Forget the weird cosmetic things happening in Florida (dentists performing breast augmentations, surgeons putting in used implants, etc.), now a Manhattan gynecologist is jumping on the cosmetic bandwagon. Apparently it’s not enough to do pap smears and deliver babies, the big bucks are in coming up with new cosmetic procedures to market to everyone with a pair.

The vagina appears to be the new frontier for cosmetic medicine.  There’s a whole array of proceduress that the good gyno has designed just for us.  Dr. Romanzi (in a New York Times interview with Natasha Singer) claims that she’s focusing on helping women with bladder issues post-babies, but what it really sounds like is she’s targeting women that will do anything to obtain and retain a man.  The main focus seems to be on strengthening Kegel muscles (like the fancy gyno exam to determine how strong you are), and making the area look pretty.  Am I missing something?

Not all gynecologists have felt the need to explore cosmetics. One doctor even seemed to have his head on straight: “Dr. Berenson questioned whether healthy women need any kind of pelvic strengthening or cosmetic procedure.”  Thank goodness that someone’s out there telling women to leave well enough alone.  Dr. Romanzi’s using face lasers to make the vulva look “better” and she claims that they’re just fine on that area even though there’s no research to support that. So there are a few reasons why other OB/GYN’s are cautious about Phit (Pelvic Health Integrated Techniques) www.theperfectphit.com.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m completely happy just leaving that area alone until some type of medical intervention is deemed necessary…oh, like CANCER, or I’m urinating when I sneeze (I’ve heard that happens, and I’m hoping to avoid)! I’m not even sure that I get “vaginal rejuvenation”. The whole idea of tightening things, makes me think that an inevitable rip, tear, or just plain pain, is in my future.

What about you?  Will you be working “pelvic fitness” into your schedule any time soon?

~Kacey

After a little persuasion from my husband and a few close family members, I finally decided to join Facebook last week.  Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

What I didn’t realize about Facebook before I signed up, was that it is much more then just putting up a profile, uploading pictures and getting back in touch with old friends.  Facebook includes hundreds if not thousands of “applications” that you actually “add” to your page. The applications are anything from adding “the quote of the day” to your page, to adding little “stickers,” various quizzes that you can take to test your knowledge on different subjects, to sending and receiving various “gifts” to and from your friends. The “gifts” include anything from flowers, to little hatching eggs, to drinks, to “karma.”

As I was learning the ins and outs of Facebook over the last two weeks, I was browsing the pages of my friends, and to my surprise and shock, one of my friends had received various “boobies” from her friends. I learned quickly that people are sending each other photos of different breasts and adding the photos straight to their page.  After my shock wore off a bit, I decided to take a closer look at this facebook “application.” In order to do this, I had to add the application to my page. So, I pressed the button to add the application, did my research, and quickly deleted the application before anyone noticed that I added it.  What I found through my five minutes of  research was that there were about 45 different types of “boobies” that you could send and receive. A few of the boobies included the following:

Motivational Boobies

Fake Boobies (though ALL of the boobies were fake, so I really didn’t get that one.)

Sporty Boobies

Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I found this particular application extremely annoying, to say the least. Who, but an immature teenager would think receiving and sending photos of fake breasts is interesting, cool, or “okay” for that matter? Aren’t we inundated with fake breasts ENOUGH? What is this teaching the millions of teenagers that are part of Facebook, that women’s bodies and breasts are just objects? Come on Facebook, you can do better.

US News and World report has an article regarding teens at the age of 18 getting plastic surgery.  This is something that we have all heard before and in some cases, this has been deadly!

The article states  ‘Several factors are important in deciding when and for whom surgery is appropriate: an ability to understand the procedure; that the desire for surgery does not reflect what a parent, friend, or boyfriend desires; and that expectations are realistic’. 

‘If your expectations aren’t realistic and you have low self-esteem or no friends, cosmetic surgery is not the right answer. Rather, I would recommend counseling’.

Personally I think this is good advice for all women no matter what age.  Many women have low self esteem and decide to go under the knife to enhance body parts that they don’t feel comfortable with.  They are also made to believe that what they are doing is safe.    

The article also mentions the FDA guidelines that teens under 22 can only be implanted with saline implants and must be 22 if they want silicone gel.  Something the FDA has decided on that really never made sense to me.  Will 4 years really make a difference???  I doubt not.  Implants do not know your age!  If you are going to have complications, they will happen whether you are 18 or 35 and we have seen that women become ill from both saline implants and silicone gel. 

