You would have to wonder….just how long is it going to take until the perfect little girl figures out that mom seemed a lot happier once she had her surgery to become beautiful? And how long will it be before the little one wants a surgery of her very own. Plastic surgery job insurance or just a self-esteem crushing bed-time story?

~Kacey

Taking a Kid’s-Eye View Of Cosmetic Surgery
Plastic Surgeon Turns Author to Explain ‘Mommy Makeovers’

By Sandra G. Boodman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 22, 2008; HE05

The hardcover book by board-certified plastic surgeon Michael A.
Salzhauer, published by Big Tent Books and available for purchase
online, seeks to answer the insistent questions posed by some young
children: Why is Mommy’s nose smaller? Where did her tummy go? And
what’s with all those bandages?

“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” said Diana Zuckerman,
president of the nonprofit National Research Center for Women and
Families, after reading “My Beautiful Mommy.”

“This is disturbing on so many levels,” she added. “For one thing, it
perpetuates a completely unrealistic ideal” of female beauty: the
large-breasted, wasp-waisted, midriff-baring Barbie-doll look.
Zuckerman, who says she is not opposed to all plastic surgery, notes
that the book’s portrayal of postoperative recovery seems remarkably
short: The mother is up and around soon after her tummy tuck, which in
real life can require a much longer recuperation.

“And I’m sure there’s a good reason the mother had to wear skin-tight
pants and a crop top,” Zuckerman added, “but I don’t know what it is.”

Salzhauer does. “Mothers, at least those in South Florida, do look and
dress like that,” said the 36-year-old physician who hosts a Sunday
morning radio call-in show called “Nip Talk Radio.”

“Being a doctor, I can’t deal with the political or philosophical
arguments” surrounding cosmetic surgery, Salzhauer said. “I have to
deal with reality.” The book, he said, gives parents “a vehicle to
explain the plastic surgery process to their kids” who may be too
young to understand why a parent is choosing to undergo an
appearance-altering operation.

The bulk of his practice, Salzhauer said, consists of women between 20
and 40 undergoing what he calls “mommy makeovers”: breast implants,
breast lifts and tummy tucks.

Salzhauer said his interest in children’s reactions to cosmetic
surgery was sparked by questions his daughter, who was then 4, asked
when he underwent a nose job several years ago. As the father of four
young children, Salzhauer said, “I read a lot of children’s books” and
realized there was no book for 4- to 7-year-olds that could explain
why a parent who wasn’t sick was having an operation.

Many of his patients, he added, bring their children to plastic
surgery consultations and even postoperative appointments.

Zuckerman questioned why the mother in the book has just a small
bandage on her perky new nose, not the black eyes that typically
follow rhinoplasty, and why she’s up and around a few days after her
tummy tuck, not lying in bed in a haze of pain waiting for her next
Percocet.

Then there’s the appearance of plastic surgeon “Dr. Michael,” who
looks like Superman. “It wasn’t my idea,” said Salzhauer, who said it
was the illustrator’s concept. “Of course, that’s how I see myself
when I look in the mirror.”

Ten percent of the proceeds from the book, he said, will be earmarked
for children’s plastic surgery charities. A Spanish-language version
is also available; Salzhauer hopes it will appeal to patients in Latin
America, where cosmetic medicine is also popular.

As all of us women know all too well, fashions come and go, in and out of style, from season to season, generation to generation. And, I’m not just talking clothing here ladies; I’m talking about hair styles, make-up, colors, accessories, and too many other things to mention here. I’ve noticed through my 30 years of life that some fashions come and go quickly.  Like the “poncho sweater” that was in style a few seasons back, while I thought the poncho sweater was cute, I really did not foresee this particular look as being a style that would “stick” more then one season, so I opted out of buying one. At times, this “fly by night” style can be disappointing and quite disheartening for those that decide to “buy into the style,” only to be able to wear it once or twice before it quickly becomes a style of the past. However, to my surprise, certain styles seem to come into focus and actually stay for more then one season. Like the “Capri pant” that came into style in the late 1990’s. At first, I was very skeptical of this “look” and actually waited a season before purchasing a pair. After one season of sporting my new “Capri” look, I had an instant admiration for my Capri pants. I have been very pleased over the last 10 years that Capri pants have stayed somewhat in style. However, as we all know, all good things must come to an end. Capri pants will eventually go out of style as every great fashion inevitably does.

