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Posted on December 14th, 2012 in
Facial Surgery, Plastic Surgeon
More Afghans are traveling internationally then every before, and this has had a noticeable effect on the country’s attitude toward plastic surgery. As a result of this increasingly open attitude, both men and women are choosing to have cosmetic surgery in rapidly increasing numbers.
As recently reported by
ABC News, plastic surgery in this region has undergone a dramatic transformation, turning an industry that once handled only trauma and reconstructive work into one that is more in step with the global trends of cosmetic surgery.
Plastic Surgeons in Afghanistan Now Performing Breast Enhancement, Nose Jobs and Face Lifts
According to Dr. Aminullah Hamkar, a Kabul plastic surgeon, his practice has seen a major change in the last few years, as various influence impact the way people interact. “Ten years ago it was all about repairing scars,” he said. “When I sometimes ask the young people who come here why they want cosmetic operations, they simply say they want to look better and beautiful.”
This is a development of both commercial and emotional importance, as many consider such beauty concerns a sign that Afghanistan is entering a time of peace. In addition, this means that fewer patients are seeking cosmetic surgery as a result of war damage or other attacks. Previously, many plastic surgery patients were seeking help for the damage done by acid or knife attacks, as well as many other forms of trauma.
Surgeries that have been disproportionately popular in Afghanistan are
breast augmentation,
face lifts,
liposuction and rhinoplasty, also known as a nose job, likely as a result of influence from outside cultures. In Dr. Harnkar’s opinion, “Many people’s perceptions of life and sex change upon their return from a trip to a less conservative place.”
Photo by ind{yeah} on Flickr.
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Posted on September 22nd, 2012 in
Facial Surgery, Plastic Surgeon
The highly successful Operation Mend, a joint military/civilian program, has been able to provide more than 50 veterans with free cosmetic surgeries since 2007. The program is been growing in scope and popularity since its beginning.
To provide the best care possible, the program uses world-class surgeons who lead their fields in scar treatments,
skin treatments, burn reconstruction,
body contouring and
facial plastic surgery. This allows the veterans to receive levels of care they would be unable to afford otherwise and that would not be covered by standard insurance.
Burn Repair and Cosmetic Surgery for Wounded US Military
According to a recent
story in the Dallas News, this program is gaining more public support and donations, with the hope of being able to reach more veterans each year. Originally founded by Ron Katz and his late wife Maddie, Operation Mend has developed beyond the original structure.
Successful on a number of levels, the results achieved through the Operation Mend program have given soldiers improved health and self-confidence. The surgeries have included scar repair, burn treatments and reconstruction of facial traumas to the ears, nose and mouth. Other secondary benefits have included improved mental conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
One soldier who has benefited from the program is 26-year old Joey Paulk, who says he was very self-conscious of his appearance after nearly burning to death in 2007. In his words: “I wasn’t very happy with the way I looked.” Yet three recent surgeries with Operation Mend have changed all that, greatly improving his self confidence. “It’s helped my friends and family, too,” Paulk says. “Because I’m happy, they’re happy.”
With dramatic success stories like this for veterans of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the program has been widely successful, despite the surprisingly high cost of the surgeries. According to Katz, many of the surgeries cost upwards of $500,000.
One of the key sponsors for the Operation Mend program, billionaire T. Boone Pickens, has long supported the program, as he says he is committed to helping wounded veterans. In his words, “We want to do our best for these men and women when they come home.”
Photo by U.S. Army on Flickr.
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Posted on August 14th, 2012 in
Facial Surgery, Plastic Surgeon
Women around the world have been empowered by Tyra Banks, as supermodel who believes in self-confidence for women. Host of the popular and long-running “America’s Next Top Model,” Banks recently stated in an
Enstarz article that she is in favor of plastic surgery.
Banks expressed frustration with those in her profession who look down on plastic surgery. “What’re you talking about? You won the genetic lottery,” she stated, in comments directed at cosmetic surgery naysayers in a recent interview. “You look like this specimen that’s making people everywhere feel insecure and you’re going to ridicule someone for getting
plastic surgery?”
Tyra Banks Calls Cosmetic Surgery “Absolutely Fantastic”
In Banks’ opinion, some people have been more lucky than others in the genetic lottery, and it’s “not fair” that they be helpless in living with the things they don’t like. She considers herself one of the lucky ones, but knows that aging affects everyone: “Black people and Asian people have similar (strong) skin… But if one day I have wrinkles and I don’t like it… maybe… a little
Botox,
fillers?”
