 per treatment or 10 for $1,000.

7 Vitamins and Minerals known to be Effective for Breast Enhancement

2010-03-02T19:34:00.000-05:00

Breast Enhancement Vitamins
Because breast augmentation surgeries are too pricey, many women these days turn to breast enhancement vitamins in order to have fuller breasts. We are all aware that there are different types of vitamins which include most of the letters of the alphabet and combinations of letters and numbers. However, when we speak of breast enhancement vitamins, where do we start?

You may already be aware that breasts are made up of fat deposits. This fact may pose some problems. Many women cringe when the word “fat” is mentioned and wanting to have fuller breasts would mean taking care of the fat deposits in the breasts. You need not worry! You can take care of the fats in your breasts without the fear that other fat deposits in the body will accumulate.

Vitamins which Aid in Breast Enhancement
When you like your breasts to be enhanced, you need to remember that you should take care of the fatty tissues as well as your skin. Most of the vitamins which can help in breast enhancement can be in the form of capsules, prepackaged kits or are found in creams and teas. Below are the list of some of the vitamins which promote breast enlargement. You will also read their significance to the appearance and health of your breasts.

Vitamin A. The vitamin can help nurture the skin and promotes a healthy immune system. The recommended daily average of vitamin A per day is 3500 IU.
Vitamin C. This aids in the production of collagen, which is essential in joining and maintaining tissues such as bones, muscles, organs, skins and tendons. Add to this, vitamin C also promotes healthy blood vessels and red blood cells.
Vitamin B6. The vitamin aids in developing antibodies, proteins, and red blood cells. It is also crucial in sustaining cardiovascular health.
Vitamin E. This vitamin is usually contained in skin lotions and oils. It is known for a fact that vitamin E is good for the skin and health. The vitamin aids in decreasing cholesterol levels and sustaining brain performance. It is also known to prevent cancer and heart disease. Vitamin E can also be obtained in the form of a pill or capsule.

Minerals which can help in Breast Enhancement
Aside from vitamins, a number of minerals can also help in breast enhancement procedures. These minerals are also used as ingredients in breast enhancement supplements.

Folic Acid. This mineral is known to produce and sustain new cells. Folic acid is of great help during rapid cell division and is essential in maintaining the growth of new breast tissues.
Selenium. This has an antioxidant property helpful in averting cell damage. Selenium also aids in sustaining healthy cells.
Zinc. Since it is important that new breast tissues are healthy, zinc should be taken in as it supports new growth. Aside from this, the mineral promotes a healthy immune system.

Breast enhancement vitamins and minerals are a good alternative to painful and costly breast augmentation surgeries. Although you have large breasts, it is still important that they are healthy, or else they would not look good. Vitamins and minerals do not just help keep your body healthy. They also help you achieve larger and well-formed breasts.

Cosmetic Eye-Color Surgery Sparks Alarm in Syria

2010-02-19T21:24:00.000-05:00

Science & Health

A controversial surgical operation carried out in Damascus to change the color of a Syrian woman’s eyes has raised public fears about the safety of cosmetic surgery in the country.

The surgeon who performed the operation, Mohamad Shoujah, said the procedure that replaced the unidentified patient’s brown irises with artificial green ones was revolutionary.

He told a packed news conference at a hotel in Damascus in December that the surgery could be used not only for cosmetic purposes but also for the restoration of irises damaged as a result of an accident, a birth defect or a tumor.

“The operation consists in removing the iris and doing an implant of a totally new iris. The new iris is made of synthetic fibers. The difference between similar operations that are performed around the world and this surgery is that it removed the entire iris and replaced it with a new one, while other operations do a partial implant or place a new iris above the old one,” he said at the news conference.

But the operation, which reportedly costs 17,000 US dollars, quickly drew fire from the medical profession in Syria, which believes it to be very risky.

Following the news conference, Syrian health minister Rida Said suspended Shoujah’s license to practice and expressed skepticism about the surgery.