On this note, I wonder if it is inevitable that our beloved breast implants that came into style in the 1980’s will eventually go out of style as well? Recently, Katie Andre (English Glamour Model) was quoted as saying “I’ve been there with big boobs. They are out of fashion. Pete loves my nose, because he had his done years ago.” Katie recently had her implants reduced in size. Tori Spelling was also recently quoted as saying “If I knew the styles were going to be the way they are now, I wouldn’t have gotten my boobs done in the ’90s. The clothes now wear so much better when you’re smaller. In the ’90s it was all about big boobs in halter tops.”These quotes from these two “Hollywood ladies” started me thinking……so, if the clothes and fashions nowadays wear better when you have smaller breasts, and glamour models and “Hollywood women” are being quoted saying that big boobs are out of style, does this mean that the “big fake boob generation” is finally coming to a close? This led me to do additional research on this subject…what are people REALLY saying? One man was recently quoted in menstyle.com as saying “The reality is that the breast augmentation trend is past its prime. Porn ushered in the big tittied age, and it’s ushering it back out with a lot of small breasted girls nowadays.” Hmmmm, I thought, very interesting. I figured this particular gentleman must be talking about the “Keira Knightley’s, Eva Longoria’s and Kate Hudson’s” of the world. While all three of these women have extremely successful movie and TV careers right now, all three of them are A cups or under. Another man was quoted on the same website as saying “And honestly, once the 40 year old soccer moms start sporting the double D’s under their jcpenny sweatsuits, that’s the sign of the death of a trend. Once a trend is reaching the 40 year old moms, that means a new trend will have to replace it ASAP.” I found another quote in The OC Register from a gentlemen commenting on Tamra Barnie from the Bravo television show “Real Housewives of Orange County,” who in one episode downsized the implants she’s had for years. The gentleman was quoted as saying “By the same token we are seeing many women who get larger implants in their late 30’s and 40’s. I’m sure there is a significant psychosocial component to this, as the women seeking larger implants are trying to recapture some aspect of their youth — more attention when their looks are changing, perhaps divorced and now on the market again, trying to rekindle relationships, etc.” So what does all this mean? It means that as the women in their 40’s and 50’s are upsizing their implants or getting implants placed for the first time in an effort to recapture their youth, they actually might be doing quite the opposite. As these women in their 40’s and 50’s are just now getting their implants, the younger generations in their 20’s and 30’s are starting to downsize their implants, take them out completely, or just plain say “enough with the big fake boobs, I look better, feel better and I am proud of my natural breast size.”We can only hope that one day soon we’ll be saying “bye bye big fake breast implants, you are a fashion of the past!”

The old Army slogan “Be all that you can Be” quickly took on a new meaning for me upon discovering that individuals in all four branches of the military as well as their dependents may be eligible for free plastic surgery. Naturally I assumed that this was some kind of urban legend, but in fact it is true that soldiers and their families can go under the knife for face-lifts, nose jobs, breast enlargements, liposuction, or any other kind of elective cosmetic alteration. However, don’t get too excited, there is one catch; if you want to get a breast augmentation then you do have to supply your own implants.

I first learned of this little military perk a few years ago and couldn’t help thinking that it was completely absurd. I am, and always have been, a strong supporter of the military and the benefits that they receive, but come on; how can tightening up one’s face really improve their job performance? Not only that, but what kind of message is this sending to the families of soldiers; thank you for all your devotion, now here is a free pair of boobs on us, it’s just our little way of saying thank you. It goes without saying that it is U.S. taxpayer dollars that are paying for these surgeries.

Despite my initial reactions to this perk of free plastic surgery my opinion quickly changed when this perk suddenly applied to me. I have recently become engaged to a US Marine, which means that I soon will also qualify for this military perk. I’ll admit that the option of obtaining a free surgery has put into question my usual just say no to plastic surgery beliefs. Like so many other women I have questioned certain aspects of my physical appearance; my thighs are too big, my butt could be perkier, and my nose is oddly shaped, and it just so happens that next August when I get married I could qualify to get one of these imperfections fixed for free. Like I said my curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to do some more research into the military policy and see if I would actually qualify to receive free plastic surgery.