Banks has long been a proponent of women and models having a realistic beauty, and in dealing with the discussion of beauty in an honest and open fashion. She believes in support models on her show that have unconventionally attractive features and great self confidence in their bodies, regardless of shape and traditional ideas of beauty.
She is also famous for being open about her own body, discussing cellulite issues and other physical issues with her many fans through social media. A recent Instagram photo she released revealed a self-consciousness about the size of her forehead, for example.
Banks believes in empowering women to do what it takes to have high self-confidence in themselves and their bodies. It would seem that having plastic surgery procedures such as Botox, fillers and facelifts to correct personal issues would fall under this greater goal.
Photo used under Creative Commons license from Wikipedia
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Posted on May 7th, 2012 in
Plastic Surgeon
Cosmetic procedures continue to sell well in Europe despite the continent’s high unemployment and widespread austerity measures, according to the chief executive of Allergan. This
report from the
Financial Times reinforces recent statistics released by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, which indicated that Greeks and Italians remain major cosmetic consumers despite their countries’ ailing economies.
According to David Pyott, Allergan’s chief executive, the US pharmaceutical giant has managed to generate double-digit growth in its European sales of breast implants since 2011. Pyott says that much of this success can be attributed to the aftershocks of the Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) breast implant scandal. After it was revealed that PIP’s breast implants contained industrial silicone, many European plastic surgeons switched to Allergan’s breast implants.
Botox sales have also been performing strongly, especially since the drug is increasingly being used for non-cosmetic purposes. Its ability to cure chronic migraines has generated a great deal of excitement in the medical community.
The
Times report comes after
statistics released by the ISAPS that indicate that Greece and Italy occupy the second and third spots worldwide in terms of percentage of population receiving cosmetic procedures. This may come as a surprise to many Americans who watch the economic situation in the region with unease. However, says Pyott, this trend is nothing unusual.
“In southern Europe, people spend a higher proportion of their income on appearance and lifestyle,” Pyott says. “They are happy to live in a modest apartment and look good facially and body-wise when they go out.”
In Italy,
Botox is the most popular non-surgical procedure, while
liposuction tops the list of cosmetic surgeries.
Breast augmentation surgery is the most popular cosmetic procedure in Greece. Based on the figures, only South Koreans pursue plastic surgery with greater frequency than Greeks or Italians.
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Posted on April 28th, 2012 in
Plastic Surgeon
Plastic surgery is often described as an art, but can the development of traditional artistic techniques help plastic surgeons to produce better results? A group of plastic surgeons and medical students at the University of Lincoln in the UK are finding out in a course called the Art of Reconstruction. Now entering its second year, the course offers training in drawing and clay sculpture to promote better results during plastic and
reconstructive surgeries.
According to
BBC News, the course offers training in different approaches, including self-portraiture, life drawing, and clay modeling. The focus of the course centers on surgical applications of these techniques, so that drawings and models of the head, neck, and breast are featured.
This often involves some unusual tasks. For instance, some students use mirrors to draw self-portraits, but break their face into four quarters in order to create four separate drawings. They must combine and reposition these drawings in order to re-create their balanced face. In another task, students use clay to build a breast onto a cast of a female chest from which one breast is missing.
Emma Caroline Fernandez, a medical student from Debrecen, Hungary, says that the courses helped her to judge the proportion and size of the breast in a whole new way:
“Yesterday we did clay modelling and I thought I’d done a good job until I turned around, I went around the side, as mostly artists do, and then I noticed a huge gap. With the nose and the lips if you look from the front you can’t really judge the space between, until you look from another perspective.”
As a result of practicing these artistic techniques, many of the surgeons have adapted their surgical approaches. By adapting the light in the operating room, or looking at the breasts from different angles, they can get a new perspective on surgeries such as rhinoplasty and
breast augmentation.
(Image source: Jastrow,
Wikimedia Commons)
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Posted on April 21st, 2012 in
Plastic Surgeon
While there are no statistics on the subject, anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a rise in the use of plastic surgery by couples, according to a
recent article in the
L.A. Times. The story highlights the growing popularity of plastic surgery among men and a new cultural shift that sees spouses simultaneously pursuing cosmetic enhancement.
