A recent clinical study shows that breast augmentation improves quality of life, well-being and sexual satisfaction. Conducted as a joint effort by doctors in the United States and Canada, this study showed significant improvement across all measured quantities.
While patients and physicians have long held that breast implants have a dramatic effect on patient quality of life, this study provides concrete evidence of the quantitative level of this satisfaction. By looking into various areas of assessment, this clinical study was able to provide an overall look at the social and psychological results of breast augmentation.
BREAST-Q Module Used to Determine Breast Implant Patient Satisfaction
Far from being a simple survey or poll, the 41 women involved in this study completed the comprehensive BREAST-Q Augmentation module before having their breast implant procedure and after the procedure was completed. The results of the surgery were determined for each individual patient and also for the group as a whole.
The results of the BREAST-Q module were as follows:
- 83% of women reported a significant increase in satisfaction with their breasts.
- Of the women who participated in the study, 88% were seen to have a dramatic improvement in their psychosocial well-being.
- There were 33 out of 41 women (81%) in the study who stated that they had significant improvement in their sexual well-being following their breast augmentation.
The study authors concluded that this particular surgery generally had a very positive effect on the quality of life for the patient. This upheld the initial hypothesis, and was proven on both the individual patient level and the overall average across the study participants.
Though the data for breast augmentation seems conclusive, further research is necessary to determine if a similar effect exists for patients undergoing breast lift and breast reduction procedures. The unique nature of breast reconstruction procedures would likely require a redesigned study to gain accurate information.
Determining what breast implant size you want is one of the most important decisions you’ll make before your breast augmentation surgery, so take the time to figure out what size is going to make you happy.
Here are a few ways that may help you choose the right breast implant size.
- Look at before and after photo galleries. This can be a good place to start. It will be hard to find an exact “before” match that has your same breast size and shape, but it can help give you ideas for the looks you like, which you can show to your surgeon at your consultation.
- Try the rice test. You can make your own breast implant rice sizers at home; this video gives you step-by-step instructions. Try out the sizers you make under a bra and your favorite shirts at home to get a better idea of the size and look that you like.
- Ask about take-home inflatable sizers. If you don’t want to make rice sizers, you can ask your surgeon if he or she has these available for purchase so you can try them out at home.
- Order a Natrelle pre-consultation sizing kit from breast implant maker Allergan. The kit includes sample implants and a profile bra so you can get a better idea of how you will look with different breast sizes.
- Some doctors may offer 3-D imaging programs that can help you decide which breast implant size is best by using three-dimensional images of your own body.
- Ask your cosmetic surgeon. He or she may have their own effective method for helping patients pick a breast implant size.
Contact Dr. Haiavy for more information about breast augmentation.
This episode of The Doctors featured Tickle Lipo, with a visit from Dr. Sandra Lee and her patient Luci, who had the procedure to remove stubborn saddlebags.
Tickle Lipo is done under local anesthesia, says Dr. Lee. Watch the cannula rotate, as she holds it in her hands in front of the audience. The rotation makes it easier to remove fat, allowing the cannula to “glide through the tissue” with ease.
Read more about Tickle Lipo
“Gummy bear” breast implants are the newest type of silicone breast implants. Many women and cosmetic surgeons are excited about them; read on to learn the basics.
Why Is It Called a Gummy Bear Implant?
The medical term for these devices is “cohesive silicone gel breast implants,” but they were dubbed “gummy bear breast implants” by a plastic surgeon because they retain their shape when they are cut in half, like gummy bear candies.
What Are the Benefits & Drawbacks of Gummy Bear Implants?
The difference between gummy bear implants and other implants is that the silicone particles in gummy bear implants are more cross-linked, so the material hangs together, according to Dr. Galen Perdikis, a plastic surgeon at the Mayo Clinic.
“This change in the way the implants are made means they can be formed into a teardrop shape that mimics natural breast shape,” says Dr. Perdikis.
In addition to retaining their shape better, here are some of the benefits of the gummy bear implants:
- May have a lower leak rate than other implants.
- May look and feel more like natural breasts than other implants.
- Some studies show lower rates of capsular contracture (when scar tissue forms around the breast implant and then hardens) than other implants.
The cohesive gel implants have their own drawbacks, however. Some women may find them too firm. Also, the incision for these implants is larger. They also carry the same potential risks of other implants, such as asymmetry, infection, and capsular contracture.