Here is the deal, military personnel are eligible for one free plastic surgery and dependents are eligible to receive a one-time-only free surgery as well. However, actually getting any kind of cosmetic surgery done is a little more challenging than it may seem at first blush. The military’s reasoning behind this cosmetic incentive is that it allows surgeons to practice and hone their surgery skills. These surgeries are used as teaching methods, so that these surgeons are able to properly perform reconstructive surgery on military men and woman who are injured. Therefore, women who do decide to have these procedures done need to keep in mind that the surgery could potentially be performed by a new and inexperienced doctor. In addition, the waiting lists for these types of procedures are insanely long; it turns out that I am not the only one who was intrigued upon learning about this perk. In fact the lists are so long that the odds of actually having one of these surgeries ever be performed are slim to none.

Still, I have had to wrestle with the notion of whether or not to actually put my name on the waiting list. As a young feminist I have typically looked at the notion of plastic surgery through a black and white lens. I strongly believed that women should never go under the knife simply to enhance their physical appearance. I thought it was my job as a feminist to portray the image of a strong woman who was proud of her body at all times and would never be swayed by the enticing appeals of surgeons who could quickly lift this or fix that. However, in this day and age of seeing size zero models everywhere you turn, I think the notion of the woman who has never questioned her appearance in some shape or form is long dead. As a feminist it is not my duty to pretend like I have never questioned my body at one time or another. The fact is that I am a young woman susceptible to the powerful influences of an unhealthy culture , so of course I have had to fight those pesky voices in my head that say I need lose a few pounds or tighten up my thighs or flatten my nose.

In the end I made the decision not to put my name on the waiting list for plastic surgery, partly as a reflection of the feminist ideals that I hold, but also partly because of the comments that I have recently read from other women who have also learned of this military perk. Upon my Google search for more information I discovered hundreds of message boards devoted to the topic of military plastic surgery. These boards contained comment after comment left by women who wanted to know how they could get these surgeries. I wasn’t so much concerned with the fact that they were curious if they could qualify, admittedly, for a moment it is a very enticing offer. Instead, it was the descriptions of their situations that worried me. One woman asked what she needed to do to qualify because her husband is currently in Iraq and she wants to look “banging” for his return home. Another said that her husband is in the military and is going to Korea and he would like her to get some free surgery. The common thread with these comments is that these women were not getting surgery because it would enhance their self esteem or because it was for them, instead they were getting it because their husbands wanted them to.

Seeing these comments was the wake up call that I needed to finally realize that I don’t need plastic surgery. I am perfectly fine with the way that my thighs look, sure in comparison to Heidi Klum they may look huge, but in the real world I am a healthy normal size 10 and I am happy with that. As long as I feel good about myself then I do not need to please anyone else by doing something as drastic as going under the knife

In addition, I have realized that hot topics like plastic surgery are not always as black and white as I once thought. It is ok to consider plastic surgery, but the key is that you need to do it for the right reasons. It is disturbing to think that so many women are out there contemplating these surgeries because of what other people think. As women and feminists it is our duty to do our best to focus on our other wonderful attributes that make us who we are and realize that it is not our physical appearance that defines us.

Creators of Joe Camel and other very childish ads for very dangerous products would love the ad campaign for new weight loss drug, the Pink Patch. Surfing the web the past couple of months, I keep coming across the disturbing series of banner-ads at the tops of my favorite websites. You’ve probably seen ads for the Pink Patch, too, and perhaps your curiosity was also tickled by the bright pink, sparkly banner saying “Lose those pesky 5 pounds!” Normally I have no problem ignoring the continuous onslaught of weight-loss ads that I encounter online. These particularly caught my attention however, because they are unabashedly targeted towards young women and seem to be on every single website I visit.

