11.7 Million Cosmetic Procedures Done in 2007

The annual report released Monday by The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery indicates that 11.7 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the US in 2007 at a cost of roughly $13.2 billion.The popularity of cosmetic procedures exploded in the last decade. Since 1997, surgical procedures have increased by 114 percent, while nonsurgical procedures rose by an impressive 754 percent, according to the report.

Eighteen percent of the procedures performed in 2007 were surgical and 82 percent were nonsurgical.This is the 11th consecutive year that data from multiple specialties have been collected for cosmetic procedures. To obtain the data, more than 12,000 surveys were sent to plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and otolaryngologists. The findings were then used to generate national estimates. Read more..

Cosmetic Surgery Taxes Hurt Women

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) strongly opposes taxes on elective cosmetic surgery and physician services as a way to fix state budget shortfalls or fund new or ailing programs, the society said in a statement today.

The ASPS, the largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons in the world, issued the statement citing multiple reasons against these taxes when Washington became the third state to propose a "cosmetic surgery tax." New Jersey was the first state to pass a tax of this kind in 2004 and a tax has been proposed on elective cosmetic surgery in Illinois to fund a stem cell research institute.Read more...

Hilary Duff Veneers

Her New Smile is Amazing Their has been so much talk about Hilary Duff's new porcelain veneers and how she has the "horse teeth look" That's a ridiculous statement, she looks amazing with her new smile, its bright, white and perfect. They are straight and proportionate. Getting porcelain veneers or your teeth improved is a personal decision and if Hilary Duff gets veneers and wants them bigger, so be it. Its amazing how much time people have on their time to talk about Hilary Duffs teeth. Hilary Duff is an amazing entertainer and her "Hilary Duff Veneers" are equally amazing. Duff has the Stuff, that's for sure. She is an actress, singer, entertainer and great person. She has always maintained a professional image and has been free from controversy often associated with hollywood stars. She is role model for her fans. So why are people so obsessed with talking about Hilary Duff's veneers? What is it about celebrity bashing? She's too skinny, her teeth are too big, her dress is ugly and on and on. Its no wonder so many celebrities go nuts after a while. Imagine you just got your teeth veneered by a celebrity dentist. You walk in to work and an office memorandum gets sent around to everybody in your office. The memo is about your new porcelain veneers and how big they are, next week they talk about how skinny you look on the radio, TV and show a few unflattering photos in your local city magazine. Read more..

Superbug Infection in Face-lifts

A dangerous drug-resistant bacterial infection has been showing up in a small number of patients who undergo face-lifts, doctors reported on Monday.
When infections do occur at surgical sites following such procedures "the facial plastic surgeon should have a high suspicion" for MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), as the source, they said.
Dr. Richard Zoumalan of Lennox Hill-Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital in New York and the New York University School of Medicine and Dr. David Rosenberg also of the Lennox Hill center said a review of 780 U.S. face-lift patients from 2001 to 2007 found five -- 0.6 percent -- with infections at incision sites. Four were confirmed as MRSA, all in 2006.
Of the four, two patients appeared to have been exposed to the bacteria before surgery -- one who had spent time with her spouse in a cardiac intensive care unit four months earlier, and another who had frequent contact with her brother-in-law, a cardiologist, the report said. Read more..

Angelina having another high-risk pregnancy?

msnbc
There’s still no official bun in the oven, but sources close to Angelina Jolie say she’s not only with child, she’s facing a high-risk pregnancy. Life & Style reports that with twins — or possibly even triplets — on the way, Angelina and Brad Pitt are taking every safeguard to ensure the health of their babies-to-be.

“Angelina’s had some scary moments over the past few weeks,” a family friend shared with the magazine. “She’s been cramping, and each time she’s called her doctor immediately to ask if that’s normal. But every ultrasound so far has looked fine.”

Adrianne Curry - Breast Augmentation

Adrianne Curry, of "America's Next Top Model" and "My Fair Brady" fame, has recently admitted to having a breast augmentation to create more symmetry between her breasts. According to an interview with HollywoodScoop, her left breast has always been larger than the right. She had them both augmented by a prominent Beverly Hills plastic surgeon.
I am happy that she felt comfortable in revealing this to everyone. In my experience, there are a LOT of women who have considerably assymetric breasts. Although surgery is not for everyone, I have seen it make a big difference in the self-image of many of my patients.

Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Procedures for Ethnic Patients Up 13 Percent in 2007

Almost a quarter (2,626,700) of cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed on ethnic patients in 2007, up 13 percent from last year, including Hispanics, African Americans and Asian Americans, according to statistics released today by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Since 2006, cosmetic plastic surgery procedures increased in the following demographic categories: up 8 percent (1,011,000) in Hispanics, up 8 percent (847,800) in African Americans, and up 26 percent (767,800) in Asian Americans.Read more..

Group Wants Botox Warning After Deaths

Botox and a similar injection should come with strong warnings following reports of 16 deaths and other serious problems after the botulinum toxin spread inside the body, a U.S. consumer group said on Thursday.

Public Citizen asked U.S. authorities to require the strongest possible warning, highlighted in a "black box," on Allergan Inc's Botox and Solstice Neuroscience Inc's Myobloc.

