Silicone Injections Lead To More Death

July 30th, 2010 by admin No comments »

Patients who get massive silicone injections to enlarge their breasts or buttocks should expect trouble, local cosmetic doctors say. Especially if the silicone isn’t a medical-grade product, the procedure can lead to disfigurement or death. That’s what apparently happened to the patients of Guadalupe Viveros, who allegedly ran an unlicensed cosmetic-injection clinic out of her home in Sylmar, Calif. Police are seeking Viveros and her business partner, sister Alejandra Viveros, in connection with the death of a patient.

The buttocks are “one of the worst places for injections,” said plastic surgeon Dr. John Di Saia of San Clemente and Anaheim. Large quantities of material must be injected there to make a difference in their appearance, but that is risky, because the buttocks contain so many blood vessels, he said. That is reportedly what caused the death last year of former Miss Argentina Solange Magnano, who had died after getting buttock injections of microspheres of PMMA plastic, which apparently blocked an artery in her lungs.

OC Register Blog

I chimed in on this one as you can read. Silicone injections are bad news. You should steer clear of them.

Best Regards,

John Di Saia MD

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With Summer Comes Trauma Call

July 29th, 2010 by admin No comments »

As summer passes by trauma call gets busier. One of the hospitals I use mandates that plastic surgeons take Emergency Call. I need to get around to dropping that hospital.

Trauma call sucks for your surgeon for a number of reasons:

(1) Inconvenience

(2) Poorly and frequently uncompensated work.

What did the trauma gremlins bring me recently?

Surfboard Scalp Burst Injury with Contamination on a Saturday night
Dog Bite Injury of Lip, and Nose
Human Bite Injury removing part of the Lower Lip

I actually like doing trauma cases, but would appreciate the right to determine when and where I take call. Getting paid for these cases regularly at rates I can regulate would also be nice. This is not the nature of trauma call unfortunately.

Best Regards,

John Di Saia MD

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Dr D’s Wipeout Clip Episode #314

July 28th, 2010 by admin No comments »

Dr D is on second 28-37 of this clip getting motivated off the Big Balls covered in mud. Is that a way to treat your plastic surgeon?

Best Regards,

John Di Saia MD

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Reader Laura on Sergeant Used Bribe $$$ for Plastic Surgery

July 28th, 2010 by admin 2 comments »

Reader Laura’s Comment:

An ex-Army staff sergeant from Texas took bribes in Iraq and bought plastic surgery, and other items, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle.

Source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6840024.html

Russell admitted that she used the money to buy, among other things, the SUV , cosmetic surgery and household furnishings

Russell faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

I advise my patients to get their plastic surgery money the honest way. Really. What good does looking good on D block do you?

Best Regards,

John Di Saia MD

Originally posted 2010-02-03 07:30:22.

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Reader Laura on Post-Extreme Weight Loss Plastic Surgery

July 28th, 2010 by admin No comments »

Reader Laura’s Comment:
“This story is about one of the contestants who was on The Biggest Loser. After losing 140 lbs she is looking into getting plastic surgery to remove her excess skin. She mentions that she is going to wear a bikini the next time she goes to the beach. Can someone who lost that much weight still look good after the major surgeries they have to go through to remove the excess skin? Wouldn’t there be a lot of scarring?”


“I worked so hard to lose the weight,” Phillips said. “I never thought I’d be a candidate for plastic surgery but I am so for it. I worked so hard, I want this to be the total package. I’m growing older — I’m going to be 50 this June — and I want to feel and look the best that I ever did. And I do, I feel it, but with this extra skin, it’s like it’s not good enough … with the surgery it will be.”

Phillips plans to have a tummy tuck and work done on her breasts this summer. Thomas had surgery about two months ago to raise and reduce her breasts and remove skin from her stomach and arms. She also had some liposuction to remove fat stored in her hips.

Source: http://www.ourmidland.com/news/article_8eb71a2a-072d-5710-8e64-7d4e417cfc2d.html

Many of my post extreme weight loss plastic surgery patients would say “Yes.” It is true that the operations some of these women choose can make finding the right swimming suit a bit more work than usual. On the other hand, these operations frequently make the choice of a bikini possible whereas it might not have otherwise been.

The woman in the news story will probably be better served by a lower body lift than a straight tummy tuck, but some women compromise at an extended tummy tuck and are quite happy. Below is a link to an example of an after extreme weight loss extended tummy tuck in one of my patients.

