Tummy Tuck Abdominoplasty - What Is It And Who Is A Good Candidate?
You might not be familiar with the term abdominoplasty, but if you heard the term tummy tuck you would know instantly what is being referred to. Many people believe that abdominoplasty surgery is a simple procedure that is used to correct the appearance of the stomach.
The truth is that a tummy tuck is not a simple procedure and should be considered very carefully before you decide to go ahead with the surgery.
Like any surgery, there are risks and complications with an abdominoplasty surgery. The tummy tuck will involve a long incision on the abdomen, from hip to hip. Once the incision is made, the skin will be separated from the abdomen, which will expose the muscles. These muscles will be stitched into a new position to tighten up the area and reduce the size of the waist. When the muscles are in their new position, the skin will be stretched and the extra skin removed.
The doctor will have to replace the skin that had the naval as it is usually cut away during the tummy tuck. The doctor will create a new naval in a proportional position.
You should expect that the tummy tuck surgery will require a good deal of recovery. It is a major surgery and at least one week of recovery to three weeks is needed to return to normal activities. Although you might not have to remain in the hospital overnight, you will have to make sure that you can recover at home. There are patients who remain in the hospital for a couple of days to begin their recovery. This is usually decided on a case by case basis. The area will be swollen and painful and you should be given pain medication for the pain.
This is a very invasive surgery and is not right for everyone. Women who are planning to become pregnant again should consider waiting until after their last child is born to have a tummy tuck done. The patient who is the ideal candidate for this surgery is one that is in good physical condition. This usually includes those who have fat or excess skin in the abdominal area that is resistant to exercise.
Abdominoplasty can help to eliminate this problem. Women who have had pregnancies and have muscles that are stretched beyond the place where the stomach can return to a normal position. Abdominoplasty is also an ideal choice for older patients whose skin and muscles are sagging due to the aging process.
Patients who still have more weight to lose or are considering another child should consider waiting for abdominoplasty until they have lost the weight or had the last child. The doctor should discuss your options with you when you visit for a consultation. If you are an ideal candidate for the procedure the doctor will discuss what you should expect from the tummy tuck surgery.
Fix Your Torn Earlobes with Plastic Surgery
Women have worn earrings since the time of Christ. One of the risks of pierced ears is having the earlobe split when the earring is tugged by a small child or caught on clothing. The risk for earlobe tears increases with the weight of the earring or with large hoop earrings.
Plastic surgery earlobe reconstruction is often important to self-esteem of women. Many women enjoy augmenting their appearance with jewelry. The inability to wear jewelry or a short haircut because of their embarrassment of the deformity on their earlobes often decreases women’s self esteem and can cause social anxiety disorders.
Even though plastic surgery earlobe reconstruction is simple and cost effective many women chose to continue to wear their hair over their ears and clip earings to hide the deformity.
Plastic surgery earlobe reconstruction is a procedure in which the surgeon can repair traumatic injury or genetic defect. Although insurance companies don’t generally pay for cosmetic surgeries, plastic surgery earlobe reconstruction, when traumatic or genetic, insurance might pay for it. Check with your insurance company for pre-authorization and to determine whether a letter of medical necessity will help clear your surgery for payment.
The earlobe contains no cartilage or bone but is made up only of skin and fatty tissue. This makes both trauma and repair easier. Earlobe trauma can be mild, where the tear remains only in the inner lobe or severe, where the earlobe is completely split in half.
In the case of a mild tear the repair can be done almost immediately. In fact, sometimes a surgeon can leave a spacer so that the ear will not have to be re-pierced after the ear has healed completely.
In the case of a severe tear, the ear must completely heal before it can be repaired. Plastic surgeons have several procedural options to fully repair the earlobe. Unfortunately in the event of a severe tear, scar tissue may be evident after healing is completed.
Plastic surgery earlobe reconstruction is done under local anesthesia while the patient is awake. The procedure usually takes an hour or less and the patient is free to go home that day. Because the procedure is not done under a general anesthesia the usual type of precautions are not necessary. With general anesthesia, usually patients are not allowed to eat or drink for at least 6 hours prior to the surgery but with a local anesthetic there are no prerequisites as far as food and drink.
