Weight Loss After Tummy Tuck - Abdominoplasty

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Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg/m2 or greater. By this definition a third of men and a third of women in the US are obese. The prevalence of obesity in this country has doubled since 1980. This is a a major health concern because obestiy increases the risk of many diseases and health conditions, including but not limited to sleep apnea, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoarthritis, dyslipidemia, certain types of cancers, gallbladder disease, stroke, and coronary heart disease. The associated health costs are quite high and have been estimated to be in the range of $75 billion per year. With more severity obesity of body mass indexes of 40kg/m2 or more the condition is considered morbid and weight loss surgery is usually recommended if dieting fails. Weight loss surgery has been proven to reduce the incidence and severity of medical conditions associated with morbid obesity.  The American National Institute of Health guidelines state that bariatric weight loss surgery should be offered to patients with a BMI of 35–40 kg/m² who have obesity related conditions such as diabetes mellitus or obstructive sleep apnea, or in those with a BMI of 40 kg/m² or greater regardless of weight related co-morbidity conditions.


A medical journal article just published revealed on retrospective review that patients maintained weight losses greater than the amount of tissue removed at abdominoplasty/tummy tuck more than a year after the surgery. This amount of maintained weight loss was greater in people who were heavier prior to surgery (24.5kg/m2 or more) and was proportional to the amount of tissue removed at surgery for 4.5 or more pounds of tissue removal. When asked why the weight was lost and the loss maintained these patients responded that they felt full after and between meals so they ate less. In my experience patients lose additional weight because they like and want to maintain their results. That involves lifestyle changes including exercise and eating a healthier diet. Abdominoplasty however should not be performed primarily to lose weight because the complication rates are quite high for patients with BMI over 40kg/m2 and the results are less than optimal with BMI of 35 to 40kg/m2. Nearly every patient I have ever seen who underwent abdominoplasty when morbidly obese (by surgeons other than myself) had complications including disruption of suture lines requiring months to heal. The best results and fewest complications are seen in patients who have stable weights, are not morbidly obese and have good quality skin without stretchmarks.

A Swiss study published in Oct 2012 showed that patients who have abdominoplasty to remove excess skin resulting from weight loss surgery are more likely to keep the weight off after the procedures. These patients regain about a pound a year vs. a 4 pound annual gain for patients who have weight loss surgery without body contouring surgery to remove excess skin. The contouring surgery produces a second wave of elation that helps patients stay on track to lose more weight. The timing is usually 12 to 18 months after the weight loss surgery as the complication rate at that time becomes the same as for those who have never had weight loss surgery.

There is clearly a benefit to abdominoplasty or tummy tuck that goes beyond the initial look achieved by removing excess skin and tightening abdominal muscles. The procedure has a long lasting effect which is different from a facelift whose affect diminishes with time due to the unstoppable aging process.

The obvious weight loss in this patient after abdominoplasty surgery should be maintained.

Abdominoplasty
 Aaron Stone MD - Plastic Surgeon Los Angeles
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Brazilian Butt Lift - Buttock Augmentation Implants and Injections

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Fertility dolls with large hips and buttocks have been found dating back to the pre-dynastic Egyptians of 4000 B.C.

Doll statues and carvings were often placed near a couples bed or on the family altar with suitable offerings that would ask the fertility goddess to work in their favour.

With colonization of Africa in the 1800s women's clothing styles in Europe aimed to accentuate a thin waist with large hips and buttocks. At first this was accomplished by layering clothes on top of each other (petticoats). These could become quite heavy so caged or hooped underskirt frames (crinolines) followed by bustles and then corsets were introduced.

When Looks Can Kill; Toxic Cosmetics to Avoid

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This is a guest post by Valerie Johnston is a health and fitness writer located in East Texas.

Can your makeup kill you? 
At the very least it can make you very sick, according to recent FDA investigations that have discovered toxic levels of mercury and other heavy metals in a number of imported skin creams and makeup products.

The good news is that so far no mercury has been found in American made skin creams; most of the products are those that would only be purchased in some sort of import store or ethnic market. Frustrated with lackluster results from domestic products, consumers often turn to exotic imports hoping to achieve a better outcome.

Creams found to be contaminated are primarily skin bleaching and anti-aging products, including Diana skin lightening formula, Stillman's skin bleach cream and a number of other products labeled in Hindi, Chinese and other foreign languages. If you've been using an imported skin lightening cream, particularly from India, China or Mexico, check the label for mercury, sometimes listed as mercurous chloride, mercuric, mercurio or calomel.

