Lap Band Surgery
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No longer are Lap Band patients the kind of guys who get sand kicked in their faces, drive women away and are written off as 98-pound weaklings or girly men.
Some meat-and-potatoes guys, what you might call real manly men in the National Football League (NFL) have discovered the joys and benefits of Lap Band surgery.
In one instance, the husky New York Jets coach Rex Ryan saw Lap Band doctors and decided to go ahead with the outpatient surgery in March, 2010.
His breaking point came when a photographer snapped a picture of his bare belly, thereby exposing his extremely rotund mid-section and 340 pound frame for the entire world to see.
Said Coach Ryan: “Whoa, that’s not a real good shot!” (The coach is pictured, before Lap Band.)
Like many Lap Band patients, Coach Ryan tried a number of weight loss schemes including a liquid diet but then gained it all back. He even considered weight loss surgery. Sound familiar?
The New York Post reported that Ryan was a little over the top with the manly meat-and-potatoes thing because he consumed a whopping 7000 calories daily, much of it contained in his favorite, Mexican food.
After the Lap Band, Coach Ryan lost 40 pounds in about three weeks.
A Lap Band wraps around the top of the stomach and drastically restricts the amount of food patients can eat.
One guy, said to be the only active NFL player with a Lap Band, 6-foot-3, 26 year old Max Jean-Gilles of the Philadelphia Eagles noticed chest pains and shortness of breath at a playing weight of 388 pounds. His Lap Band doctors want to see him at a playing weight of 320 pounds.
Sure, macho football players must be big, but not obese to do their jobs. In fact, a sports story about the Jean-Gilles Lap Band mentions at least eight NFL football players who died of obesity related diseases before turning 50.
Commented a psychiatrist: “Saying ‘I play football’ is no longer an excuse for obesity.”
Jean-Gilles saw a psychiatrist before getting the Lap Band because most insurance firms require counseling and education about the procedure so that the patient will fully understand what he or she is getting into.
Any Lap Band procedure is a lot more than just getting skinny! (Read more about the Lap Band.)
admin @ August 15, 2010
Plastic Surgery Science
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Did you ever think art (as in the many Vampire films and television) would affect real life?
Alas, the Vampire craze has come to the world of plastic surgery in the form a new face lift and skin rejuvenation procedure, billed in some places as (really!) a Vampire Face lift (although it’s actually an injection.)
Not to worry, though, nobody is going to fly in through an open window at midnight, bite any necks or drink any blood.
Perhaps a bit more thought could have gone into name selection, but the new rejuvenation technique got its name because:
- It uses your own blood
- It promises “eternal youth”
- It’s 100 percent natural
Used in Japan for many years, the concept – there, more judiciously named Selphyl — was introduced in March, 2009, at the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASPS). So it’s serious business.
Starting life as a tonic for injured athletes, the Selphyl (okay, Vampire juice, if you wish!) procedure draws your own blood (not with fangs, but a syringe!) and separates out youth-giving platelets. The platelets are then mixed with calcium chloride to produce fibrin, a vital repair substance found naturally in your body.
Once the PRFM (platelet-rich fibrin matrix) is prepared, the cosmetic surgeon injects it to fix certain pesky facial areas including:
- Forehead wrinkles
- The wrinkled area (“the 11s”) between the eyes
- Crow’s feet
- “Drool lines” (deep folds that run from the corners of the mouth to the chin)
- Nasolabial folds (running from the corners of the nose to the corners of the mouth.)
One New York City plastic surgeon (who swears he does not wear a cape) says he repaired a huge divot in a woman’s derriere with Selphyl and made her breasts look perkier and fuller. (Check out the before and after pictures.)
According to the surgeon, the FDA-cleared Selphyl technique de-ages the skin and is equivalent to four syringes of Juvederm which would cost around $2000 and fade in six months. Plus, Selphyl has no side effects but does require a few weeks to take effect.
According to its maker, Selphyl’s effects are not permanent, but “natural and lasting.”
Nonetheless, if we went to a plastic surgeon who advertises a Vampire Face Lift, we would look around to see if the doctor sleeps in a coffin and shuns daylight!
admin @ August 13, 2010
Plastic Surgery Statistics
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By now, you are probably accustomed to the large U.S. plastic surgery societies, American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) releasing the numbers of how many people had which, and how many, cosmetic plastic surgery procedures.
But now, for the first time, the 40-year-old International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) has crunched the numbers for various nations and the top rejuvenation procedures.
Top five nations doing all plastic surgery procedures for 2009 were:
- United States
- China
- Brazil
- India
- Mexico
Plastic surgery is coming on strong is some surprising places in addition to India and Mexico. For instance, South Korea, Turkey, Spain, Taiwan, Greece and Thailand are growing by leaps and bounds every year.
