September 3rd, 2010 by admin
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Actress Sofia Vergara has launched an extraordinary broadside against celebs who go under the cosmetic knife. The hot-blooded 38-year-old Modern Family star slammed the trend of women having fillers and surgery to look younger. ‘L.A. is crazy. The women all look the same now,’ she told Esquire magazine. ‘That thing with the cheeks. Like Madonna. Who do they think they’re fooling? It doesn’t make them look young. You end up looking like a freak.’
Source: dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1302268/Sofia-Vergara-thinks-Madonna-looks-like-freak.html
Sofia Vergara is interesting in this piece. On one hand, she talks about doing something to her eyes which is a reasonable consideration at her age (a young 38.) Then she bags women in LA for having surgery and fillers to look younger.
Was she thinking of eye surgery to look older?
My point is and has been that it is the extent to which surgery is done (or the amount of fillers) that can lead to a freaky look. Was that what she was trying to say? Or maybe she thinks eyelid surgery is not surgery.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
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September 3rd, 2010 by admin
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Reader Laura’s Comment:
“Photos have been released of the woman who suffered an acid attack in Vancouver. Looking at the pictures what is your opinion on her prognosis?”
VANCOUVER, Wash. – A bizarre attack sent a Vancouver woman to the hospital on Monday and police said they believe her attacker threw some kind of acid in her face. Bethany Storro had no idea who the woman was who attacked her and no idea why someone picked her for an attack. On Wednesday, three photos of Storro were released before surgery after an overnight stint in the hospital. Doctors at Legacy Emmanuel Medical Center thought Storro might be in surgery for an hour or two Wednesday when they’ll be doing both some exploratory work and some repair work.
Source: vancouver.katu.com/content/photos-released-vancouver-woman-after-suffering-acid-attack
I wonder what kind of acid this was? The depth of the injury will depend upon its strength and the time it was in contact with her skin. Deeper burns heal more poorly and/or need surgery and result in poorer scarring.
It looks like her nose may have the deepest burns by the looks of the image although I am only guessing seeing as I can’t examine her. It looks like it could have been much worse though.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
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September 2nd, 2010 by admin
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Laura Pillarella knows that very well. The 40-year-old author, personal trainer, massage therapist and yoga instructor underwent 15 plastic surgeries on her face at a cost of more than $60,000.
She had her first procedure — the removal of the bags under her eyes — when she was just 25. “To me, that was such a clichéd marker of age,” Pillarella said. After that surgery, she continued with reconstruction for about the next 15 years, having around one procedure done a year. She blames her obsession with her looks on an unhappy, neglected childhood, and her belief that the only way to feel loved and get attention was to be beautiful.
Source: abcnews.go.com/Health/plastic-surgery-remorse-rise/story?id=11525925
Buyer’s remorse in plastic surgery is practice specific. I see very little of it in my practice, but then I do not run an assembly line and screen my patients personally. Larger practices that “never say no” see more of it although they may not readily admit it.
In plastic surgery training, we are trained to assess a client’s motivation for cosmetic work and there are potential warning signs of trouble ahead. Patients with unrealistic expectations or those desiring radical changes are much more likely to have issues with their surgical results. Unfortunately surgeons are paid to operate and saying “No” costs me money. Many other surgeons are not going to make that sacrifice and in Southern California there are plenty out there.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
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September 2nd, 2010 by admin
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It turns out the Brazilian doctor who performed this liposuction case in a condo in Boston had a booming business in the local Brazilian community.
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Fabiola DePaula’s quest for beauty took her to a condominium basement, where authorities say she paid an unlicensed doctor $3,300 for a nose job and liposuction performed on a massage table. But something went terribly wrong and the 24-year-old nanny died, exposing what investigators say was an underground cosmetic-surgery network used by immigrants from Brazil — a country whose women are world-famous for their beauty and their willingness to go under the knife to achieve it.
Source: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14719452
To state the obvious, liposuction is not recommended as a home based activity.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Originally posted 2006-09-08 08:57:00.
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September 2nd, 2010 by admin
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FYI – This is the one we decided to make.
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John Di Saia MD
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September 1st, 2010 by admin
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The wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been charged with driving under the influence of drugs in New York’s Hudson Valley, police said. State police said Kennedy initially was pulled over Saturday for speeding on the Taconic State Parkway in Dutchess County. Kennedy told police she was headed to a yoga class, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported. The paper said that she allegedly had been driving 82 mph. WNBC reported that officers suspected that Kennedy was under the influence of prescription medication.
