Laser Treatment MD

Plastic surgery marketing in Argentina is booming, with medical spa advertising a common experience for Argentine women. Plastic surgery advertising is seen as putting tremendous pressure on wome to have proceedures like liposuction, breast augmentation, and Brazilian Buttlifts.

The result is sometimes a tragedy, like the death of Solance Magnano, a former Miss Argentina.

From a news story.

38-year-old former Miss Argentina Solange Magnano died after complications arising from plastic surgery on her buttocks.

Solange Magnano, the 1994 winner and a mother of 8-year-old twins, died of pulmonary embolism Sunday three days after having a gluteoplasty, a procedure that involves placing implants to enhance firmness. News of her death shocked her fans. The cause of her death was under investigation, the authorities said. Officials said the injected liquid went into her lungs and brain.    

In the past half decade, the number of people seeking plastic surgery in Argentina has soared by 60 percent, to around 50,000. Estimates say that 1 in 30 Argentines has gone under the knife, making plastic surgeons in Argentina some of the most experienced on the globe, attracting large number of medical tourists.

Medical tourism in Argentina has seen a huge jump over the past decade, and is projected to be a 100 billion dollar global industry by 2010, according to the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, a U.S. research center focused on trends in the health care system.

What a tremendous waste. Perhaps the worst quote of the story is that the 'injected liquid went into her lungs and brain'.

Venezuelans commonly borrow for plastic surgery.

In the subway you can see ads for clinics that offer credit for plastic surgery, Thermage, Fraxel, laser hair removal, breast augmentation, laser treatments and Botox treatments, and that women who work use their vacation bonuses and borrow from their work savings accounts. The cosmetic surgery and medical spa industry will make sure that cosmetic work remains within reach to ensure a steady flow of income.

THE NEED TO BE BEAUTIFUL

Despite the hefty price tag, the choice to get plastic surgery, Botox, or laser treaments is not considered a luxury for some Venezuelans.

"We need to be beautiful," said Patino.

Competition among women, by far the biggest consumers of plastic surgery in Venezuela, to look their best is fierce, and social pressure to get work done is high.

"Socially, there is a lot of demand, especially from men, to have a good body," said Prem Pratita, a 27-year-old who had a breast augmentation a few weeks ago.

In this image-conscious country, famous for beauty queens who win record numbers of international pageant titles, the idea of getting cosmetic surgery is instilled at a young age.

Patino recalls how, as a child, her mother and aunt dreamt of surgery to get rid of wrinkles. Now, with a child of her own, the subject is already on the table.

"I told my husband, 'Look honey, if she has your nose, she's going to get plastic surgery,'" said Patino.

Some young women even describe moving up a few cup sizes through plastic surgery as a rite of passage.

"It's a transformation from being a girl to being a woman," said Pratita, who said she was one of the last in her circle of friends to have the procedure.

"Everybody has a breast augmentation. Three or four of every seven women have one," said plastic surgeon Angel Pena, who likens his surgery to body decoration practiced for centuries.

"By nature, human beings have the desire to look better ... this desire is timeless and it's a desire that doesn't depend on your economic situation ... it's not that frivolous."

Bras are an often uncomfortable but necessary evil for the majority of women.

But if you've got serious bra issues and can't be bothered with a different strap arrangement for every occasion, plastic surgery now has the answer.

Israeli plastic surgeon Eyal Gur has invented the Cup & Up bra and there's no straps to be worried with... on the outside at least.

In fact, the invention is an alternative to breast implants and promises perky breasts for years without any of the drawbacks of implants.

The first guinea pig has already had her internal bra fitted and surgeons say it was a huge success.

Avi Cohen, managing director of Orbix Medical, the company helping to develop the bra, told the Daily Mail: "The operation went really well and the woman, who is in her 30s, has made a good recovery.

"The bra has given her the lift she wanted. Her breasts look natural and she is happy with the result. The surgeons have done a fantastic job."

The Cup & Up involves a kind of internal silicon bra. The 'straps' are attached to the ribs with titanium screws, stitched to silicon 'cups' and then it's all tightened into place.

As gruesome and unpleasant as that sounds, those of you in need of a lift can be in and out of hospital in a morning as the keyhole operation takes just 40 minutes.

Mr Cohen believes the internal bra will become widely available throughout Europe within the next 18 months.

"We have enough women volunteers in the trial and we will be doing our second patient just before Christmas.

"In a year's time we will have enough evidence that it works. Then we will be able to get the green light from the European medical licensing authorities."

Call us cautious, but we think we might wait a little longer.

Less-acculturated Latinas with breast cancer are less likely to have reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy, say researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Amy Alderman, MD, MPH, assistant professor of plastic surgery at the U-M Medical School and lead author conducted a study to examine trends in breast reconstruction among different races, including white women, African-American women, and Latina women. The group of Latina women was further divided into women who were either highly acculturated into American society or less acculturated.