The bottom five nations for cosmetic plastic surgery procedures during 2009 were:
21. Australia
22. Venezuela
23. Saudi Arabia
24. Netherlands (Holland)
25. Portugal
Top five surgical procedures worldwide are:
- Liposuction –18.8 percent
- Breast augmentation -17 percent
- Upper or lower eyelift – 13.5 percent
- Rhinoplasty – 9.4 percent
- Tummy tuck – 7.3 percent
The top five non-surgical procedures across the globe are:
- Botox and Dysport - 32.7 percent of the total
- Hyaluronic acid (Juvederm, Restylane) – 20.1 percent
- Laser hair removal -13.1 percent
- Fat injections with the patient’s own fat – 5.9 percent
- IP laser treatments – 4.4 percent
As in the United States during 2009, the numbers of non-surgical procedures were larger than the invasive cosmetic surgeries. (The United States showed 1.4 million plastic surgery operations while the non-invasive procedures were listed at 8.5 million, according to the ASAPS. The non-invasive figures are so large because 2.5 million Botox shots and 1.3 million Juvederm and Restylane injections are included. )
Worldwide, the ISAPS figures there will be a total of 8.5 million invasive surgeries in 2010, with an additional 8.7 non-surgical procedures done for a global total of 17,295,557 procedures.
Additionally, the ISAPS counts 30,187 board certified plastic surgeons in the world but does not take into account surgical or non-surgical procedures performed by doctors who are not plastic surgeons.
admin @ August 10, 2010
Plastic Surgery Science
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Regular readers of Before and After Plastic Surgery (the California Surgical Institute ((CSI)) blog) Surgery are offered a leg up when it comes to bringing you news and updates about plastic and cosmetic surgery.
Among the timely news items you often read here first was:
- Surgery-free Liposuction Using Cold
Although the fat blasting procedure is not yet cleared by the FDA, some plastic surgeons are using a new technology to remove fatty places on the human frame with cold. It’s technically known as cryolipolysis.
The procedure is actually cleared by the FDA only for cooling the skin for an anesthetic effect. Nonetheless, some cosmetic surgeons are using the technique off label, and have commented on its use in the plastic surgery section of RealSelf.com.
(“Off label” means a drug, implant, procedure, or medical device is not being used for its original intention or the condition for which it was tested. Nonetheless, the practice is legal and allows a physician to use his or her best judgment to employ something that seems to works for him and get results for his patients.)
But back in January of 2009, readers of the CSI blog were privy to the news about cryolipolysis. (Read our original post about the new form of liposuction.)
Just how does cold remove fat from the body?
According to explanations in the professional press, a plastic surgeon presses a cold metal plate to small fatty areas; the process damages the fat cells – but not the patient’s skin. Dead fat cells are then removed from the body by normal body clearance processes so that no incision is needed.
Over time, the fatty area is reduced, leaving the treated area sleeker and more fit looking.
But the $64,000 question is: Will cryolipolysis replace standard liposuction any time soon?
Probably not.
Most cosmetic plastic surgeons already have on hand machines that remove fatty areas and remove them well. It’s known as tumescent liposuction because the surgeon first injects some medications to halt pain and make the fat easier to remove.
The cost of tumescent liposuction is:
- Reasonable
- Widely available
- Easy to perform
- Most patients tolerate it well
- Offers a long safety record.
Like in many items in life, one has to wonder, if something ain’t broke, why fix it?
admin @ August 9, 2010
Plastic Surgery
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Last May, a plastic surgeon was flying across the Atlantic when her Boeing 777 hit an air pocket, literally putting a 50-year-old flight attendant on the ceiling and then slamming her back down. She broke a leg that left protruding bone and serious bleeding.
Newport Beach,California, plastic surgeon Semira Bayati, M.D. swung into action. She reduced the fracture as much as she could, used another passenger’s crutch for a splint and extra seat belts to hold it in place. Dr. Bayati also started an I.V. (Read more about the good Sam plastic surgeon.)
Actually, plastic surgeons doing humanitarian deeds is nothing new.
Currently, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ISAPS), volunteers from America are rotating plastic surgeons in and out of Haiti to perform the huge number of reconstructive plastic surgery that is needed. Most weeks, 21 plastic surgeon volunteers are on hand.
It need not be a massive disaster for plastic surgeons to swing into action. Many donate without fanfare their hard-earned, vast surgical skills to many organizations including:
- Operation Smile – donates cleft lip and palate surgery
- Face to Face – treats U.S. victims of domestic abuse
- Plasticos Foundation – free plastic surgery for third world citizens
- Interplast – free reconstructive plastic surgery in poor nations
Sometimes, medicine doesn’t have anything to do with a cosmetic plastic surgeon jumping into the fray.
Back in 2006, Robert Rey, M.D. (of Dr. 90210 fame) was on an American Airlines flight when he noticed a passenger becoming unruly, shoving a flight attendant and appearing to be heading for the cockpit.
Because Dr. Rey holds a black belt in the Korean martial art Tae Kwon Do, he gladly intercepted the passenger with the help of another man and then reverted into his role as a doctor, checking the unruly passenger’s vital signs to make sure a medical episode was not in progress.
That passenger was far luckier than a bold street tough who crept up behind Dr. Rey and wife Hayley while the couple was vacationing in New Orleans and pinched Hayley on her rear.
Dr. Rey sensed a threat as well as an insult, let his martial arts training go and put the creep on his own posterior after a flurry of hand and foot strikes.
According to the Reys, the man looked up from the sidewalk, saying “Enough! Enough! I’m sorry!”
admin @ August 6, 2010
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No longer are Lap Band patients the kind of guys who get sand kicked in their faces, drive women away and are written off as 98-pound weaklings or girly men.
