40% of girls look to plastic surgery

40% of girls look to plastic surgery

By CRAIG BROWN

CELEBRITIES with perfect bodies have driven four out of ten teenage girls in the UK to consider plastic surgery, a new survey has found. Just 8 per cent of the 2,000 girls questioned said they were happy with their bodies, while one-quarter said they had suffered from an eating disorder.

The respondents, who were on average 14 years old and weighed 8st 8lb, said pressure to be slimmer came mainly from celebrities such as singers Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé Knowles and Britney Spears - and boys. About a third of the girls described themselves as "overweight"; two-thirds thought they needed to lose weight, and seven out of ten said they would be "100 per cent happier if they could lose half a stone". The survey of teenagers by Bliss magazine also suggested parents were partly to blame for their daughters’ insecurities, with more than half of the respondents saying that their mothers "worried and moaned" about their own weight.

Just 3 per cent of the girls thought themselves beautiful, and only 29 per cent said they were attractive, while 15 per cent found themselves very unattractive and 7 per cent chose "yuk" when asked about their appearance. Two-thirds thought slim girls were more attractive to boys and half agreed they were "generally more popular with everyone". The results pointed to a "21st-century tragedy", said Chantelle Horton, the editor of Bliss. "The endless parade of thin-yet-curvy, surgically-enhanced celebrities has made young girls obsessed with their own normal, lumpy, bumpy bodies," she continued. "They also feel tremendous pressure from boys, who increasingly expect their girlfriends to resemble the perfect celebrity body-model they’ve been fed by a looks-obsessed society. "And when teenage girls look to their mums for reassurance and guidance, they see an older generation of women who are also haunted by their imperfect body-shape and size.

"Instead of searching for quick-fix answers like faddy diets and plastic surgery, teenage girls need to be shown the benefits of healthy eating and regular exercise," added Ms Horton. "Only when they stop striving for perfection will they learn to love their bodies." Today’s photographs of celebrities rarely reach the pages of the magazines without being touched up to remove acne scars and cellulite, or even change the proportions of the subject’s body.

Cary Cooper, a professor of psychology and health at Lancaster University, blamed the media’s obsession with looks for the survey’s findings and said it was unsurprising that impressionable young girls made direct comparisons. He said: "It is extremely worrying that teenagers are not able to accept who they are and what they look like. They are instead accepting what magazines, television and celebrities say they should look like. "The multimedia, celebrity-orientated age that we live in has made teenage girls much more conscious of their looks. "The American Pretty Woman culture has started to grow here," he added. "Attractive women do get better jobs and better treatment. Being more attractive does now provide an ‘added value’ for people.

This is a fact in the United States, and it is starting to happen to a greater degree here too." Cosmetic surgery has become commonplace in Scotland, with operations worth £25 million carried out in 2004. Home teeth-bleaching kits, botox parties and chemical face peels - unheard of five years ago - are now seemingly normal. On television, Channel Five’s Cosmetic Surgery Live was seen as virtually encouraging viewers to examine their bodies critically, while many magazine adverts offer reasonably priced procedures and send out the unmistakable message to young readers that their lives would be better if their breasts were larger, noses smaller and their foreheads smoother. Andrea Scherzer, a psychotherapist who specialises in eating disorders and body-image disturbances, said:

"Modern reality TV shows which focus on plastic surgery may seem laughable and grotesque to older people but they have a worrying impact on teenage girls in the throes of puberty." And Dr Mairead Tagg, a psychologist at Scottish Women’s Aid, said the public acceptance of cosmetic enhancement as "a way of life" was feeding down to young girls. "In our society, plastic surgery has become a way of life," she said. "A documentary on television recently showed a girl who was approaching 16 years old getting plastic surgery with the full support of her parents. "From the Barbie doll, who has an anatomically impossible figure, to supermodels, everything is enhanced and we are telling young girls that they too should look like this."

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Plastic Surgery For Men

Plastic Surgery For Menfrom Lifts To Tummy Tucks

by William McCall , Associated Press
Craig Sowash, a 43-year-old sales manager with a pulp and paper company, says he feels more confident with customers ever since he had the wrinkles on his face smoothed out with a few injections.

And if he ever needs a little surgery at some point to produce permanent results, he says, "I won't be shy about pulling the trigger."
Competition for corporate jobs among aging baby boomers, along with quicker, cheaper and less invasive techniques, and greater attention to grooming among men are helping drive an increase in cosmetic procedures among the male of the species.

Botox injections, which won Food and Drug Administration approval for wrinkle-reducing in 2002 but had already come into fairly widespread use by the end of the 1990s, were the most popular cosmetic procedure for both men and women in 2003, with nearly 334,000 procedures for men and 2.56 million for women, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Botox treatments typically cost about $200 to $400.

