(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

By Angela Parker Indystar.com 15/08/07
If you’re thinking those laugh lines aren’t so funny anymore or that surgery might be the only way to shed dangerous extra pounds, here’s a tip: Having realistic expectations and determination are requirements for successful cosmetic or bariatric surgery.
 
For cosmetic surgery patients, realistic expectations are like best friends who tell the truth even when it hurts. Expecting surgery to turn a Phyllis Diller into a Julia Roberts is just not realistic — but expecting to look like a younger version of yourself is totally achievable. Dr. Catherine P. Winslow, FACS, Winslow Facial Plastic Surgery, recommends looking at photographs from 10 years ago to get an idea of what surgery can accomplish.

“Anti-aging surgery is designed to take the years off, not alter the way you look,� Winslow said. “If patients have good expectations, they are going to be pleased with the results. If they have inappropriate expectations, they are going to be unhappy no matter what you do.�

Extensive presurgery counseling with a surgeon or psychologist helps ensure patients have the proper perspective, and it can reveal unhealthy attitudes that would make them poor surgery candidates.

After surgery, patients might experience mild depression early in the healing process. Though they know to expect some swelling, seeing their faces in that condition can be disconcerting.

“A lot of hand-holding is involved in getting patients to the point where they are happy with the results,� Winslow said.

For bariatric surgery patients, determination is the critical element. It’s a mistake to think surgery alone is a cure for obesity. After the initial dramatic weight loss, patients must be determined to keep the pounds off for a lifetime.

“We can deliver a lot of skill and advice and performance. But if the recipient is not going to be a team player, then no matter how good our work is, it’s not going to work out,� said Dr. Samer G. Mattar, medical director, Clarian Bariatric Center.

Ironically, patients must start losing weight six months before surgery. Bariatric surgery risks are about the same as with gall bladder surgery, but obese patients can reduce their risk by changing their diets and shrinking their enlarged livers. This enables the surgeon to maneuver more easily behind it to work on the stomach.

Patients who are unwilling to make this effort likely won’t have the determination to make their surgery a lifelong success.

“The only patient who is not suitable is the patient who is not willing to see me in preparation for surgery,� said Ruthanne M. Hilbrich, RD, nutrition coordinator, Clarian Bariatric Center. “They have to shrink that liver, and if they are not willing to, I postpone their surgery.�

Plastic surgeons today condemned a radio phone-in offering a boob job as a prize. The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps) criticised Liverpool`s Juice FM for giving Nadine Pude, 27, the chance to increase her A-cup bosom to a double D – which she has plumped for.

Nadine, who plans to buy “loads of new underwear and a bikini that really shows off my assets”, won the Bra Wars competition after viewers voted for her on the radio`s online Juice Tube site.

But Adam Searle, former Baaps president, said: “The giving of a surgical procedure as a prize is an unbelievable, dangerous and highly unethical practice.

“The decision to perform any surgical procedure must be based on common sense, case selection, good surgical decision making and patient safety.

“The offer of a cosmetic surgery procedure as a prize is an awful manifestation of the trivialisation of medical care in general, and aesthetic surgery in particular.”
 

Raleigh, NC — (SBWIRE) — 08/07/2007 –

Breast implants for cosmetic augmentation first became available in the 1960’s and rapidly gained popularity in the 1970’s. By the 1980’s breast augmentation was the second most popular plastic surgery (after liposuction), and the motto seemed to be “the bigger the better�. The oversized implants seen everywhere in the popular media in the 80’s and 90’s clearly served to alter the public’s perception of what breasts are supposed to look like: large, taut and high. The kind of breasts that formerly appeared only in cartoons.

Today, breast augmentation is more popular than ever. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons 329,000 breast augmentation surgeries were performed in 2006. This is an almost 30 percent increase from 2003. But reason is beginning to prevail again, and patients and the public are ‘rediscovering’ the fact that the aesthetic ideal for the female breast is soft, supple, much fuller in the lower than the upper pole, and in proportion to the rest of a woman’s figure.

Patient demographics are changing, too. Women in their 30’s and 40’s (especially moms) are the fastest growing group of patients seeking breast augmentation today. These are women who have lost breast volume following pregnancy and lactation, and who simply seek to restore a natural, more youthful breast contour. They don’t want to look like they’ve had surgery; they instead wish to ‘fill out’ clothing better and feel more comfortable out of clothing. Even women who have not had children are opting for smaller, more realistic appearing breast augmentation. Professional women (including physicians!) want to look their best, but they don’t want to look “done�.