Upon clicking on the ad (yes, my curiosity won me over), I was directed to the Pink Patch website. Wading through the hot pink text and smiling underweight models, I searched for concrete information on what active ingredients the patch actually contains and how it may work. Instead, I was encountered with countless and insulting implications about my personal body image and the importance of being “skinny”. I was promised “the hottest body and the dream life!” Not only was I insulted by their direct association between thinness and happiness, but the absurd promise of a “dream life” in large, hot pink italics was sickeningly similar to a Barbie advertisement. This only emphasizes the ads appeal to the youngest generation of eating disorder victims. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, eating disorders frequently appear during adolescence or young adulthood, but reports indicate that they can develop during childhood as well. Scrolling down, the site then asks me if my body makes me feel depressed. No, Pink Patch, it’s the proliferation of drug-pushers like you, feeding off of young women’s insecurities that makes me depressed!

The patch supposedly works by releasing the “natural herbal” ingredients into your blood system at a constant rate, which will somehow decrease your appetite. The ingredients listed on the site are Fucus Vesiculosus, Extrac, 5-HTP, Guarana, Zinc Pyruvate, Yerba Mate, Flaxseed Oil, Lecithin, L-Carnitine. I have never heard of any of these substances being effectively released into the blood stream through the skin, nor having significant weight-loss capabilities. The safety and efficacy of this product have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug administration. I have so far been unable to find any studies from reliable sources that discuss the safety or efficacy of this product. According to WebMD, 5-HTP has not been proven to effectively promote weight loss and is under constant scrutiny for safety. In larger doses, 5-HTP may have a negative effect on the liver. Yerba Mate has not been proven to promote weight loss. Some case reports of poisoning (leading to hospitalization) with this agent have been reported and excessive use may be linked to cancer of the esophagus. Guarana speeds up the brain’s activity and is used to promote weight loss due to its stimulant and diuretic effect. However, some of the extracts of guarana have been known to cause prolonged bleeding and interact with blood thinner medication. Side effects from guarana may include nausea, dizziness and anxiousness. The Mayo Clinic warns us that “dietary supplements and weight-loss aids aren’t subject to the same rigorous standards as are prescription drugs or medications sold over-the-counter. Thus, they can be marketed with limited proof of effectiveness or safety. Vendors can make health claims about products based on their own review and interpretation of studies without the authorization of the FDA.”

The Pink Patch site repeatedly urges you to try a free one week supply. Young women stumbling upon this site might think that there is no harm in ordering the free trial, but this is wrong for so many reasons. Most basically, people should be wary of any site that asks for their credit card information when ordering free trials. Posts from young women on various chat sites (Yahoo! Answers, handbag.com, etc.) have shown that people often have trouble getting thepinkpatch.com to stop billing them after the initial shipping and handling fee. Financial concerns aside, ordering the Pink Patch may only deepen a young woman’s frustration, desperation, and body image issues when it ultimately fails to help her lose weight. In the unlikely case that it does work to help her lose weight, we still don’t know enough about the safety of the product or the long-term side effects. The best-case scenario is that the product is effective and safe, but this still leads to disillusionment for the girl that realizes being skinny hasn’t made her any happier because she still never learned to love herself from the inside.

Girls considering the Pink Patch need to immediately assess their own self esteem and bodily health. If you are actually overweight and would like to lose weight in order to be healthier, there are infinite ways to enjoy exercise and nutritional foods to reach your goal. If you are already within a normal weight range and are considering the Pink Patch to get “skinny,” you need to realize that skinny girls aren’t automatically happy girls. You would be much better off learning to love your body and take care of it in a healthy way!

For young women looking for tips on healthy weight management, I recommend Weight-control Information Network site for teenagers, which can be found at http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/take_charge.htm. The site also includes a list of other useful resources that you may want to read if you would like to lose weight.

For more information on healthy body image, check out these ten steps to a positive body image from the National Eating Disorder Association: http://www.stuaff.niu.edu/csdc/10STEPBI.pdf

BlogHer, RealityCheck: Women in Blogging Virginia DeBolt writes about women bloggers and their rising presence and willingness to speak out. That means us!

Jezebel, Fat & Smart? Or Skinny & Stupid? & Botox on the Brain Seems like most people want to be chubby and smart. What about you? Also, we hope Virginia Madsen is thick-skinned (hah) enough to be Botox’s spokeswoman, since apparently it has, uh, some side effects.