Doctors will often write for mild pain medication, but most patients use only over the counter medication such as Tylenol and Advil. Some patients find an ice pack will decrease pain and swelling in the earlobe.
Following reconstructive surgery, the plastic surgeon will leave the earlobe open to air. No dressings are used and the earlobe is allowed to drain for several days. The patient is often sent home with antibiotic ointment to put on the wound twice a day.
Plastic surgery earlobe reconstruction is simpler and easier than it used to be. Insurance companies often cover the cost of surgery that is necessary because of trauma or genetic defect. The surgery will also not affect hearing. Start with your primary care physician to find a plastic surgeon who will be meet your needs.
Best Treatments For Crows Feet
As people seek to look younger and younger, plastic surgery continues to open new options for treatment that are both surgical and non-invasive.
Oftentimes, both men and women seek to change the crows feet, wrinkles, and bags around their eyes. Surgeons have gone from using cosmetic procedures that are open and invasive requiring weeks of recovery to minimally invasive surgeries with minimal to no scarring.
Treatment of crows feet can be done using several different techniques. Previously the surgeon’s sole option was to leave the patient with a pulled back, fake appearance to their face. Today minimally invasive surgery leaves a more natural toned appearance, with a recovery time of seven to ten days.
Plastic surgeons also have the option of using botox cosmetic injections to decrease wrinkles and remove crows feet around the eye. The use of botox gained popularity in 2002 when the FDA approved it for cosmetic use.
Prior to 2002 Botox was used to treat neurological disorders and spasms in patients who were paralyzed. During that time, botox was also used off label for cosmetic use. The physician, however, took full responsibility for the use of a drug on an off label condition. Botox works by paralyzing the muscles and smoothing the skin.
In both the minimally invasive surgery and botox injection, the changes in musculature under the skin is addressed. Another option that surgeons have is laser resurfacing. This new procedure has taken the place of the old dermabrasion, which was painful and often didn’t give good results. Laser resurfacing is often used to treat crows feet and wrinkles around the eyes. It removes wrinkles around the eyes and leaves a tighter, more toned appearance.
Although laser resurfacing is extremely effective and safe, it doesn’t address the underlying reason for wrinkle formation the way that minimally invasive surgery and botox do. Cosmetic crows feet remove surgery gives both men and women safe, effective alternatives, which allow them to more closely fit society’s desire for the fountain of youth.
Chin Liposuction & Neck Liposuction - Is It For You?
Chin liposuction surgery and neck liposuction treatments are becoming increasingly popular as more and more people realize the limitations of facial exercise.
If you’re concerned about your chin and neck areas despite maintaining an ideal body weight, consider liposuction. It’s simple, cost-effective, and produces immediate results that are permanent.
Chin Liposuction
Your chin is a prominent feature of the face, and plays a vital role in defining the profile. With age, the skin on your face tends to sag some and lose its youthfulness. Chin liposuction surgery will eliminate excess fat and sagging skin of the neck area. With the latest microcannular chin liposuction techniques, patients suffer fewer side effects, and normally return to work sooner due to a quicker recovery rate.
The skin incisions now used in chin liposuction surgery are tiny compared to the very long incisions earlier used in facelift surgery. For chin and neck liposuction, the cannula is usually less than 2mm in diameter, and is not much longer than the lead of a #2 pencil.
With the chin liposuction tumescent technique (using local anesthetic only), tissue trauma and bleeding can be decreased by almost 90%. Swelling and bruising are also minimal to moderate and rapidly subside after liposuction chin surgery.
Neck Liposuction
Some people have a smooth and firm jaw line and lower cheeks, but have wrinkled skin on their necks that make them look older than they actually are. While scarves and higher necklines may temporarily hide upper neck wrinkles and sagging, neck liposuction surgery offers a permanent solution pretty fast. By streamlining this area, neck liposuction enhances the effect of facial features and improves the profile remarkably.
Neck liposuction is a cosmetic procedure that simply removes the fat that is trapped at the bottom of your face and underneath your chin. Small incisions are made behind the ears, which then permit the surgeon to remove fat with a probe. At the same time, the plastic surgeon will pull back and remove excess skin from these incisions.