The most important factor in rising couples’ plastic surgery is the overall increase of cosmetic procedures performed on men, who now comprise 9 percent of all cosmetic patients. There seems to be a greater openness among men to the benefits of plastic surgery. According to Dr. Richard Chaffoo, a plastic surgeon:
“When a wife comes in and has work done and is delighted with the outcome, the husband or partner feels more confident and secure and more likely to ask questions. Men are often initially introduced when they come in with their wives, who are looking at having this or that done. When the husband is in there, he sees some of the information, and then he sort of gets interested. Then, when the wife comes in for a postoperation appointment, we’ll talk about his eyes or neck.”
Plastic surgeries such as
liposuction,
eyelid surgery, and rhinoplasty are popular with both groups, although naturally there are different priorities for men and women. Men often pursue liposuction in certain areas, most notably the abdomen, chest, and chin, while women might have liposuction performed anywhere on their bodies.
The most obvious difference is in the chest area, where women often have
augmentation surgery to enhance the appearance of their breasts, while men usually have
male breast reduction surgery to achieve smaller chests. Of course, with female breast reduction surgery and pectoral implants, both sexes can augment or reduce their chests’ appearance.
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Posted on February 28th, 2012 in
Plastic Surgeon
Cosmetic procedures have traditionally been unpopular among African-Americans, but there are recent signs of this stigma declining, according to a
recent article on ABC News. More black women are pursuing cosmetic procedures against the beliefs widely held among their communities.
Black Women Speak Out
“There’s a pressure from the community that, you know, ‘African-American women don’t need to have beauty enhancements.’”
– Phyllis Jackson, who received a
Botox injection at a Beverly Hills dinner party.
“I think African-American women are still in the closet about having plastic surgery…[but] I think we’re doing it a lot more.”
– Linda Caradine-Poinsett, 50, who received
body contouring surgeries to increase the size of her
breasts and reduce her waistline.
“I’ve wanted my backside larger all my life… One day I just woke up and everybody was talking about butt, butt, butt. They’d had this surgery and that surgery… The first question I asked [my plastic surgeon] was, How big can you make my butt?”
– This woman wished not to be identified.
The Advantages of Dark Skin
The natural advantages of black skin are another reason why many blacks have declined to pursue cosmetic procedures. “Darker skin has natural protective factors against sun,” Chicago plastic surgeon Dr. Julius Few told ABC. “So we don’t see the same wrinkling, because sun exposure typically will cause weathering or cracking or folding of the skin.”
As well, Few said, black skin has more oil and thus tends to be more resilient against wrinkling:
“A lot of people think oil in the skin is bad. The reality is oil in your skin is good. It’s kind of like folding a piece of paper. The more you fold the piece of paper, the more you’re likely to get a wrinkle in it. Well, if the skin is a bit oiler, has better moisture to it, it will tend not to get a heavy crease in it.”
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Posted on February 4th, 2012 in
Body Surgery, Breast Surgery, Plastic Surgeon
Botched cosmetic surgeries are on the rise with a growing number of practitioners who practice beyond their specialty, according to a
recent article in the
New York Times. Doctors who are board-certified in fields such as otolaryngology, gynecology, and general practice are marketing cosmetic procedures as part of their services, which is perfectly legal under US law.
More patients are seeking revisionary surgeries to correct the damage caused by botched cosmetic procedures, according to American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) president Dr. Malcolm Z. Roth. “The public needs to be protected from doctors who are not upfront about what board certifications they have,” he told the
Times.
One of the victims of this trend, named Joan, was interviewed by the
Times about her experience receiving a
facelift and
tummy tuck from a board-certified doctor. A financial-services professional, she was treated by a Beverly Hills doctor whose board certification turned out to be in otolaryngology. She received thick scars on her temples and a wavy abdomen that probably could have been avoided by a certified plastic surgeon.
“I had to use all my savings to get a real plastic surgeon to fix what he did to me,” Joan told the
Times. “I have an M.B.A. I’m not stupid. But when the doctor has a nice clinic and all those diplomas and certifications on the wall, you think he knows what he’s doing.”
Unfortunately, US laws make it difficult for patients to distinguish top-quality care from the practices of non-specialists who frequently lack experience:
- Forty-six states do not require that doctors who advertise themselves as being “board-certified” must specify which board has certified them. Only Texas, California, Louisiana, and Florida require that doctors must do this.
