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Archive for November, 2008

Improve the quality of your life with a breast reduction

Friday, November 28th, 2008

Having a breast reduction surgery, also called reduction mammoplasty, could be a lot like having hip replacement. It can improve your health and this fact is based on a recent study released by the Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery.

82 Patients before a breast reduction were asked about the quality of they’re life and from 29 patients 6 months after the operation.
Before the operation, they felt inferior to that age’s standard population of females but not long after they had the breast reduction they replied on that same matter that health-related quality of life improved to the same level as the other female population.

The plastic surgeons were not surprised by those results. ”The fact has been known already for a long time”, said one of the researchers, Dr. Kai Saariniemi, who is specializing in plastic surgery in Tampere.
The health-related quality of life was assessed using a method that applies to all special fields of medicine.

While many women in the celeb columns of the glossy magazines are wishing for bigger breast or showing off their brand new saline or silicone gel implants, while there are other women that suffer from natural excess of breasts that are in a class of their own.

The participants in the test were around 40 to 50 years, while those who normally get a new hip or knee joint are closer to their 70th birthday. The effect of the age difference was nevertheless taken into account when evaluating the results.

An average size of a silicone gel-filled implant in Finland is around 2-3 deciliters, but according to the survey, the amount of tissue removed from one breast was 700 grammes on average, or at least double the size of average silicone implants.

The reasons for these two types of surgery are also different. Silicone implants and breast lifts belong to aesthetic surgery, and in Finland such operations are not made in public hospitals.

The breast reduction is made specially because of medical problems like back problems, pain in the neck and shoulders.

Those patients who are content with the results of their breast reduction operation list the benefits on online discussion forums: to get rid of continuous headaches, to be able to wear pretty clothes, to go to the gym when the breasts are not constantly getting in the way.

The queues for surgery became shorter only after the guarantee of health care entered into force in Finland. Before that it was quite common that after the diagnosis had been made a patient might have to wait for treatment for five to six years.

Operations are generally large and one in five patients suffer some form of complications. Breast-feeding is usually not impeded by the procedure, but in most cases the recommendation is that the operation should be done after the breast feeding.

ArrivaCostaRica.com is the primary web site for information about plastic surgery and dentistry in Costa Rica. See www.arrivacostarica.com

Tags: Breast Enhancement, Breast Reconstruction, Breast Reduction, Breast Surgery, Male Breast Reduction, Mamoplasty Reduction
Posted in Breast Enhancement, Breast Reconstruction, Breast Reduction, Breast Surgery, Cosmetic Surgery | No Comments »

Gastric Bypass Surgery equals a SMARTER YOU?

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

An article written by Barbara Smith discusses how having Gastric Bypass Surgery can make you smarter. She writes: “More than 140,000 severely overweight Americans have gastric bypass surgery every year.” It’s a procedure wherein surgeons create a smaller stomach in patients. It’s done for weight loss, but a new study shows it can solve a host of medical problems, and may even be a boost to your brain.

“I had tried everything, and I had been heavy for about fifteen years,” said Kim Cundick.

Kim tried diet after diet. She was tipping the scales at 291 pounds when she decided it was time for gastric bypass surgery.

With the Gastric Bypass Surgery, Kim lost 150 pounds – about half of her body weight. Her story is not unusual, the dramatic surgery, that creates a new and smaller stomach and re-arranges the small intestine, produces dramatic results.

Most patients see significant weight loss, but recent research shows there are other benefits as well, and as belly fat melts away so do other serious medical problems.

“That inflammatory fat often has the hormonal effects that cause their type two diabetes, their high cholesterol, their blood pressure, their sleep apnea all of these things,” said Dr. Steven Simper.

The most recent study conducted by Stanford researchers found another surprising side effect. Gastric bypass improved a patient’s ability to remember, pay attention to detail and think through problems. Scientists aren’t sure why, they are still studying it, but doctors have their suspicions.