Traditional plastic surgery rose about 10 percent among men and 14 percent among women from 2002 to 2003, according to society figures. Nose jobs were the most popular surgical procedure among men, followed by eyelid surgery and liposuction.

Doctors say they are seeing more and more men trying to take years off their looks.
"Men feel that doing some of these procedures gives them a foot up in the business world, a competitive edge," said Dr. Marla Ross, a dermatologist in suburban Tigard who gave Sowash wrinkle-reducing injections of Restylane.
Ross also said the age range of her patients has widened, with most of them between 35 and 55. Occupations vary dramatically, from waiters "right up to CEOs of big companies."

"You see a lot in the media about `metrosexuals,' or men who are dressing well and taking care of themselves," Ross said. "Probably 15 years ago that would have been ridiculed and now it's acceptable."

Dr. Darrick Antell, a leading plastic surgeon in New York City, said women patients tell him they have always compared themselves to the models they see on fashion magazine covers. But now men are making the same kind of comparisons.

"From Calvin Klein ads for underwear to GQ, I think the media have made men more aware of how good they should look," Antell said. "They see an ad and say, `I don't have abs like that.'"

GMI Inc., a market research firm in Seattle, said a survey in the major industrialized nations found that Americans are more likely than the British or the French to consider cosmetic surgery a negative trend.

"Cosmetic surgery is more negatively viewed by Americans because it is threatening to become so commonplace," said Pepper Schwartz, a University of Washington sociologist. "People feel pressured to look a certain way if everyone you know who is 50 is having surgery to look 40."

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People ever more plastic

People ever more plastic

Men the latest wrinkle in quest to look youngerBy WILLIAM McCALLTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND, Ore. - Craig Sowash, a 43-year-old sales manager with a pulp and paper company, says he feels more confident with customers ever since he had the wrinkles on his face smoothed out with a few injections.

And if he ever needs a little surgery at some point to produce permanent results, he says, "I won't be shy about pulling the trigger."
Competition for corporate jobs among aging baby boomers, along with quicker, cheaper and less invasive techniques, and greater attention to grooming among men are helping drive an increase in cosmetic procedures among the male of the species.

Botox injections, which won Food and Drug Administration approval for wrinkle-reducing in 2002 but had already come into fairly widespread use by the end of the 1990s, were the most popular cosmetic procedure for both men and women in 2003, with nearly 334,000 procedures for men and 2.56 million for women, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Botox treatments typically cost about $200 to $400.

Traditional plastic surgery rose about 10 percent among men and 14 percent among women from 2002 to 2003, according to society figures. Nose jobs were the most popular surgical procedure among men, followed by eyelid surgery and liposuction.

Doctors say they are seeing more and more men trying to take years off their looks.

"Men feel that doing some of these procedures gives them a foot up in the business world, a competitive edge," said Dr. Marla Ross, a dermatologist in suburban Tigard who gave Sowash wrinkle-reducing injections of Restylane.
Ross also said the age range of her patients has widened, with most of them between 35 and 55. Occupations vary dramatically, from waiters "right up to CEOs of big companies."

"You see a lot in the media about 'metrosexuals,' or men who are dressing well and taking care of themselves," Ross said. "Probably 15 years ago that would have been ridiculed and now it's acceptable."

Dr. Darrick Antell, a leading plastic surgeon in New York City, said women patients tell him they have always compared themselves to the models they see on fashion magazine covers. But now men are making the same kind of comparisons.

"From Calvin Klein ads for underwear to GQ, I think the media have made men more aware of how good they should look," Antell said. "They see an ad and say, 'I don't have abs like that.' "

GMI Inc., a market research firm in Seattle, said a survey in the major industrialized nations found that Americans are more likely than the British or the French to consider cosmetic surgery a negative trend.

"Cosmetic surgery is more negatively viewed by Americans because it is threatening to become so commonplace," said Pepper Schwartz, a University of Washington sociologist. "People feel pressured to look a certain way if everyone you know who is 50 is having surgery to look 40."

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The Ultimate Sexual Makeover: Laser Vaginal Cosmetic Surger

The Ultimate Sexual Makeover: Laser Vaginal Cosmetic Surger

Says Dr. Joseph Berenholz of the Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute of MichiganSOUTHFIELD, Mich., Jan. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Joseph Berenholz, board- certified OB/GYN and director of the Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute of Michigan in Southfield, has brought some of the world's newest, most advanced laser surgical techniques to the Midwest."In the past, women have changed their lives with surgical procedures like liposuction and breast augmentation," said Dr. Berenholz. "At the same time, they believed that nothing could be done to improve their sexual function, self-image or pleasure. We've changed all that."

