Big Fat Lies

Big Fat Lies [Quote]

Myth 1

Implants Delay the Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer

Plastic surgeon Dr Marcel Daniels explained: “Silicone gel and saline-filled breast implants interfere with mammograms because they are radio-opaque. Augmented women need special mammography views, occasionally supplemented with additional studies such as ultrasound or MRI’s.” However, he added: “Two large scale clinical studies, one in Los Angeles, California and the other in Alberta, Canada found augmented women with breast cancer did no worse than breast cancer patients without implants, suggesting that diagnosis is not significantly delayed. Of note, both studies found the incidence of breast cancer was lower in augmented women compared to non-augmented women. While no one is rushing to promote breast augmentation as a means of breast cancer prevention, the relationship between implants and breast cancer is undergoing further study.”

Dr. Steven Teittlebaum agreed adding: “There is a theoretical risk implants can cause a shadow in a mammogram over the cancer. It could certainly happen, yet is not born out statistically at all.”

Myth 2

Laser Resurfacing is only for Fines Lines

“No. Laser resurfacing, while initially known for its ability in terms of smoothing fine lines, has been shown conclusively to also help in lifting skin and tightening the dermis – both dermal collagen and dermal elastin. Many patients who present now for limited facelifting or facialplasty procedures also benefit from CO2 laser for resurfacing. In addition we use the CO2 laser for resurfacing acne scars, “explained plastic surgeon Dr Grant Stevens.

Facial plastic surgeon Dr Gregory Keller said deep lines from natural aging and sun damage show dramatic improvements with laser resurfacing. “You can resurface very extreme problems. Lines around the mouth do really well, as does sun damage on the cheeks. However, a younger woman who has crinkle lines around her eyes when she smiles may not do very well, even though they’re fine and you can hardly see them. These lines are created by muscle movement and the person has probably had them since they were young. The lines will keep coming back.”

Myth 3

You Can Tell When Someone has had a Facelift

Dr Grant Stevens said: “You can always tell when there is a bad facelift. But there are many good ones which you cannot tell. So it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. One sees the bad ones and says she had a bad facelift, but you don’t know what you don’t know.”

Big Fat Lies Dr Maurice Sherman said there are three main telltale signs that indicate a facelift has been done – which are totally avoidable if correct techniques are used. “You can tell a facelift if there is an unnatural pull to the face that produces a mask-like appearance. If the incisions aren’t placed correctly you can either see them or you can detect a certain amount of hair loss along the temporal hair area or along the back of the ear. And The Devil’s Earlobe is where the earlobe has been stretched downwards over a period of time.

The earlobe does not have any cartilage to prevent it from stretching. Another sign is the earlobe pointing towards the back of the neck instead of towards the chin. A good surgeon will tell his patients nobody should be able to tell they have had a facelift, and they should be able to style their hair any way they want.”

Myth 4

Hair Transplants Never Look Natural

Dr Bill Rassman said: “Everybody perceives hair transplants don’t look natural because of techniques used in the past. Hair grows in natural groups or clumps and, if you move them just that way, then the transplant looks natural. But in the old days, they didn’t know how to move these groups properly and it took a long time to develop the technology. That technology has only been developing since the early 90s. For the previous 35 years they were doing a technique that produced unnatural results – and that’s what people think of when it comes to transplants. However, the technology has changed rapidly. I would challenge anybody to pick a person with a hair transplant among a line of men where some had their natural hair and others hand transplants.”

According to Dr L. Lee Bosley, if you see a completed hair transplant that doesn’t look natural, it’s because of bad technique and is not an indication of what is actually possible. “Modern research in hair growth has discovered natural scalp hairs actually grow in small groupings (called follicular units) of 1, 2, 3 or occasionally 4 hairs per unit. So, it has been our strong emphasis not just to imitate nature, but to try to duplicate nature. We employ micro-technologies that use randomly scattered 1, 2, 3, and 4 hair units. Often other medical doctors, even on close inspection, have a difficult time telling which hairs are original (non-transplanted) and which have been restored (transplanted).”

Myth 5

Fat Comes Back After Liposuction

Plastic surgeon Dr Charles Spenler explained fat does not come back after liposuction: “When you are born you don’t produce any more fat cells. The fat cells you have just get bigger or smaller depending on your weight. Once the fat cells are removed they’re gone forever. If you gain weight it is going to be distributed more equally through all the fat cells. What we do in liposuction is reduce the number of fat cells in those areas that are genetically predetermined to have a lot of fat.”

Plastic surgeon Dr Magarita Benett states that weight gain can occur after liposuction if the patient does not maintain a healthy lifestyle. “If you are not careful with eating a healthy, balance diet, and instead are eating a lot of fats and carbohydrates – what you would call junk food – weight gain can occur. However, an adult does not produce more fat cells.