“First of all they are not as depressed as they were before – that improves cognition,” said Simper. ”Their sleep apnea has gone away — that improves cognition. Diabetes has gone away, high blood pressure has gone away…

ArrivaCostaRica.com is the primary web site for information about plastic surgery and dentistry in Costa Rica. See www.arrivacostarica.com

Tags: Gastric Bypass Surgery
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OVERVIEW OF COMMON PROCEDURES FOR COSMETIC PLASTIC SURGERY

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

Throughout time, cosmetics have been used by women all over the world among all races and cultures to enhance their beauty. This insatiable search for beauty aids has resulted in multi-billion dollar, worldwide cosmetics industry. However, these beauty aids cannot alleviate problems of structural deficiencies or drawbacks of facial features and body contours beyond a certain limit.

Cosmetic Plastic Surgery, on the other hand, can help to modify or correct these structural deficiencies and drawbacks, through carefully planned surgical procedures, so that a more perfect shape, features and contours of face and body can be achieved with long lasting results. According to Dr. Bangalore N. Jayaram, here are some of the misconceptions about cosmetic plastic surgery.

Breast Augmentation:

Some women have inadequately developed breasts (Hypoplastic breasts) making them self-conscious. This can be corrected by placing breast implants behind the breasts. Incisions are made either in the breast crease under the breast, around the lower half areola (brown skin surrounding the nipple) or in the arm pit. Through this, a pocket is developed behind the breast tissue. An adequate size breast implant is placed in this pocket and incision is closed.

The implants, made of silicone gel or silicone bags filled with saline (salt water), can be placed under chest muscle also. Resultant scars will be inconspicuous. This procedure is also useful in correcting unequal size of breast.

Breast Lift (Mastopexy)

Some women develop sagging breasts after childbirth due to loss of substance in the breasts, resulting in wrinkled, flat breasts with drooping nipples. This can be improved through the procedure of breast-lift or mastopexy.

Incisions are placed around the nipple and on the under surface of the breasts, excess loose skin is removed and the breast is reshaped, the nipple is raised to a normal position to make the breasts look fuller. In women who have small sagging breasts, size of the breasts can increased by placing implants behind the breasts, thus combining the procedure of breast lift and breast augmentation at the same time.

The resulting scars will fade with time and become less conspicuous. Sensation in the nipples will not be affected and will stay normal in most cases.

Breast Reduction (Reduction Mamoplasty):

Women with large, pendulous breasts suffer from many health problems. They are usually overweight, large and pendulous causing pain in shoulders, neck and back due to the weight.

Excessive sweating under the breasts causes skin irritation, it-ching and chronic inflammation under the folds of the breasts. They cannot find proper fitting bras to support the weight of the breasts. Heavy breasts may cause postural changes with drooping spine.

All these problems are alleviated by reducing the size of the breasts by a procedure called Reduction Mammoplasty. This procedure helps to correct any difference in the size of breasts also as more than 50% of women have unequal breast sizes.

The operation is done under general anesthesia in a hospital setting, necessitating 1 or 2 days of hospital stay. Incisions are placed around the nipple areola and under the surface of the breasts extending along the breast crease. Through these incisions, excess skin and breast tissue are removed.

Nipple and areola are placed at more anatomical position and the incisions are closed with drainage tube to allow excess leakage of fluid and blood to escape. These drainage tubes are removed after 48 hrs, stitches are removed in 10 days. Results will be apparent in 8-12 weeks.

Post Mastectomy Reconstruction of Breasts

Women who have undergone removal of one or both breasts because of cancer suffer from damaged body image and suffer psychologically. To alleviate this problem, breast reconstruction including nipple and areola can be done using one’s own skin, muscle and fat either from the back or abdomen, and also with the use of tissue expanders and breast implants.

Reduction of male breasts (Gynecomastia)

Some men develop breast enlargement to the extent that it will be very embarrassing for them to participate in sports and other social activities. This problem is common in teenagers and also in obese males.

Usually such breast development in teenagers consists of breast tissue and in obese people, mostly fat. This can be corrected by combination of liposuction and removal of excess breast tissue through an incision around the lower half of areola. Larger and hanging type of gynecomastia may require more extensive procedure.

Abdomenoplasty (Tummy tuck)

This procedure is intended to correct loose, hanging and pendulous abdominal skin along with underlying fat to create a slimmer, shapely and tighter abdominal wall and profile. Some stretch marks from pregnancy and vertical C-section scars can also be removed by this procedure.