Although the surgical procedure was known in the western world, it was not performed on patients because of the high risks it involved to the eyesight, he told the official Tishreen newspaper.

Said said he would investigate the case, setting up a team of eye surgeons to examine the condition of the patient and check whether the operation had damaged her eyes.

He said that the doctor and the medical facility where the surgery was carried out would be punished as a deterrent. Shoujah has not commented since the news conference.

Medical experts criticized the surgery because they said it exposed a completely healthy patient to unnecessary risks.

“I believe that this operation is a crime because it removed a perfectly good iris and not an infected one,” said Saker Saker, an eye surgeon and a member of the committee tasked with checking on the patient.

“It is certain that the patient will be subject to many risks like higher blood pressure on the eye and acute infections,” he said, adding that it remained unclear whether an artificial iris would allow a person to have normal eyesight.

So far, no conclusions have been reached regarding the surgery because the patient refuses to be examined by the ministry-appointed medical team, Saker said.

The patient originally told one news website that she wanted the operation simply because she was fed up with wearing green contact lenses for 15 years. But since the controversy, she has refused to speak to the media.

Critics said that the incident typified Syrian society’s obsession with plastic surgery, which has grown considerably in popularity in recent years.

Many women and, to a lesser extent men, even come from other Arab nations to undergo cosmetic operations in Syria because they are more affordable than in the West.

Most operations cost between 500 and 3,000 dollars. The most popular procedures are rhinoplasty – nose reshaping , breast augmentation, facelifts and liposuction – removing fat.

But malpractice associated with cosmetic surgery is also regularly alleged.

The health ministry says it receives more than 30 complaints a year about botched plastic surgery or medical complications arising from it.

Medical experts say the main problem with the practice is that much plastic surgery is performed by non-specialized doctors, mostly maxillofacial or nose and throat surgeons who do not necessarily have the necessary expertise in cosmetic surgery.

A health ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that punishment imposed by the ministry in cases of malpractice was not severe enough.

The official said that in case of a complaint, doctors are often asked to simply give explanations or pay minimal compensation to their patients.

One surgeon, who wished to remain anonymous, said that unsafe medical procedures that were more dangerous than the controversial eye operation happen regularly in Syrian hospitals.

For Dr Mohamad Haj Khalil, a nose and throat specialist who also carries out plastic surgery, the whole practice of plastic surgery needed to be reviewed.

He said that patients who seek cosmetic operations should be referred first to a psychologist to assess their need for surgery.

Critics accuse the authorities of turning a blind eye not only to the standard of plastic surgery in the country but also to the widespread sale of untested beauty products, such as for breast enlargement or skin bleaching.

Health minister Said in his statement vowed that authorities will put an end to the promotion of beauty products and operations that are presented on TV in the guise of medical treatments and could pose health risks.

“We need to hold accountable all those who hide under a doctor’s cloak to make profit at the expense of citizens,” he said.

Last year, the ministry banned the sale of many beauty products because they were associated with health hazards. One of these products, a cream for removing freckles, proved to contain high levels of mercury, an element harmful to the body’s nervous system.

Nevertheless, many such products are still readily available on the Syrian market.

Global Arab Network

This article originally appeared in [Syria Briefing], produced by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, www.iwpr.net

Cosmetic Dentistry - The Smile Makeover

2009-12-12T22:28:00.000-05:00

By Edward Jacobsen

There are many types of cosmetic dentistry available today. Individuals have the option to have a procedure done that will provide them with a more comfortable smile. Or, they may decide to address an issue with their teeth that has been present since childhood and seek the assistance of cosmetic dentistry.

A procedure growing in popularity and being selected that many people is a "Smile Makeover." This procedure works on many different issues that may exist for a person and may include crooked or broken teeth, yellow or stained teeth, and other problems that make a person self conscious about their teeth.

After an initial examination, the dentist will carefully explain exactly what needs to be done, the length of time it will take and the cost. The dentist and patient will then set up a treatment plan that will take care of each issue.

