Archive for April, 2007

Hot Tips: Look Younger in 4 Steps

Look Younger

Sure plastic surgery or BOTOX is the easiest way to go when come down to a quick fix for your skin, but keep in mind they are not the painless options.  Until you have no other way to fix your skin, why won’t try other options that are less invasive or needle free.

Tip 1: Microdermabrasion
By getting Microdermabrasion treatment, you can get rid off dry, dead skin cells.  Then your skin will look younger and healthier.

Tip 2: Change your hairstyle
Make a little adjustment will worth your effort.  Maybe go with a little carefree style to make you look younger.  The easy way is to get some advice from your hairdresser.  Some color and layer won’t hurt!

Tip 3: Fragrance
Younger fragrance helps you seem younger than you really are.  According to www.perfume-online.org:

Neurologist and psychiatrist, Hirsch, conducted a study about men’s opinion of women who wear grapefruit scent. The men thought these women who wore pink grapefruit scent were 6 years younger than their real age.

Tip 4: Makeup
Accept it, good make up can give you a flawless look.

For extra tips about hairstyle and makeup, read more on Oprah’s website.  There are many good tips that you can definitely apply to your everyday routine.

Liposuction Dos and Don’ts

Dos
1. Do your research: I think this is a must for everyone who considering go under a knife. You better know really well about your surgeon and about the procedures you’re considering.
2. Do maintain a healthy weight before surgery: This is so true. Liposuction is helping you get rid of excess fat in particular area, but not an option for overall weight loss. Here, read Dr. Stanly Poulos makes a comment about the myth of liposuction in his e-patient newsletter:
3. Do understand your options: To be able to understand your option clearly, you have talk to your doctor and ask a lot of questions.
4. Do follow post-operative directions carefully: This is a must!

Don’ts
1. Don’t expect to look “skinny” the day after surgery: There is no miracle exist, every thing takes time. Liposuction is not a one day deal; it will take a little while to show the result.
2. Don’t hesitate to ask questions: It’s a big decision to go though liposuction, you need as much information as you can get. Don’t be shy, ask you doctor.
3. Don’t continue over-the-counter supplements: This is to make sure that you are not taking anything that will give side effect to your procedure. Be safe!
4. Don’t assume all areas are treatable: You doctor will tell you whether you’re a good candidate for certain procedures or not.

At the end of the day, we all want to look good. Don’t put too much risk on yourself, be very careful of any kind of surgery you try to get yourself into.

Breast Augmentation Suicide Rate

A recent Canadian study suggests breast implants are linked to lower cancer rates, but higher suicide rates among women. Information was collected from 24,600 women participating in the 15 year study “who had received breast implants for cosmetic purposes between 1974 and 1989”. The findings revealed a suicide rate 73% higher and cancer rate 26% lower than the general population. During this period 480 women in the study had died; 58 to suicide and 229 to cancer compared to the expected 33 and 303, respectively, from the general female population.

The lower cancer rate can be explained by the physical conditions required to become a plastic surgery candidate: you must be in good health. Also, cosmetic surgery is considered a ‘luxury’ so the socio-economic status of patients tends to be higher than the average person.

But what can explain the higher rate of suicide? Isn’t cosmetic surgery supposed to make people feel better about their self image, self esteem, etc.? Apparently fixing the outside doesn’t fix the inside; kind of sounds like the saying ‘money doesn’t buy happiness’. “Studies have characterized women who receive breast implants by a low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence and more frequent mental illnesses such as depression”. In such instances candidates may need to receive psychological counseling to be a mentally healthy person before going under the knife.

Cosmetic surgery isn’t going away any time soon. In 2006 11 million cosmetic surgery procedures were performed (7% increase from 2005) with breast augmentation being the top surgical procedure (329,000). Both surgeons and patients can improve this problem. Surgeons need to do a thorough job of evaluating plastic surgery candidates and the candidates need to have a stronger self image as well as an ideal goal.

In Vitro Fertilization Treatment

On Feb 20, 2007, Desperate Housewife star, Marcia Cross gave birth to twin baby girls in Los Angeles. The girls were name Eden and Savannah.

Cross was married at age 44, so there was a concern about the difficulty for women in her age to have a baby. Cross and her husband decided to do in vitro fertilization a week after her wedding.

What is In Vitro Fertilization Treatment?

In vitro is the procedure that eggs from a woman’s ovary are surgically removed and placed in a Petri dish, where they are united with sperm from a male.

There is a chance that in vitro will not work, but it did work for her. Here she is at age 45, happy and pretty than ever! Cross told People Magazine, “I’m in Heaven Right Now.”

Vitro Fertilization Treatment

International Cost of Cosmetic Surgery

Outsourcing is done with countless products and services in our country (mainly for tech companies), so why not add cosmetic surgery to that list?

The most popular cosmetic surgery travel destinations are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico and Turkey. Experience is being pushed in South America; an estimated 1 in 30 Argentineans have had some cosmetic procedure performed, putting the country behind U.S. and Mexico for the most nipped and tucked population. With its abundance of U.S. trained plastic surgeons, Costa Rica is known as the Beverly Hills of Central America. India is even jumping into the game positioning itself as the primary medical destination for the most complex medical procedures in the world.