Incisions are placed above the pubic area extending from one side of abdomen to the other side. Through this approach, all the abdominal skin is raised up to the ribcage and excess skin and fat are removed. Stretched out and weakened abdominal muscles are tightened with stitches and incisions are closed over a drainage tube. The belly button (Umbilicus) is repositioned through a separate small incision. The drainage tube is removed in 48 hrs. Healing will take up to 6 weeks.

This procedure is one of the most useful procedures to enhance body image among Indian women. It is often combined with liposuc-tion to remove excess fat in upper part of abdomen and flanks.

Liposuction

This is the most popular cosmetic plastic surgical procedure. It removes excess of localised fat deposits in certain areas of the body such as abdomen, inner and outer parts of thighs, waist, hips, arms and under the chin, through tiny incisions, using thin metal suction tubes connected to a high powered suction machine.

It is suitable for persons with no more than 10% of their ideal body weight, with localised fat deposits in locations mentioned above. Usually these procedures give the best results in people under the age of 40 yrs.

It is not intended to reduce weight of an obese person. The procedure is usually performed under local or general anesthesia on outpatients. Incisions leave very small scars.

Following the procedure, the patient has to wear a tight-fitting garment to apply gentle occlusive pressure at the site of operation to prevent collection of fluids and to reshape the area for about 6 to 8 weeks. Results will be seen after about 12 weeks.

Facial Implants and Bodily implants

This procedure involves use of silicone implants or other materials to enhance the contours of facial areas such as chin, cheek bones, angles of lower jaw and other bodily contours such as hips and calf muscles. Appropriately tailored implants are placed through small incisions to enhance shape profile of a receding chin, flat che-ek bones, flat hips or calf areas.

The healing process of people with dark skin is different from those of fair complexion. People with pigmented skin (brown or black) tend to form thick unattractive and conspicuous scars and even keloids (dark tissue at the site of a scar).

All surgical procedures have certain percentage of com- plications and untoward results. Therefore it is important to have a thorough discussion with your plastic surgeon to understand the risks and benefits of each procedure before undergoing the same.

ArrivaCostaRica.com is the primary web site for information about plastic surgery and dentistry in Costa Rica. See www.arrivacostarica.com

Tags: Abdomenoplasty, Breast Augmentation, Cosmetic Surgery, Gymecomastia, implants, Mamoplasty Reduction, Mastopexy
Posted in Abdominoplasty, Breast Augmentation, Breast Enhancement, Breast Implants, Breast Reduction, Gynecomastia, Mastopexy, Plastic Surgery | 1 Comment »

The wonders of the Tummy Tuck Procedures

Monday, November 24th, 2008

A lot of people take advantage of the winter to loose some weigh because of the big puffy coats and sweater to hide your appearance till the summer time comes. Sometimes even spring time, especially after the holidays. Then there are those who care about their appearance 365 days a year no matter what time of the year it is, but can’t seem to get rid of certain areas of fat no matter how much they exercise and diet.

Even if you are living in a place where most of the year requires warm heavy cloths, you don’t have to give up assuming that no matter what you do, you’ll never be able to look the way you want. Add the fact that the belly expands a bit as we age, and sometimes it seems like a hopeless, uphill battle. However, many people decide to go one step further than eating well and going to the gym. In these cases, they may choose to undergo a tummy tuck or abdominoplasty procedures.

A tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, is one of the most popular cosmetic surgical procedures performed in the U.S. Many people who undergo a tummy tuck may also undergo liposuction at the same time. A tummy tuck tightens the muscles of the abdomen and removes the excess skin and fat in the area. This gives tummy tuck patients a flatter abdomen. This will show dramatic results in ways that diet and exercise alone cannot.

Procedures

During the traditional, or full, tummy tuck procedure, an incision running from hipbone to hipbone is made below the bikini line. This keeps the resulting scar hidden. If necessary, a second incision is made near the navel to move it up. The excess skin and fat is then removed and the muscles that run vertically down the center of the abdomen are sutured to make them tight. This creates a stronger abdominal wall, as well as enhances the shape of your body. This is the best tummy tuck procedure to get if you have excessive skin and tissue after pregnancy, weight loss, or aging.

In addition to the traditional, full tummy tuck, there is the mini tummy tuck procedure for those who need minimal amounts of skin and tissue removed. This is done by making a small, horizontal incision near the pubic area. The excess fat is removed through this incision, the excess skin is removed, and the abdominal muscles are tightened.

