Men and Women are Spending More and More to Eliminate Signs of Aging as the Economy Improves

New Data Reveals Plastic Surgery Spending is Rebounding with a Continuing Demand for Cosmetic Procedures as 2011 Approaches

Tampa, FL (Vocus) December 13, 2010

Each year, millions of Americans invest in cosmetic procedures to gain a renewed sense of confidence and feel their best. However, as the economy experienced a dramatic downturn in 2009, so did plastic surgery spending, which fell 20 percent across the country, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). Now, fresh data provided by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) show more and more people are spending on nips and tucks. The AAFPRS states the number of non-invasive cosmetic procedures rose 47 percent in 2010 with further increases expected in 2011.

On the national level, the latest data from the AAFPRS showed 77 percent of physicians agree patients are more educated about plastic surgery options. The AAFPRS states that “With more people wanting to look younger, feel better and take an active role in their health, patients are researching different physicians and treatments to find the best one suited to meet their personal needs.” The AAFPRS survey concluded that the overall rise in these procedures pointed to more patients trusting their face to facial plastic surgeons that are trained and focus solely on the face and neck. “Because of this,” according to the study, “patients are seeing better outcomes.”

No matter what a potential patient’s procedure of choice is the best advice is always to seek out a surgeon who is highly qualified, trained and experienced in performing that particular procedure to ensure the best possible outcome and a high level of satisfaction. It is also important that a doctor is down-to-earth and that a patient can feel like they can connect with them. Good communication between the doctor and patient is paramount in achieving a customized result.

Do Plastic Surgery procedures pose a problem with the New Full Body airport Scanners?

Most of us have heard about the new Full Body Scanners being used at several airports and the controversy surrounding this hot topic. The arguments range from concerns about privacy to health issues. Here is another question: Will this new technology pose problems for those travelers who have had any type of plastic surgery procedure? Are there any procedures that could pose a problem? This issue hasn’t been discussed but should it? Articles are being written continuously about this hot topic…

“Among the issues debated:
•Processing times. The TSA says it takes about 20 seconds to screen a passenger with the machines.
The International Air Transportation Association, which represents 250 of the world’s airlines, disputes that. The group says it observed the new machines at Baltimore/Washington airport during the July 4 holiday weekend, and it took 50 to 70 seconds to screen a passenger.
Frequent flier Jim Zipursky of Omaha says it took 2½ to five minutes to screen him with the new machine before each of four recent flights from Omaha’s airport. On previous flights, it took a minute or less to walk through a magnetometer, he says.
•Privacy invasion. Full-body machines violate the Fourth Amendment, which guards against unlawful searches and seizures, by subjecting travelers to an “invasive search” without any suspicion that they did anything wrong, the Electronic Privacy Information Center alleges in a July 2 lawsuit filed in a U.S. appeals court in Washington. The non-profit group was established to focus attention on civil liberties issues.
The group also says the machines perform digital strip searches that are incompatible with the teachings of some religious faiths.
Dubai airport security officials announced July 5 that the machines contradict Islam and wouldn’t be installed there because of privacy concerns. Orthodox Jews and Pope Benedict XVI have also opposed the machines.
The TSA says it sets the machines to blur travelers’ facial features and places employees viewing the images in a separate room. The agency says it doesn’t store the images and deletes them after viewing.
•Radiation. Frequent flier Richard Hofrichter of Glen Allen, Va., says he’s been screened by the full-body machines about 30 times this year, and he’s worried about the cumulative effects of radiation.
TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee says the machines that use high-speed X-rays emit a very low dose of radiation, equal to the amount received from the environment during two minutes in flight. Other machines that use electromagnetic waves that emit energy to scan passengers are “thousands of times less than what is permitted for a cellphone,” she says.
The TSA says machines that use X-rays were evaluated by the government and scientists who determined that the radiation doses for individuals being screened, operators and bystanders were well below the dose limits specified by the American National Standards Institute.
In April, however, four professors at the University of California-San Francisco, wrote a letter to John Holdren, President Obama’s top science adviser, expressing “serious concerns” about “potential health risks” from the machines. The professors are experts in biochemistry, biophysics, X-ray imaging and cancer.
The radiation emitted by the scanners would be safe if it was distributed throughout the entire body, but the majority is absorbed by the skin and underlying tissue, the professors wrote. “The dose to the skin may be dangerously high,” they said.
They told Holdren that “there is good reason to believe” the machines would increase the risk of cancer to children, the elderly, pregnant women and others prone to cancer.
David Brenner, the director of Columbia University’s radiological research center, says the machines emit very small doses of radiation to the skin. The risk to individuals may be small, Brenner says, but with hundreds of millions of passengers flying each year, “The population risk has the potential to be significant.”
•Ability to detect weapons and explosives. The Government Accountability Office said in March that it “remains unclear” whether the machines would have detected the explosives in the underwear of a man who allegedly tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines jet bound for Detroit on Christmas Day.
Brian Sullivan and Steve Elson, two former Federal Aviation Administration security agents, say the machines are ineffective for finding explosives and preventing a terrorist from smuggling explosives on board an aircraft.
Billie Vincent, the FAA’s former security director, says the machines “incrementally improve” on metal detectors if TSA agents alertly resolve identified threats. There are no screening technologies that “are 100% effective,” he says.
TSA spokeswoman Lee says the agency is “highly confident” in the detection capability of full-body, or advanced, imaging technology. “While there is no silver-bullet technology, advanced imaging technology is very effective at detecting metallic and non-metallic threats on passengers, including explosives and powders,” she says.
Passengers with concerns about the machines can instead request a pat-down search.” By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY
As we see, there are several concerns being debated out there, but should plastic surgery effects on screening be one of them? The doctor is going to be researching this topic and looking into whether there are any procedures that could pose a problem for travelers opting for the new full body scan. Find out in the second installment regarding this issue

