Archive for 2007

Rumor Patrol: The C-Tuck - Should a C-Section and Tummy Tuck be Performed in Combination?

Rumor Patrol: The C-Tuck - Should a C-Section and Tummy Tuck be Performed in Combination?

Online gossipers claim Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, and other celebs underwent an early C-section paired with a tummy tuck to slim down after pregnancy. We sat down with an expert to get the skinny on this story!

The One-Drink DUI in Bariatric Surgery Patients

The One-Drink DUI in Bariatric Surgery Patients

After weight-loss surgery, patients have difficulty metabolizing alcohol – even tiny amounts. This puts them at risk for extreme intoxication and receiving a DUI, even after just one drink.

The Cure for Your Bald Scalp May Be as Simple as Getting Someone Else's

The Cure for Your Bald Scalp May Be as Simple as Getting Someone Else's

The current solution for men and women seeking to revitalize their thinning or receding hair is to undergo hair-replacement surgery, also known as follicular unit grafting.

Fertility Treatment and Obesity — The Controversy Escalates

Fertility Treatment and Obesity — The Controversy Escalates

A great deal of controversy has erupted recently over rising obesity rates throughout the world, and the new guidelines issued by the British Fertility Society have only amplified the outcry.

Cosmetic Surgery: You Don’t Have to be Rich or Famous, but You Can Feel Like You Are!

Cosmetic Surgery: You Don’t Have to be Rich or Famous, but You Can Feel Like You Are!

Cosmetic surgery, once a luxury reserved for the rich and famous, is now readily available to anyone striving to look their very best.

SBK Vision Correction Surgery: Is It Superior to LASIK and PRK?

SBK Vision Correction Surgery: Is It Superior to LASIK and PRK?

In an ambitious attempt to provide an alternative to LASIK and PRK, surgeons have developed a new type of refractive surgery called SBK, or sub-Bowman's keratomileusis.

Lunchtime Lipo, Lifts, and Enlargements

Lunchtime Lipo, Lifts, and Enlargements

Is the speedy surgical sensation destined to slight consumers? Or is technology simply catching up with our cosmetic ideals? DocShop’s Beauty Team introduces savvy consumers to the modern realm of “lunchtime” cosmetic procedures.

Unfair Insurance Coverage Practices Applied to Breast Reduction Surgery?

Unfair Insurance Coverage Practices Applied to Breast Reduction Surgery?

Many women experience pain and embarrassment due to overly large breasts. Yet breast reduction surgery costs an average of $5,000. Should health insurance coverage pay for a portion of the cost of surgery?

Miracle or Madness? The Light and Dark Sides of Donating Eggs for Money

Miracle or Madness? The Light and Dark Sides of Donating Eggs for Money

Ever seen advertisements promising fantastic financial rewards for donating eggs to a fertility clinic and wondered what the whole story was? Some young women are taking advantage of these offers, but others are concerned about the moral and medical costs of these arrangements.

Tragedy Highlights the Importance of Choosing a Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon

Tragedy Highlights the Importance of Choosing a Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon

GRAMMY Award winning rapper Kanye West's mother died Saturday night, just one day after she underwent plastic surgery.

Could Gum Disease Increase Your Risk of Heart Attack or Cancer?

Could Gum Disease Increase Your Risk of Heart Attack or Cancer?

Most people know that periodontitis (or gum disease) can lead to tooth loss. However, recent studies indicate that gum disease may also be a precursor to more serious problems than just gaps in your smile.

Victoria’s Deepest Secret: Implantable Brassieres

Victoria’s Deepest Secret: Implantable Brassieres

How can a woman predict whether an implantable bra – worn under the skin to lift the breasts – will exceed the performance of traditional brassieres? By subjecting it to the same criteria used to judge any lingerie purchase: comfort, cost, and appearance.

Smartlipo™ vs. Lipodissolve™ - New Liposuction Techniques to Melt the Fat Away

Smartlipo™ vs. Lipodissolve™ - New Liposuction Techniques to Melt the Fat Away

Lasers and injections that melt the fat away? Advances in liposuction techniques have made body contouring less invasive than ever before….

Fix Me Up with a Five-Minute Nose Job

Fix Me Up with a Five-Minute Nose Job

Injectable rhinoplasty has an array of benefits that make it the perfect first-date fix, and not just for the image conscious. Many types of daters can find a solution for their first-date jitters in a five-minute nose job.

New Laser Eye Surgery Gives Navy Pilots Eagle Eyes

New Laser Eye Surgery Gives Navy Pilots Eagle Eyes

Runways, other planes, dozens of tiny instrument dials…add in the deadly complications of combat flying, and you have a job where ‘vision’ is not a corporate buzzword – it’s a life-saving requirement.