Are Gummy Bear Implants Available in the U.S.?
Until a few months ago, only women who took part in clinical trials could get these implants in the U.S. But in March of this year, the first cohesive silicone implants were approved by the FDA.
The gummy bear implants, made by a company named Sientra, were approved after an eight-year clinical trial that included almost 1,800 women. Breast implant makers Allergan and Mentor are still in clinical trials for their gummy bear implants.
If you’re interested in learning more about your breast implant options, contact Dr. Haiavy in Rancho Cucamonga, CA.
If you’ve developed fat deposits in the inner corner of your eyelids as you’ve aged, a new technique may allow you to have them removed without traditional eyelid surgery, reports MarketWatch.
According to Dr. Sheila Barbarino, who authored an article on the technique that was published in the American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery, traditional eyelid surgery involves a horizontal incision that runs the entire length of the upper eyelid in order to reach and remove the fat.
The new method, developed by cosmetic surgeon Dr. David Morrow, “allows us to remove the fat pad through a 3-4 mm oblique stab incision. This safe, time efficient and minimally invasive procedure yields excellent outcomes with a far smaller scar,” says Dr. Barbarino.
The procedure is done under local anesthesia and takes only about 10 minutes on average.
“In situations where patients just require the removal of the fat pad, this procedure has an excellent success rate. Over a 20-year period, our patients have reported extremely high satisfaction rates with no complications related to the technique,” says Dr. Morrow. The authors have performed the technique on 979 patients.
If you don’t need traditional upper blepharoplasty and are just bothered by the fat on your upper eyelids, the technique offers many benefits. It’s quick, effective, and safe. However, if you have more concerns than just fat pads, traditional eyelid surgery may be right for you. In addition to removing fat deposits, it can also target the following problems:
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- Under eye bags
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- Sagging upper eyelids
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- Excess skin that creates a fold
Eyelid surgery may also be done for functional purposes, as well as cosmetic. Some patients get the procedure to correct impaired vision due to sagging upper eyelids.
Breast implant maker Mentor has a new online interactive tool that allows you to manipulate photos of yourself to help you visualize how you would look after breast augmentation.
The New You Visualizer tool is part of a new educational campaign launched by Mentor that features former Dancing With the Stars winner and host Brooke Burke-Charvet. It is available on the Love Your Look website and allows you to:
- Securely upload your own photo and make adjustments for implant size, shape and lift.
- Create personalized before and after images that show your new look with breast implants.
- Save your results to review or adjust later.
- Share your simulated breast augmentation results with friends and your surgeon.
Burke-Charvet, who is a mom of four, had her breast augmentation in her 20s. Through the campaign, she says she’s promoting the education of women to make a healthy choice. “All of the information you’ll find at Love Your Look is designed to help women in that decision-making process, encouraging them to have a great relationship with their doctor and ask a lot of questions and really educate themselves,” she says.
If you’re considering cosmetic surgery it’s important to make an informed decision, stresses Burke-Charvet. “Women are bombarded with information about breast augmentation, but don’t get the answer they really want, specifically ‘How will I look afterward?’ I love that the New You Visualizer empowers women to inform themselves,” she says.
Mentor’s goal for the campaign, according to president David Wilson, is to “enable a better conversation between a woman and her doctor so she can achieve the best results possible.”
You can share the images with your surgeon at your breast augmentation consultation, where you’ll discuss all aspects of the procedure, including implant type and size.
If you’re interested in breast augmentation, please contact our office in Rancho Cucamonga to set up a consultation.
A new study found that smokers who undergo elective surgery are more likely to have higher hospital costs and more complications.
Respiratory complications after surgery were a major factor in the higher costs among smokers, according to lead author Dr. Aparna Kamath, a clinical assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
The researchers looked at data for 14,853 patients who underwent elective surgery at 123 Veterans Affairs hospitals during a one-year period. Thirty-four percent were current smokers; 39 percent were former smokers who had quit a year or more before surgery; and 27 percent had never smoked.
Other findings from the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, included:
- Costs for former smokers did not differ significantly from those who never smoked.
- Inpatient hospital costs were 4 percent higher for current smokers compared to those who never smoked.
- Postsurgical complications resulted in the higher costs among smokers, not the length of hospital stay.