Even if the patient has a weak chin, by combining chin and neck liposuction treatments, it is possible to remove extra fatty tissue permanently. A patient can fully recover within a week or two.
However, as with other surgeries, neck and chin liposuction techniques have their share of risks too. Aside from the normal recovery issues, the lymphatic system can be disrupted when too much neck fat is removed which can result in prolonged swelling and edema. There is also the risks of obvious ridges and distortions of normal facial contours. If too much of the thin layer of fat in the face is removed, the movement of jaw and cheek muscles may become disconcertingly apparent.
Average Chin & Neck Liposuction Costs:
Chin Liposuction - $2,500 and more
Neck Liposuction - $2,500 and more
So, if you want to go for liposuction of the chin or the neck, insist on a reputed and experienced plastic surgeon only. The best way to select one is to spend some time doing your own research. Interview at least a couple of plastic surgeons, and see examples of their work by checking out the pre and post-operative pictures of their patients.
Don’t just blindly take someone else’s recommendation. Remember, it’s your physical appearance that is at stake!
Cosmetic Surgery in Larger Cities: Why It May Be Best
Have you recently made the decision to undergo cosmetic surgery? If you have, that decision alone is a large one, but you have one more important decision to make. That decision is, which cosmetic surgeon or surgery center you want to visit. You may have heard that you should target those located in big cities, but is that really true? Yes and no.
As previously stated, there is some truth the claim that you can find the best luck with searching for a cosmetic surgery center or a surgeon with a private practice in larger cities. With that said, it honestly all depends. Who do you have available locally?
Even if you live in a small town or city, did you know that the one cosmetic surgeon that you do have may have outstanding credentials, a large amount of experience, as well as a high success rate of producing beautiful, satisfied patients? That is why you should first examine your options locally.
As for why it is a good idea for you to examine cosmetic surgeons in a nearby, larger city, it will give you access to more doctors with private practices. These are professionals who work by themselves, but with a small team of qualified nurses. Logical thinking proves that the larger the area you are in the more you will find, and the same applies to cosmetic surgeons.
In addition to finding more cosmetic surgeons with private practices, you also stand a chance of finding more cosmetic surgery centers to choose from. This automatically gives you access to more doctors. On average, a cosmetic surgery center has around two or three surgeons on staff. If you do choose this option, be sure that you get the name of the professional who will be performing your procedure ahead of time. This will give you the appropriate amount of time to review their qualifications, their reputation, as well as their success rate.
By examining cosmetic surgeons and cosmetic surgery centers in a larger city, you open yourself up to a larger range of procedures. When most of us hear the phrase “cosmetic surgery,” being cut open is often the first thought that comes to mind.
Yes, liposuction and body lifts do involve the use of a scalpel; however, there are other procedures that don’t. These procedures include chemical peels and laser surgery. Unfortunately, not all private practices and cosmetic surgery centers offer them, but your chances do increase in a larger city.
By examining cosmetic surgery centers and private practice surgeons in a larger city, you are likely to find the best rates. Since you do have a number of different options, be sure to compare rates. This is great and it may even be necessary if you don’t have any health insurance or if your health insurance does not cover cosmetic surgery.
Speaking of which, be sure to check. There are a small number of cosmetic surgeries that some health insurance providers do cover, like breast reduction. In keeping with prices, don’t make the mistake of automatically going with the cheapest that you can find. Quality and fees should be examined together.
So, what is the best option for you? It all depends. First, take a close look at where you live. How many surgery centers or private practice cosmetic surgeons do you have within a half an hours drive? If only one or two, you should examine the closest big city. Remember that you should do more than just find a cosmetic surgeon; you should also choose one. For this to happen though, you must first have a choice.
As for how you can make your choice, there are a number of factors that you will want to take into consideration. Despite the fact that results will vary, examining before and after pictures can give you a good idea of what you can expect. Make sure the pictures aren’t generic, but of procedures that your surgeon has actually performed. Examine his or her success rate, as well as the rate of complications.