Bariatric Surgery Stands No Chance against an Untreated Food Addiction

Bariatric Surgery Stands No Chance against an Untreated Food Addiction

After losing almost 250 pounds, one gastric bypass surgery patient started gaining the weight back. Find out what caused her slide, how she is trying to beat it this time, and what others need to be wary of before having bariatric surgery.

‘Mommy Makeover’ Plastic Surgery on the Rise

‘Mommy Makeover’ Plastic Surgery on the Rise

Motherhood has its rewards. Sagging or shrunken breasts and protruding stomachs are not among them.

Surface Ablation (PRK and Epi-LASIK) Versus LASIK

Surface Ablation (PRK and Epi-LASIK) Versus LASIK

PRK? Epi-LASIK? LASIK? With all the choices on the market today, refractive surgery using an excimer laser is safer and more effective than ever. Find out the differences between these eye-opening procedures.

Two Stomachs Are Better Than One: REALIZE™ Band Hits American Market after FDA Approval

Two Stomachs Are Better Than One: REALIZE™ Band Hits American Market after FDA Approval

Approximately 15 million Americans are morbidly obese. The FDA has just approved the REALIZE™ Adjustable Gastric Band, a new endo-surgical band that controls hunger by adjusting the size of the stomach without stapling or bypass surgery.

Laser Bra Provides Lift to Women, Shortens Recovery Time

Laser Bra Provides Lift to Women, Shortens Recovery Time

A revolutionary surgical procedure called the Laser Bra is helping women recover more quickly from breast augmentation, breast lift, and breast reduction while using their own tissue, removed during surgery, to raise their breasts.

Beyond the Girdle

Beyond the Girdle

Compression garments are undergarments with a medical purpose, not to be confused with a girdle. Compression garments differ from girdles in their design, shape, application, and purpose.

Consumers’ Corner: How to Get the Best Deal Out of Health Care Financing

Consumers’ Corner: How to Get the Best Deal Out of Health Care Financing

Looking to get the most out of your health care financing plan? Check out these consumer tips!

SLT: Laser Treatment for Glaucoma Patients

SLT: Laser Treatment for Glaucoma Patients

Affecting more than five million people in the United States, glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Could laser treatment mean new hope for glaucoma patients?

Incredible Injectables: Restylane® vs. Radiesse™

Incredible Injectables: Restylane® vs. Radiesse™

The increasing popularity of dermal fillers for wrinkle reduction has caused the number of injectables on the market to rise each year, leaving patients with more choices, longer-lasting results, and tougher decisions when it comes to selecting the best cosmetic treatment.

Could Celution™ Be the Solution?

Could Celution™ Be the Solution?

Can your own fat be injected into your breasts to increase cup size? Cytori Therapeutics, a biotechnology company, says it can be.

In LASIK, Bigger Is Better

In LASIK, Bigger Is Better

Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler discusses which techniques and technology surgeons can employ to achieve the best results out of the LASIK surgery procedure.

Combining Intacs® and C3-R® in the Treatment of Keratoconus

Combining Intacs® and C3-R® in the Treatment of Keratoconus

For those suffering from progressive keratoconus, there is now a treatment to halt the progression of the disorder and prevent future deterioration of the cornea: C3-R®.

What is Labiaplasty?

What is Labiaplasty?

As with those who request a breast reduction to alter the shape and size of disproportionately large breasts, many women are now requesting labia reduction and reshaping to improve their self-esteem and quality of life.

“Dry Mouth” Destruction - Xerostomia

“Dry Mouth” Destruction - Xerostomia

Over the past several months we have noticed an increase in the number of patients complaining of dry mouth and the devastating effects this condition is having on their oral health.

Plastic Surgery Gives the Bony-fingered a Hand

Plastic Surgery Gives the Bony-fingered a Hand

Age spots, veins, and hollowness in the hands can now be injected, lasered, or peeled away with cosmetic procedures designed to keep a grandmother’s hands as smooth and sexy as a wedding ring model’s.

Minimize Your Child’s Need for Braces with Early Orthodontic Treatment

Minimize Your Child’s Need for Braces with Early Orthodontic Treatment

By having your child undergo orthodontic treatment early, often by age seven, you may be able to reduce or even eliminate his or her need for braces or surgery later in life.

What You Should Know Before You Decide To Tan

What You Should Know Before You Decide To Tan

Researchers, dermatologists, physicians and surgeons all agree that tanning is harmful to your health. Despite this people continue to lie out in the sun or hit the local tanning salon. But before you head off to the beach, remember that protecting your skin is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and appearance.