Quit Smoking Before Surgery, Researchers Say
The researchers noted that quitting even a few weeks before surgery can benefit patients.
“Although our research did not directly address this issue, evidence suggests that quitting smoking before an operation, even as little as four to six weeks prior to the procedure, improves postoperative outcomes and decreases complications in patients,” Kamath said in a news release.
This research may be of particular interest to cosmetic surgeons and their patients, since cosmetic surgery is elective, so patients aren’t usually on a tight time line to get the procedure.
Based on the study, cosmetic surgeons could encourage patients who smoke to try and quit smoking a few weeks before surgery and schedule their surgery after that period.
How large do you want your implants? That’s an important consideration for any woman considering breast augmentation. Going too big or too small may result in disappointment.
Making your own breast implant sizers is a good way to help you decide. Wearing the sizers at home can help you figure out which size will make you feel most comfortable and look best under your clothes.
Rice implant sizers are a simple and cheap DIY project that allows you to test out various implant sizes. Here’s what you need to make your own rice implant sizers:
- Panty hose or knee high hose
- Measuring cups
- Dry rice
- Scissors
To make your breast implant sizers, first cut the legs off of the panty hose halfway from the bottom and stretch each out. Then measure your rice carefully, using the following guidelines:
- 1 cup is equal to 250 cc
- ½ cup is equal to 125 cc
- ¼ cup is equal to 75 cc
After you’ve filled the panty hose, compress the rice into the bottom into a spherical shape. Then tie a knot in the panty hose right above the rice filling, cut off the remaining tail of the panty hose, and you’re done.
Put your rice implant sizers in your sports bra and wear it under your tops to get an idea of how a specific implant size will look and feel. You may want to make and try out more than one set to get a better idea of what size implants you like best. The video below shows how to make the rice implant sizers.
To learn more about breast augmentation, contact Dr. Haiavy.
A small study suggests that abdominal liposuction patients should exercise regularly after their procedure to keep from developing deep belly fat.
Patients in the Brazilian study who didn’t exercise after surgery had an increase in visceral fat around their abdominal organs.
Visceral fat is more closely associated with diabetes and heart disease than superficial fat found just under the skin.
The study had 36 women who were at a normal weight and were sedentary before the procedure. All had liposuction to get rid of small amounts of abdominal fat. Two months later, half were assigned to an exercise program and half remained sedentary.
Six months after surgery, the women still had flatter abdomens, but the sedentary group showed a significant 10 percent increase in visceral fat compared to before the surgery. The group who exercised after liposuction did not see an increase in visceral fat.
The researchers concluded that abdominal liposuction doesn’t cause a regrowth of fat, but it does “trigger a compensatory increase of visceral fat.” However, the fat can be “effectively counteracted by physical activity.”
Researchers said it was unclear why there was an increase in visceral fat, “but we believe it may be because this particular fat depot is more metabolically active than the other fat depots,” study leader Fabiana Benatti told Reuters.
Exercise after Abdominal Liposuction
The results of this study suggest that staying or becoming active after abdominal liposuction will stop the increase in visceral fat in the area.
“If one should choose to undergo liposuction, it is very important, if not essential, that this person exercises after the surgery,” according to Benatti.
Before the procedure, talk to your cosmetic surgeon about your expectations for liposuction and about what kind of exercise regimen he or she recommends afterward.
Contact Inland Cosmetic Surgery for more information about liposuction.
What is EXILIS? It is a laser for:
• Volume reduction
• Skin tightening
• Body shaping
• Local fat deposit elimination
• Cellulite improvement
It was featured on the Doctors Show!
It was also featured on Kathy Lee and Hoda Today Show:
TREATMENT PROTOCOL
• 4 sessions
• 10-14 days between each session
RECOMMENDATIONS AFTER TREATMENT:
• Increase in liquid intake ( more than 3,5 liter/day)
• Light physical activity
• Low fat diet
• Lymphatic drainage
CONTRAINDICATIONS:
• Acute inflammations
• Application on certain tissues
• Uncompensated cardiovascular diseases
• Metal implants (pacemaker, joint replacement, etc..)
• Kidney or liver failure
• Risk of bleeding – menstruation, bleeding tissues, peptic ulcers
• Sensation disorders
• Serious peripheral arterial circulation failure
• Thrombophlebitis and thrombosis known or suspected
To schedule your private consultation, please call 909-987-0899.