The Centre, P.C. - Plastic Surgery Blog

Why Travel for Cosmetic Surgery - Friday, July 25, 2008

As I discussed in a previous blog, many Europeans are taking their cosmetic tourism vacations in the United States to take advantage of the high level of skill practiced by cosmetic surgeons in this country. But if you are already in the United States, should you consider traveling for your cosmetic surgery procedure?

Good Reasons to Hit the Road

There are many good reasons to travel for your cosmetic surgery procedure:

Quality is the number one reason to travel. Remember that you only have one body, and you have to make sure that if you put that body in anyone's hands, you have to be absolutely sure that the cosmetic surgeon is one you can trust to do everything possible to get it back in better shape than ever.

Procedures vary among cosmetic surgeons. If a cosmetic procedure you want is not offered by a cosmetic surgeon near you, don't settle for another one that "is just as good" from a local surgeon. There are no exact equivalent procedures, and you need to get the one that is right for you.

Privacy is another good reason to travel for cosmetic surgery. If you are self-conscious about your procedure, it may be best to go somewhere you're not likely to run into other members of your social circle before you're absolutely ready.

Recovery is a critical step in any cosmetic surgery procedure. If you stay at home during your recovery period, you may be inclined to try and get back into your normal routine as soon as possible. If you travel, it's easy to block out an appropriate amount of time for your recovery and avoid rushing yourself back to work or other demanding tasks.

Bad Reasons to Travel for Cosmetic Surgery

However, some people try to encourage travel for cosmetic surgery for very different reasons, some of which are ill-advised.

Great Vacation Destination for the Whole Family is probably not a good reason to travel. First, if you travel with your children, you are unlikely to get to rest and properly recuperate. Second, after your surgery, you are unlikely to want to get out and enjoy many of the pleasures offered by the vacation spot, so what is the point?

Reputation alone is never a good reason to travel for cosmetic surgery. Some doctors have great reputations but are not necessarily the best doctor for you. And some of them can prove to be not all they are cracked up to be, as recent cases involving some celebrity cosmetic surgeons show.

Price alone is not a good reason to travel. It is not always true that you get what you paid for, and sometimes you are paying extra for a doctor's location in downtown Chicago, but don't go shopping for a bargain when it comes to cosmetic surgery. Find the right surgeon performing the right procedure and then plan how to afford it.

It's also important to keep in mind that you don't want to travel too far for your surgery. You need to visit with the surgeon in person before deciding to go ahead with the procedure, which can become an expense in itself if the surgeon is too far away. Also, airline travel can be very stressful, and you may not want to subject yourself to it too soon after surgery. Finally, the doctor should be close enough that visiting him or her for follow-up care (not to mention subsequent procedures) will not be a burden, leading you to neglect it.

At just one hour from downtown Chicago and providing the highest level of cosmetic surgical care, we invite anyone in Chicago considering cosmetic surgery to consult with the surgeons at The Centre, P.C.'s Chesterton, Indiana office.

Women Accept Silicone Breast Implants after Moratorium - Monday, July 21, 2008

One question that many people were asking after silicone breast implants were re-approved for breast augmentation operations in late 2006, is "Would women choose them?" After all, the Food and Drug Administration had called for a voluntary suspension of their use for breast augmentation in 1992, and for nearly 15 years silicone implants were the only commonly-available option for breast enhancement (although silicone implants were still available for breast reconstruction operations). And there had been the concerns that caused the suspension in the first place, the anecdotal links between silicone breast implants and a host of conditions including fibromyalgia, lupus, and breast cancer. Even after no evidence suggested that any of these conditions had any significant link to silicone, it seemed likely that women might experience some reluctance to choose silicone.

However, women are returning to silicone, although it is unlikely that silicone implants will ever be as popular in the United States as they are in other countries, where 90 % of women choose silicone implants. The American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery tracks silicone and saline breast implant surgeries, and it found that in 2007, the first full year saline implants were improved for use, nearly 40 % of breast augmentation operations were performed with silicone. Excluding transaxillary and transumbilical operations, which can only be performed with silicone implants (between 15-20 % of the total number of operations), this means that in their first year silicone implants have become just as popular as saline implants. It is likely that as women see the cosmetic results achievable with silicone implants, their popularity will continue to improve, although it is unlikely that they will achieve the same level of popularity in the United States that they enjoy in the rest of the world.

If you would like to learn more about silicone breast implants, contact The Centre, P.C. today to set up a consultation.

Cosmetic Surgery Tourism: India, Hungary, and now . . . the U.S.? - Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Wall Street Journal reports that Europeans, who have spearheaded the cosmetic surgery tourism movement, are considering taking their vacations here in the United States. Why?