ArrivaCostaRica.com is the primary web site for information about plastic surgery and dentistry in Costa Rica. See www.arrivacostarica.com

Tags: Abdominoplasty, Body Sculpturing, Liposculpture, Liposuction, Obesity Treatment, Plastic Surgery, Tummy Tuck
Posted in Abdominoplasty, Body Sculpturing, Cosmetic Surgery, Liposculpture, Liposuction, Obesity Treatment, Tummy Tuck | No Comments »

Get back to that flab-u-less silhouette

Friday, November 21st, 2008

Too many people get obsessed with the nightmare of the unglamorous vicious cycle of horizontal growth.

Liposuction is the most popular aesthetic surgical procedure that helps to shape the body by removing fat deposits located between the skin and muscles from specific areas — the most common being the abdomen, buttocks, thighs and knees, chin, upper arms and calves.

From the horrible beer belly for men to thunder thighs for ladies, people continue to be plagued by the psychological and physical effects of obesity in very visible areas, especially in our increasingly fast paced world of today where work and fast food have replaced exercise and healthy diets.

It’s almost like a dream come true; minus the bruising and swelling that takes about a week or two to disappear.

The concept is way too simple: A stainless steel tube, called a cannula, is connected to a high-pressure suction pump (vacuum) and is inserted under the skin. The suction breaks up and “sucks” fat out of the body, hence resulting in an improved body silhouette.

Most patients are able to return to work within two weeks and in some cases as early as four days. But unfortunately, in some cases, patients may develop unevenness or lumps after undergoing liposuction.

The good news is that this surgical procedure has benefited from numerous new refinements during the past decade and currently, a number of innovative techniques are helping cosmetic surgeons provide patients with customized treatments that suit their needs.

“The conventional technique of liposuction is a surgical procedure used to vacuum fat cells and cannot be used where there is cellulite,” says Kevin Chan, a surgeon from Flinders Practice Aesthetics Medical Center.

“In addition to the down time, bruising, scarring, lumpiness and uneven contours, it may also cause loose skin and takes a longer time to see results.

“On the other hand, the Advance Matrix Liposuction uses a combination of pre-treatment and post-treatment procedures like mesotherapy, radio frequency treatment, ultrasound and laser lipolysis treatment, which offer precise results and quicker recovery time,” Chan says.

Mesotherapy, a non-invasive procedure developed by French physician Dr Michel Pistor in 1952, is where medication (made up of pharmaceutical, homeopathic medications, plant extracts, vitamins and other ingredients) is delivered via a series of injections or “matrix pricking” just under the skin to help remove fat from fat cells.

In addition to promoting weight loss, mesotherapy also provides anti-aging benefits, which improves skin tone and decreases wrinkles.

“Once the fats soften through mesotherapy treatment, we use the laser lipolysis treatment to remove the excess fat deposits that are normally resistant to physical exercise and dieting.

“To put it simply — it’s like grazing a hot knife over butter! Using these combinations of pre- and post- treatments, patients will experience less scarring, less blood loss, improved skin appearance … and it reduces any traumatic experience that they might experience through conventional liposuction procedures”, Chan adds.

Liposuction is definitely not a substitute for regular exercise and a good diet but, for most people who have inherited excessive accretion of fats that are resistant to traditional weight-loss methods, liposuction is the only realistic option for an improved body contour.

While it is able to enhance your appearance and boost self-confidence, it won’t necessarily change your looks or the way you feel about yourself.

Effectively, liposuction is equivalent to being able to focus the result of dieting to specific areas of the body. As fantastic as it may sound, liposuction is not for everyone. Before opting for such a procedure, patients must have realistic expectations about what it can do for them.

“It is important for me to understand the *biopsychosocio’ state of my patients before performing any aesthetic procedures,” Chan says.

“The patient has to be psychologically stable, physically healthy and realistic with their expectations. In some cases, I’ve turned away patients who resorted to aesthetic procedure for the wrong reasons.

“The most suitable candidates for liposuction are people with a normal weight, firm and elastic skin but with excess fat in certain areas. While age is not a major issue, older patients tend to have skin that is less elastic, hence the result will not be as good in comparison to younger patients with tighter skin,” Chan says.

