EarthTimes, 08 October 2008

The latest studies show that injecting fat in breasts after the augmentation surgery can be safe and shows great effects. The study is controversial and will be discussed in further details by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

The MD of the ASPS, Gregory Scott, says that the appearance of the breasts after fat injection would be much improved and make the patients really happy with the results. “The initial implant reconstruction sometimes leaves them with contour deformities or wrinkling, but fat injections can correct these problems and give their breasts a smoother, softer, more natural appearance,” he said.

21 patients took part in the research. They underwent 42 transfers for contour deformities and wrinkling. They had fat injected about 9 months after the breast surgery. The fat was taken from their tights or abdomen. The study after the injection showed that breast shape improved, implant wrinkling was corrected and the reconstruction was safe for the patient.

Despite those benefits, this procedure is controversial. “Should We Inject Fat IntoThe Breast� is a title of 2008 discussion for the plastic surgeons where medical and legal risks as well as other aspects will be considered.

“At this point, there are no good scientific studies about cosmetic use of fat in the breast – this is an evolving issue without any scientific data,” said William P. Adams, Jr., member of the ASPS Emerging Trends Committee. “We need to have good, sound, scientific studies to determine the usefulness and safety of this methodology before we offer it to our patients.”

Two main reasons for the controversy are that fat in the breasts can obscure mammograms and be mistaken for fibrous cancer growths and surgeons do not know how much fat is needed to enlarge the breasts, how much of it will the body absorb and how much time it will take.

About 350.000 breasts enlargement surgeries took place in 2007. Surgeons agree that the fat injection issue has to be studied to see how useful and safe they are for the patients in order to start the procedure.

The Scotsman 04/02/08

RECORD numbers of people across the UK are going under the knife, according to new figures which show a large increase in plastic-surgery procedures.

The figures, released by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps), show the stigma of “having some work done” is falling away.

Some 32,453 people chose to have cosmetic surgery last year, an increase of 12 per cent on 2006, when 28,921 procedures were carried out.

Facelifts are becoming ever more popular according to data, with 4,238 women opting for the procedure last year, a rise of 37 per cent on 2006.

Breast implants remained the most popular procedure, with 6,497 woman undergoing the operation, while 5,148 women had eye surgery, and 3,990 women had liposuction, an increase of 15 per cent.

While 91 per cent of all cosmetic surgery was carried out on women, the figures show more men than ever are open to “self-improvement”.

Last year, 98 men had tummy tucks, a rise of 61 per cent, while the number of males who had liposuction rose by 18 per cent.

Leading plastic surgeons believe factors encouraging the trend include the higher profile of surgery – driven by a rise in TV shows featuring live cosmetic work – and the availability of “softer” options such as botox, which act as an introduction to the idea of face “rejuvenation”.

Douglas McGeorge, consultant plastic surgeon and president of Baaps, said: “This year’s audit clearly reflects the UK’s continued acceptance of aesthetic surgery, particularly in the area of anti-ageing.

“Wide media coverage has helped educate the public about the latest advances and choices available, but it is crucial that people do their research carefully when choosing a provider.”

Rajiv Grover, consultant plastic surgeon and Baaps secretary, said that the dramatic rise in surgery may be related to the increase in non-surgical cosmetic treatments such as face “fillers” and peels.

He added: “The effects of these less invasive treatments can sometimes be limited once jowling or loose skin has developed, so this could explain why more patients now feel ready for the surgical option.”

Concerns have recently been raised about the growth of the industry – predicted to be worth £1 billion by the end of 2008.

Last month, consumer body Which? revealed many clinics used hard-sell techniques to encourage people to opt for expensive or risky operations.

Undercover researchers found unqualified sales assistants made false claims that procedures would last for life, or offered two-for-one deals.

Psychologists also claimed the statistics highlighted a worrying social trend.

Dr Cynthia McVey, head of psychology at Caledonian University, said: “We judge people on youth and beauty, rather than character and behaviour.

“We are all going to get older, but a sense of attractiveness should be more than skin deep.”

She added that the increasing willingness of celebrities to admit to “having work done”, as well as the reduction in cost, had helped legitimise surgery.

Cary Cooper, professor of psychology at Lancaster University, said: “Some people have a psychological need to have their nose or their tummy or their breasts done to make themselves feel better. They are quite genuinely in psychological distress.

“But I think what we are seeing is a definite rise in the number of people that see surgery as a way of helping them get on – to get a better job or be more successful with the opposite sex.

5 October 2007 Easier.com

Almost one million (918,000) image conscious British adults are planning to borrow a whopping £1.4 billion to pay for plastic surgery, according to the research from Abbey Loans.