I would like to add as well that I was 35 when I decided on breast augmentation.  Yes, I had low self esteem and did this because I felt too thin.  I also did my ‘homework’ and found nothing indicating that saline implants were dangerous to your health.  I have since learned that this is not the case at all.  I think the best thing for me would have been counseling and going to the gym to build up those area’s of my body I didn’t feel comfortable with.  No, this would not have increased my breast size but it certainly would have made me feel better about myself.  I think about that often and wondered why no one ever suggested that to me.  Maybe this is what these teens should be doing instead of lipo at age 18.  Really, we need to concentrate more on eating healthy and exercise.  I bet most teens and adults would not need lipo if they changed their diet and excercised on a regular basis. 

It would be nice if parents encouraged their teens to eat healthy and exercise on a regular basis and I don’t mean to a point that it becomes obsessive as this can be a problem as well.  I think that 18 is just too young to be thinking about enhancing your body using cosmetic surgery to achive that.  Also, these parents should also be educated on the dangers and lets not forget to reassure our teens that the body God has given them is perfect and does not need altering in any way.  This will all lead to a healthy outlook in the future and acceptance of their bodies. 

Lastly, I do believe this article makes some good points regarding plastic surgery and teens, I just don’t agree with all of it. 

 Beth

Cosmetic Surgery Today posted a blog today entitled “Safety of Breast Implants Spark Fiery Debate“.  They mentioned a Beauty and the Breast post, which acknowledged that women are often “sold” on the idea of breast implants after visiting a plastic surgeon.  Although I’m thrilled that they are giving attention to the negative side of breast augmentation and asking women to thoroughly research the procedure, I’m not pleased with the site that they linked for research. 

I thought that everyone deserves  to know that there is an independent informational site that is dedicated to truly informing consumers.  It’s not sponsored by plastic surgeons or manufacturers, rather it is a product of a non-profit think tank that is dedicated to analyzing existing research.  If a person wants to know science-based information regarding breast augmentation, then www.breastimplantinfo.org is the place to visit.  If you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s a must read for women, doctors, and the media.

~Kacey

This article reported in the New York Times states that Plastic Surgeons are holding parties for women interested in any type of cosmetic surgery they desire. 

As quoted in the article:

‘The goal was to create “a fun night, an educational night” that “demystifies” cosmetic surgery, Dr. Greenberg said. In front of the audience, he asked a 28-year-old patient named Jennifer, who later identified herself as his front desk manager and would not disclose her last name, what had bothered her about her breasts and whether the procedure she had undergone to enlarge them had been painful. Meanwhile, Leeana Karlson, co-host of Dr. Greenberg’s show on KJOY radio, 98.3 FM, showed the crowd silicone gel implants like those the surgeon had used”.

I believe the goal of the night is to pull in more women to have cosmetic surgery and to convince them this was all very safe.  I wonder if these women while drinking and eating and socializing have time to even ask what the risks are to such procedures like lipo and breast augmentation? 

Dr. Alan Gold, a Great Neck-based PS and President of the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, stated in the article that such events “have moved plastic surgery from an art and science to entertainment.”  Entertainment???  Are these Surgeon’s that hard up for money???  I know our economy is bad so I suppose this is how they are trying to pull more women into getting cosmetic surgery.  Sure, get them drunk and then they will feel like what they are doing is a safe thing to do to their body!

One doctor stated that after years of promotion and advertising, he had “more patients than I could ever want to operate on.” Still, he said, the event would lure new patients that he “may not have had otherwise.”

Point made I suppose after that last statement.  It seems to be all about ‘luring’ women into a false sense of security by have these types of parties.  I’m not against plastic surgery but I am against not informing women of all the risks involved in such procedures that are mentioned in the article. 

Buyer beware!

Beth

I read about a ‘new’ and I use that term loosely, breast implant called the Ideal Implant.  These implants are currently under clinical trials.   They are described as having an inner core or lumen similar to the double lumen implants that were essentially a silicone gel implant surround by a saline implant.   

The companies mission statement made me laugh a bit as I just thought this was another way of making women think they are doing something ’safe’.  Just like I was told when I had my saline implants 10 years ago.  The mission statement reads:

To offer women a breast implant that combines a natural, tissue-like feel with the safety of saline as the filler, for Peace of Mind.

Okay, for Peace of Mind?  I think not.  The company claims that they have used all the same materials for these implants that are in other implants.  If you remember from other posts those materials are TOXIC.  Really the only difference is a saline implant within a saline implant.  They also state that the implant is inserted empty and filled once placed inside the body with saline.  So I must ask myself what is so different other than having 4 saline implants in your body? 

Let me show you some pictures to show you just how UNSAFE saline implants are.  I had my implants for 8 years and was completely disabled just after 5 years.  Take a look at some of these so called safe saline implants.  No, these aren’t the ‘Ideal Implants’ but in my opinion there is no difference since the company claims that they used the same materials as in other saline implants. 