Patients suffering from diabetes, poor blood circulation, serious heart or lung disease and those who have recently had surgery near the area to be sculpted are at greater risk of complications and should think twice before opting for such a procedure.

“We do a pre-op workout for the patient … measure and weigh them so that they can *see’ the before and after effect once the procedure’s been done.

“The procedure can take between an hour or so, but it all depends on how big the area that needs to be treated is. On average, it’ll take about 5 years before patients need to ‘service’ troubled areas.”

With realistic expectations, Chan says, patients are usually very satisfied with the outcome of their surgery.

The success of a liposuction procedure is about removing inches rather than weight, Chan adds.

Fat cells that have been sucked out do not grow back; as long as patients do not put on excessive weight, the pleasing silhouette is permanent.

ArrivaCostaRica.com is the primary web site for information about plastic surgery and dentistry in Costa Rica. See www.arrivacostarica.com

Tags: Abdominoplasty, Cosmetic Surgery, Liposculpture, Liposuction, Plastic Surgery, Ultrasonic Liposuction, Vibroliposuction
Posted in Cosmetic Surgery, Liposculpture, Liposuction, Lower body lift, Tummy Tuck, Ultrasonic Liposuction, Vibroliposuction | 1 Comment »

A new treatment for migraines,Botox!

Friday, November 21st, 2008

Now a days people are trying desperately to find a medicine that will calm the pain of a migraine. More than 30-million Americans get migraines.
Now doctors have discovered a treatment that could prevent migraines from happening in the first place, Botox.

A migraine may start as a small headache, then your vision blurs, any amount of light sends piercing pain into your eyes and even the tiniest noise makes your head feel like it’s going to burst. And then, you get sick. Marsha Gosselin knows these symptoms all to well, “I’d loose about 12 days a month.”

Most of the people who use Botox simply want to look better, but for Marsha It was a matter of getting her life back and simply feeling better. After trying everything, despite her fear of needles, she began to research Botox as a treatment for her migraines.

Conventional treatment only dealt with Marsha’s migraine once it happened and sometimes not even then. “Well that kinda defeats the purpose because you are still sick a couple of days. The family has to tip toe around. Everything has to be dark. You walk around the house like Jackie O. with dark glasses on.”

“Botox has been around since, well it was FDA approved in 1989. So we’ve had a long history with it, but it was only when we first started using it for facial spasms that we started to see the cosmetic side affect of reducing those dynamic lines and wrinkles. And it was when we started to use it for that purpose that we actually discovered it has a great use in migraine patients.” explains Dr. Catherine Durboraw with The Center For Aesthetics.

The procedure is simple. A numbing agent is applied and Once it starts working, here come the needles.

Dr. Durboraw says, “Probably 80% of the relief that migraine patients get is from the number one area that we treat cosmetically too, which is the globella fura. That’s the area between our brows. Whenever I am treating a migraine patient we always treat there. When I’m doing it I ask patients about their trigger points. They’ll start pointing to the back of their neck, to their temples to over their brow and then you make sure you always inject those areas too.”

During the procedure Dr. Durboraw shows, “Marsha has trigger zones along her temple. So we always do some injections there.”

She checks on Marsha during the procedure, “Doin ok?”

“uh hum.” As a matter of fact, Marsha’s been doing okay since she’s been coming to Dr. Durboraw for a little over a year. “I come every 3 months regularly. Look forward to the shots in my head, because I don’t have a migraine.”

“They are my happiest patients. They are people that you can really transform their entire outlook on life because they’ve been given this opportunity to be pain free and its a very rewarding treatment for me to be doing as a practitioner.” says Dr. Durboraw.

As they finish the procedure, “You get three months of wonderful relief!”

ArrivaCostaRica.com is the primary web site for information about plastic surgery and dentistry in Costa Rica. See www.arrivacostarica.com

Tags: Botox, botox and wrinkles, Botox Injections, Collagen, Facial Treatments, Wrinkle Fillers, Wrinkles Removal
Posted in Botox, Botox Injections, Collagen Injections, Facial Treatments, Wrinkle Fillers, Wrinkles Removal | No Comments »

Get back to that flab-u-less silhouette

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008