“It is very common in my practice to perform an enhancement that changes the breast profile from and ‘A’ cup to a ‘B’ cup,� says Dr. Michael Law, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Raleigh, NC, formerly of Beverly Hills. “I rarely have patients requesting large implants anymore, although there are still a few who express a desire for that busty, ‘done’ look. I counsel those patients that it is certainly possible to achieve that look, if it is truly what they want, but that I simply won’t perform any aesthetic surgery that doesn’t look natural. A woman with very large breast implants that doesn’t match her frame looks like a cartoon character, and that is not my aesthetic ideal. And these patients never have any problem finding someone who will give them the look that they want.

“Potential breast augmentation patients should also give serious thought to the following consideration: one great advantage of a conservative breast enhancement is that small implants are much more likely to feel natural. It is possible to provide an enhancement that is soft, supple and even undetectable (by touching) with a small implant, something that is never achieved with very large breast implants.
more:  http://www.sbwire.com/news/view/13207

Lipostabil, also known as the Flab Jab, is currently yet to receive a licence for cosmetic purposes in the UK due to a lack of clinical testing and concerns over its safety.

Lipostabil is licensed in Germany as a treatment for fat embolisms, where blood vessels become blocked by fat particles. However, it has been discovered that when injected directly into problem areas, such as a double chin or fat behind the knees, fat can be broken down and lost in those specific places.

 The treatment has even been demonstrated live on television on Channel 4’s Richard and Judy show. A guest was given two injections of Lipostabil two months apart and showed a marked improvement.

 However, the Flab Jab has already been banned in Brazil, the country where its usage as a cosmetic treatment was pioneered, due to links to skin infection and nerve damage.

In fact, Lipostabil’s manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis has warned that the drug is not designed to be administered subcutaneously, under the skin, and is not safe to be used for cosmetic purposes.

The Medical Defence Union and the Medical Practitioners Society, the UK’s two main medical insurers are currently refusing insurance to any doctors who continue to supply the treatment. Also, the MHRA, Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority, who license drugs in the UK, have contacted over fifty clinics to order them not to advertise the treatment and doctors who don’t comply could face unlimited fines and potentially prison sentences. So it may be some time if ever that Lipostabil is offered in the UK as a fat loss solution.

By Lesley Thomas DAILY TELEGRAPH
9:14am BST 01/08/2007
 
Frank Sinatra advised in the song Wives and Lovers: “Don’t send him off, with your hair still in curlers. You may not see him again.”

However, it seems that British women couldn’t care less after a survey showed they are the least likely to put effort into their appearance for the sake of men.

They have the lowest levels of concern in the world for what husbands, boyfriends and other male observers might think, with only 51 per cent caring whether men liked their appearance, the study said.

Japanese women were second bottom with 53 per cent followed by Americans at 56 per cent.

advertisementIndian, Spanish and Korean women were far more worried about having a man’s seal of approval, but it was Russia which topped the poll of 10,000 women, with 77 per cent saying that they cared what their men thought.

Janet Saunders, of Clinique, the cosmetics company which commissioned the study, said: “British women like to feel confident and beautiful for their own pleasure and take pride in their outward appearance.” Susan Quilliam, a relationship psychologist said: “It’s a delicate balance. It’s a positive thing in an equal relationship to reference the other person’s tastes and preferences sometimes.”

The survey also showed that Britons are among the keenest on cosmetic surgery. Thirty five per cent of British women said they have gone, or are willing to go, under the knife for beauty.

Only Korean women were more likely to consider surgical enhancement, while just three per cent of Indian women condone it.

The survey also asked which of the 12 countries polled had the most beautiful women. Although most found their country’s own women the best looking, Britons rated Italian and Indian women more beautiful than themselves.
 

by HILARY FREEMAN The DAILY MAIL 2nd August 2007
Full story- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=472558&in_page_id=1879
Dark hollows under the eyes can make you look tired and are very ageing. A new non-surgical procedure called tear trough rejuvenation promises to restore your looks quickly. HILARY FREEMAN spoke to two women who have tried it.
Fran Cook, 42: For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a tendency to develop dark circles around my eyes, which worsen when I’m tired.
I should drink more water and do more exercise, but I’m a working mum and never seem to have the time.
I don’t spend a lot on skin care, although I do use concealer.
Recently, a couple of incidents made me feel very self-conscious about the circles.
First, my boss asked me if I’d considered having a health check-up because he thought I looked really tired and feared I was ill.
A couple of days later, I showed someone round an acquaintance’s house.
My client was an ocular plastic surgeon named Raman Malhotra. He called me that evening. “I hope you don’t think I’m being rude,” he said, “but you look very dark around your eyes. Have you ever thought about doing something about it?”
He said that hollows under the eyes are very common in women my age and that he was using a new, non-surgical procedure called tear trough rejuvenation to treat them, which research has shown to be much more effective, safer and quicker than surgery.
The surgeon uses Restylane injections to fill in the hollows under the eyes, which deepen when fat is lost as you age. It’s these, rather than eye bags, that make you look tired and old.