Source: msnbc.msn.com/id/38827866/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/?GT1=43001
I commonly tell my surgical patients not to drive while taking Vicodin, a common post-operative pain medication. I have not yet had one of my patients charged with DUI, but the idea is to prevent it from happening if possible. If the police pull you over, you don’t want to be taking prescription pain medications although we don’t know what Ms Kennedy’s urine tox screen showed.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
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August 31st, 2010 by admin
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An excellent article on Capmag.com comes to the wrong conclusion but summarizes many of the points of argument very well.
My response:
I disagree with the conclusion that government-based healthcare is the best answer.
A few alternatives:
(1) Limit liability costs via tort reform.
(2) Unmask insurance company profits (executive salaries) to let consumers know they have been had. I love the recurring case of insurers saying they are broke and awarding executives with million in bonus cash at the same time.
(3) Burn the Medicare code. It should not be a game trying to get paid for work that has already been performed. Consider paying physicians in tax breaks for this care and the care of the disabled and indigent. Decrease administrative overhead.
(4) Then go back to a first party system with Medical Savings Accounts and insurance coverage in the way of high deductible policies for the remainder.
I have seen the Veteran’s healthcare system…this is your government running healthcare. It is costly and inefficient. I would not think it would work on a larger scale. The costs would be enormous.
- John Di Saia MD
Originally posted 2005-09-09 20:41:00.
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August 31st, 2010 by admin
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The drug was initially approved after a study found that, by preventing blood flow to tumors, it extended the amount of time until the disease worsened by more than five months. However, two new studies have shown that the drug may not even extend life by an extra month.
The FDA advisory panel has now voted 12-1 to drop the endorsement for breast cancer treatment. The panel unusually cited “effectiveness” grounds for the decision. But it has been claimed that “cost effectiveness” was the real reason ahead of reforms in which the government will extend health insurance to the poorest.
Source: telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7948878/US-breast-cancer-drug-decision-marks-start-of-death-panels.html
I am amongst the first to rail when healthcare finances turn socialist, but this might just be a drug with questionable effectiveness. If the feds just decreased what they allowed the drug company to make from the sale of the drug (like they do with Medicare payments for doctors and hospitals,) then this would all likely sort out. $8000 a month for one drug is steep particularly if there is a question as to whether or not it works.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
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August 30th, 2010 by admin
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Reader Question:
All I see online is bad Botox stories. Can this ever be done well? Why is it so popular?
Botulinum toxin injections temporarily paralyze muscles where they injected. While this sounds scary, it can be done to reduce certain facial movements that make people look concerned (the look of consternation,) and older (crow’s feet,etc). As is usually the case in plastic surgery, too much of an otherwise good thing can make people look weird. Just look at a few celebrities who look like they might have had too much like Teri Hatcher maybe?
As the market movement with Botulinum injections has been toward less and less experienced injectors and decreasing price points, the landscape has changed. People are paying for it based upon the quantity injected now more and more, so some injectors are injecting more and more into areas other than the standard Glabella (the spot to reduce the look of consternation). This leads to stone faced outcomes or zombie faces and these of course are prominently featured in the news outlets.
To answer your question, you need to define your goal. If that goal is to look natural, reduce the amount you have injected and target fewer areas. In most patients I like to inject the Glabella plus or minus the Crow’s feet. Also seek an experienced injector (like maybe a real Plastic Surgeon?) or at least try to avoid the “Dr Cheapies” who can’t be doing it right.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Related:
Dr D’s Philosophy on Botulinum Toxin Injections
Originally posted 2009-10-26 07:30:54.
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August 30th, 2010 by admin
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An opposition candidate in next month’s Venezuelan legislative elections is holding a breast implant raffle to fund his campaign, he said in a newspaper interview published Friday. “The raffle is a legal method. We decided on breast implants because we wanted to target a specific public sector,” Gustavo Rojas told El Universal. “Raffle tickets on sale now: win a breast implant operation for yourself or your partner,” Rojas announces on his website. The interview does not mention either the cost of a breast implant operation or how much money Rojas expects to get with the raffle.
Source: breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.8b7b261705cf4887ddfab3a680ad8596.961&show_article=1
A Venezuelan politician gives away breast implants as a fundraiser. I wonder if it comes with a lift if the winner could use one? The American Board of Plastic Surgery forbids its members from giving away surgery in a promotion. Obviously this doesn’t stand for politicians in other countries.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
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