- Doctors who practice beyond their specialty aren’t required to report this fact to any oversight authority.
- Non-specialists are not required to report complications to any oversight authority.
Members of ASPS, who have received
special training and certifications in plastic surgery, are subject to stringent rules and oversight from the society. Patients who want to minimize their risks and achieve the best results from surgery should be sure to ask about board certifications and always seek second opinions when surgeons aren’t specially trained and licensed for plastic procedures.
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Posted on January 27th, 2012 in
Plastic Surgeon
Affordable flights, low-cost procedures, and foreign climes have made cosmetic tourism an attractive option in recent years. However, the inexpensiveness of foreign plastic surgeries often masks a dangerous environment, with chronic regulatory gaps and lack of patient aftercare. The growing popularity of cosmetic tourism has been accompanied by increasing rates of
complications and botched procedures.
In Australia, there has been a veritable explosion in overseas
botched surgeries. Australian tourists have been travelling to developing countries such as India, Malaysia, and Thailand for cheap plastic surgeries such as
breast augmentation and
liposuction. As a result, complications arising from botched overseas procedures have risen 38 percent in the last year. Here’s how these complications break down:
- 72% of botched overseas surgeries could not be corrected.
- 62% of patients suffered permanent disfigurements.
- Almost half could have experienced life-threatening complications.
- The average cost to attempt surgical repairs was nearly US$6000.
The Four Perils of Cosmetic Tourism
Disease. Why do travellers usually receive vaccinations before travelling abroad? It’s because certain diseases, including local strains of common diseases, can affect your body in serious ways. Patients recovering from surgery are risking their lives in foreign germ environments.
Low standards. Many overseas clinics can offer low prices because they don’t face the same regulatory hurdles as their American counterparts. Will your procedure be performed by a fully qualified doctor? For many elective or minimally invasive procedures, the answer is no.
Travel strain. Preparing for surgery is stressful enough without adding a foreign vacation. It’s easier to relax and feel comfortable closer to home.
Post-operative care. Responsible plastic surgeons provide a high level of post-operative care to reduce the risk of complications. It’s an important step in the healing process that many foreign clinics don’t offer, since low prices often demand a “revolving-door” policy.
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Posted on October 20th, 2011 in
Breast Surgery, Facial Surgery, Plastic Surgeon, Reconstructive Surgery, Skin Care, Wrinkle Treatment
UK plastic surgeons are worried that a new tax on plastic surgery could have a negative impact, according to
WebMD.
Currently in the UK, a plastic surgery tax only exists on non-surgical treatments like
Botox,
fillers and laser treatments, a fact that plastic surgeons take no issue with. (In the UK, a VAT tax or “Value Added Tax” is somewhat similar to sales tax in the US in that consumers must pay it on top of the price for a good or elective service.)
Lawmakers in the UK, though, may soon examining whether a plastic surgery tax should apply to elective cosmetic surgeries, like
breast augmentation. In the US, patients already pay sales tax on elective plastic surgeries, but not medically-necessary procedures, which are often billed through insurance.
Some plastic surgeons in the UK are beginning to speak out against a possible review in the application of VAT, which may cause patients to have to pay a plastic surgery tax when they previously did not need to.
Current laws regarding VAT tax stipulate that procedures are tax exempt when the “protection, maintenance or restoration” of health is the main goal. A handful of plastic surgeons argue that changing any of these tax laws could put many patient’s surgical desires in a gray area.
Former president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons Dr. Douglas McGeorge says the common image of plastic surgery is mega-celebrities casually undergoing elective procedures. Rather, he argues, it is members of the general public who choose plastic surgery to improve small aspects of themselves for a positive result.
McGeorge uses the image of an older worker undergoing
facial rejuvenation to help make themselves more competitive in the workplace. He sees the difficulty in distinguishing between what is a functional improvement and what is purely cosmetic.
In response to the worry of some plastic surgeons regarding a new plastic surgery tax, the UK government says they currently have no plans to revise the VAT for cosmetic surgeries.
“Medical treatment for purely aesthetic reasons has been, and continues to be, liable to VAT at the standard rate,” it said in a statement.
To learn more about options for financing your plastic surgery in Denver, please
contact plastic surgeon Dr. Mouchantat.
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