This first set almost killed the woman they were removed from.  She is still fighting to regain her health and yes, that is saline that you see in there.  Saline and a very toxic mix.

This set was removed from a lady that is also struggling with her health.  These implants made her very ill.  Yes, another set of saline implants.

Lastly, my implant, at least the worst one.  Keep in mind it looks not nearly as bad as the implants shown above.  However, after having them analyzed, my chemist said that there were chunks, yes chunks of bacteria and white mold growing inside.  These implants that are so commonly referred to as being safe changed my life forever.  Disabled at age 40 and explanted three years later because my doctors continued to mis-diagnose me.  Once I had the implants removed, my health started to improve and yes, these implants also came very close to taking my life.

I want to make it perfectly clear that saline implants are not safe.  Also, all these women used board certified Plastic surgeons.  

Anything having to do with saline breast implants do not give me ‘Peace of Mind’. 

I was listening to the radio this morning as I was getting ready for work and I was shocked to hear my favorite radio DJ’s talking about this story!! A man in Florida was arrested for holding “buttocks pumping parties” in various hotels around Florida. Anthony Solomon of Miami who is without any type of medical license was pumping women’s asses full of straight silicone!

Dr. Seth Thaller, chief of plastic surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine, said he often sees patients seeking relief for pain and infection and outright removal of silicone and other substances from such injections.

“Sometimes the silicone is industrial grade, from lubricants. Lord knows how much they put in or what they put in. It must be a good-sized needle.  Then it leaches. It spreads all over. It’s hard to get out.  In a few cases, such injections have spread through the bloodstream to the lungs, creating pulmonary embolisms and causing death. How can anybody let people without credentials inject something in them?” he said.

Okay ladies, you know these comments are coming next. What in the world are these women thinking?!!!  Is “beauty” and “vanity” THAT important that you would let a strange man, without a medical license inject “whatever” into your ass in a hotel room! I am just beside myself on this!

On top of that…..if the medical community is acknoweding that pumping the ass full of straight silicone poses a serious health risk, then why do they refuse to admit that breast implants do the same? Saline breast implants are encased in a silicone shell, we all know full well that saline implants rupture…I know mine did (after only 3 years!) Doesn’t that silicone from the shell go straight into the body just like if you were injecting it into the body?! Silicone implants are even worse! Plastic surgeons and implant manufacturers would have you believe that the silicone stays within the implant, but it is simply not true. The body attacks the silicone implant, chipping off small pieces of silicone that are then taken all over the body! Breast implants are man-made! We all know that nothing man-made is perfect, these devices have serious flaws.  The rupture rate is astronomical and platic surgeons don’t think that is a big deal! How can it not be a big deal when silicone is seriously harmful to the human body!?

I was absolutely delighted to see this blog published in the OC Register today. The blog was written by Colin Stewart and is called “Breast Implants are like cell phones – much loved, but a problem.” Colin starts off his blog by pointing another interesting blog, which was written in the Freakonomics section of the NY Times on June 18th. He points out that it wasn’t so much the blog itself that was interesting, but the barrage of comments that came after the blog was published that struck everyone’s interest! Women were coming out of the “woodworks” to share their thoughts about breast implants, including their major life-altering health problems stemming from breast implants. I’m sure that the NY Times and Dr. Zenn (the plastic surgeon that was interviewed for the NY Times blog) had no idea what was to come after this blog was published. Women attacked Dr.Zenn’s comment on the safety level of breast implants. The author of the NY Times blog asked Dr. Zenn which implant is safer, silicone or saline, and if all of the concerns surrounding breast implants were all hoopla. Dr. Zenn answered that silicone and saline implant have the same level of safety, and that yes the concerns are all hoopla. Women who have actually had/have breast implants implanted into their bodies had quite the difference in opinion!

Colin then goes on to wittily point out the similarity in cell phones and breast implants. He points out that both are embraced by enthusiastic consumers who are willing to overlook the problems they cause. Colin says “With cell phones, the problems tend to be dropped calls and inaudible conversations. With breast implants, the problems range from minor flaws in breast appearance to major health crises that require medical intervention.”

Last year alone, 30,000 women removed their Breast Implants. To me, THAT alone is reason to be concerned over a “medical device.” There is a reason that these women removed their implants. I’d like to know when the medical community (independent from plastic surgeons and implant manufacturers) is going to start studying WHY so many women are removing their implants. I’d also like to see some long-term, independent studies on what the true health concerns are with breast implants. There are too many women who are having problems and serious health concerns. This issue simply cannot be over-looked, pushed aside and ignored any longer. Women deserve to know the truth. We deserve to know exactly what we are getting ourselves into when we choose to enlarge our breasts with silicone. 