Surgeons have used traditional procedures for repairing vaginal defects as a medical necessity. The revolutionary breakthrough here is in the use of lasers in these procedures. "Laser techniques have made vaginal rejuvenation and vaginoplasty faster, more precise, and have dramatically reduced pain, bleeding, complications and recovery time. Even more remarkable, it's now elective surgery," said Dr. Berenholz.

Laser vaginal rejuvenation® (LVR®) can tighten and reconstruct the muscles of the vagina, increasing sexual pleasure and dealing with other issues like incontinence. The results can be dramatic, often for both partners. One LVR patient commented, "I know my husband loves me, but his dissatisfaction was obvious. Dr. Berenholz has given us a new lease on life."
Designer laser vaginoplasty® (DLV®) improves the appearance of the vagina. The most common DLV involves trimming oversized labia minora, a condition that can be embarrassing and uncomfortable. Other DLV options include reconstruction of the hymen, an often-requested surgery in various cultures.

Dr. Berenholz is the only gynecological surgeon in the Midwest to have advanced training in these laser surgical techniques. Surgery is usually completed in around an hour, with patients back to work in five to seven days.
Dr. Berenholz is a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, Diplomate American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists, and the Society of Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery. He is on the active staff of Sinai Grace Hospital, Hutzel Hospital, Huron Valley Hospital, the Vivian Berry Surgical Center, St. John Healthcare System, and Providence Hospital. He is a clinical instructor and staff member of the Detroit Medical Center.

The Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Center of Michigan is located at 30603 Southfield Road, in the Birmingham Cosmetic Center in Southfield. For more information, call (248) 593-8780 or visit: http://www.drBerenholz.com .

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New Developments in Cosmetic Surgery at AACS 21st Annual Scientific Meeting

New Developments in Cosmetic Surgery at AACS 21st Annual Scientific Meeting

CHICAGO,

Cosmetic surgeons from around the world will converge at the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery's 21st Annual Scientific Meeting to share and learn the latest developments in cosmetic surgery. "The Art & Science of Cosmetic Surgery: Past, Present & Future" will be held from January 27 - 30, 2005 at The Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, California. AACS continues its commitment to excellence, gathering speakers from each medical discipline to share their research in an effort to advance cosmetic surgery.

Featured speakers include renowned facial plastic surgeon Leslie Bernstein, MD, DDS of the United States, ophthalmic plastic surgeon Robert Goldberg, MD from UCLA, dermatologic surgeon Loek Habbema, MD of the Netherlands and laser specialist Mario Trelles, MD of Spain. In addition, AACS is pleased to welcome Michael Maves, MD as Keynote Speaker. As Executive Vice President and CEO of the American Medical Association, Dr. Maves will present "The State of Medicine in the United States," a serious look into the turbulent forces impacting the healthcare system today and what the future may have in store.

New developments in each topic of cosmetic surgery will be presented including abdominoplasty following gastric bypass surgery, facelift with Aptos threads, ELOS technology for cellulite and fat treatment, hair restoration surgery, male cosmetic surgery, breast implants and breast reduction. The Annual Scientific Meeting will also feature a Video Workshop, an expert Botox(R) Panel conducted by Jean Carruthers, MD and Alastair Carruthers, MD, and a session showcasing young surgeons of the future. For more information regarding registration or media access to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery's 21st Annual Scientific Meeting, please contact AACS at 312.981.6760 or visit http://www.cosmeticsurgery.org/ .

The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery is a professional medical society whose members are dedicated to patient safety and physician education in cosmetic surgery. Most members of the AACS are dermatologic surgeons, facial plastic surgeons, head and neck surgeons, general surgeons, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, plastic surgeons, or ocular plastic surgeons -- all of whom specialize in cosmetic surgery. AACS is an organization that represents all cosmetic surgeons in the American Medical Association through its seat in the AMA House of Delegates. Quelle: American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery

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Germans nip over the border to take advantage of cheap tummy tucks

Germans nip over the border to take advantage

of cheap tummy tucks

By Ruth Elkins in Berlin

Sabille Brixner had always dreamt of having larger breasts. But she couldn't afford plastic surgery in Germany. So she recently popped over the border to Poland to have them done there instead.

"The prices I was quoted in Germany were absolutely ridiculous," said Ms Brixner, a former nurse. "So I thought: off to Poland I go." Ms Brixner is a jolly yet sanguine 46-year-old from a small village near the northern German city of Rostock - just one of an increasing number of Germans now opting to have plastic surgery in Poland and other former Communist countries. Treatment in the ex-Ost Bloc can be as much as 70 per cent cheaper than in Germany, and doctors at private clinics say business has never been better.

"I now operate on up to 40 German patients a month," says Dr Maciej Pastucha, director of Artplastica one of Poland's biggest plastic surgery clinics in Szczecin. The city where Ms Brixner paid €2,700 (£1,880) for her new 34B silicone implants, is a mere two-hour drive or train ride from Berlin. And, like the rest of Poland, low wages and a low cost of living mean prices are still cheap. "Whatever the Germans charge, I can do it for half," says Dr Pastucha, who says most Germans come for facelifts (Artplastica price €3,250), breast enlargements and liposuction (€1,000-€4,000).

