Blog Archives

The Rewards and Challenges of a Plastic Surgeon

Posted on April 25th, 2011 in Breast Surgery, Plastic Surgeon, Reconstructive Surgery

Being a young doctor may seem daunting enough, but for plastic surgeon Dr. Rania El Hativ, couple that with also being the first female in your field out of a population of more than 7.5 million. 29 year old, Dr. El Hativ is the first female Israeli plastic surgeon, according to Jewish Journal, a distinction she finds both encouraging and a responsibility. With that comes carrying the weight of speaking for her patients and showing that plastic surgery stretches far beyond cosmetic procedures, El Hativ said. El Hativ says the challenge of repairing traumas like burns, tumors and cleft palates, among others, is inspiring to her. As an artist, El Hativ says she is able to combine the medical with the aesthetic to help her reconstructive patients. One such patient was a child who was born with a cleft palate. Three months after El Hativ performed the surgery, the child returned for a check up and El Hativ said there was no evidence of the cleft palate. “I suddenly understood what I had done for her and how her life was transformed by this surgery,” El Hativ said. For now, as El Hativ focuses her attention on helping reconstructive patients regain something they once thought was lost, she also works to educate her community about plastic surgery. “They don’t know that there are so many other things we can do to help change people’s lives,” El Hativ said. Among the reconstructive surgeries performed by plastic surgeons are also breast reconstruction after a mastectomy and tissue expansion, which works to create excess tissue as part of a procedure. « Previous Page

Mammograms Easily Read for Breast Lipomodeling Patients

Posted on April 18th, 2011 in Breast Surgery, Reconstructive Surgery

Women who have undergone breast lipomodeling should not encounter any issues when submitting to a mammogram, a study by the ASPS found. The study, which was published in March, examined women who had undergone breast lipomodeling as an alternative to more traditional implant-based breast augmentation. It found that 16 months after the procedure, more than half of the women displayed no abnormalities that would cause an issue on a mammogram. Of the women who did show any abnormalities, they were minor issues like scarring or small calcifications. The study also compared mammograms for women both before and after breast lipomodeling and found no significant differences in the mammogram results. Breast lipomodeling was originally introduced as a means for breast reconstruction following a mastectomy. In the cosmetic procedure, your plastic surgeon would use liposuction to remove excess fatty deposits from a donor site on your body, like the hips or thighs. After it has been purified, your plastic surgeon then uses lipomodeling techniques to inject the fat into your breasts, giving them volume and improving the shape. While the results of the ASPS study are only preliminary, they bode well for the continued adoption of breast lipomodeling in the plastic surgery breast augmentation canon. « Previous Page

Roger Ebert Gets New Jaw After Cancer Battle

Posted on February 9th, 2011 in Reconstructive Surgery

After battling thyroid cancer, film critic Roger Ebert had cancerous cells removed and the cancer finally necessitated the removal of his right jaw and Ebert lost his ability to speak. However, with the use of a prosthetic, which he wrote about for the Chicago Sun-Times, Ebert has been able to recreate the lower part of his face and uses the prosthetic for some shots of his new television show. The silicone prosthetic, which was created specifically for Ebert by a team of doctors from the Milwaukee area is composed of silicone and is similar to prosthetics used to recreate limbs for children. Ebert acknowledges that many know his condition and that the prosthetic won’t fool too many people, but says, “Symbolically, it’s as if my illness never happened and, hey, here I still am, on the show with these new kids.” « Previous Page

Reconstructive Procedures Help Patients Rebuild

Posted on January 6th, 2011 in Reconstructive Surgery

Though elective plastic surgery gets headlines and reality shows, the more compassionate side of the field, reconstructive surgery, is where many doctors choose to spend a good deal of their time helping patients rebuild their lives. A recent Yahoo! News story highlighted a young girl who underwent a new type of reconstructive surgery called anaplastology to restore one of her ears that had been badly burned in an accident. The surgical procedure Elise underwent to recreate her right ear used a prosthetic can last about six years before needing to be replaced (a much easier follow-up procedure). Though this form of reconstructive surgery is only performed by about 150 plastic surgeons worldwide, Dr. Mouchantat offers a host of reconstructive procedures in Denver. Otoplasty is an ear pinning surgery performed by your plastic surgeon that reforms the cartilage of your ear to reshape it and reposition the ear so it is closer to the head. Breast reconstruction options range from the more common breast implant procedure to skin and tissue grafting surgeries that use donor sites on the patient’s own body (often abdomen or buttocks) to recreate the breast. Tissue expansion procedures are also used for reconstructive patients who lack the sufficient skin to move forward with reconstruction. In this procedure, a balloon-like instrument is placed under the skin and gradually filled with saline to stretch the skin. Your plastic surgeon may also be able to remove or diminish scars you have from previous skin trauma. This process may utilize injectable fillers to fill a depressed scar, or the removal of scar tissue. Call Denver plastic surgeon Dr. Mouchantat at (303) 232-8585 to learn more about how he can use his reconstructive skills to help you. « Previous Page