The use of Facial Fillers on the rise as alternative to plastic surgery

Lynn Shapiro, 59, of Bridgeton, N.J., has no idea how much she has spent on twice-a-year facial injectables in the past few years, and she’s not interested in finding out. She just knows that she likes the way she looks and is thrilled about the way she feels. “Whatever I’m spending,” she says, “it’s worth it.”
Baby boomers received more than 1.1 million injections of Botox and hyaluronic acid in 2009, a 15 percent increase over the year before, according to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, and the trend shows no signs of slowing.

The generation whose mantra could be “50 is the new 30” does not intend to grow old gracefully. It doesn’t want to age the way its parents did, and it doesn’t have to. In the past eight years, a new field of cosmetic medicine has emerged, focused on fillers and injections and giving anyone with a credit card the option of looking younger and more refreshed without going under the knife.

But it can be costly. Injectables such as Restylane, Juvederm and Radiesse range from $345 to $800 a syringe, depending on the doctor. And they last only six to nine months before a redo is needed.

“When you add it up over time, it can be more than the cost of a surgical procedure,” says Scott Bartlett, professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and chief of pediatric plastic surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

In Shapiro’s case, the desire for facial rejuvenation arose in 2002, shortly after she recovered from a serious operation to remove a growth from her spine.

“When I learned it was not malignant, I began to look at life differently,” she says. “I wanted to do the things that would make me feel better and enjoy myself more.”

Since then, she has had countless injections with facial fillers to treat depressions under her eyes and chin, and with Botox to erase the lines in her forehead. In February, she had blepharoplasty to remove excess fat from her upper eyelids.

“The skin over my eyes was droopy and made me always look tired or angry,” Shapiro says. “I was neither.”

Blepharoplasty is the most common cosmetic surgical procedure performed on baby boomers, ahead of face-lifts and liposuction. There were 70,218 done last year, down from 91,806 in 2008, according to ASAPS. Experts say the trend is due to the dismal economy and the rising use of fillers, injections and skin-tightening lasers.

“In today’s times, when people can’t afford to be away from work for long, alternatives to blepharoplasty are more attractive,” plastic surgeon Kevin Cross says.

Still, eyelid surgeries are here to stay, he says.

Cross is medical director of Deme, a glitzy aesthetic center with locations in Center City and Devon that assembles specialists in cosmetic surgery, dentistry, skin care, nutrition and mental health.

But it is not just plastic surgeons who specialize in injecting facial fillers and Botox. Dermatologists, internists, general practitioners and ophthalmologists do it, too. The administering of fillers is a lucrative business that caters to men and women who crave instant youth. They are willing to pay for it out of pocket, as insurance rarely covers the procedures. Shapiro’s fillers and eye surgery were done by Marc Cohen, who is board-certified in ophthalmology and cosmetic surgery. Cohen has offices in Voorhees and Bala Cynwyd.