"Medical tourism", one of the new faces of the newly enlarged European Union, extends to the entire range of health treatments and medical care - boosted in the Germans' case by a new law allowing those with state health insurance a free choice of doctor across the EU.

The move has led to good business for Czech surgeries and Polish fertility clinics - IVF costs around half the German rate. Dentistry in the new EU member states is also booming. In Hungary, where dentists have always enjoyed a good reputation, some clinics claim 99 per cent of their patients are German. Polish clinics, too, are doing a roaring trade.

"The number of Germans coming to get their teeth done has definitely gone up since Poland joined the EU," says Dr Malgorzata Domanska, who says she treats up to 40 German patients a month at the Aestheticdent clinic in Szczecin. Prices are, yet again, half those in Germany: a dental lab-created implant and crown costs on average €1,400; a fixed bridge starts at €140.

There is a downside, however. In Eastern European countries many plastic surgeons do not have personal liability insurance, so if an operation goes wrong the patient has no redress. Post-operative care, a crucial stage of any procedure, can also be risky. Almost all patients who undergo surgery in Poland return to Germany within days of the operation, leaving German GPs to take out stitches and deal with any post-op problems.

The British Association of Aesthetic Surgery also recently warned British residents against travelling to Eastern Europe for cheaper plastic surgery. One council member, Douglas McGeorge, recalled having to pick up the pieces for two patients who had undergone abdominoplasty or "tummy tuck" surgery there. He frowns on "holiday surgery," and is "amazed that people go for these so-called deals".

But Ms Brixner had no such qualms. In fact, she even took her best friend, Krista Bleck, with her. "I wasn't afraid at all," she said. "I went and checked it all out: the sterile areas in the operating theatre, the instruments they were using, the surgeon's qualifications ... By the time the operation came round, I was completely satisfied everything would be fine."

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Plastic surgeon donates his services to treat the world's poor

Plastic surgeon donates his services to treat the world's poor

Williams teaches American surgical techniques by encouraging local physicians to assist in his operations, which can be long and grueling. The longest was 17 hours. This one was at a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

Geoff Williams could be making a million bucks a year, but he isn't interested. He drives a 1991 Honda Civic, lives in a modest apartment and travels at his own expense to work for free.

Williams is a plastic surgeon, but don't expect to see him at a posh clinic. Instead of catering to wealthy patients seeking eternal youth, he treats needy children in poor countries. He travels the world to treat disfigured kids no one else will help.

Why?"Actually, I think I'm being kind of selfish," the Boise native said. "I get more out of it than my patients do because the work is so rewarding. To see the reaction when a child's cleft palate or burn is treated, that makes it more than worthwhile."

Michael Jensen, a physician who accompanied Williams on a medical trip to Kenya last year, struggles to describe him."He's a different kind of person. He's ... well, he's just a very good person. ... To put it plainly, he's another Mother Teresa."

A general practitioner in Provo, Utah, Jensen said he has "never heard of a single case in which a physician does what he's doing. I know people who donate time, maybe once a year for a week or two, but not full time the way Geoff does. He could be making $1 million a year. The popular plastic surgeons I know make up to $2 million. But Geoff has never been financially oriented."

Williams grew up in Boise, attended Capital High School and studied medicine at the University of Utah, Stanford and the world's largest craniofacial center in Taiwan. He was studying in Taiwan when he went to Vietnam and India in 1998 and "got addicted to working in those kinds of places. There's such need. You have the feeling that you're their only hope."Since then, Williams has made at least one trip a year to Third World countries.
A year ago, he took a leave of absence from his job on the faculty of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, to work full time in medically needy countries. He's been to India, Vietnam, Kenya, the Philippines, Mexico, Peru and Bolivia, and he left Wednesday for Pakistan after spending New Year's with his parents, Milton and Bev Williams, in Boise. He pays most of his travel expenses out of his savings.

"Occasionally a charity or someone helps him," Jensen said, "but other than that he's financing everything. I'm just a GP, and when I've traveled with him, I've spent more money than he has. He never stays in fancy hotels, and he lives very modestly. In Galveston, he lives in a kind of student apartment. All he's interested in is the work."The work can be anything from routine surgery for a cleft palate to building a face for a disfigured child. The results are as important to him as they are to the patient.

"One reason I chose plastic surgery is that I like art," he said.
Art?"Yes. A lot of people who do this don't have an artistic feel for the shape of the human face. That often comes through in the work."
In Mexico, he made a nose for a girl who was born without one. She cries for joy whenever she sees him.In Peru, a family crossed the Andes to have him operate on a child with no ear.