Women’s E-News, Bill Puts Brakes on ‘Drive-Through’ Masctectomies Something to keep an eye on: activists are rallying for health insurance companies to pay for women’s post-mastectomy care, instead of just sending them home. It’s called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act and R. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. and Marcia Cross (you know, Bree on Desperate Housewives) are advocates.

NBC News, Plastic Surgery Congrats Cards Some of these are sickening and some seem like backhanded compliments. What’s next? Implant rupture I’m Sorry cards? “Hope this doesn’t burst your bubble!” Give us a break.

On the last day of Women’s History Month, my pride and pleasure in this celebration was diminished by the appearance of an article in Newsweek Magazine by two women journalists at the top of their profession, journalists who until now have always done wonderful work on women’s health issues.

Barbara Kantrowitz and Pat Wingert each have long, distinguished careers emblazoned with some of the most prestigious awards in the news profession. How then could they have produced “Chest Right,” an article intended to inform the public of what we need to know about getting breast implants? This news item is poorly researched, badly sourced and ill thought out, a far cry from the level of journalism we’ve come to expect from these women.

The article’s most obvious shortcoming is lack of balanced sourcing. Kantrowitz and Wingert quote three experts; all have personal stakes in seeing the breast implant business thrive. Not only are Drs. Laurie Casas, Richard D’Amico and Foad Nahai all practicing plastic surgeons, D’Amico is president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and Nahai is president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

Had Kantrowitz and Wingert spoken to independent experts critical of breast implant safety, perhaps they could have managed to avoid buying into the world of manageable and acceptable risk so carefully crafted by the aesthetic industry. Shallow digging would have turned up extensive information on extremely high complication rates, the controversy around safety studies as well as the FDA’s ineffectual handling of breast implants, and the many, many tragic stories of women whose health and lives were harmed by implants. But none of these darker strands of the breast implant story found their way into the article.

The article makes critical omissions and gives just plain bad advice, of which here are just a few examples:

o The article tells us that silicone implants were restricted for 14 years, due to the FDA “responding to concerns from patients and some doctors.” This characterization minimizes the reality of what actually happened by failing to mention the thousands of law suits against implant manufacturers that lead to the FDA taking that step, as well as the Dow Corning class action litigation that resulted in the largest class action settlement in history up to that point.

o The article overlooks a key FDA safety requirement that all potential implant recipients need to know: that doctors instruct implant recipients to undergo biannual MRI exams to guard against rupture.

o The article asserts that, “About a quarter of patients have some kind of complication within the first two years after their first surgery.” Yet studies have shown that the complication rate could be as high as 50 percent within three years, and rising as the implants age.

o The article urges women to do their research by listening to their plastic surgeons, but never suggests that independent research is also critical as the advice of the surgeons may be compromised by the lucrative fees they receive for breast augmentation procedures.

Breast implants are the most popular cosmetic surgery in this country. Close to 350,000 women underwent the procedure in 2007. In a few short years, counting long-time implant recipients and cancer patients, the number of women with implants could exceed 10 million if the current growing demand for them continues. Yet, it is the most invasive of cosmetic surgeries, and the device one of the most defective, with terrible health and financial risks that have and will continue to harm a great proportion of implant recipients.

The ramifications of breast implants are not well understood by the public because news media, still male-dominated, have largely found this issue to be of little interest, even as they splash the story of steroids in sports on front pages and in endless news loops. This is why it is so disheartening when the topic of breast implants is mishandled by women journalists, particularly by the elite few who’ve managed to attain the positions of influence and respect that Kantrowitz and Wingert have. These journalists seem to have turned a deaf ear to the other side of the breast implant story, which is not one of recaptured youth or improved self-esteem, but one of tens of thousands of women suffering from debilitating illness, disfigurement, bankruptcy and families broken by the emotional and financial stress.

I am puzzled that the editors of Newsweek gave a pass to this article, sourced exclusively by experts who profit from implants. I am disappointed that this article appears less like news than a public relations piece bent on perpetuating the false public sense of manageable and minimal breast implant risk. Perhaps more disappointing than the story itself, however, is the failure of Kantrowitz and Wingert to pull out their finely honed journalism skills and just do a professional job on an important women’s health issue that has far too few champions in the media as it is.