“Eyelids are the most complicated and challenging part of the face on which to work,” Cohen says. “They are delicate structures, and the key is to achieve a look that is natural, attractive and preserves function.”

Over the years, Cohen says, the approach has changed significantly. “Pick up any magazine and you’ll see that people look younger when they have fairly full upper eyelids, not the hollowed-out Marilyn Monroe look that people used to envision when they considered cosmetic eye surgery. So we remove less tissue than we used to and we use fillers – both under the brow and beneath the lower lids – to add volume and create those more youthful, sweeping curves.”

Fillers do not replace surgery, but they can often postpone it. Meanwhile, the plumping up of wrinkles and lines, creating cheekbones and voluptuous lips, can restore the sought-after look of days gone by. And for those without the sagging necks and bulging jowls that beg for face-lifts, fillers may be enough to satisfy them.

Twenty-five years ago, Penn’s Bartlett could not have imagined how dramatically the field of facial rejuvenation would change, he says. With the arsenal of techniques available today, he suggests consulting someone with “more than one club in his bag.”

“If you go to someone who does nothing but inject, that’s all he’ll be able to offer you,” he says. “A plastic surgeon who uses many different strategies and understands the anatomy of the face can tell you what’s best for you.”

Marianne Daria of Bryn Mawr is not quite a baby boomer, but at 43 she wants to get a head start against aging. Several times a year, she visits the Havertown office of internist Norbertus Robben, whose practice now is only cosmetic medicine. Patients say they receive pleasing results and modest prices.

Daria receives treatments with Botox and fillers and has had nonsurgical laser skin tightening. Fillers such as Restylane, Juvederm and Radiesse can range from $345 a syringe (Robben’s price) to $650 to $750 (Cross’ price) or even more. Skin-tightening treatments generally begin at over $1,000 depending on the type of treatment and who’s giving it.

Robben asks his patients to prioritize what bothers them most, and typically they’re on target, he says. Most often, they point out the nasal labial folds, the marionette crevices that run from the corners of the lips to the chin, the hollows under the eyes and the “smoker’s” lines above the lip – which all can be addressed with fillers. “If they are looking for more than what I can offer them, I’ll suggest they see a plastic surgeon,” Robben says.

Toni Rosen, 52, a French and Spanish teacher who lives in Bryn Mawr, doesn’t think she’s ready for plastic surgery and likes the results of the fillers she gets from Cross a couple of times a year. She has had the lines above her lips treated, as well as the depressions under her eyes and the deep folds between her nose and mouth.

If she remembers to stop taking her once-a-day baby aspirin a week before the procedure, she says, she experiences no bruising. Otherwise, she may have a minimal black-and-blue marking that lasts for three or four days. The numbing cream that is applied a half-hour before the procedure keeps her pain-free while Cross is injecting her.

“Every doctor has a different aesthetic sense,” Rosen says, “and Dr. Cross is a perfect fit for me.”

When Rosen first came to Deme in April 2008, she was also seen by Betsy Rubenstone, a licensed aesthetician and director of Deme’s medical skin-care division. Since then, she has seen one of Rubenstone’s aestheticians for microdermabrasion and a laser treatment. Every day, she cares for her skin by using brightening exfoliation pads, a hydrating mask, a peel/bleach cream and a tinted moisturizer, all products Rubenstone prescribed for her.

“I like having healthy-looking skin,” she says, “but I won’t go to extremes. I’m putting my money into the fillers because I think they make such a difference. The guy behind the counter at the pizza place used to tell me I looked tired when I felt peppy and full of energy. Now I realize it was just that my face was losing volume and my cheeks were beginning to sink in. I’m going to go back there and see what he says now.”
By GLORIA HOCHMAN
For the Inquirer

Back To Basics

It’s the most basic steps in your skin care routine that really make a difference in your skin’s appearance.

Exfoliating is the most important step in your daily skin care regime because the skin is constantly re-growing and shedding. Dead skin cells that are not removed can block the skin from absorbing the nutrients in your treatment products and applying additional products to the face will just add to further clogging of the pores.