"It's really touching when people travel two or three days to see you," he said. "A lot of poor countries have found ways to support life-saving skills, but what you look like isn't as important. If you have a deformity, they just don't look at you."
One of his patients was a teenage girl born without an upper lip."She went everywhere with her hand over her mouth. She thought it was untreatable. She thought she'd spend the rest of her life with her hand over her mouth."

In Vietnam, a patient's mother wept so uncontrollably after her daughter's cleft-palate surgery that he thought something was wrong."I thought maybe she didn't like the result, but that wasn't it," he said. "They're just so destitute in some of those countries that she thought that it was impossible to fix. She thought nothing could ever be done.

"... I think the moms are more my patients than the kids are. There's something about a mother of a disfigured child. They've spent years thinking it's hopeless and then it's fixed. It's a wonderful feeling to relieve their anxiety."

Williams doesn't keep a running count of his patients, but says they'd number in the hundreds. When word got out that an American doctor who could operate on burns and cleft palates was coming to Vietnam last month, more than 100 people were waiting for him.His patients are poor, but not ungrateful.
"Word has gotten out in Vietnam that I like mangos," he said with a sudden smile. "The last time I was there, I got several hundred of them. So I guess I have been paid."Doctors and patients alike benefit from Williams' visits. He teaches the local physicians American surgical techniques and invites them to assist when he operates.

"A doctor I work with in Vietnam has just started doing her own cleft-palate surgeries. Some of them look better than mine."
The training needed to become a plastic surgeon is all but unattainable in many countries. The Vietnamese doctor with the new skills isn't a plastic surgeon. She's a dentist."When you can teach the local people to do the work, you're not just treating the patient," Williams said. "You're solving the problem."
He's the first to correct those who call him a miracle worker."It's not miracles. It's just a lot of hard work."

Jensen said:
"A lot of doctors who take these trips go with the idea they'll also take a vacation. He doesn't think that way. In fact, it's hard to keep up with him. I assisted him on a surgery in Kenya that lasted nine hours, and he never took a break. He didn't eat; he didn't even go to the restroom."His father sees one drawback:
"He works so hard and is on the go so much he's never had time to get married."Williams, who is 49, says he hasn't given up on the idea of marrying and settling down. But it isn't likely to happen soon. In December, he resigned his post at the University of Texas to continue his medical missions long-term. He's working with attorneys in San Antonio to set up a foundation for support after his savings are gone.

His selflessness is something of an enigma, even to those closest to him.
"There were no signs of it when he was growing up," his mother said. "I think it was just inborn and surfaced after he became a doctor. He seems to get great joy out of working with poverty-stricken people that everyone else casts off."

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Follicular Unit Extraction vs Older Methods of Hair Transplantation

Follicular Unit Extraction vs Older Methods of Hair Transplantation

In the past, as the names of these earlier procedures indicate, undergoing a hair transplant was a painfully unpleasant process. Men with receding hairlines and balding scalps often resorted to the unnatural-looking, and often ridiculed, toupee to avoid the pain, slow healing, and scarring of a transplant.Because of this, the hair transplant business was staggering in the late twentieth century.

Surgeons knew that hair restoration techniques needed to evolve.Fast forward into the beginning of the twenty-first century…Thousands of bad comb-overs and strip incision scars later, the new technique that hair restoration surgeons were waiting for was finally perfected. The hair transplant community eventually embraced follicular unit extraction (FUE).

Surgeons praised the method and potential patients were curious about it. But what exactly is follicular unit extraction? And is it really more effective and beneficial than older methods of hair transplantation?Follicular unit extraction involves the removal of small groups of hair follicles (usually between one and four) from the donor site and their reinsertion into the receptor site. These small grafts allow for equal distribution of hair in the balding area of the scalp and produce more natural-looking results.

In fact, once the receptor site has completely healed, it is virtually impossible to detect that any sort of hair transplant procedure has taken place.The differences between FUE and the older methods of transplantation are noteworthy.Firstly, the FUE procedure is quicker and less painful than any other hair restoration technique. FUE is performed with a punch-like scalpel that cuts the skin around the follicle. This facilitates the removal of about one to four follicles from the donor area at the same time.

Also, the advanced method of follicular perforation™ allows the surgeon to make a shallow punch on the surrounding tissue, ensuring that the graft be released from the tissue with minimum traction and with better ease. The extracted follicles (called grafts) are then inserted into small slits that have been cut in the recipient area. These slits do not need suturing, heal quickly, and are completely undetectable once the new hair begins to grow in about seven to ten days.Secondly, FUE is beneficial because the recovery process is much faster and less painful.