Cosmetic surgery isn’t minor by any means; there is always the possibility of complications. Once you leave the U.S. standards for regulating physicians and procedures may not be the same. Dominican Republic, Mexico and Colombia had the highest incidence of patients who went there for cosmetic surgery and came back with an infection. I’m sorry, but if you aren’t supposed to drink the water, what are you doing getting cut open in those countries??
Getting plastic surgery is not like clothes shopping; getting the cheaper version is not always the better idea. There are talented cosmetic surgeons all over the world, but doing your homework to find the right one is a definite must before getting your passport stamped. Is discount cosmetic surgery really worth it?

cost of plastic surgery

Top 10 Myths about Breast Implants

10. Breast Implants will make your breasts sag earlier
It’s called gravity folks! Of course your new Cs and going to head south a bit faster than your old A cups, it is the added weight. A natural breast of the same weight will sag just as much as an implant.

9. The implant is always best placed below the muscle
With 3 different choices (under, partially under, or over the muscle) and pros and cons to all, it really depends on your body type and the look you are going for.

8. There is a “best” incision approach

This depends on the implant is chosen as well as the surgeons capabilities and methods. Certain implants have fewer incision options than others, and with that, it may have different and slightly larger scaring.

7. Any patient can have any shaped breasts

No one can predict the future and every body is different; just because you want your breasts to look like a Victoria’s Secret model doesn’t mean that is how they are going to look in your body.

6. Implants rupture all of the time
Studies have shown implants are quite strong, however, they are not meant to last forever with an average lifespan of 16.4 years they will eventually have to be replaced. The older the implants, the odds of rupture become greater.

5. Silicone gel is currently unavailable
After 14 years off the market, the FDA approved silicone for augmentation in women age 22 and older.

4. It is dangerous for women with breast implants to breastfeed

Although there are no current methods for detecting silicone levels in breast milk, there is convincing evidence that infants breast-fed by mothers with breast implants receive no higher silicon intakes from breast milk than infants breast-fed by mothers without breast implants.

3. Saline-filled breast implants are safer than silicone gel-filled implants
Both are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Approval means that an implant has been rigorously researched and tested, and reviewed by an independent panel of physicians for safety.

2. Breast Implants make it very difficult to detect breast cancer or Women with breast implants can’t have mammograms

At age 35 and over mammograms are important; between telling the technician of implants and the advancement of technology, implants shouldn’t pose a problem here.

1. Breast implants are dangerous

In 2006 breast augmentation was the most commonly performed cosmetic surgery, but as with anything having to do with your body, there are always going to be risk’s involved. Before making any decision, it is very important to do your research and not make assumptions.

Cosmetic Surgery: Confess Already

Countless celebrities have been accused, denied and confessed to allegations of going under the knife. “Patricia Heaton, Jamie Lee Curtis and Joan Rivers are just a few of the actresses who’ve come clean and said, ‘Hey, I’ve done it, I’m proud of it and I look great,’” but few can forget how we found out the truth about Tara Reid’s botched boob job. After denying claims about getting breast implants, it took a rather embarrassing slip of her left breast for the truth to come out. Even after visiting a plastic surgeon in 2005, “Madonna’s spokeswoman denies the star has received any plastic surgery treatment.” She still looks amazing, don’t get me wrong, but tell me what 48 year old naturally has a smooth, wrinkle-free face. Then there is Michael Jackson’s “confession” of having had only two surgeries performed on his nose, honestly, who does he think he is fooling?

tara reid

No one is perfect, not even celebrities. We all have something about our body or face that we would like to be different. Granted some may be 100% satisfied with their “natural look”, but for the rest of us humans eating right and exercising will only go so far. Spill the beans and share the secrets before the truth slips out.

Dangers of Low Cost Cosmetic Surgery

Buy a cheap pair of shoes and they break, not a big deal, you can wear one of your other pairs. Get some cheap Plastic Surgery done…..NOT as easy to fix! More and more people are traveling abroad to avail of cheap Plastic Surgery but are getting a lot less than they bargained for when they get there.

From tummy tucks in Brazil to face lifts in Malaysia, Americans are traveling in droves to places like these for procedures. But there are often no follow ups with these doctors abroad, and many patients are left with scars and infected wounds on their bodies with some having to undergo corrective surgery on returning to the US.
Dangers of Plastic Surgery
”I was butchered,” is what one mother of three said of her plastic surgery experience in the Dominican Republic. She regrets her trip abroad in search of a slimmer waist having suffered permanent scarring as well as repeated surgeries at home in an attempt to undo the damage. Sadly, she could consider herself one of the lucky ones. Others have died after complications arose having been released from the hospital too early.

As always, remember, if it looks too good to be true then it probably is!

What is BDD?

According to Wikipedia, “BDD is a mental disorder, which involves a disturbed body image. It is generally diagnosed in those who are extremely critical of their physique or self image, despite the fact there may be no noticeable disfigurement or defect.”

How can we tell who has cosmetic surgery addiction?

The clear cut examples are Michael Jackson, Joan Rivers, and Jocelyn Wildenstein.

Body dysmorphic disorder

Body_dysmorphic_disorder

These crazy examples are the reason why you should pay attention at how you choose the right surgeon in the first place, so someone can tell you when it is time to stop nip and tuck.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder