These six signs of success have a profound impact on a woman’s satisfaction and quality of life as it relates to breast surgery.

1. Satisfaction With Breast Shape and Appearance

Breast shape and appearance are clearly important factors in any cosmetic breast procedure (as well as breast reconstruction). A youthful breast shape and more clothing options may become available after surgery. “I have really nice voluptuous, rounded, normal-sized perky breasts” said a patient in one study, “and I am sooo happy with them.”

2. Better Physical Well-Being

Through breast reduction, patients are relieved of back and neck pain, which means they can increase their activity level and thereby improve their health.

3. Better Psychological and Social Well-Being

Breast surgery can bring positive changes in self perception and positive experiences in social settings. Patients say they have increased confidence and feel as if they fit the perceived or expected norms of female body shape.

4. Better Sexual Well Being

When breast surgery helps to alleviate negative feelings about one’s appearance, a patient may have a better sex life as a result.

5. Positive Experience in Surgery

When patients have a good relationship and rapport with their plastic surgeon, they are more satisfied with breast surgery. Honesty and clear communication are keys to a good doctor-patient relationship. When this relationship is not a positive one, overall satisfaction drops.

6. General Satisfaction

Would you undergo breast surgery again? When patients are generally satisfied with the outcome, they will answer yes. “There is not one day that goes by that I am not so pleased that I did it,” said one breast augmentation patient.

Source: Satisfaction and quality of life in women who undergo breast surgery: A qualitative study

Photo by Sara Reid on Flickr

While implant size is a very personal choice, big sizes may be going out of style. Many of today’s Hollywood ladies are choosing a more modest and manageable breast implant size, including Denise Richards, Victoria Beckham, and Drew Barrymore. Together they represent a trend toward smaller breast implants.

If you’re considering breast augmentation for the first time, know that smaller implants can still provide excellent results. And if you’ve had a previous breast augmentation with large implants, you might consider downsizing through a breast revision surgery.

There are many good reasons to choose a more modest implant size:

• A proportional Shape
• A natural appearance
• Easier physical activity

When it’s time to choose a size, don’t overanalyze cup sizes or implant volume numbers. Visit a plastic surgeon who can measure you for the right implants, then try them on to find a look you like.

Although breast implant sizers can help, they don’t always match the actual results. New products like the Natrelle Pre Consultation kit can help as well. as they allow you to test out an implant size and find your desired look.

Have a question about breast implant sizing? Contact our office in Birmingham, MI. Whether you’d prefer small implants or extra large breast implants, we can help you choose an implant that helps to achieve your desired outcome.

The unanimous vote to recommend it by the Medical Devices Advisory Committee, while not binding, will be taken into account when the FDA makes it’s final approval decision.

Juvederm Voluma XC is an injectable hyaluronic acid dermal filler that would be used to correct volume deficiencies in the mid-face. This distinction would be the first and only of its kind for dermal fillers in the U.S. market, if the FDA approves it.

In a company press release Allergan’s Scott M. Whitcup M.D., the Executive Vice President, Research and Development, and Chief Scientific Officer stated: “ Today’s recommendation is an important step in the FDA review process for Juvederm Voluma XC.”

Whitcup went on to say that Allergan is committed to working with the FDA to provide consumers with “the first treatment option that has been specifically developed” to treat age-related volume deficiencies in the cheek.

If approved by the FDA, Allergan expects to launch Voluma XC later this year.

More About Allergan, the Company Behind Juvederm Voluma XC

Established in 1950, in Los Angeles, CA, Allergan, Inc. started as an eye care company with the first antihistamine eye drop in the United States.

Sixty years later and now a multi-specialty health care company, Allergan focuses on a number of medical specialties including: eye care, medical aesthetics, breast aesthetics, urologics, obesity intervention, neurosciences, and dermatology.

In addition to Juvederm, Allergan also manufactures the injectable treatment Botox and topical treatment Latisse. Their portfolio of products also includes the Natrelle line of breast implants.

If you’re busy with work, chances are you haven’t considered taking time away for a face lift or brow lift.

Not to worry. Today, plastic surgeons have a variety of convenient wrinkle treatments. Injectables like Botox and facial fillers like Juvederm are some of the easiest treatments for deep lines and wrinkles.

• Botox is a brand name for botulinum toxin type A. Comparable medications include Dysport and Xeomin. These are most popular non-surgical cosmetic procedures in the U.S. They treat newly formed facial lines with an injection into the muscles that contract and cause lines. A few days after treatment, the muscles relax and the facial wrinkles gradually flatten.
• Injectable fillers like Juvederm or Restylane are used to treat deeper wrinkles and facial lines. They can also be used for adding volume to facial features like your lips.
• For deeper wrinkles, or longer lasting results, Radiesse and Sculptra are often recommended. These fillers stimulate gradual collagen growth, which provides a subtle but long lasting correction.