In most patients, the grafts become fully secure in about eight days after surgery and the surgical wound in the donor area usually heals within one to two weeks. Some discomfort may be present, but usually analgesics like Tylenol or codeine will help. Generally, normal activity may be resumed one to two weeks after the procedure. In older methods of hair restoration, bleeding, suturing, and bandaging were parts of the long and painful recovery process. Thirdly, 100% of hair loss sufferers are candidates for FUE.

In the past, hair restoration was not as widely available to every hair loss sufferer as it is today. There were various criteria that each candidate had to meet to be eligible for a hair transplant. Such criteria included the patient’s age, color and texture of hair, skin complexion, amount of donor hair available, and future hair loss projections. However, because the methods involved with follicular unit extraction are so advanced, such criteria are not much of a concern. For example, the amount of donor hair on the head is not an issue when determining candidacy because the procedure allows for the extraction of hair from other parts of the body.

Fourthly, the incidence of complication during the FUE procedure is lower than with other transplantation methods. In a study, published by Dr. Masumi Inaba, of over 150 patients treated with FUE, researchers found that patients suffered only from mild discomfort from sitting still for several hours at a time. Furthermore, only four out of the 150 patients experienced donor area shock, while two more patients experienced a more limited variety of patchy circular alopecia (hair loss). Nevertheless, all patients made full recoveries within five weeks. Lastly, FUE patients recover without visible scars in the donor or recipient area.

Unlike previous methods, like strip incision, where an unattractive linear scar was exposed in the donor area, FUE does not leave ugly, unbearable scars on the head. Instead, the tiny slits that are cut in the recipient area are conveniently hidden by new hair. The final result of FUE in all patients is that of a seamless, natural, healthy-looking head of hair.For all those who are suffering from hair loss and are searching for the best method of restoring their youth, follicular unit extraction should be considered. It is a hair restoration method that discards the use of the painful linear donor incision and regards 100% of hair loss patients as proper candidates for the procedure.

It is widely predicted that within the coming years, follicular unit extraction will make further advancements and become the method of choice for every hair restoration surgeon and patient. About the AuthorDr. Robert Jones has been practicing medicine since 1979. He is active in the field of hair restoration. An advocate of providing his patients with the best quality, Dr. Jones is among the first doctors in North America to use follicular unit extraction—a procedure he praises for its great value and efficiency.

Dr. Jones is a member of the International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons, the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, the International Society of Cosmetic Laser Surgery, and the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. He is also the president of the International Society of Follicular Unit Surgeons. For more information on Dr. Jones or follicular unit extraction visit:

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Lipodissolve – the latest option to surgical liposuction

Lipodissolve – the latest option to surgical liposuction

In the latest craze for simplified cosmetic procedures, the European therapy known as Lipodissolve is gaining more and more attention from the medical community and is being hailed as the ‘greatest discovery in cosmetic medicine since Botox’. Lipodissolve consists of injecting a mixture of enzymes and mild medications direct into the fat to initiate a dissolution of the fat, that is gradually expelled through the body’s own natural process.

Although the procedure sounds similar to Mesotherapy, the leading research consultant and president of the Austrian Society of Lipodissolve wish to clarify that there is a substantial difference, “Lipodissolve is solely intended as a non-surgical option for liposculpture and aid plastic surgeons to offer this therapy to patients unwilling or unable to undergo surgery.

Lipodissolve has been developed and researched specifically for cosmetic procedures and the Lipodissolve injection technique and substances used are completely different from mesotherapy. Mesotherapy practitioners are known to combine Lipodissolve with mesotherapy, but they often mix risky medications for this procedure which we avoid with Lipodissolve.”

The Austrian Society of Lipodissolve is processing research studies on Lipodissolve for the use of localized fat reduction, cellulite cure, reduction of lipomas, and as a correctional measure after surgical liposuction. The procedure can achieve good results in only one to four sessions, “but we discourage the use of Lipodissolve without proper training,” concludes Dr Hasengschwandtner.

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The Cohesive Gel Breast Implant

The Cohesive Gel Breast Implant

~Extraordinary Implant Promises to Revolutionize the Breast Augmentation andReconstruction History~

For more than 10 years, American women's choices for breast augmentationhave been limited to saline or silicone-filled breast implants…but, notanymore! Dr. Donald W. Kress, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, is the firstand only plastic surgeon to introduce the Maryland, Washington DC andVirginia area to the newest advance in breast implants – the “Gummy BearBreast Implant” or as it is known in clinical terms, The Cohesive GelImplant. Dr. Donald W. Kress has been named as one of 23 FDA clinicalinvestigators in the US and he has performed the Gummy Bear BreastAugmentation in 140 patients, all with incredible aesthetic outcomes andhigh levels of patient satisfaction.