If the dead skin cells are not taken off it can lead to breakouts, blackheads, whiteheads, pimples and superficial spotting.

Exfoliating regularly reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, keeps skin healthy. When pores are completely clean they will look the most refined, and the skin’s overall texture will be improved. We recommend doing a more advanced exfoliating treatment, such as the VI PEEL, three to four times a year.

Many exfoliating cleansers contain apricot pits or walnut shells to exfoliate the skin. These can actually scratch the skin, causing tiny tears. The best way to exfoliate regularly is to use a daily exfoliating wash or liquid exfoliant. These ingredients also stimulate new cell formation and increase cell circulation.

New to Amae’s product list is an extremely advanced one step treatment product, COMPLETE CARE, which also contains exfoliating ingredients, such as Glycolic Acid that work to maintain the results of the VI PEEL.

So, even if you’re not using an exfoliating wash or liquid serum, the exfoliating ingredients in the “COMPLETE CARE” product will help your skin to absorb the benefits of the ingredients in the product, without clogging the pores.

Give us a call to schedule your Vi Peel today, (248) 335.7200. www.drali.com

VI BLOG~Friday, Oct 1, 2010

Perfect Age for Plastic Surgery Is 52, New Survey Reveals

Thinking of a little nip tuck? A new survey reveals the perfect age for plastic surgery is 52 years, 41 weeks and four days.

That’s right. Not only are more and more women considering plastic surgery — 1 in 3, in fact — the average woman now thinks 52 is the ideal age for cosmetic procedures ranging from face lifts to eye lifts, Botox and tummy tucks.

In a survey conducted by London’s beauty and health retailer, Superdrug, 3,000 women aged 40 to 65 were found to be increasingly image conscious when asked about their willingness to undergo plastic surgery.

Some of their responses included:

– If money were no object, a fifth of women would get a face lift.

– 25 percent would opt for an eye lift.

– 29 percent would get a tummy tuck.

And even among those who wouldn’t undergo the knife, 29 percent would choose Botox or chemical peels.

On the shocking side, it seems that many women favor looks over money: Almost 29 percent would rather look 20 years younger than be a millionaire. And when asked who the perfect aging role model is, the overwhelming choice was Twiggy.

Dr. Darren McKeown, a London-based cosmetic doctor told the Daily Mail that the popularity of certain treatments is not only celebrity driven, but career driven as well.

“When you’ve been in a company for a long time and have younger colleagues snapping at your heels the last thing you want to do is look tired. The average age of my client is in their forties.”

Plastic surgery is not the only way women over 40 are fighting the aging process. Men and women over 50 are now ten times more likely to use fake tanning lotion or tanning beds and 14 times more likely to use anti-wrinkle cream. And 15 percent of women over 50 admit to still wearing padded bras (five times as many as their mothers at the same age).

Why all the fuss to look younger? Sixty-two percent believe they are more likely to be judged on their appearance than previous generations.

by Deborah Dunham

Patient Stories: Reconstructing Lives

Every year, nearly 5 million reconstructive plastic surgery procedures are performed in the United States. Many of them are life-changing for patients and for the surgeons themselves. To better illustrate what types of state-of-the-art procedures are being done every day, ASPS created the Reconstructing Lives Blog, which gives members the opportunity to share their compelling stories with the public.

**Reconstructing Lives: Kelsea Henderson
The October 2008 homecoming at Woodstown High School was particularly special for one of its students. This was not just another football game, parade and dance for 18-year-old Kelsea Henderson. She had been elected homecoming queen and this distinction meant more to her than most. Since age 13, Kelsea has undergone numerous complex surgeries to her back and chest as a result of a rare cancer.

“Being chosen for homecoming queen really meant a lot,” said Kelsea. “My friends and other students always knew I was sick, but I never wanted to play the sympathy card. I wanted to be treated like a regular teenager. I was happy they recognized this, saw how I dealt with everything, and respected me for that.”

Overall, 2008 was pretty monumental for Kelsea. Her last reconstructive operation, performed by ASPS and ASRM Member Surgeon Dr. David Low in Philadelphia, was in January 2008. And just four months later, Kelsea attended her junior prom (proudly displaying her scars), and 9 months after surgery she was voted homecoming queen. She wrapped up the season by going on a family vacation to Hawaii through the Make a Wish Foundation were she celebrated her 18 birthday and learned she received a full college scholarship.