“Liposuction is not a cure-all for poor dietary habits or inactivity but it definitely can contour the body, it can motivate people to lose weight and can remove areas that are resistant to weight loss. But it cannot replace the health benefits of regular exercise and a healthy diet.”

Costs of top plastic surgery procedures

Costs of top plastic surgery pro

See specific procedures for total average costs

2005 STATISTICS (National Average)

PROCEDURE	SURGEON/PHYSICIAN FEE
Botox® injection	$382
Breast implant removal	$2,086
Breast augmentation saline	$3,583
Breast augmentation silicone	$4,005
Breast lift	$4,258
Breast reduction	$5,550
Breast reduction in men	$3,305
Buttock lift	$4,878
Cellulite massage treatment	$223
Cheek implant	$2,720
Chemical peel	$848
Chin augmentation	$2,095
Collagen injection	$333
Dermabrasion	$1,376
Ear surgery	$2,951
Eyelid surgery	$2,813
Facelift	$6,298
Fat injection	$1,053
Fibril injection	$440
Forehead lift	$3,148
Gynecomastia treatment	$3,305
Laser hair removal	$347
Laser skin resurfacing	$2,484
Laser treatment of leg veins	$407
Lip augmentation (surgical)	$1,819
Liposuction (suction-assisted)	$2,697
Liposuction (ultrasound-assisted)	$2,979
Lower body lift	$7,810
Microdermabrasion	$149
Rhinoplasty	$4,188
Sclerotherapy	$326
Soft Tissue Fillers - Autologous Fat	$1,395
Soft Tissue Fillers - Calcium hydroxylapatite (Radiesse/Radiance)	$911
Soft Tissue Fillers - Collagen	$398-488
Soft Tissue Fillers - Hyaluronic acid (Hylaform, Restylane)	$527
Thigh lift	$4,653
Tummy tuck	$5,232
Upper arm lift	$3,610

UPPER EYELID SURGERY (UPPER BLEPHAROPLASTY)

UPPER EYELID SURGERY (UPPER BLEPHAROPLASTY)

PROCEDURE (local anesthesia)

1. Suture upper blepharoplasty: creation of double eyelids using stitch technique, 1 hour
2. Removal of excess skin and fat for puffy and sagging upper eyelids, 2 hours
3. Ptosis repair & open upper blepharoplasty: correction of droopy eyelids, 3 hours

Recovery time: several days to 2 weeks

Cosmetic Surgery

LATEST SERVICES/ PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

Laser vaginal rejuvenation (LVR) is a one to one and half hour outpatient surgical procedure that treats vaginal relaxation, a common condition caused by aging and childbirth.

Designer laser vaginoplasty (DLV) is a group of cosmetic laser procedures which repair, enhance, and beautify the genital structures. Common DLV procedures include Laser Reduction Labioplasty, Laser Perineoplasty and Laser Hymenoplasty. These procedures can be performed alone or in combination with LVR.

Mandibular reduction is a one and half to two and half hour outpatient surgical procedure to reduce the width of the lower half of the face. This is done using an intraoral incision (inside the mouth), using special instruments to rasp, contour and smoothen the angle. A small plastic tube will be placed on each side for a day or two to drain all the unwanted fluids thus reducing swelling.

Zygomatic / malar reduction is a one to two hour outpatient surgical procedure to reduce the prominence/ width of the upper half of the face. This is done through an intraoral incision using special instruments to saw and weaken the bone and then reduce it by applying external pressure.

MicroLaserPeel is an intra-epidermal laser peel that precisely ablates the outermost layers of the skin. The procedure is individually tailored to the nature of the condition to be corrected. Skin conditions such as: wrinkles, scars, acne scars, keratoses, or pigmentary problems have been successfully treated with a MicroLaserPeel.

Refirme skin tightening is a combination of electro-optical synergy & infrared energies helps to improve skin laxity on the face, neck, undereye creases, eyebags, abdomen and breasts, creating an overall tightening and lifting effect on the skin. It is a virtually painless and fast treatment for skin tightening.

VASER assisted high definition liposculpture is a state of the art technique for sculpting the male and female torso to create a well-toned and atheletic appearance including a six-pack in male and tube-pack in female.

Obagi ELASTIderm is a revolutionary skin cream that helps your skin replenish both elastin and collagen. Elastin ia a protein in your skin that holds it firmly in place. In fact, it is the loss of elastin that is directly related to the formation of wrinkles. Many anti-aging products claim to build collagen, but without restoring elastin, your face will lack the support it needs for firm, youthful-looking skin.

Macrolane is a new technique of non surgical breast augmentation is now available using an injectable soft tissue filler called Macrolane. This filler was developed by the Swedish medical product company Q-Med, the manufacturer of the well known filler Restylane, which has already been used in facial rejuvenation for more than a decade. Macrolane has been designed specifically for use in the female breast.