Addiction: From Drugs to Donuts, Brain Activity May be the Key

Addiction: From Drugs to Donuts, Brain Activity May be the Key

Researchers are gathering a body of evidence that supports a link between overeating and brain activity associated with addictive behaviors. Studies conclude that changes and variations in brain metabolism, reward sensitivity, and dopamine receptors may affect obese people’s desire to overeat.

Is White Right? Ethnic Cosmetic Procedures

Is White Right? Ethnic Cosmetic Procedures

Cosmetic surgery gives men and women the option to change their appearance far more dramatically and permanently than was possible with hair dye or colored contact lenses. Despite this, many of today’s men and women of color are eschewing the “classic” beauty of whiteness, opting instead to pursue a look that alters, but maintains, their distinct ethnic features.

Eye Exams Can Detect Early Stages of Serious Diseases

Eye Exams Can Detect Early Stages of Serious Diseases

The windows to the soul can provide physicians with an extraordinary look at your overall health. Diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol are all diseases that eye care specialists can detect from an eye exam.

BOTOX® Parties – A Dangerous Trend?

BOTOX® Parties – A Dangerous Trend?

BOTOX® parties generally consist of a small gathering of people at someone’s home, complete with a physician, vials of BOTOX® Cosmetic, and sterilized needles. The procedure is performed in a party-like environment, which can lessen the tension and make the patient feel more relaxed.

Breast Implant Popularity by Region

Breast Implant Popularity by Region

Statistics show that more people get breast implants in the Mountain, Pacific, and South Atlantic regions of the United States. What makes breast augmentation more popular in these regions than in others?

The Unaging Eye – Getting Older Doesn’t Have to Mean Losing Your Vision

The Unaging Eye – Getting Older Doesn’t Have to Mean Losing Your Vision

First, it became more difficult for you to see the road clearly while driving at night. Then, as you read the newspaper each morning, the text seemed as if it were becoming smaller and fuzzier. And the last time you went out for dinner, you blamed the dim lights for your inability to read the menu.

Is Bariatric Surgery the Solution for Obese Teens?

Is Bariatric Surgery the Solution for Obese Teens?

The number of adolescents who have undergone bariatric surgery has been steadily increasing, having tripled in recent years. According to new research, many teenagers are now considering surgery as a viable way to combat obesity and the physical, emotional, and social problems it can cause.

Breast Implants and Pregnancy: 5 Things You Should Know

Breast Implants and Pregnancy: 5 Things You Should Know

Most breast implants have a soft silicone shell filled with saline water. Many implanted medical devices are made from this same nonreactive material. Breast implants do not harm or pose a risk to normal pregnancy in any way.

The Baby Boomers' Menu of Cosmetic Surgery Options

The Baby Boomers' Menu of Cosmetic Surgery Options

The needs of the Baby Boomer generation have spurred a whole new dimension in cosmetic surgery. This menu of options covers the special requests of people in their 30s to 50s, who do not need extensive procedures but rather subtle refreshers to fight the physical signs of stress, parenting, careers, and lifestyles.

Advances in Cosmetic Dermatology

Advances in Cosmetic Dermatology

Cosmetic dermatology is an ever-evolving science, and safe new treatments are developed regularly. This article will update you on some of the most revolutionary treatments for skin rejuvenation, stretch marks, and hyperhidrosis (excessive perspiration).

Mesotherapy Injections Can Melt Fat Away

Mesotherapy Injections Can Melt Fat Away

There’s a new method here in the United States that can help you get rid of fat and cellulite. It’s called Mesotherapy and it involves injecting small amounts of medication and/or vitamins into the mesoderm, the middle layer of the skin.

Cosmetic Vacations in South Africa

Cosmetic Vacations in South Africa

Cosmetic vacations to South Africa have proven to be appealing to both the local and international visitor, especially with the rising cost of plastic surgery in Europe and the US. One burgeoning center for cosmetic vacationers is Cape Town, which was recently voted by readers of Conde Naste Traveller Magazine as the number one value-for-money city in the world.

Flaxseed For Dry Eyes

Flaxseed For Dry Eyes

Many ophthalmologists are now proactive and aggressively address postoperative dryness with all of their LASIK patients. The first step is educating them on how they can reduce the risk of postoperative dryness.

Exercise and Breast Implants

Exercise and Breast Implants

Does the placement of implants somehow weaken an athlete? Will their weight cause instability? Does placement under the pectoralis major muscle cause loss of muscle function? Like many questions in medicine, the answer depends on the specific variable for each individual.

Large-Volume Liposuction for Weight Loss

Large-Volume Liposuction for Weight Loss

In the ongoing fight against flab, many Americans are turning to liposuction as a means of combating fat. Though liposuction has traditionally been used to treat selected problem areas in patients of normal weight, there are some surgeons who offer the procedure to heavier patients seeking moderate weight loss.

