Inland Cosmetic Surgery

Online readers about cosmetic surgery are probably all too familiar with the “age gracefully” versus “freedom to enhance” type arguments.  The UK Observer just published an editorial that sums up each position fairly well.  British journalist Alice Hart-Davis and Grazia beauty director Annabel Jones offer contrasting opinions in response to the question “Can cosmetic surgery ever be a viable solution to aging?”

The question is inherently flawed; can anything at all be a viable solution to aging?  Unless you’re very optimistic about regenerative medicine and  stem cell research, the aging process is a fact you must accept.  So, perhaps the word “solution” is misleading; cosmetic surgery doesn’t have a solution to aging, but it does offer many options.

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What surgeons refer to as TUBA, and the layperson might call “belly button breast augmentation,” is an effective method for breast implant placement.  In the right patients, this method can produce aesthetically pleasing results with scars that are literally invisible.

To describe the TUBA procedure briefly, the surgeon makes an incision in the navel, creates a tunnel through the subcutaneous tissue of the abdomen to the breasts, and then places the implant above or below the pectoral muscle.  The implants are placed symmetrically below the nipple.  To provide a view of the patient’s underlying tissues, a tiny fiber optic camera called an endoscope is utilized.

Certain practitioners have criticized the transumbilical method for its inherently “remote” technique, which doesn’t allow the surgeon direct access to the breasts.  Although this objection seems reasonable, the results achieved with this procedure say otherwise.  If the patient is safe, satisfied, and the aesthetic results are comparable (or superior) to other breast implant placement methods, the objection doesn’t hold any weight.

Jacob Haiavy MD and William A. Brennan MD published a study in 2007 that analyzed 245 patients of transumbilical breast augmentation, and found that the rate of complications was comparable to other breast implant placement methods.  Furthermore, 1 year after transumbilical breast augmentation, 95 percent of the patients were satisfied with the surgery and 86 percent were satisfied with the implant size chosen.

You can download the referenced article through this link:

Transumbilical Breast Augmentation: A Practical Review of a Growing Technique

TUBA breast augmentation before and after pictures are included in the article, as well as our website.  Contact Inland Cosmetic Surgery for more information on this procedure.

The liquid facelift is basically soft tissue augmentation with injectable fillers, but the goal is to achieve results that are similar to surgery.  Yet the results are said to be “typically more subtle than surgery.”  This topic is getting lots of media attention: Harper’s Bazaar is the latest to pick it up and interview some of the physicians that say they’re doing it.

The Best Beauty section of the Bazaar September issue includes before and after pictures and a discussion of professional techniques for administering injectables.  On their website, you can also view a similar online article with some facts and figures about the most popular wrinkle fillers.

The idea of a liquid facelift isn’t exactly a “touch up” here and there, but a relatively extensive  series of injections.  According to the authors, you can expect to pay at least $3,000 for a full liquid facelift.  A Florida dermatologist by the name of Dr. Fredric Brandt explains, “I resuspend the face with Botox, lifting up the brows, neck, jawline, and tip of the nose and then fill in and replace volume around the eyes and cheeks.”

Wrinkle fillers may be effective for replacing lost volume, and Botox has many excellent cosmetic applications, but it’s difficult (perhaps impossible) to see how either could achieve the skin-tightening benefits of an actual face lift.

The liquid facelift has also been discussed on The Doctors (NBC), Rachel Ray Show, New Beauty Magazine, Dr. 90210, FOX News, Cosmetic Surgery Times, and more exposure is said to be in the works.