Posts Tagged plastic surgery complications
Links & Comments
Posted by admin in The Link Bin on July 21, 2010
Moth Ball Nippies at Dlisted – What the hell are “Moth Ball Nippies?” – http://dlisted.com/node/30751
Usher’s Now Ex-Wife (Tameka Foster) at NY Daily News – Usher’s wife spent some time in the hospital. There is nothing standard about this case and I have more in another post. – http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/02/17/2009-02-17_ushers_wife_tameka_foster_raymond_still_.html
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Originally posted 2009-02-23 08:30:00.
MTV True Life Episode and Dr D’s Reaction
Posted by admin in Dr D reactions on May 27, 2010
This episode of MTV’s True Life features two women who are not pleased with the results of their plastic surgery and are looking at options. OK.
One has had silicone gel breast implants and afterward developed weakness and other unusual problems. Having the implants removed is pretty standard. As I have mentioned before these problems have not been connected with saline-filled implants and are even rare with silicone gel as well. Unfortunate is the fact that removal of the implants does not always result in improvement in the symptoms. Add this as another reason I stick with saline implants most of the time folks.
This woman seeks out other doctors in evaluating her options and sees a doctor who recommends replacement with body fat. This is a formerly frowned upon procedure that has actually obtained some traction in the plastic surgery community is the last few years although it is very expensive and variably effective. When the doctor on the show describes it as “just as safe as having a mole removed,” I wanted to reach through the screen and shake him violently by his scrawny little neck. Surgery is surgery knucklehead. Did he tell her she will be having several operations at a significant cost? I didn’t see that part.
The other lady is unhappy with her nose job and is seeking secondary rhinoplasty. Blaming her nose for her failure to succeed as a model is a warning sign that she may not be so happy with nose job #2 either, but that is a different story.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Reader Laura on Sono Bello Salon Complications
Posted by admin in plastic surgery complications, plastic surgery news on January 7, 2010
Reader Laura’s Comment:
Patient (Dr. Teresa Yagi ) was burned during a cosmetic laser treatment. She thought it would be no big deal and admits that she didn’t do her homework on this. She wound up with burns on her face and her hands. Another patient had lipo and experienced a side-effects of the lipo – a blood clot. When she went in for a consult she was told that it would be a simple procedure and that the way that they do the procedure there would be less risk than done the normal way.
The web site for Sono Bello and the promotional materials, said “We have ruled out the major risks and complications that existed with traditional liposuction by introducing the use of micro instruments and laser assistance! Many patients feel so good they resume normal activities the next day.”
Source:www.king5.com/news/investigators/liposuctionpart2-70325442.html
Sono Bello is a company breaking into the cosmetic market. They mainly do liposuction is in that way they resemble other such companies. They also advertise a fair amount. Take into account that the quality of individual surgeons and their practice philosophies vary quite a bit too.
Most of the promotional information of any commercial company is exactly that. Just check out your surgeon when you go for cosmetic surgery anywhere. Surgery comes with risk. Understand that and try to minimize it.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Botched Tummy Tuck? – How to Avoid One.
Posted by admin in tummy tuck pre-op tutorial on November 18, 2009
People contact me occasionally to ask whether they might be the victims of a “bad tummy tuck.” Here is a pre-op and a several week post-op image. I very much doubt that a real plastic surgeon did this:
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- Before Surgery
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- 3 Weeks Later
When you go to a doctor for a consultation and he comes back with a quotation that is half of the others you are getting, consider that you may be in the presence of a novice. If a non-plastic surgeon says he will fix your hernia only, you aren’t having a tummy tuck, so don’t expect it to look like one.
If you have the wrong surgery or only part of the right surgery, the result might not be entirely fixable later. This lady probably needs an extended tummy tuck and with that maybe she can get to look somewhat normal again. In her first operation, the tissue planes were likely not separated adequately to allow redistribution the skin after repairing the problem on the muscular layer. This looks like much less than a tummy tuck to me.
Preventing Bad Plastic Surgery:
** Know what you are seeking – a qualified and skilled plastic surgeon – when a non-plastic surgeon does the job don’t expect it to look like a good plastic surgeon’s result.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Reader Question: Deformity With Breast Implant Removal Alone?
Posted by admin in breast implant pre-op tutorial on November 6, 2009
Reader Question:
I’ve had saline breast implants (pre-filled) since 1998 at the age of 23. I didn’t do my research and went with a “plastic” surgeon that a family member went to and was happy with.
It turns out that his medical license has been revoked and you actually blogged about him a while back. I have a smaller frame 5’2″ and weigh 115lbs. I went from a 32B (smaller side) to a full 34C possibly 34D. I’ve had capsular contracture and symmastia. Implants are over the muscle. Anyway, I’d like to get my implants removed completely and not replaced.
Will I have deformity since I’ve had them for 11 years over the muscle plus the symastia? What is the recovery time? And what type of work is required? I have not had children but plan to in the next two years. What is the likely hood that I can breast feed?
I am sorry to hear of your complications, but even on a basic level breast implant removal without replacement is not a cosmetic operation. It can amount to damage control. How you might look afterward will vary based upon how stiff your tissues are with scar tissue in some areas and how much stretching and distortion has occurred in others. It will also vary with the skill of your surgeon, but you knew that.
At the minimum you will likely need a scar capsule removal operation (capsulectomy) and removal of the implants. To minimize the symmastia (also called uniboob,) you might need part of the capsule left in place to allow a suture repair. Sometimes the addition of a breast lift can help with excess stretched tissue. Not all patients end up looking poorly, but the possibility of contour irregularities is there. Recovery time will relate to how much surgery you have and what kind of activity you are looking to resume. On average I would say a month or so.