With all those celebrities showing off their beach bodies over the summer, most Britons appear most concerned about perfecting their curves and honing their six packs. Indeed breast augmentation is the most common cosmetic procedure sought by Brits, accounting for 27 per cent of all surgery, followed by tummy tucks with 25 per cent. Rhinoplasties, or nose jobs, were cited as the third favourite area with 17 per cent.

The major reason people want to alter their appearance is to gain more confidence in themselves according to 51 per cent, a further 32 percent claim it is for medical purposes. Two percent go plastic fantastic after being egged on by a friend, and one percent does so to stop people teasing them about a particular part of their body.

Females account for two thirds of Britons wanting plastic surgery. Three-in-five procedures are planned by those between the ages of 18-34.

The UK is still the most desirable location to undergo plastic surgery with 83 per cent opting to stay close to their home comforts. Six per cent opt for Eastern Europe where surgery is cheaper and two per cent of ‘Nip,Tuck’ Brits head to the USA – presumably taking advantage of the cheap dollar.

Paul Morrish, Head of Abbey Loans, commented: “Whether striving for visible perfection or as part of a medical treatment, plastic surgery is getting more and more popular amongst Britons. We are seeing an increase in requests to borrow for plastic surgery and with Abbey offering a competitive loan rates, starting at 7.9% APR on internet loans, we’d be more than happy to speak to anyone who is seriously considering cosmetic procedures.�

Channel 4 News 16/10/07
Less than one in ten women who lose weight by dieting manage to keep it off, according to a new survey.

Only 9% diet successfully while the remaining 91% put the fat back on and are doomed to a cycle of calorie counting for the rest of their lives.

Researchers found women used a range of substances – including class A drugs – to lose weight. Almost four out of 10 (37%) had tried slimming pills, laxatives (26%) and amphetamines or cocaine (15%).

Three out of 10 (31%) women admitted they had made themselves sick after eating and one in ten (10%) said they would have a gastric band fitted.

More than eight out of ten (82%) of those questioned had dieted. Almost a third (32%) counted the calories all the time, a further 20% watched what they ate every month, 11% three or four times a year, 6% twice a year and 13% once a year. Only 18% of women never tried to diet.

The survey of 2,000 people, commissioned by women’s magazine Now, revealed that only 2% of those questioned were happy with their body while the average woman would spend £11,000 for a better one.

Now editor Helen Johnston said: “Women today have a shocking relationship with food and are living a binge/purge lifestyle. Six out of 10 British women are so hooked on quick fix diets they say they no longer know how to eat normally.”

She added: “Body image is the female curse of the 21st Century. Whatever a woman’s achievements in life, her whole self image is totally bound up in her body shape.”

A third of women said they would give up sex to be slim forever and 86% said they would rather drop a dress size than sleep with David Beckham.

Just over half the women said they would have cosmetic surgery, now or in the future. The three most popular treatments were liposuction, tummy tuck and breast enhancement.

emediawire.com 26/09/2007
Prospective patients can actually view cosmetic surgeries in their entirety online. This website also includes voice-over narration and even post-operative photographs, according to Dr. Edward Domanskis, the innovative plastic surgeon who has introduced this free service.

Viewable surgeries at www.seesurgery.com include liposuction, breast enlargement, blepharoplasty, rhinoplasty, and abdominoplasty(tummy tuck), which are the five most common cosmetic procedures that patients have done.

“I have patients who really wanted to see how these surgeries were performed, and how they looked after them,” said Dr. Domanskis, an Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery(Plastic)WOC at the University of California(Irvine).

“This free service makes it now possible,” continued Dr. Domanskis, Orange County Physician of Excellence in Plastic Surgery for the past several years. Not only are the surgeries edited and professionally narrated, but also, the patients are shown immediately after and then, during their recovery, and up to two and one half years after their procedures.

Michelle Miller at first was skittish about watching the tummy tuck surgery that she was considering, but found it extremely enlightening. “It helped me prepare for my surgery and showed me how I would look after it.” “I was much reassured by what I saw and it proved invaluable to me!”

There are presently ten surgeries ranging from breast enlargement to facelift available for viewing on www.seesurgery.com. Another twenty have been taped and will be periodically added to the site.

16/10/2007 QCK.COM
Thousands of British consumers will turn to borrowing money in their efforts to finance cosmetic surgery, according to recent research.

Figures compiled by Abbey Loans show that more than 918,000 people around the UK intend to borrow money in order to go under the knife in the pursuit of physical enhancement.

Collectively, these beauty-conscious Britons are set to spend close to £1.4 billion on plastic surgery, with breast augmentation and tummy tucks proving the most popular procedures, Abbey Loans reports.

