While most men and women lose pounds through diet and exercise, some need a little extra help. If you were frustrated by years of diets and exercise that never gave you any consistency, and you turned to bariatric surgery for help, you may be left with a great healthy body, but lots of sagging skin.

This group of patients, and even some of those who are able to lose weight through more traditional techniques, is often left with excess hanging skin and fat deposits in places on their bodies that can only be smoothed and contoured with plastic surgery.

Exercise and diet will get you only so far in sculpting your body if you have undergone a major weight loss. Plastic surgery is then required to deal with the excess skin and fat deposits on those people who have undergone a massive loss of over 100 pounds; the body just can’t take care of it on its own.

Weight loss surgery is increasing in popularity, as the population of the U.S. continues to recognize the need for a healthy lifestyle.

More and more plastic surgeons are seeing patients in their offices who are in need of body contouring procedures to help the patient who just lost a massive amount of pounds to look even better and feel even better in their new bodies.

Generally, patients looking to have cosmetic procedures after a weight loss are looking to remove excess skin and fat deposits which are left in the areas of their face, neck, arms, breasts, abdomen, back, and thighs.

While weight loss patients are usually very interested in plastic surgery procedures, it is important to note that patients who have undergone a rapid and extreme loss have skin which is much more lax than those who have lost over time or who were not overweight at all.

This means that weight loss patients will see results from the procedure; however, the results are likely to be less than expected than those who not lost massive weight.

It is acknowledged that tummy tucks are often one of the first procedures performed post weight loss.

There are many surgeries to consider if you have undergone a serious weight loss. They include:

* abdominoplasty (tummy tuck),

* circumferential lower body lift,

* breast lift,

* arm lift,

* face lift,

* neck lift,

* and other body contouring procedures to make your body look so great after your hard work.

If you’re considering having plastic surgery, it is advisable that you speak with a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in your area and discuss your options and expected outcomes.

By working with an experienced cosmetic surgeon they can help you to understand what your body could look like and what the risks of having the surgical procedures might be.

If you are looking for improvement to your new slim body and are otherwise in healthy condition, plastic surgery might be just what is needed to help you slim the abdomen or contour your legs and arms to look great!



Thanks to Abigail Aaronson for contributing this article to our Plastic Surgery blog:

Have you claimed your Genesis site?

The non-cosmetic clinical indications for the use of breast implants are for breast reconstruction, sex reassignment surgery, and for abnormalities, usually congenital, that affect the shape and size of the breast. Non-clinical indications, which are the most common reason women get breast implants, are considered cosmetic and are not covered by any health insurers. And of all the breast plastic surgery procedures performed in 2006 in the United States, 329,000 were for breast augmentations.

Back in 1962 the first woman was implanted with silicone implants. There are two primary types of breast implants: saline-filled and silicone-gel-filled implants

Doctors Thomas Cronin and Frank Gerow, two Houston, Texas, plastic surgeons, developed the first silicone breast prosthesis with the Dow Corning Corporation in back in 1961. Current saline implant devices are manufactured with thicker, room temperature vulcanized shells. There have been several types of breast implants developed other than the two most common, saline filled and silicone gel filled, including polypropylene string and soy oil, but these are not commonly used, if at all; leakage of oil into the body during a rupture would not be good..

Because the saline implants are empty when they are surgically inserted, the scar is smaller than is necessary than for the silicone gel breast implants which are already filled with silicone before they are placed. Saline-filled implants are the most common implant used in the United States due to some restrictions on silicone implants. This may change. They are seldom ever used in other countries. Silicone gel implants have a silicone shell and are filled with a viscous type silicone gel.

An intracapsular rupture can progress to outside the capsule, called an extracapsular rupture, and it is generally agreed that both conditions indicate the need for removal of the implant. Since the early 1990s, a number of independent reviewers have examined studies concerning links between silicone gel breast implants and systemic diseases and the consensus of these reviews is that there is no clear evidence of a causal link between the implantation of silicone breast implants in breast plastic surgery and systemic disease. It is always good to know who is funding these studies and that should clearly be stated.

Countries outside the United States have not endorsed routine MRI screening, and have taken the position that MRI’s should be reserved only for cases involving suspected clinical rupture or to confirm mammographic or ultrasound studies that suggest rupture.

When silicone implants rupture they rarely ever deflate, and the silicone from the implant can leak out into the intracapsular space around the implant. Thousands of women claim to have become ill from their breast implants. These complaints include neurological and rheumatological problems. When breast implants are removed that have been implanted for a long period of time, a mastopexy is often performed to tighten up the loose skin. This is additional surgery usually done at the same time and at an additional expense.

One study reported that only 30% of ruptures in asymptomatic patients are accurately detected by experienced plastic surgeons, compared to 86% that were detected by MRI. The age and design of the implant is an important factor in rupture, but estimating rupture rates of contemporary devices has been difficult for a variety of reasons, mainly because implant designs have changed somewhat over time.

Local complications that happen with breast implants include post-operative bleeding, fluid collections, surgical site infection, breast pain, alterations in nipple sensation, interference with breast feeding, visible wrinkling, asymmetric appearance, wound dehiscence with potential implant exposure, thinning of the breast tissue, and disruption of the natural plane between the breasts.

Manufacturers and doctors are required to let women know that implants are not permanent devices and that most recipients will probably need additional surgery to replace or remove their implants.

