09.30.08
Benefits of a chin implant.
Chin implants are not used often enough. They are safe and effective and can dramatically improve the appearance of the face.
The chin is almost as important as the nose in an attractive profile, and so chin implants should often be done together with nose jobs.
I often use a chin implant together with a face and neck lift because it is so helpful in creating a clean right angle under the chin and taking up the lax neck skin.
Before you insert the permanent implant, different sizers are used of different shapes and different projections and that is how one determines which is the ideal implant to create the correct contour for the individual patient.
Chin implants are particularly important in men, who look stronger and more handsome with a bold jaw line.
A chin implant is done under local anesthesia, in the office, and there is about 5 days of down time.
09.22.08
Some information on smoking and my procedures.
I am afraid I have a prejudice that people who smoke are not very smart. (I myself smoked two packs of Camels a day for fifteen years!) But the key is not to be judgemental. True nicotine addicts cannot help it, anyway. It’s only about surgical safety. So it depends on the operation.
Breast augmentation, liposuction, rhinoplasty (nose surgery), and eyelid surgery can be performed safely in smokers. I do not do face lifts, tummy tucks, breast lifts, or breast reductions in smokers except in unusual circumstances.
Of course, plastic surgeons try to help their patients quit smoking. But this is too much of a generalization. You are dealing with two distinct groups of smokers:
- People who are physically addicted to nicotine are pretty intractable. (Some experts feel that nicotine is more addictive than heroin.) Even addiction specialists have a high failure rate with this group. So they are probably going to be beyond what a well intentioned plastic surgeon can do.
- On the other hand, there are many smokers who are not physically addicted, and it is fairly easy to motivate this group to stop smoking – at least during the pre- and post-operative period. I explain that I am only concerned with their health and that I will not operate on them unless they stop smoking for at least one month.
09.10.08
How to get a natural look with simple lip augmentation.
You can achieve a full, pouty upper lip without putting anything into the lip.
This is done with a sub-nasal lip lift where skin is removed just under the nose, and the inconspicuous scar (similar to that for a nose job) is hidden inside and under the nostril.
The lift pulls up and enlarges the visible red part of the upper lip and creates a pouty look.
This is a simple and effective operation done under local anesthesia with three days of down time, and I just don’t understand why it is not done more often.
09.02.08
Important information on Breast Implants.
In most cases your breast implants will last many years. Any breast implant can leak, and the incidence of leaking is slightly under 1% per year. That means that in 25 years, you may have a 25% risk of one of your breast implants leaking and needing to be replaced.
There is no rigid schedule for implant replacement, and they never need to be replaced as long as they are intact.
If a saline implant leaks, the breast gradually becomes smaller as the saline gets absorbed, and then you realizes immediately that your breast implant is leaking. With silicone implants, on the other hand, you don’t necessarily know if the silicone implant is leaking because the silicone is very highly cohesive and it all stays inside the implant pocket in your breast. Therefore, patients who have silicone implants need to have an MRI of the breasts every three years to make sure that the silicone implants are intact.
But the important point to make is that silicone does not cause any disease or medical problem and that therefore a leaking silicone breast implant is not a threat to your health. It is only a local mechanical problem that is corrected by replacing the implant.