The Gummy Bear Implant has all the advantages of the traditional siliconeimplant but eliminates the two biggest problems: rupture and leakage. Thesemi-solid gel implants, called High-Strength Gel Implants, feel softer andmore natural than saline implants, and unlike saline implants, they are lesslikely to wrinkle. The high-strength gel implants also differ from saline orstandard silicone implants which leak if the implant shell is ruptured.Cutting into a high-strength gel implant is a little like cutting into a"gummy bear".What is "high-strength gel"?High-Strength gel is a form of silicone that, due to tighter molecular bondsin the silicone, is semi-solid.

For instance, if the silicone rubber shellof a high-strength gel implant is cut or punctured it maintains its shapeand does not leak.What are the advantages of high-strength gel breast implants?High-Strength gel breast implants are soft and natural feeling. Unlikeliquid-filled implants (saline and liquid silicone), a high-strength gelimplant maintains its shape and upright position, which decreases theincidence of the implant shell folding and the development of rippling. Alsounlike liquid-filled implants, high-strength gel implants do not leak if theimplant shell is broken.

The alternative to silicone is saline, and for many women, saline implantssimply aren't good enough. Overfilled, they're hard; under filled, theywrinkle. Saline implants may also make a sloshing sound and rupture easily.If a woman has scar tissue left after a mastectomy, a saline implant isharder to camouflage.These new implants are approved for an FDA clinical trial and can be used inall applications including breast enlargement, breast reconstruction andbreast augmentation. It is the first, truly "shape stable" implant for morenatural augmentations, especially for small breasts.

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Young Girls are Undergoing The Proceduree; Trend Worries Some Critics

Young Girls are Undergoing The Proceduree; Trend Worries Some Critics

By Jodi Mailander FarrellKnight Ridder

MIAMI - Melissa Gonzalez knew her family intended to give her enough money to buy a new car when she turned 18. But she had her heart set on something else: bigger breasts.

After convincing her mother she was serious, Gonzalez spent about $5,000 augmenting her breasts in April, one month shy of her 18th birthday. She grew from what she calls a ``flat-as-a-wall'' double-A bra to a small C cup. She spent the rest of her birthday money on a used 1999 Mercury Cougar.

``At first, everybody was like, `Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're doing this,' '' says Gonzalez, a sophomore at Florida International University. She says she ``was always super-self-conscious'' and had been determined to get implants since she was 14. ``I wore a padded bra underneath a sport bra just to give myself a little bump. I didn't have cleavage; I didn't have anything, no matter how much I squished. This is something I did for myself. I just wanted to look like a girl. Girls have boobs and hips, you know what I mean?''

Gonzalez is not alone. In just one year, the number of girls 18 and younger getting breast implants nearly tripled -- from 3,872 in 2002 to 11,326 in 2003, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reports.

With financing making plastic surgery more accessible than ever, it's not just teenage girls getting implants. The increase in young women undergoing procedures mirrors a larger trend in our nip 'n tuck nation. Among all age groups, cosmetic implants have skyrocketed in popularity, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Last year, the group reports, about 247,000 women got breast implants, compared with 32,000 in 1992.

Not primarily for teens
Teens are still a small percentage of those receiving implants, notes Dr. Barry Schwartz, a Weston, Fla., plastic surgeon. Schwartz says about 15 percent to 20 percent of his breast-augmentation patients are under 21.
``Young women are more conscious of their bodies in this day and age,'' Schwartz says.
``I've definitely seen a steep increase in 18- and even 17-year-olds coming in,'' says Dr. Leonard Roudner, who is so popular among women seeking implants that his nickname is ``Dr. Boobner.'' The Miami doctor performs an average of five implant surgeries a day.
``These girls are really well-informed,'' says Roudner, who has worked on some young patients' mothers and grandmothers. ``When the mother has had it, she knows what it did for her, so these women are quite fine with their daughters doing it. It's a big boost to some girls' self-esteem. It's becoming quite the graduation gift: It's cheaper than a car and better than a fountain pen.''

Some mothers approve of the procedure, but not for their teenage daughters. Luly Martinez, a legal assistant in Miami, says she is waiting for her daughter Alexa to stop growing before she agrees to implants, probably sometime after the 17-year-old graduates from high school -- and after Mom gets hers done next year.

Poor timing
Critics say the timing couldn't be worse for adolescent girls, who are often unhappy with their looks. They say teenagers are too young and shortsighted to comprehend the long-term effects of surgery, particularly the risks, which include the possibility of rupture or permanent scarring, the need for periodic operations to replace or remove the implants and the potential problems with breast-feeding and mammography. Also, little is known about the implants' long-term safety; no studies have been done on females this young.
``It might feel to a 17-year-old like it's the end of the world to wait a few years, but their bodies are still changing,'' says Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families. ``Those breasts are likely to get larger, especially when they go off to school and gain the `freshman 15,' the pounds girls often put on between ages 18 and 21. Their whole body begins to look more voluptuous.''