Best Regards,

John Di Saia MD

Related:

A Dr D Extreme Weight Loss Patient After Her Extended Tummy Tuck Surgery

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Ashley Holmes of Real Housewives Gets Plastic Surgery

July 27th, 2010 by admin No comments »

Real Housewives of New Jersey star Ashley Holmes got a nose job. She is nineteen. Here is an image from her Facebook. The usual “conversational dodge” for rhinoplasty is that the patient did it for strictly reconstructive purposes or that the cosmetic component was an afterthought. In Hollywood as you might imagine this is most commonly an exaggeration.

Internal nasal surgery designed to improve breathing “sinus and septum work” almost never has external signs, so when there is an external change the surgery to cause it was elective and cosmetic.

Best Regards,

John Di Saia MD

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Reader Question: Weight Gain After Liposuction – Guarantee?

July 26th, 2010 by admin No comments »

Reader Question:

I had tummy liposuction a year or so ago and my doctor removed 2000 cc. I didn’t lose weight but looked good. And now a year later my love handles are growing. I have a muffin top now and I am up 5 pounds. What gives? I thought I wasn’t supposed to gain weight after lipo. Is there some kind of guarantee?

First topic: Liposuction and weight loss.

Most patients don’t lose much weight after liposuction. Liposuction is a contouring procedure.

Second topic: Liposuction will not keep you from gaining weight. It tends to change how you gain weight though.

The best liposuction candidates are those who have their weight in a stable range (a few pounds) and still have problems areas. If you have weight fluctuations before liposuction, the surgery will not prevent you from having them afterward. Liposuction tends to change the way you gain weight (and where) and this varies between patients.

When used on patients with persistently fatty areas and good skin despite a good diet and exercise plan, liposuction usually works well. Determining who might be the best candidates takes experience and honesty.

Third topic: Liposuction guarantees?

Liposuction is presented differently by different practices. I do not know how it was presented to you before you had it. I am honest with my patients.

Personally, I find practices that guarantee results with liposuction amusing. How can anyone guarantee that another person will not gain weight after any procedure? Patients can even gain weight after gastric bypass surgery. Even the best plastic surgeon can’t in good faith guarantee that someone’s metabolism and appetite will not throw a monkey wrench into his surgical results.

I do guarantee that I remove fat if it is there and I can show patients images of that fat. I advise them appropriately before and afterward and do a quality operation. That is really all that a qualified plastic surgeon can guarantee. The rest is up to the patient.

Best Regards,

John Di Saia MD

Related:

Dr D’s “Liposuction Index”

Originally posted 2009-10-15 07:30:12.

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Who Did Your Favorite Celebrities’ Plastic Surgery?

July 26th, 2010 by admin No comments »

Doctors find it a bit more than amusing when they see online searches such as:

Who did Audrina’s Breast Implants?

Who did Pamela Anderson’s Plastic Surgery?

and the like.

The reason is simple: this information is protected by health care privacy laws. If the doctor were to let it get out (without the patient’s permission) he could be prosecuted or sued. Penalties in California for this kind of thing went up in the last few years.

A few months ago I received a letter from HHS (Health and Human Services) about a post I made here. It was regarding information I found on the Internet about a person who had never been my patient. That person contacted HHS saying that I had compromised his privacy. Little did he know that when he went to court, the resultant documents would render his private information public. That was where I found it. HHS closed the case and Dr D was cleared.

The bottom line is that a doctor is expected to hold his patient’s health information private unless the patient gives him permission to make it public.

My point is: Celebrities really don’t do that very often do they?

Best Regards,

John Di Saia MD

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Anti-ageing Gene In Mice?

July 24th, 2010 by admin No comments »

How is it that the UK news is faster than our domestic agencies in reporting US science news? Maybe it is because that news is really really preliminary…..


Anti-ageing Gene Story

We know very little about this gene and it needs to be pursued before we all start jumping up and down about it.

Anti-ageing medicine is a real hot topic with an aircraft carrier full of junk science as far as I am concerned. There are more than a few “snake oil salesman-types” selling anti-ageing pills, creams and whatever to whomever will pay. It would be nice to see a little real proof before the cash registers start a’rolling.

We will wait on this one,

John Di Saia MD

Originally posted 2005-08-27 21:44:00.

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Kaye Cowher dies of Skin Cancer at 54

July 24th, 2010 by admin No comments »

Kaye Cowher, the wife of former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, died Friday after battling skin cancer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. She was 54.

Born Kaye Young in Bunn, N.C., she met Bill Cowher at N.C. State in 1976, where he was a football player and she and her twin sister Faye played women’s basketball. The couple married in 1981.

Kaye Cowher played a key role in her husband’s decision to retire from coaching in 2007 and move full-time to Raleigh, so the family could be together as their daughters completed their high school and college basketball careers.
-from ESPN.com

Skin cancer death are almost always due to melanoma. The family has not released any information, but this is the most likely cause. Wear your sunscreen….

Best Regards,

John Di Saia MD

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