02.26.09
Q & A with Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
Interested in getting expert answers to all of your plastic and cosmetic treatment questions and inquiries? By simply logging onto RealSelf.com, you can anonymously post any and all of your questions and get real answers for all of your invasive or non-invasive cosmetic and plastic surgery needs.
Highly trained New York City Plastic Surgeon, Dr. George Beraka is an active, top participant on RealSelf.com, eager to provide you with helpful answers to all of your important and personal questions as well as offer his expert opinion. On RealSelf.com, you can also view hundreds of Dr. Beraka’s informative responses to interesting plastic and cosmetic treatment questions, comments, and opinions that have been posted by other people with beauty-related interests.
While on RealSelf.com, we also strongly recommend and encourage you to share your thoughts and/or experiences by simply leaving a comment or posting a review. We hope that you find this information as not only a helpful suggestion, but enjoyable as well.
01.19.09
Breast Reduction significantly decreases the risk of developing breast cancer.
Here is an interesting item for any woman contemplating breast reduction surgery. Breast Reduction significantly decreases the risk of developing breast cancer. In an article published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 32,000 women were reviewed. Women who had breast reductions were found to have a 50% to 70% decrease in the risk of developing breast cancer afterwards. This is probably because there is much less breast tissue that can become malignant.
This is a very important finding because many women worry about the affect any kind of breast surgery might have on their chance of getting breast cancer. So, a bit of good news.
12.03.08
Treat Hyperhidrosis with Botox.
Hyperhidrosis means excessive sweating, typically in the armpits. This is very effectively treated with tiny injections of Botox into the hair-bearing skin of the armpits.
Increasingly, women without true hyperhidrosis but with normal sweating are having their armpits treated with Botox injections. The Botox treatment in the armpit eliminates sweating, and for many women also eliminates the need for deodorants, slightly. The treatment only takes a few minutes. The results last nine months on average and the treatment in Manhattan costs approximately $1000.
11.19.08
Our Special Buy One Get One Offer on Restylane.
For a limited time only, we encourage you to take the time to pamper yourself this holiday season with Restylane during our Buy One Get One special offer. From December 1st through December 5th you may buy a syringe of Restylane and get the second syringe for FREE. To schedule your appointment please call our office at 212.288.1122.
10.28.08
Breastfeeding and Breast Sagging.
An interesting study just published in Aesthetic Surgery Journal has reassuring information for pregnant women who are considering breastfeeding. This study shows that breastfeeding in and of itself does not cause a greater degree of breast sagging after pregnancy. Cigarette smoking during pregnancy is associated with increased breast sagging. Large breast size is also associated with increased sagging after pregnancy, and it is true that the risk of breast sagging increases with each succeeding pregnancy; but, again, breastfeeding does not worsen these effects. Expectant mothers therefore should be reassured that breastfeeding does not have an adverse effect upon breast appearance.
10.20.08
Hyaluronidase.
It is possible to see bumps after the use of any injectable filler including Restylane and Juvederm. The bumps are caused by too much of the filler being injected at one point in the skin, and also injected too superficially. With good injection technique, bumps should be very rare. They should happen less than 5% of the time and be very small and hardly noticeable when they do occur. The good news is that the bumps do tend to flatten out over a period of 2 or 3 months.
If the bumps persist and are quite unsightly, they can be treated with injecting the bumps with a medication called Hyaluronidase.
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.