Stealth Surgery

Stealth Surgery

Today’s cosmetic surgery seeks more than a good result. It also seeks to produce the result without leaving telltale tracks behind.

Filling the Void After Mastectomy

Filling the Void After Mastectomy

By finding new and more accurate ways to identify smaller tumors, we can treat more breast cancers without mastectomy (removal of part or all of a breast through surgery) and improve overall cure rates.

I Hate My Smile – What Can I Do?

I Hate My Smile – What Can I Do?

If you cover your mouth when you talk, meet new people, or attempt to smile, then there is help for you. Let’s look at some of the reasons people hide their smiles, and the modern dental solutions that can give them more confidence.

Carbon Dioxide Therapy (Carboxytherapy)

Carbon Dioxide Therapy (Carboxytherapy)

In 2004, a group of doctors described the addition of carbon dioxide therapy as an adjunctive treatment for conventional liposuction. It is now used for skin irregularities, skin tightening, and as a complementary treatment to liposuction (for residual fatty deposits).

Visit Your Dentist for a Facelift – Without the Knife

Visit Your Dentist for a Facelift – Without the Knife

Plastic surgeons are not the only professionals performing facelifts these days. Dentists are now using techniques that can improve your bite and smile while also taking years off your appearance.

Titanium Breast Implants: The Ultimate Underwire

Titanium Breast Implants: The Ultimate Underwire

Breasts of titanium may be in many women’s futures as plastic surgeons get serious about breast support. Titanium mesh can now be used to permanently support breast implants.

Excuse Me, Sir, but Are Those Real?

Excuse Me, Sir, but Are Those Real?

That’s a question more and more men may be getting as the cosmetic surgery revolution inches its way into that eternal mystery known as the male mind.

DLEK and DSAEK Corneal Replacement: On the Cutting Edge of Vision Correction

DLEK and DSAEK Corneal Replacement: On the Cutting Edge of Vision Correction

two exciting new corneal transplant procedures have recently been made available to the public. These procedures are called DLEK and DSAEK. Together, they show the potential to change the lives of millions suffering from diseases and injuries of the cornea, including Fuchs' Dystrophy and corneal edema.

Over-the-Counter Teeth Whitening: When Something So White Goes So Wrong

Over-the-Counter Teeth Whitening: When Something So White Goes So Wrong

With the continued popularity of at-home teeth whitening treatments, consumers are quickly realizing that they don’t have to simply grin and bare dull, stained teeth. However, these affordable “miracles of convenience” can come at a high cost.

Would You Like a Facial with That Filling? Dental Spas’ Luxe Take on Dentistry is a Hit with Patients

Would You Like a Facial with That Filling? Dental Spas’ Luxe Take on Dentistry is a Hit with Patients

A few years ago dental office décor seldom ventured beyond a fish tank in the lobby and a few bland paintings in the checkup rooms. But, as dental spas are quickly learning, you catch more flies with facials than with fluoride.

Send in the Clones

Send in the Clones

Just the word "cloning" conjures up science fiction images of pod people and Stepford Wives. But science is catching up to fiction in the production of genetically identical organisms, and one of the most promising applications for cloning is in the patient-driven field of hair replacement.

Refractive Solutions: Understanding the Differences between LASIK and ICLs

Refractive Solutions: Understanding the Differences between LASIK and ICLs

LASIK, ICL, IOL, PRK, LASEK … These days the choices for vision correction can look more like an eye chart and less like solutions for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. At a time when there are so many variations on refractive eye surgery, it can be difficult to find the one that’s right for you.

Flexible Spending Accounts and LASIK

Flexible Spending Accounts and LASIK

So you’re interested in having LASIK treatment and finally losing the glasses or contacts, but you’re unsure whether you can afford the cost. At up to $2,500 an eye, the expense can certainly be daunting. Fortunately, there are ways to mitigate the financial impact of having this beneficial and minimally invasive surgery performed.

Enjoy Your Implants — And Your Health

Enjoy Your Implants — And Your Health

A Canadian study of more than 40,000 women has produced intriguing findings — those with cosmetic breast implants enjoy a lower-than-average mortality rate from heart disease, cancer, and other major illnesses.

The Return of Silicone Gel Breast Implants

The Return of Silicone Gel Breast Implants

After 14 years of public controversy, federal debate, and civil litigation, silicone gel breast implants made an eminent return to the American market. The silicone implant ban was initiated by the United States Food and Drug Administration in the early nineties.

Periodontal Disease: Risks and Treatment

Periodontal Disease: Risks and Treatment

Periodontal disease is one of dentistry’s biggest sleeper issues. For patients who go undiagnosed or untreated, the effects can be debilitating. Unfortunately, the disease’s hidden risks often go undetected until it’s too late.