Several different methods are used by a cosmetic dentist to achieve the result desired and each person's case is carefully reviewed before an appropriate treatment is decided on. There are many processes used by a cosmetic dentist to perform a smile makeover.

The length of time for some treatments, like a smile makeover, can take several visits. A dentist may need to create porcelain veneers, sculpt the teeth or provide crowns and inlays to restore the teeth to their natural beauty. Many of the procedures will include the use of equipment that has been designed specifically for the treatment that is being performed.

The final step in a smile makeover is usually a teeth whitening process. The treatment is usually accomplished in one or two visits. It involves the use of equipment and materials that has been especially designed to provide an individual with the whitest teeth possible. This treatment removes any yellowing or staining from the teeth and lasts for several months.

Many people have very busy lifestyles and the cosmetic dentist will create a treatment plan and appointments to fit the needs of their patient. In most cases a dentist will work on weekends in order to accommodate patients who work.

Cosmetic dentists are more specialized than a regular dentist and often provide procedures that are not available in a regular dental office. There are many cosmetic dental procedures that require the dentist have special training and equipment to perform. Having cosmetic dentistry performed by a qualified dentist who is skilled in their field will give one the results that they are seeking.

About the Author:

If you would like to get more in depth information, visit this link San Francisco Cosmetic Dentistry where you will find procedurestestimonials, photos, and easy to follow hints. At www.aesthetic-dentistry.com you will get your questions solved.

7 Body Parts of a Woman Men Love

2009-12-12T12:19:00.000-05:00

yourtango.com -Solange Magnano, 37-year-old model and former Miss Argentina, died recently of complications resulting from elective surgery on her buttocks. Dr. Gabruel Chiu of Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery pondered what could have caused Magnano's death, saying "An injected material—either fat or silicone—would have to enter a large vein in sufficient amounts to cause a pulmonary embolism. This is extremely rare, especially in fat transfer. It is more likely that she developed a blood clot that traveled to cause her embolism."

It's unfortunate that Magnano felt she had to undergo plastic surgery in order to make herself more bootylicious. While we're well aware of The Power of the Butt—our god-given behind has drawn lots of eyeballs on its own—there are limits to the lengths women should go in order to make themselves more attractive to others. Just get some jeans for a flat butt.

Especially when it seems that men have a soft spot for our natural beauty. Which is why we thought it necessary to point out all the things men love about our bods, head to toe, and sans bling.

1) Our hair.
The way it smells faintly of our vanilla-scented shampoo all day long. The way it hangs demurely over our eyes, just begging to be brushed behind a dainty little ear. The way it shimmers, making it nearly impossible for him to resist running his fingers through its deliciously soft expanse.

2) Our eyes.
Debbie Gibson once sang, "I get lost in your eyes." Well, our eyes are pretty mesmerizing as well, whether or not we've been able to master that whole smokey eye look.

3) Our skin.
How soft and smooth it is, calling out for a caress or two, or perhaps some heavy groping. It's one of the reasons men will always prefer sexy time with us to sexy alone time with their huge porn collection: The feel of skin on skin just can't be beat.

4) Our clavicle and the curve of our neck.
Something about the clavicle is just irresistible to men. Perhaps it's the concavity of it, which makes it perfectly shaped for a quick inhale of our natural scent, or a lingering kiss. We don't mind this at all, as this part of our body is a major erogenous zone.

5) Our belly button.
We don't understand it. After all, men have belly buttons, too.

6) Our curves.
The strength in our calves. The small of our back. Our generous hips that shimmy as we walk, and our grabbable booty. Everything about the way we're shaped screams Woman! to the men in our lives. Work it!

7) Our boobage.
Okay. Technically, this should be counted in with our curves, but the boobs hold an allure for men that is unmatched by any other part of our body. They like to stare at them. They can also add a few years to their lifetime by staring at boobs! They like to touch them. They like to put their mouth on them. They like to use them as pillows. It doesn't matter what size they are. I swear to you. Just the fact that you have them makes men crazy.