There are many different injectable fillers. During your consultation, we can help you find one that meets your needs. Most injectable treatments can be finished within an hour, which means they’re ideal for the busiest people in the Detroit and Birmingham communities. Contact our office in Birmingham to learn more.

Photo: Before and After Botox, courtesy of Allergan Inc.

1. Stop Overeating

By choosing a small plate and carefully choosing what to eat first, you can prevent overeating. A new research letter published in this month’s issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine suggests these two strategies for dieters to use to prevent overeating. The research observed peoples habits in buffet lines.

“Research shows that when faced with a variety of food at one sitting, people tend to eat more. It is the temptation of wanting to try a variety of foods that makes it particularly hard not to overeat at a buffet,” said Rachel Begun, spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

2. Optimize Meal Times

A recent study in the International Journal of Obesity found that it may not be just what you eat, but also when you eat it. Dieters involved in the study who ate their lunch earlier in the day lost more weight than those who ate a later lunch.

3. Exercise and Track Your Daily Activity

There’s no way around it. If you want to slim down, you need to move your body. “Most days we don’t realize how sedentary we are,” says Darshan Shah, a plastic surgeon. “The Nike Fuel Band is something I use to keep my activity level on track! I set a goal for 3000 Fuel points a day, and If I am not there by the end of the day, I go for a walk with the dog before dinner.”

4. If You’re at a Healthy Body Weight, Consider Abdominoplasty

Abdominoplasty is a procedure that can eliminate loose skin and fat around the midsection. Earlier this year, researchers found that 70 percent of women who participated in a study lost weight after tummy tuck surgery. The women involved with the study reported that they felt satiated more quickly when eating after their tummy tuck.

Photo by Chris_Parfitt

While they might not be as sexy of a topic as breast augmentation, injectable nonsurgical procedures and male plastic surgery have been quietly growing in popularity.

Injection Treatments Lead the Nonsurgical Cosmetic Facial Procedures

Of the total number of cosmetic procedures performed in 2012, just over four of every five treatments were non-surgical. While they are cheaper and offer a more subtle solution than the comparable surgical procedures, the majority of nonsurgical treatments, almost 58 percent, were injectables.

The top five nonsurgical procedures of 2012 are as follows:

• Botulinum Toxin Type A-better known as Botox, Dysport, and Xeomin, botulinum toxin type A procedures saw a huge jump, 24 percent, in the number of treatments administered in 2012.
• Hyaluronic Acid-Also known by the brand names Juvederm or Restylane. Hyaluronic acid is an injectable, dermal filler that reduces wrinkles and facial lines.
• Laser Hair Removal
• Microdermabrasion
• Chemical Peel

Skin rejuvenation treatments accounted for a quarter of the nonsurgical procedures in 2012. Between 2011 and 2012 skin rejuvenation procedures like laser skin resurfacing and chemical peels grew by 25.1 percent and 15.5 percent, respectively.

Male Plastic Surgery Continuing to Rise

Cosmetic procedures for men have been on the rise, they have increased 106 percent from 1997 to 2012. In fact, the nearly one million cosmetic procedures performed on men last year accounted for one tenth of the total number of cosmetic procedures.

The surgical procedures for men have increased significantly, almost 20 percent, between 2011 and 2012. The top 5 plastic surgery choices for men are not all that different from the top 5 for women. Liposuction, tummy tucks, and eyelid surgery appear on both lists. However, ear surgery, or otoplasty, and male breast reduction are exclusively on the men’s top 5 list.

With the warmer weather in Spring and Summer just around the corner, it’s easy to start seeing the less than desirable features gained over the Winter months. Personal appearance can be a major factor on your self esteem.

Aside from difference plastic surgery can provide for your physical features, there are also a number of psychological benefits to undergoing cosmetic procedures.

Research Shows Plastic Surgery Leads to Higher Self Esteem

A recent study, published in Clinical Psychology Science, reports that people who undergo plastic surgery have a higher self esteem and are less anxious than people who have opted not to have plastic surgery.

This boost in self esteem could be one of the reasons there were more than 10 million cosmetic procedures performed in the United States last year, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

Give Your Self Esteem A Spring Makeover

With limited time before the beach weather comes, there are a number of ways to boost your self esteem without spending hours in the gym

Surgical procedures like a face lift or eyelid surgery can provide great results for a more youthful facial appearance. Less invasive procedures, such as injectable treatments like Botox or dermal fillers like Juvederm, can help with the crows feet and other lines that develop around the face and eyes as one ages.