Paul Morrish, head of Abbey Loans, said: “Whether striving for visible perfection or as part of a medical treatment, plastic surgery is getting more and more popular amongst Britons.

“We are seeing an increase in requests to borrow for plastic surgery [and] we’d be more than happy to speak to anyone who is seriously considering cosmetic procedures.”

Abbey has been part of the Santander Group since 2004 and is aiming to become the “best bank in the UK”, according to its own website.

Monday, September 3 2007, 00:51 BST
story courtesy of Digital Spy www.digitalspy.co.uk
By Dave West

Doctors have criticised the BBC for a programme which sees a 17-year-old former anorexic have breast implants.

In Under 18 And Under The Knife, airing on BBC Three on Sunday, student Lynsey Bowman is sent to America for the surgery.

She could not have it done in the UK because of rules on under-18s so programme makers paid for her family’s travelling expenses.

Paul Bagley, a senior British cosmetic surgeon, said Bowman would not have “matured physically enough” for the operation.

And a leading child psychologist, Ruth Coppard, added of the Endemol-produced show: “They have behaved in a very dodgy way. It’s awful.

“This girl is only 17. Emotionally she is still a child and there’s still a lot of physical changing to do too.”

However, Bowman tells how she feels the surgery, to take her from 30AA to 30C, will improve her life.

And her surgeon Peter Driscoll commented: “It can really affect their personality if they have a big hang-up about looking like other girls.”

A spokesman for the corporation added: “Expenses are a normal part of the cost of a documentary. We didn’t pay for Lynsey’s operation, this was paid for by her family and done with her family’s consent.”

Following research by the University of Aberdeen which revealed that British women have cosmetic surgery to please their partners, healthcare provider, BMI Healthcare said that it wrongly reflects the British cosmetic surgery industry. BMI Healthcare has conducted approximately 1262 procedures since January this year for their national cosmetic surgery product and one of its surgeons,Akhtar Hussain, believes that the majority of patients are doing it for their own reasons.

Akthar Hussein comments: “There can be a great deal of physical and emotional trauma associated with plastic surgery and it is important that patients do it for their own reasons. According to best practice guidelines issued by the General Medical Council, we can turn patients away if we feel that they are pressurised into having cosmetic surgery or where we believe that cosmetic surgery would not be of any benefit to them.”

According to BMI, one of most common trends is women undergoing breast augmentation surgery post-pregnancy, as they tend to lose weight and find that extensive breast-feeding can change the shape of their breasts.

Women in the UK are more likely to have plastic surgery to please their partners, according to Dr Debra Gimlin, a sociology lecturer at Aberdeen University. She said American women were more likely to have the surgery for themselves.

She interviewed 20 American and 40 British women ranging from 23 to 52 years old.

She said: “All my respondents were concerned with their physical attractiveness, but only the British women said that they had undergone cosmetic surgery to suit the desires of a particular man.

“I found that British women who have cosmetic surgery have a greater tendency to blame others for their decision.”

In some cases, Dr Gimlin said, the men made their views abundantly clear through offers to pay for the procedure or snide comments about the woman’s appearance. She said: “One British barmaid told me that her husband’s criticism of her figure prompted her decision to have abdominoplasty.

“She said it wouldn’t have entered her mind otherwise, but after she’d had her second child her husband said ‘I love the wee ones but I wish having them hadn’t ruined your figure’.”

In other cases, Dr Gimlin said she found that British women had cosmetic surgery in the hope of cementing their partnership. She said: “A book keeper explained that she probably wouldn’t have had a breast enhancement if it hadn’t been for her partner.

The British sample consisted of 20 women living in Scotland and 20 in the South West of England. The Americans lived on Long Island, New York. Her findings also suggest British women are more inclined to keep their surgery a secret from family and friends.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons said people should not feel pressurised and women should consider what could be a serious surgical procedure carefully.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) 
Cardinal Health, a global provider of products and services that improve the safety and productivity of health care, today announced Presource® Standard Cosmetic-Surgery Packs – prepackaged kits that provide the core surgical components needed for common cosmetic surgery procedures.

The new procedure packs are available for liposuction, abdominoplasty, rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, facial rhytidectomy, breast augmentation, breast reduction and breast lift. Consumer demand for these procedures is growing at a rate of 12 percent annually, with Americans spending approximately $12.4 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2006.

“As the demand for cosmetic surgery procedures continues to grow, health-care providers must be focused on improving the quality and safety of patient care, while also improving the efficiency with which that care is delivered,� said Steve Inacker, president and general manager of Cardinal Health’s Presource® Products and Services business