And make sure the plastic surgeon you choose, if you decide to do so, is board certified. Some doctors in specialties other than plastic surgery, like dermatologists, perform breast plastic surgery like breast augmentation. Choose a board certified plastic surgeon instead. And it’s just a reminder that breast augmentation is an elective cosmetic breast plastic surgery. Make sure to be aware of all the risks and complications and ask others who have implants for an honest evaluation of their experience.



Thanks to Helen Hecker for contributing this article to our Plastic Surgery blog:

Breast Enhancement Without Surgery

After pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, women often find that their breasts have lost their youthful appearance.

Breast enlargement, also referred to as augmentation mammoplasty helps to enhance the body contour of a woman and restore the youthful appearance of the breasts.

Women considering breast augmentation or a breast lift surgery post pregnancy should wait at least six months after the lactation period because this is the amount of time it takes for the breasts to return to their normal state.

The breast augmentation operation is carried out under general anesthesia on an outpatient basis. Breast augmentation surgery normally takes about two hours.

The plastic surgeon begins by making a small incision either under the breast above the crease, around the areola, or in the armpit. Then, the cosmetic surgeon makes a “pocket” by lifting the breast tissue and skin.

The pocket is either underneath the chest wall muscle (the pectoral muscle) or directly behind the breast tissue. The implant is placed within this pocket and then a thin drainage tube is temporarily inserted to drain off the blood and fluids.

Plastic surgeons at the Plastic Surgery Institute of California offer breast augmentation procedure as part of the mommy makeover packages which help mothers deal with a changed body post pregnancy.

Visit us at the Plastic Surgery Institute of California to have more information on the mommy makeover packages by clicking here.



Thanks to Ihab Kharma for contributing this article to our Plastic Surgery blog:

Cosmetic Breast Surgery

As poverty started to become a serious threat for the lives of many less fortunate people, many organizations around the world are now having their plans and actions on how to stop this problem before it gets worse. One of these organizations is the Plasticos Foundation. An organization composed of plastic surgeons headed by Dr. Larry Nichter. Plasticos Foundation’s primary goal is to improve the lives of others particularly the children in need through plastic surgery that is why the said foundation is identified as a plastic surgery organization.

Through the foundation’s intervention, they enhance the lives of children with correctable body deformities, birth defects, congenital malformations and traumatic disfigurements. The foundation also seeks to advance the field of Plastic Surgery through trainings, research studies, and public education that is why they conduct lectures and free trainings to surgeons in host countries in the art of Plastic Surgery, enabling them to carry on this work.

Plasticos Foundation cannot be called as a plastic surgery organization without its plastic surgeon volunteers who came from different parts of the world. These volunteers with the expertise in the said field serve and give their best because they want to reshape the deprived lives of many children who were victims of physical defects in their bodies. In addition, they are doing this kind act because they want to break the wall that hinders children who have these curses in showing up themselves in the society and give these innocents a new hope to survive life.

“Since the children are said to be the new hope of the world, then we should guide and put them on the right path, and uplift their lives from deprivation”, “We believe all individuals, especially the young, negatively affected by correctable deformities deserve to be made whole”, these are what the volunteers of Plasticos consider every time they render their service.

Through the benevolence of Plasticos Foundation, many lives of children have changed and have given a new hope. The faces infected with sadness are replaced with happiness as the curse in their life is removed through the magic touch of the surgeons and the glowing smiles started to shine in their innocent faces. Until now, Plasticos Foundation still continues its philanthropy. To help, to serve, to nurture and to mold the lives of the new generation! That is what Plasticos aims and believes.



Thanks to Ilaria for contributing this article to our Plastic Surgery blog:

Breast Implant Removal

Chosing who to trust to do your plastic surgery can be a difficult task.  Depending on where you are located, lax regulation may make it possible that your ‘plastic surgeon’ is not a surgeon at all.  Or they may be a surgeon with training in general surgery, or otolaryngology.

Plastic Surgery is one of the most competitive specialties to get into. It usually ranks in the top 3 which means that medical students go through a rigorous process to be selected into these residencies. (This means, in addition to getting superior grades in medical school, that they do research projects, publish a lot, and do a lot of electives in Plastic Surgery.) These medical students then go through a rigorous residency where they learn everything they need to know about Plastic Surgery. Sometimes, they pursue additional training (fellowship) in Plastic Surgery subspecialties. In the end they are certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (in Canada). This is the certification that you want to be looking for. It doesn’t guarantee perfection, but it guarantees that a responsible body has assessed this surgeon and determined that he was a safe and knowledgeable Plastic Surgeon.

Beware of ‘fake’ certification. Anyone can create a ‘Society’ and distribute certificates. Family doctors and other surgeons then pay a membership fee to these societies which in return issue a certificate of membership. These can be Am Soc of Laser Surgery, or Am Soc of Liposuction or International Society of Cosmetic Surgery etc…… They sound good, their certificates look impressive, but they only guarantee that the surgeon has paid his membership fee. There is no exam, no certification process involved (no, a two week course in liposuction is not a real training experience).

In conclusion, you want Am Board of Plastic Surgery or Royal College of Physician and Surgeons in Plastic Surgery. If you don’t know… ask another doctor or your family doctor.

 

Martin Jugenburg, MD (http://www.plastica.ca)



Thanks to Dr. Martin Jugenburg for contributing this article to our Plastic Surgery blog:

Nose Jobs Before And After