If the product doesn't list ingredients, definitely do not use it! Mercury is highly toxic and even the smallest amounts can cause serious kidney damage among other dangerous effects. Symptoms of mercury poisoning include memory loss, tremors, irritability and hearing or vision problems. Creams containing mercury have turned up in at least seven states and a number of cases of mercury poisoning have been reported.

Facial Feminization Surgery - Forehead and Jaw Contouring Reshaping

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Historically differentiation between male and female skulls was performed by anthropologists and medical examiners by analyzing nose, chin and forehead bone shapes in cadavers. Today it is common knowledge that faces contain secondary sex characteristics that develop during puberty and make male faces easily distinguishable from female faces. The female chin is more rounded or pointed than the square male chin and their less prominent noses have less angular tips . The male forehead has a prominence of bone, a horizontal ridge of bone, running across the forehead just above the eyebrows (bossing), followed by a concave area and then slopes upward and backward. The female forehead lacks bossing and the concave area above it and rises vertically rather than sloping upward and backward.

Additionally as is evident in these photos the angle of the lower jaw in front of and below the ears is more prominent in males

How Long Does A Facelift Last?

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This a question most patients have going into facelift surgery and my usual answer was 5 to 10 years depending on genetics, age at surgery (it lasts longer in younger patients), exposure to extreme climates and active or passive smoking. Now a long study out of the UK shows that more than five years after facelift surgery, three-fourths of patients still look younger than they did before surgery. The researchers looked at photographs of 50 patients who had undergone facelift surgery an average of 5½ years previously. Surgical changes in the lines around the nose and mouth had the greatest longevity while the angle of chin to neck (the neck outline) changes deteriorated the most during this time frame. This is probably why neck revisions after facelift surgery are more common than revisions above the jaw line. The study does not tell us how long all of the changes last only that they last to some degree for more than 5 years.

One of my male facelift patients in his 60s did not require anything but a laser resurfacing a few years after facelift surgery and sculptra dermal filler injections 8 years after facelift surgery to maintain his results.

Facelift
Male Facelift
Face and Neck Lift1
Face and Neck Lift2
Mini Facelift-Lifestyle Lift-Quick Lift
Aaron Stone MD - Plastic Surgeon Los Angeles
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Genital Cosmetic Surgery - Designer Vagina

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Researchers at the UCL Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute of Women’s Health, University College Hospital in London, England looked at the first 5 websites that appeared on Google searches for female genital cosmetic surgery in the US and the UK. They then assessed the content of those sites for different criteria including what and how procedures were carried out, success rates, potential risks, terms used to describe the procedures.

Reconstruction After Breast Cancer Surgery

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Breast cancer forms in tissues of the breast, usually the ducts (tubes that carry milk to the nipple) and/or lobules (glands that make milk).

It existence was acknowledged thousands of years ago. The ancient Egyptians in 1600BC described it as a “coagulum of black bile” within the breast and thought that getting rid of the excess bile¬ — through surgery, special diets, purging or even attaching leeches to draw out the bad blood— could cure the disease. In 1889, American surgeon William Halsted, a founder of renowned Baltimore teaching hospital Johns Hopkins, performed the first radical mastectomy removing the breast and underlying chest muscle in an attempt to cure the disease. It was not until the introduction of breast implants in 1963 that any reasonable breast reconstruction could be performed.

Rhinophyma - Acne Rosacea

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Rhinophymas have been observed for centuries but the term rhinophyma (from the Greek rhis for nose and phyma for growth) was first used in 1845 by Hebra. It was initially thought to be due to chronic alcohol consumption but is currently thought to be a severe form of acne rosacea. Rosacea is a chronic inflammation and vascular condition that affects the face which in turn generates redness and visible blood vessels. There is bulbous enlargement of the nose with a ruddy complexion and numerous pits along the surface. The sebaceous glands of the nose increase in size and number with each surface pit being the mouth of a gland. Although the disease is benign superficial skin infections are characteristic with drainage of foul smelling material. It is 12 times more common in men than women.