The United States has always been seen as the home of top-notch cosmetic surgeons. With our celebrity-driven and appearance-obsessed culture, demand has inspired some of the best doctors to choose cosmetic surgery over other specialties. The results are eyed enviously by many Europeans, but in the past, only the super-rich considered coming across the water to have their face lifts or breast augmentations because the relative cost of the procedure was much higher in the United States.

Nowadays, though, the weak dollar has changed the entire cost equation. The dollar has lost 24 % of its value against the euro, and 11 % of its value against the British pound in the past three years. With that change in the exchange rate, the cost begins to be less of an issue, and the quality of work tips the balance. The president of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery says that the United States has always been a center for cosmetic surgery because of its quality. Now that the cost has become comparable, many patients are considering coming to the United States to have their work done by an internationally-recognized specialist rather than a surgeon in their own country.

Cosmetic surgeons are welcoming the influx of customers, which can partly serve to stem the ebb of patients as a result of the weakening domestic economy.

If you are interested in world-class results, contact The Centre, P.C. today for a consultation.

Cosmetic Procedures May Help Chronic Headache Sufferers - Tuesday, July 15, 2008

People with migraines or migraine-like chronic headaches find the condition debilitating. For people with true migraines, some mitigation of the condition can be seen with behavioral therapy, but the reality is that sufferers lose time at work and at home as a result of their recurring headaches, and for some, avoiding migraine-related foods does not provide relief. These people may not be sufferers of the serotonergic form of the headache, and for these sufferers doctors in Britain are exploring the use of a formerly cosmetic procedure to reduce or stop their migraine-like headaches.

For some people, the cause of headaches may be pressure on a facial nerve by the corrugator muscle. The corrugators muscle, so named because its function is to corrugate or wrinkle the brow, is sometimes removed during a brow lift surgery, and cosmetic surgeons noticed that following brow lift surgery, some headache sufferers saw a lower incidence of headaches. This led them to try the procedure as a form of headache remedy.

However, the corrugator muscle is only one possible cause of recurrent headaches, so before surgery is performed, Botox™ is used to paralyze the muscle temporarily to see if it might be responsible for the headaches. If it seems responsible, it is removed. In small-scale studies, the procedure seems effective.

Some practitioners of Botox™ therapy for headaches are dubious of the notion that the corrugator alone is responsible for the headaches, since they typically inject a larger area than just the corrugator muscle. However, if the procedure continues to be successful, it may be another example of the crossover between cosmetic surgery and general medicine.

To learn more about the benefits of brow lifts, Botox™, and other cosmetic procedures, contact The Centre, P.C. today for a consultation.

Radiesse Gets Validation in Clinical Studies - Tuesday, July 08, 2008

At The Centre, P.C, we have long been offering Radiesse injections for our patients, and now we are happy to see that clinical studies have recently provided more evidence of its safety and effectiveness.

Radiesse is the first approved "composite" injectable. Composite injectables are formed using two very different components. A carrier gel allows a smooth injection of microspheres that last long after the carrier gel is absorbed by the body. As long as the microspheres are in place, the body fills in around them with collagen, leading to long-lasting results. In Radiesse, the carrier gel is methylcellulose, used in many other applications, including as a food thickener, and the microspheres are made of calcium hydroxylapatite, a compound commonly used as a bone filler.

Now a battery of studies published in the June 2008 issue of the Journal of Dermatologic Study has provided more evidence that the results of Radiesse last much longer than non-composite injectables currently on the market. In one study, at least 80 % of 1000 patients were shown to have continued results one year after treatment without retreatment, making the results much longer than injectables like Restylane or Juvéderm. In two different studies, one using a histologic model and the other using a canine host, it was shown that Radiesse did stimulate the body to produce collagen around the microspheres.

These studies show that Radiesse remains one of the longest-lasting solutions to facial voids and wrinkles. To learn more about facial fillers and their results, contact The Centre, P.C. today to set up a consultation.

Don't Forget Skin Care this Summer - Thursday, July 03, 2008

Summer is in full swing now, and you have probably made it out to the beach or the pool a few times. Maybe you're a gardener, or you play out in the yard with the kids. Mowing the lawn, biking, hiking, or even just plain sunbathing: no matter what you do outside this summer, you will get sun. Intense, baking sun that can damage your skin. And if you do go swimming, the chlorine and other chemicals in the water can definitely lead to additional skin damage. But, here at the Centre, P.C, we have a number of ways we can help your skin keep healthy during the trying summer months.

Remember that skin care is not just about looking good. It's about keeping your skin healthy, so, in addition to wearing a strong sun screen, you need products that give nutrition. We have an entire set of Nutritional Supplement Programs from VitaMedica that can preserve your skin not only from the damaging effects of the sun, but also from inflammatory skin conditions such as acne, psoriasis, or eczema. We also offer Kinerase skin care products to help ward off the effects of aging.

To learn more about skin care options at the Centre, P.C. contact us today to set up a consultation.