Article courtesy of Dr Rob Oliver
http://plasticsurgery101.blogspot.com/search/label/plastic%20surgery
At least a few times weekly I get asked whether or not someone will have a scar after a certain procedure. People are sometimes under misconceptions about how exactly Plastic Surgery works. Anything you cut, burn, or excise scars. The quality depends upon a number of factors including:    Location – certain areas don’t scar as well as others (behind the ear, the medial-lower breast, the armpit, the scalp)Tension – more tension equals wider scars. This plays a factor in the areas listed under location. Incisions across areas with lots of motion (the knee, wrist, & shoulder) all tend to be wide.  Technique – Plastic Surgeons didn’t invent good surgical technique and gentle tissue handling habits, but we tend to pay more attention to it.  Genetic predisposition – sometimes it’s your parent’s fault. A number of people display profound inflammatory responses with exaggerated scarring from anything. I make a point of discussing this with Asian and African-American women (who have higher rates of hypertrophic or keloid scarring) when discussing breast surgery.  Medical commodities – diabetics, obese patients, those with arterial disease, and gastric bypass patients all have baseline wound healing problems to some degree.     Age – the inflammatory response of normal healing varies with age. You can do experimental surgery in utero and get essentially scarless healing of a fetus. However the response in children and teens to injury can be exaggerated scars as their immune systems tend to be “peaking” during those years. Alternatively, you can do things to the face of 70-90 year olds that would disfigure younger patients and often not even find a scar.

July 24, 2007 WISTV
NATIONAL – Flat abs are often considered a sign of youth, and last year, almost two hundred thousand people had tummy tucks in the United States alone.

But it might not be too late to bring back a more youthful tummy without major surgery.

Nancy Bunt is a vivacious 40-something who wishes her abs matched her youthful outlook.

“To wear something more fitted, I just wasn’t, I wasn’t comfortable. So I decided to do something about it,” said Bunt.

She’s enlisted reconstructive surgeon Gerald H. Pitman to revive her abs using a procedure called lower abdominoplasty, or a mini tummy tuck.

Dr. Pitman says, “Only the skin and the attached fat are removed, there’s no muscle tightening. It’s much less painful. It can be done under a local anesthesia and the recovery is five days.”

This procedure focuses only on stretched-out skin in the lower abdomen, closer to the bikini line.

“It’s just simply a removal of this area of skin and fat, and then the skin from here is brought to there and you have a single line closure,” said Dr. Pitman.

Liposuction also figures into this tummy trimming equation.

Dr Pitman says “99 percent of women who have this operation also have liposuction, usually to remove fat from the upper tummy and to remove fat from around the waist and give them a better waistline.”

And while this is less extensive than a full abdominoplasty, the mini tummy tuck packs a punch.

“The operation rejuvenates the abdomen, it ‘youthifies’ it, so indeed you end up with a more youthful abdomen,” Dr. pitman said.

Nancy’s ready to see the results in her mirror.

Dr. Pitman says exercise is an important aspect of keeping a trim physique, but it can’t un-sag stretched-out skin.

That’s where a procedure like the mini tummy tuck fits in.
From  http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6832705

Whether a person loses weight through diet and exercise or through bariatric surgery, there are a few problems that arise as a result of the weight loss. One that will be most noticeable is the loose skin that remains after the weight is gone. When someone is overweight, the skin stretches to accommodate the increased volume of weight. After weight loss, the skin often fails to tighten, and so it sags. In many cases, it hangs (especially in the arms, stomach, thighs, breasts, and buttocks). It acts as a constant reminder of the weight you once carried around. Exercise WILL NOT tighten skin (exercise never tightens skin – only muscles). The only way to tighten loose skin is through cosmetic plastic surgery.

Bariatric patients desiring such reshaping after surgery should use a specialist with experience dealing with this type of situation. A variety of surgical procedures are often necessary and performed at different times. Depending on which area bothers you the most, the surgery can be tailored to fit your needs, starting with the area of greatest concern. Often an abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) is done first, though a circumferential lower body lift may be needed instead. Breast lifting surgery, arm lifts, face lifts and neck lifts are all additional procedures that can be done at separate times. A body lift is the combination of tummy tuck and a lower body lift (inner thigh lift, and outer thigh/buttock lift).

NB. All COSMETIC BLISS Weight Loss Patients are Entitled to a 10% Discount on future Cosmetic Surgery Procedures.  These include: Tummy Tuck, Liposuction, Breast Uplift, Breast Reduction, Arm Lift, Thigh Lift, Facelift Chin & Neck Surgery etc.