Remove Stretched Ear Piercing

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The stretching of body piercings has been practiced for thousands of years presumably beginning shortly after humans started wearing jewelry. Mummified bodies with stretched earlobes have been discovered, including the oldest mummified body discovered to date: Ötzi the Iceman (3300BC). Gautama Buddha, an aristocratic and wealthy prince, had long stretched ears. He wore heavy gold earrings or precious stones as a status symbol, and the weight stretched his ear lobes dramatically. When he finally renounced his wealth and discarded his jewelry, his ear lobes were permanently stretched. As a way of remembering Buddha's act of personal self-sacrifice in walking away from his wealth, all succeeding images of Gautama Buddha show his stretched ear lobes without jewellery. Ancient Egyptian pharaoh King Tutankhamen is of one of the earliest known to have stretched ear lobes. It can clearly be seen in one of his more famous images on his sarcophagus. African, Eurasian and American indigenous peoples did and do so for cultural, religious and traditional purposes.

Modern day teens and 20 somethings are also stretching their ear piercings in vast numbers.

Plastic Surgery in South Korea

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According to a International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons survey the top 3 countries in the world in terms of the number of people in the country having plastic surgery are the United States, Brazil and China. Over 3.3 million plastic surgery procedures were performed in the US, 2.5 million in Brazil and 1.27 million in China in 2010. When you look at plastic surgery per capita to correct for the size of the population the picture is quite different. South Korea had the most per capita in 2010 with 16 procedures per 1,000 people. Half of them had non-invasive treatment including botox and facial peels. Next came Greece with 14 procedures per 1,000 population, followed by Italy, Brazil, Colombia, the U.S., Taiwan, and Japan.

Laser Tattoo Removal

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Tattoos have been applied to human skin for thousands of years. In 12,000 B.C. ash rubbed into skin cuts at bereavement ceremonies. Tattoo pigment bowls and needles have been found in Western Europe dating back to 8,000 B.C. Egyptian mummies have been found dating back to 4,000 B.C. that have tattoos as well as evidence of attempted removal. In 543 A.D. the Greek Aetius first documented the attempt at tattoo removal using salabrasion (abrasion of the skin with salt).

New Type of Breast Implant - The Ideal Breast Implant

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The 2 main types of breast implants available for decades have been the saline filled an silicone gel filled breast implants. Each has its pros and cons. Silicone gel implants have a more natural feel and look. Unlike silicone gel, implants containing only saline do not blend well with surrounding tissues at the edges of the implants. This is due to the chemical properties of salt water which is chemically charged as positive and negative charges that attract each other as opposed to silicone gel which does not carry a charge. Thus saline is more cohesive than silicone. What this means in clinical terms is that saline implant margins are more visible than silicone gel implant margins, especially when the soft tissue (breast gland and fat) between the outside world and the implant is thinner. Thus, in those patients with smaller breasts (less glandular tissue and/or fat) it is preferable to place saline implants under the chest muscle.

Finding a Breast Augmentation or Related Procedure that Works for You

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This is a guest post by&nbspPeter Samberg, writer forAssociates For Plastic Surgery- A Leader in San Diego Breast Augmentation.

Every year hundreds of thousands of women undergo breast surgery. Many of these are cosmetic procedures that utilize breast implants. The surgeries are performed by plastic surgeons. Generally, breast augmentation surgery is designed to increase the size of small and underdeveloped breasts.

Pregnancy and breast feeding can decrease breast volume
Breast surgery can also restore or enhance breast volume. The size of a woman's breast will sometimes decrease as a result of pregnancy or breast feeding. Additionally, breast implants can serve numerous other purposes.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and Cosmetic Surgery

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Lupus is a rheumatic condition which affects the muscles, joints, and connective tissue. About 1.5 million people in the US have lupus which includes as many as 10,000 children. Nearly 90% of those diagnosed with lupus are female. It's an autoimmune disease. A healthy immune system produces special proteins or antibodies and these normally protect the body against bacteria and viruses that cause infections. In the case of lupus, the immune system confuses the body's healthy cells and sees them instead as if they were a bacteria or a virus, and the result is that our antibodies then attack some of our own body's healthy cells. You become allergic to yourself.

Mini Facelifts - LifeStyle Lift, QuickLift...

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Anyone watching television lately has been exposed to a mass marketing blitz by Lifestyle Lift. The infomercials claim over 150,000 completed surgeries and are filled with satisfied customers who in before vs. after photos look remarkably younger and happier after surgery. In 2012, Grammy®-winning singer, author, and television personality Debby Boone, best known for her 1977 RIAA Platinum-selling #1 hit "Theme from You Light Up My Life," became the spokesperson for the company in its television commercials and its half-hour infomercial; the song is well-represented in both the commercials and in the infomercial.