Beauty and The Breast would like to thank Colin Stewart for giving both sides to this very controversial issue. All too many times, publications, websites and articles only share the opinions and beliefs of the plastic surgery community, and never bother sharing the opinions of the women who have been harmed by breast implants.

It seems as though some of these Doctors are willing to come up with anything in order to insert silicone in our bodies.   Of course we all know about silicone gel breast implants but (no pun intended) there are people having their butt’s enlarged and men having their abs looking like a washboard with implants as well but when I read this article, I thought what else??? 

Come on, a scalp lift that entails inserting some sort of silicone implant into the top of the head to appear taller?  This is really crazy not to mention very dangerous.  This world is so obsessed with everything relating to our looks including our height. 

I can’t help but wonder how long before his hair stops growing in that spot and he starts to develop brain fog or worse yet, autoimmune disorders, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue and the list goes on. 

Now is this really worth all the risks just to be a few inches taller?  I wonder if he was warned of all the dangers in doing this procedure?  I doubt not as the article quotes Dr Luis de la Cruz as saying “It is a relatively simple procedure that can have a wonderfully positive effect on the patient’s life”.  I know that my breast augmentation sure didn’t have a ‘wonderfully postitive effect on my life’. 

A spike in the unemployment rate - the biggest in more than two decades, oil prices up to nearly $150 a barrel, the dollar has lost tremendous value against the euro and the yen, homes in foreclosure crossing the 1 million mark during the first quarter of 2008, a record high. Yes yes, we all know by now that the current U.S economy has taken a terrible downturn and is headed for a possible recession. As Americans are “feeling in the pinch,” more and more are tightening their wallet strings and opting out of purchasing discretionary items.  Cosmetic surgery is like any other discretionary item. Because of that, cosmetic surgery along with everything else has declined along with the declining economy.

I read this article in the NY Times today which talks about how the “top” plastic surgeons in the US used to have waiting lists to come see them that were two years long, now the waiting list is only a month. Many of these surgeons contribute this to the growing concerns over the economy, some over the loss of interest in plastic surgery, some to the increasing numbers of people opting for non-surgical procedures—such as botox, instead of a face-lift. 

Dr. Anthony Giffin a popular plastic surgeon in Los Angelos said “I think it’s related to the economy.  We had people refinancing their homes and using them as A.T.M.s to pay for procedures like liposuction and breast augmentation.” Dr. Linda Li, another popular surgeon in Beverly Hills said  “If it’s a choice between putting food on the table or gas in the car or surgery, the choice is obvious.”  Lei Huang, a senior analyst for Summer Street Research Partners said “There is definitely a trading down from big-ticket procedures.  People considering entire face-lifts may hold off on that for a few years and tell themselves, ‘I might go in for a little bit of botox in the forehead and a little filler around the mouth because that may be all I can afford right now.’ ”  “I think it is due to nonplastic surgeons getting a bigger piece of the pie,” Dr. Michael Kane, a plastic surgeon in Manhattan said.  When it comes to facial procedures, plastic surgeons are experiencing increased competition from other doctors (such as facial surgeons, eye surgeons and dermatologists), according to a new economic forecast published this month in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

What I found interesting was that this article also points out what two plastic surgeons said in a journal article. “It is clear that plastic surgeons continue to dominate cosmetic surgery of the breast and abdomen but are battling increased competition and even falling behind in the area of facial cosmetic surgery.”

So, how I read is that is that plastic surgeons are losing ground in the area of facial cosmetic surgery as more women are opting for procedures that cost less and do not require surgery, but that they will not have to “share their piece of the pie” when it comes to breast implants.  What that tells me is that plastic surgeons are going to be pushing this procedure even harder now because…well, they don’t have a choice. If they want to keep their practice and keep the patients coming through their door….drastic times call for drastic measures.

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard a woman say “I went to my plastic surgeon to get a breast lift and he/she talked me into implants,” or “I went to my plastic surgeon to have my implants removed and my he/she told me that I would look terrible and tried to talk me into just having them replaced,” or “my plastic surgeon told me implants are perfectly safe and I believe him because he does this every day.”  Well ladies, this article and these reasons are why your plastic surgeon says these things. As we have already pointed out here at Beauty and The Breast, breast implants are an annuity medicine, you have to keep coming back for more and more. More and more money out of your pocket and into the plastic surgeon’s bank account.  Plastic surgeons will do anything to keep their schedule full, especially during these difficult economic times.