Botox is famous for smoothing facial wrinkles but also has approved medical uses such as treating cervical dystonia, or rigid neck muscles. Myobloc is cleared only for the neck condition.

Both injections are made with forms of the botulinum toxin, which can paralyze muscles.

Public Citizen said it reviewed 180 reports submitted to the Food and Drug Administration by manufacturers involving patients injected with Botox or Myobloc. The reports detailed cases of muscle weakness, difficulty swallowing or aspiration pneumonia, a serious condition caused by breathing a foreign material into the lungs.

Reports to the FDA do not prove a product caused a particular problem, but the agency uses them to look for patterns of potential complications.Read more..

Safety of Botox

A U.S. consumer group called Public Citizen has recently asked the FDA to reconsider the safety of Botox treatments. They pointed to some 16 deaths following Botox treatments, citing complications such as paralysis of the esophagus and aspiration pneumonia.Botox is currently the most common medical cosmetic treatment today. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, last year over 4.1 million Botox cosmetic treatments were performed. It is currently FDA approved for treatment of glabellar wrinkles, which are the frown lines between the eyebrows. Any other treatments are considered 'off-label.'I believe Botox is a very safe treatment if performed in the right hands. Over the past few years we have performed probably 500+ Botox treatments in my practice without a single known significant complication. If it is injected cosmetically for the upper face (where it is most effective), I can't see how someone would get a complication like that mentioned above. The worst that can probably happen is drooping of an eyelid (very rare) or a bruise (somewhat common).I surmise that the esophageal and lung complications may have resulted from Botox being injected for non-cosmetic reasons. It is currently being used for more indications than can be mentioned here, including TMJ, migraines, and various muscle spasm problems. It's possible that poorly performed treatment for a non-cosmetic indication could result in the bad complications cited by the Public Citizen.

Heidi Montag Offered 1 Million Dollars by Playboy

In Touch Weekly is reporting that Heidi Montag has been offered One Million Dollars to pose her new plastic surgery body for Playboy Magazine. She had her surgery performed only two months ago, and it seems that the $7000 or so she paid for her breast augmentation has more than paid for itself!

China's "Miss Ugly" Wins Free Plastic Surgery

theage.com

Some interesting (and scary) developments in Chinese plastic surgery:27 year old Zhang Di won a newspaper competition in China and was crowned the area's Cinderella, or as some media have dubbed her "Miss Ugly." She was given $16,000 worth of plastic surgery in 12 operations to give make her look more "Western."
Elsewhere in China, plastic surgeons are breaking the leg bones of patients and slowly lengthening them using tissue expansion techniques, reportedly adding up to 4-5 inches of extra height. This is something I have not heard of in the States, except for reconstruction when people have bone removed from the legs from trauma or cancer.

Whitney Houston - Breast Implants?

Does Whitney Houston have breast implants? This photo from Ayyyy! is very suggestive of it. The two half-grapefruit look can often signify breast implants placed above the muscle in a person with very little breast tissue.

In these patients the implant makes up nearly the entire breast and the round look of the implant is not blunted by the muscle covering it. For this reason, in really thin patients it is often best to put the implants partially under the pectoralis muscle.

Demi Moore Admits to Leech Therapy

On a recent appearance on David Letterman's Late Show, Demi Moore admitted to undergoing a turpentine bath and leech therapy in order to "thin" and "detoxify" her blood. It occurred at some woman's house in Austria. The leech was placed onto her belly button, where it latched and sucked blood until it was fully engorged and fell off.

Leeches??!! Yuck.

I find it completely amazing that celebrities are comfortable admitting to ridiculous 'treatments' like this, yet still can't admit they've had plastic surgery. It's more appropriate for a Hollywood star to admit they've had high pressure water shot up their rectum (the celebrity colonic) than a facelift. With the slow trickle of stars coming forth and admitting their plastic surgery, maybe things will eventually change.

Teenager Dies During Breast Surgery

An 18 year old recently died during a breast surgery in West Boca Raton, FL. Apparently, 18 year old Stephanie Kuleba was undergoing a procedure to correct her breast asymmetry when she went into malignant hyperthermia and died shortly thereafter.

This is a very unusual situation. Malignant hyperthermia is not a common condition, and the vast majority of plastic surgery performed on healthy people is not associated with a complication, much less a death. This tragedy does highlight the fact that plastic surgery is SURGERY, and must be taken very seriously.

I've been interviewed about this subject and others (Priscilla Presley) on the O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel tonight at 11pm EDT. Check it out if you get a chance!

Abdominoplasty / Tummy Tuck Surgery Video

Choosing Tummy Tuck Surgery Orange County California

Is the Starship Obama Going Down?

Well it was only a matter of time before the good Senator Obama took some strikes against his "goodie two shoes" reputation. No one rises to the level of US Senator without playing politics at some time or another.

Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright, Jr. is making for a pretty nasty stain. It is hard to believe that the Senator didn't know of his pastor's views, so if nothing else it was an error to put the pastor into his campaign. We'll just have to see how this turns out.