If you’re concerned about the safety of a procedure like cosmetic injections, there isn’t much to be worried about. According to new study reported in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, injectable fillers used for facial volume rarely lead to any major complications.

Other procedures like liposuction are a great way to reduce the appearance of trouble spots around your stomach, thighs and love handles.

Schedule a consultation at our Birmingham, MI location to discuss which options are right for your situation and what you are hoping to accomplish.

Additional Source: Medscape

The frontrunner last year, liposuction, lost its top spot because of a rise in competition from cutting edge noninvasive body sculpting procedures.

This is according to the new 2012 National Totals for Cosmetic Procedures, a report released by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS).

In addition to the ASAPS statistics, new data released by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ISAPS) shows the US helped breast augmentation reach second place on the most performed surgical procedures around the world.

Are Americans Uniquely Obsessed With Breasts?

According to the ISAPS statistics, Americans are not the only people in the world that have a desire for shapely chests. While breast augmentations rank number two in the world, other breast surgeries are included in the world-wide top ten surgical procedures performed.

Breast lifts and breast reductions came in at sixth and seventh place. Female breast surgeries are not alone on the list. Male breast reduction, or gynecomastia, ranks number nine in the world-wide procedures list.

According to the ASAPS numbers, there were just under 370,000 breast augmentations performed in the US in 2012. This is nearly a 17 percent increase over the number of augmentation procedures done in 2011.

Why The Rise In Popularity For Breast Augmentations?

Since 2006, when the FDA allowed the reintroduction silicone implants back into the marketplace, silicone implants have gone through a number of technological advancements.

Specifically, anatomically shaped and highly cohesive silicone gel breast implants have been the most recently approved advances in implant technology.

Other technologies like the 3D imaging devices have allowed surgeons and their patients to preview the potential outcomes of a breast augmentation during the pre-operative consultation.

Photo by DonkeyHotey on Flickr

The 7-year story of silicone breast implants might help you win that Final Four office pool.

If you’re making “safe” bets on Duke or Louisville this year, remember that certain teams (and medical devices) have a way of coming from behind to win.

Take silicone breast implants for example. Just a few years ago, surgeons would only use them for the occasional breast reconstruction. Even after the FDA moratorium was lifted in 2006, silicone gel implants were still used in only 19 percent of all breast augmentations.

Advances In Technology Drive the Silicone Resurgence

Today, the silicone breast implant is at the height of breast enhancement technology. The last two years have brought notable advances, especially the now FDA-cleared form-stable cohesive-gel implants from Sientra and Allergan.

Commenting on the new gel implants, plastic surgeon Robert X. Murphy, Jr, tells the Wall Street Journal, “If you cut one of them in half and you squeeze it, the silicone will protrude from the open end, but if you release the pressure, it goes right back in.” Dr. Murphy is the president-elect of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Last year, American plastic surgeons used silicone breast implants in more than 330,000 breast augmentation procedures. – a 53 percent increase since 2006!

So if you’re looking for upset picks, don’t discount New Mexico State, Valparaiso, or Wichita. If silicone breast implants can make a comeback, so can the Boise State Broncos.

1. What’s my budget?

Plastic surgery has become much more inexpensive than it used to be, but the more intensive the procedure the more it will cost. A surgical option like a face lift will cost more initially than Botox injections, but multiple injections over time may end up costing more in the long run.

View our plastic surgery financing options.

2. How long do I want my results to last?

One of the benefits to a surgical procedure like a breast augmentation or liposuction is that the results are longer lasting than the non-invasive alternatives.

3. How much time do I have to recover from my cosmetic procedure?

If your schedule is tight, a non-invasive treatment like injectable fillers could be a better option with your situation. If you’re able to take time off from working then a surgical option may make better sense for your goals.

4. Do I want a subtle or dramatic change in my appearance?

Many of the cosmetic surgery options available today can offer patients dramatic results. However, if you don’t necessarily want the people around you to notice you’ve had work done then a non-surgical option may meet your desired result.

5. What are my expectations?

A recent study from the University of Basel, in Switzerland, found that 88% of respondents held reasonable goals for their cosmetic procedures. To some of the survey’s open ended questions the patients responded by saying they hoped to “feel better,” “eliminate blemishes,” or “develop more self-confidence.”

In addition, those patients, when compared to the control group who didn’t have any cosmetic work done, saw a reduction in their anxiety, felt healthier, felt more attractive and gained more self-esteem.

To find out more about the cosmetic options that make sense for your situation, contact us.

Sources: ScienceDaily and ASAPS