“What I’ve gone through has been life changing,” said Kelsea. “Not knowing if I was going to finish high school or go to college was scary. I have a greater appreciation for life now and all that I am able to do and all that I receive.”

Origins of an illness
In June 2004, Kelsea began to complain to her parents of radiating pain in her left chest and side. By summer’s end, the pain had become so excruciating her parents rushed her to the emergency room. A biopsy revealed a large and very rare type of cancerous tumor located in her left chest, adjacent to her aorta and spinal column. The tumor surrounded nerves found outside her spinal cord.

“Finding out your child has been diagnosed with cancer is a numbing experience,” explained Kelsea’s mother Pam Henderson. “It’s something you just don’t want to believe. You almost can’t believe it.”

Initially, physicians at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia hoped they could treat Kelsea’s tumor by removing portions of it, followed by radiation and chemotherapy. In October 2004, portions of the tumor were removed, but the tumor began to grow. Over the next year-and-a-half, doctors administered radiation, followed by another attempt to remove portions of the tumor, then chemotherapy. However, the tumor continued to grow.

“Chemo and radiation were extremely taxing on Kelsea,” said Mrs. Henderson. “She would be at the hospital for 11 hours straight sometimes. She didn’t like being away from home. But through everything, her personality has always been upbeat and cheerful.”

Chest wall reconstruction “saves” day
It was apparent more aggressive steps were needed to fight Kelsea’s cancer. In April 2006, neurosurgeons removed the entire tumor, which required removal of portions of her vertebrae and ribs, leaving her spine and chest weakened. They inserted rods, screws, and bone grafts to stabilize her spine. Then, Dr. Low reconstructed the large rib defect in her chest wall using artificial mesh and bone cement. The combined operation took more than 40 hours.

“People say to me all the time, ‘I don’t know how you got through this,’ and I say, ‘I don’t know either,'” said Mrs. Henderson. “We have a really close family. When something like this happens, you really don’t have a choice.”

But Kelsea’s troubles weren’t over. Over the next year-and-a-half, she developed a serious infection that required removing all of the mesh and bone cement Dr. Low had used to reconstruct her chest wall, as well as, some of the materials used to stabilize her spine. And her previous radiation treatments caused fluid to accumulate in her left chest and led to an air leak in her lungs.

“Eventually her neurosurgeon needed to remove all of the remaining materials used to stabilize her spine and asked me to provide tissue to help seal the leak from her lung and cover the exposed bone,” said Dr. Low.

In early January 2008, Dr. Low transferred Kelsea’s right back muscle, with a flap of skin attached, to the left side of her back. He then reattached the blood vessels and nerves on her left side to the transferred muscle. A portion of the muscle was then tucked into her chest wall defect to seal off the air leak from her lung.

In late January 2008, when most high school juniors prepare for their SATs, Kelsea underwent her seventeenth, and final, operation. Dr. Low took a bone from Kelsea’s leg (fibula) and placed it along her spinal column to give it support and used a major vein from her leg to reestablish blood supply.

The reconstructive procedures Dr. Low performed on Kelsea’s defects were so innovative and challenging, he was awarded “The Best Microsurgical Save of the Year Award” during the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery’s (ASRM) annual meeting in January.

“What made this case so rewarding is that throughout her multi-year ordeal, Kelsea never lost her courage and optimism,” said Dr. Low. “She was never discouraged, even when presented with the need for multiple complex surgeries.”

“I can’t thank Dr. Low and the rest of my doctors enough,” said Kelsea. “Words can’t express how much he means to me and what he’s done for me. He saved my life.”

When reflecting on time missed from school and friends, Kelsea replied, “I missed out on things in high school, and it was upsetting at times. But I tried not to let it get me down. I’ve been able to attend school my entire senior year, was homecoming queen, and received a full college scholarship. I feel like this is a good end to my high school career.”

“Kelsea is a beautiful young woman who faced repeated adversity, seemingly incurable cancer, a long list of painful and lengthy operations, and yet has triumphed magnificently and now looks forward to what she humbly calls ‘a normal life,” said Dr. Low. “Her story is truly inspiring.”