The non-profit research and education group is so concerned about the trend that it has created a Web site, www.breastimplantinfo. org. The site includes details of surgery risks, graphic FDA photos of women whose procedures have gone awry and an online hotline: info@ breastimplantinfo.com, for girls to e-mail questions.

Among the young women featured on the site: Kacey Long, who got D-sized implants three years ago at 19. A few weeks after her surgery, Long says she began experiencing shooting pain in her arms, followed by intense joint pain and crushing fatigue. Last year, her parents took out a $6,400 loan to pay for removal surgery, a procedure documented on MTV's ``I Want a Famous Face.''
There is no law forbidding implants in patients younger than 18, but the Food and Drug Administration advises against it. In the past 15 years, implants have been the subject of furious controversy over their safety. The FDA has banned silicone-gel implants because of unanswered questions about their safety, but it permits the use of saline-filled implants, which have a silicone shell. Both types are the subject of ongoing FDA studies.

``You want to be sure that, physically, they're done growing,'' says Dr. Tracy Baker, a Harvard-trained Miami plastic surgeon. ``It's like building a house on ground that's shifting or settling.''
Baker says he considers the age a girl started menstruating and whether her shoe size, height and weight have remained constant.
Patients rarely under 17

Dr. Jose M. Soler-Baillo, a South Miami plastic surgeon who performed Gonzalez's augmentation, draws the line at age 17 in most cases, although he recently performed surgery on a 16-year-old because she had one undeveloped breast.
``The key thing is to have the parents involved and have a mature young person,'' Soler-Baillo says. ``I spend at least an hour interviewing and asking questions like `Why are you doing it?' If somebody says, `My boyfriend likes big boobs,' that's not the right answer. But if they say they can't find clothes that fit, that they don't feel comfortable, it means they're not doing it for somebody else, it's to make themselves feel better.''
Soler-Baillo and other surgeons say they warn young women about the pain of surgery and possible complications.

Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, says he advises against implants for teenagers primarily because they will have to be redone.
``Saline tends to lose shape, shift a little, they get pushed around a bit so they have to be replaced,'' Caplan says. ``The younger you get them, the more you're going to have to go back and replace them.
``I'm not trying to argue this is something we should ban or outlaw,'' he says. ``What I'd like to see is young people thinking a little bit more about what really matters to them. It's all about giving yourself a chance to get comfortable with your body and what message you want to send to others. But do I think I have a snowball's chance in hell of changing things with this advice? No.''
Melissa Gonzalez, eight months into her new breasts and happy to be wearing V-neck shirts, says the procedure was worth it despite the potential for future problems.
``Some things just happen, one could pop, I know,'' she says. ``But it's like life: Whatever happens happens. At least I have them at a time when I can enjoy them.''

Credit from http://surgerynews.net/200501.html

Breast implants 'no risk to life'

Having reconstructive surgery does not reduce the life expectancy of women with breast cancer, research suggests.

In fact women who had breast implants after a mastectomy had a lower risk of dying from cancer, the study involving 5,000 patients over 12 years found. The study, carried out by the Northern California Cancer Center, is reported in the journal Breast Cancer Research. Previous studies have suggested breast implants might make it harder for doctors to interpret scans. Life expectancy
However, scientists found no evidence that the problems led to cancer reaching a more advanced stage before it was picked up.

Neither did breast augmentation appear to increase the risk of developing breast cancer. The latest study provides further reassurance that the long-term effects of breast implants are favourable. Out of the 21% of women in the study who had had an implant after a mastectomy for a breast tumour, there was a 12.4% risk of death from the cancer returning. In comparison, the risk was 19.7% among the women without implants.

The better life expectancy among the women with implants persisted even when the researchers controlled for factors such as the woman's age and medical history. They said: "Certainly, further research is needed to explain this survival differential in women with breast implants and those without." It might be that implants boost self-esteem, which could improve survival, they said. Screening scans Also, having an implant might mean that the woman has more medical check ups. Surgeons may not recommend implants to women with health conditions, such as obesity or smoking, that may contribute to post-operative complications, they said.

Some studies have suggested that breast implants may also stimulate the immune system and reduce blood flow to the breast, thereby impairing cell and tumour growth. Professor Alan Ashworth of Breakthrough Breast Cancer said: "This study adds to the current research suggesting that breast implants do not increase the risk of breast cancer and we would welcome further research which explains the difference in mortality rates.

"However, implants can make it harder to see breast tissue on mammograms, so when being screened it is important that the radiographer is aware if you have breast implants. "The option of reconstruction is very important for women undergoing a mastectomy and they also should receive advice about the various prosthetics available and have the opportunity to see a realistic portrayal of the outcome."
Laura Trapani, Information Nurse at Breast Cancer Care, said: "Women can now make a more informed choice regarding implants."

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