On the possibility of breast feeding, this would depend upon how much surgery you have had and will have before you try and the resultant damage to the breasts.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Related:
Reader Laura on Butt Augmentation News Story
Posted by admin in Injection Hell on November 4, 2009
Reader Laura’s Comment:
Mexican rock star Alejandra Guzman had to be operated on in Mexico after a botched plastic surgery operation on her buttocks. The doctors are trying to remove material that had been injected by someone who may not even be a real doctor. It sounds a bit like she had silicon or some other material injected into her buttocks. There seems to be some worry that she will be paralyzed as well. What would be the safer/more appropriate surgery for someone wanting to enhance that part of their body? Is it ever safe to inject something into the muscle?
The buttocks does not do well predictably with augmentation. This is one of the reasons many docs choose not to do it. Fillers of all kinds have been tried there. Silicone can really make a mess. It can become infected and basically ruin the rear. I saw such a case as a resident. There are no great reconstructive options in that case. It is all damage control. Be careful when considering butt augmentation. The risk is higher. Fortunately buttock lifts seem to do OK.
BTW – This may not count as “botched plastic surgery” as it appears to be an injection in the hands of a novice. This is a buyer beware story! Be careful with your butt or you may not have one at the end….pun maybe intended. 
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Frankencrotch: Why Limit Female Genital Surgery to Labiaplasty? – Picture Alert
Posted by admin in labiaplasty, Picture Warning on October 30, 2009
This woman e-mailed to call our attention to a nightmare “designer vaginal rejuvenation” she had. She herself called her privates a “frankencrotch” before she was repaired:
It has been about 2 years since I had my surgery with Dr. “X.” What cost 8,000 to have done as part of his “seminar”. It has cost 10,000 to fix. It was devastating. Dr. “X” wouldn’t return calls and his office would be nice one minute and rude the next. I lived out of state and they would change appointments after I arrived to LA and had my hotel. He would run so late that I actually missed a flight home. This experience has drained me physically and mentally. I was scarred and disgusting looking. My vagina was perfectly normal looking (before surgery.) I wanted a prettier private area. Not a scarier one.
I went to another doctor to fix what had been done to me. I don’t know how he made it look normal. It took 3 surgeries to make it right. This was the most expensive mistake I have ever made.
With the woman’s permission I have reproduced the cogent parts of her story from her site (which she says she will take down in one week.) Her point is that people shouldn’t have the vaginal rejuvenation operation. I have been cautioning limitations in the surgery “down there” for years. When the operation is limited to the “lips” and the technique is right, the problems are few.
On the next page I will post some images from the woman’s site. They are graphic and you are warned. This is not a Dr D case, but is presented to inform the potential labiaplasty patient.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Reader Laura’s Comment: Surgical Tourism Story
Posted by admin in surgical tourism on September 23, 2009
Reader Laura’s Comment:
“Single mother traveled to Panama for operation to turn brown eyes blue… and was almost blinded”
Just the title of this story sounds scary to me. I’m not sure why she would risk her eyesight in this manner. I’m also not sure why the doctors went ahead with the surgery when her doctors back home told her not to have the surgery.
When a federal agency refuses to approve a procedure in the US (or in the UK in this case,) sometimes there is a very good reason. Going to unregulated countries removes this protection and exposes patients to risk. Third world countries really have little regulation of medical procedures.
People tend to think when a board certified plastic surgeon “talks down” something, the only reason is money. It isn’t.
The Bottom Line:
Research very carefully before you go to a third world country particularly to have large scale surgery, surgery not approved in your native country or surgery requiring precision and training. The reason is apparent from this case. This woman nearly lost her sight.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Reader Laura on a UK Plastic Surgery Complications Story
Posted by admin in Injection Hell, plastic surgery news on September 2, 2009
Reader Question:
“A survey this year by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons showed that two in five of their members had had to correct complications caused by the injection of permanent fillers by high street clinics in the past year, and one in five had had to correct complications with body contouring.”
Another patient beware story. I find it a bit worrisome that the number of Doctors in England that have had to fix problems with previously performed cosmetic surgery is so high. Are these numbers high to you? Do you think the numbers are higher or lower here in the US?
The use of fillers is also on the rise here and many are injected by non plastic surgeons. I do not see this many poor outcomes for revisions, but see some on occasion. Maybe my local region has fewer permanent filler problems. I hear of them mostly in Florida by the way of occasional news stories.
There are many non plastic surgeons doing liposuction these days. The economy of traditional medicine is partly to blame. “Turkey Tummy” is a good nickname for the result when patients who would have been better served by a tummy tuck have liposuction.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Related:
DIY Silicone Injection Plastic Surgery Nightmare
Posted by admin in Injection Hell, plastic surgery train wrecks on August 13, 2009
In search of an inexpensive, do-it yourself version of a silicone injection she had gotten from a doctor to smooth a scar, the Midwestern mother injected her lips and face with silicone she purchased over the Internet.
Hmmm. We have chatted about silicone injections before. They can kill you. Silicone injections are not good or safe plastic surgery. I’d bet the previous injections that were done by a plastic surgeon to which she refers were collagen or Restylane. No good plastic surgeons of which I know work with silicone injections.
“By the following day it was just completely inflamed my whole face and the area that you can see in the cheek was very raised and very infected,” she said. “It expands, it’s like rubber and your own collagen is forming scar tissue around it…it just looked like horrible blisters.”
When you “do it yourself,” you actually can make bad into worse as the areas likely became infected.
Unfortunately, instead of saving thousands, Mary has ended up with massive medical bills and had to turn to a California plastic surgeon when no doctor in her area could help remove the infected silicone.
Another example in which what was done cheaply became really expensive. Just be careful.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
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