Legislator Wants Tighter Rules On Plastic Surgery

5nbc5
State Rep. Monique Davis said she would like to see a board-certified plastic surgeon affiliated with an accredited hospital or university to perform all such procedures.

The proposal comes in the wake of the death of rapper Kanye West's mother, Donda, NBC5's Sharon Wright reported. That death raised questions about the safety of plastic surgery.

While many said they feel the proposed legislation has its merits, some also expressed concerns.

"I think the one thing we have to be careful of is setting up a situation where we go from one extreme all the way to another extreme," said Dr. Michael Lee of Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "Which I think is not also reasonable."

Davis told Wright the proposal was on hold, as more medical professionals help craft a law that will help prevent more tragedies like West's. Davis said she hoped to have the bill ready for a vote during the next legislative session.

New Plastic Surgery Laws?

"An Illinois lawmaker on Tuesday said she wants more stringent regulations on plastic surgery."

While this stuff doesn't really bother me per se, it will drive up the cost of surgery to the patient. It is a shame that the government feels the need to try to force that which most of us do anyway of our own accord. My practice doesn't run anything like that of Dr Adams at least from that which I read.

What Happened to Victoria Beckham's Breast Implants?

Features a post today on Posh Spice's breast implants presenting the opinion that they have been removed.

I'd bet Posh had silicone gel implants placed many years ago and they had developed capsular contracture or hardening. These scar capsules were likely removed and the implants replaced. Significant contracture like this is one of the risks of silicone gel-filled implants that occurs more frequently than with their saline-filled counterparts.

Tom Cruise Fuming At Marijuana Namesake

wftv

Tom Cruise isn't impressed with the new strain of medical marijuana named "Tom Cruise Purple," according to a report in the New York Daily News.
The actor's lawyers are assessing the branded marijuana that is available at licensed cannabis clubs in Northern California. The vials of marijuana are branded with a photo of Cruise laughing hysterically.
Employees at California marijuana clinics refuse to discuss their inventory.
As a follower of Scientology, Cruise opposes psychotropic drugs.

Madonna’s Black Eyes: Plastic Surgery?

Madonna has been an enigma to fans ever since she stopped aging a decade ago. With rumors of plastic surgery being repeatedly denied by Madonna, people have been left to wonder if the star’s macrobiotic diet and intense workouts are the real reason for Madonna’s remarkable youthful look. All doubts may now be cast aside, as seeing Madonna with two black eyes hidden under a pair of sunglasses leaving a medical building in New York on Monday have renewed rumors that 49-year old Queen of Pop has undergone a mini face lift, or blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), or some other facial plastic surgery.

The case for Madonna having plastic surgery is quite convincing, as earlier this year Madonna shocked audiences with her unbelievably refreshed look at the 2007 Oscars, which led Make Me Heal and other insiders to believe that she treated herself to some minimally invasive facial cosmetic procedures such as Thermage, dermal fillers like Botox, and possibly even a mini facelift. With the under-eye bruises in toe, the case for a mid-facelift becomes plausible.

Carnie Wilson After Gastric Bypass - Weight Gain?

AOL
In 1999, Carnie Wilson underwent a bariatric operation (there are many types). She subsequently lost a great deal of weight and likely had plastic surgery. This release features a story about how she gained a whole lot of weight again.

These cases are fascinating as patients really aren't able to gain this much weight after these operations, at least not very often. Does anyone know who did her operation or what type she had? The question of how weight loss surgery patients do after these operations is an experiment in evolution.

Beware Snake Oil Salesmen? - Daniel Serrano

Beware snake oil salesmen like Daniel Serrano. Maybe the list of celebrities treated by this man like Priscilla Presley should have. Serrano was reportedly smooth with sweet talk and promises:

"Serrano, who was a doctor in Argentina but unlicensed in the U.S., told patients the serum, which he claimed would remove wrinkles, was much better than Botox -- an all-natural drug he said was used by all the top models in Paris"

Silicone gel injections are not natural. They do not do well. Qualified plastic surgeons will not offer them.

Did "Dr. Jiffy Lube" Treat Priscilla Presley?

There is an interesting story from TMZ.com which speculates that a man posing as a cosmetic surgeon injected Priscilla Presley with industrial, low-grade silicone used in auto parts...possibly at Lionel Richie's home! According to the story:


Priscilla... went to Dr. Daniel Serrano around 2003. Serrano was a good-looking doc from Argentina who... started giving them what he claimed were miracle injections that worked better than Botox. In fact, Serrano was injecting industrial, low-grade silicone similar to what's used to lubricate auto parts... Several women, including Shawn King, Larry's wife, and Diane Richie, Lionel's wife at the time, held injection parties in their homes, with Serrano needling them with the non-FDA approved drug that he had smuggled in to the U.S.


Silicone is not approved by the FDA for cosmetic injection into the face, although it has been used for that purpose in the past. This can create granulomas (a massive inflammatory response), infections, permanent deformity, and rejection with open sores and scarring. Because of these problems, I am not a fan of long-lasting or permanent fillers, but prefer injectables such as Restylane, Perlane, or Juvederm, which typically disappears within 6-12 months.