After looking at 806 women who were treated for breast cancer, researchers found 41% of white women and 41% of highly acculturated Latinas underwent reconstruction, while only 34% of African-Americans and 14% of less acculturated Latina did.

The study authors found that the lagging reconstruction rates did not correlate to lack of interest. More than half of the less-acculturated Latinas said they would have like more information about breast reconstruction.

When patients' satisfaction with their surgery was measured, the highest satisfaction rates were among white women who were satisfied with their treatment (94%) compared with the lowest rate, 56%, among less-acculturated Latinas who did not receive reconstruction.

Furthermore, this group was also less likely to report that their surgeon explained breast reconstruction, and they were less likely to be referred to a plastic surgeon than the other racial groups. The study also showed similar trends for African-American women, although the most significant data was among the less acculturated Latinas.

“Reconstruction is important to these women, but significantly more of the less-acculturated Latinas did not know how to get it. It suggests significant unmet needs for this vulnerable group. They have a desire for reconstruction, but no one's telling them about it,” Dr Alderman suggested.

The study authors suggest that more efforts be made to present breast reconstruction options to all patients, including those who speak only Spanish. Further research is planned to understand how language and other cultural issues affect whether women receive breast reconstruction.

An estimated 100,000 cosmetic surgical procedures are performed in Britain each year, many by doctors who have had no specialist training in cosmetic surgery. In addition, hundreds of thousands of non-surgical procedures are done, including Botox for wrinkles and laser treatments to rejuvenate skin, many by non-medical staff with little or no training.

The 200-member Baaps represents the top surgeons in the business who performed 34,187 surgical procedures in 2008, twice the number in 2004. More than 90 per cent of them were on women. The most popular procedure was breast augmentation, demand for which rose 30 per cent last year.

But Mr Mercer, who combines private practice as a cosmetic surgeon specialising in facelifts with his work as an NHS consultant in reconstructive surgery for cancer patients, said the market for cosmetic surgery, of which Baaps surgeons account for less than one third, was an "unregulated mess".

He added: "There has been a massive increase in marketing, including discount vouchers, two-for-one offers and holidays with surgery. In no other area of medicine is there such an unregulated mess. What is worse is that national governments would not allow it to happen in other areas of medicine. Imagine a two-for-one advert for general surgery. That way lies madness."

Mr Mercer, in the journal Clinical Risk, which publishes articles on cosmetic surgery today, he warns that "the doctor's first duty to protect the patient" has been forgotten in the headlong rush to cash in. "The motive for performing any procedure must never be financial gain ... if we cannot self-regulate then regulation will eventually be imposed."

Citing experience in France, where all advertising of cosmetic procedures is banned, he says: "Perhaps, like tobacco, there should be a Europe-wide ban on advertising all cosmetic surgical procedures, including on the internet search engines."

Among those who can testify to the dangers is Jill Saward, the former lead singer of 1980s group Shakatak, who last year agreed to a facelift in the hope of reviving her career after her divorce. But she suffered complications aggravated by her high blood pressure and bitterly regretted the decision. Three months after the operation she still did not have full feeling and was warned full recovery could take a year.

"Surgery is not a quick-fix solution," she said. "The simple truth is that I could have died. I was an idiot, I should have thought much more carefully about the operation and its dangers. It was pure vanity."

Foad Nahai, president of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, backed Mr Mercer's warning, and called for tougher regulations to prevent doctors practising without specialist training. A code of practice backed by self-regulation of cosmetic clinics was announced by the Government in 2007. Clinics are also subject to inspection by the Care Quality Commission. But Baaps says the measures do not go far enough.

Medical Spa MD selects Sendside Networks as it's exclusive communication platform.

Have you ever wondered what you would look like with bigger breasts or poutier lips? Now you can find out using a simple app made for the iPhone. There are now two plastic surgery applications for the Apple iPhone that offer users information, games and the chance to see what they would look like with a face lift, new nose, and many other procedures.

The firs plastic surgery app - The Shafer Plastic Surgery App - launched in October. It's the first app of its kind amongst Apple's 85,000 offerings in the iPhone App Store. It was created by Dr. David Shafer of New York, and taps into more than 1,000 questions and answers about specific cosmetic procedures.

The second iPhone plastic surgery app will soon hit the iPhone App Store, and it's called "iSurgeon". iSurgeon was developed by Miami cosmetic surgeon Dr. Michael Salzhauer, who is also well known for authoring the 2008 book "My Beautiful Mommy" - a book aimed at helping 4 to 7 year old children cope with their mother's plastic surgery.

iSurgeon will feature a fun game mode that allows users to try their hand at surgery, giving people the chance to instantly modify images of themselves or their friends through breast augmentations, lip enhancements and dozens of other procedures.

The Shafer Plastic Surgery App is available for $2.99. iSurgeon will be free during its first month of release later in November.

Nice to see that your iPhone can manage more than just phone calls from your plastic surgeon or medical spa.

A PLASTIC surgeon has told how he chose a dowdy girl as his bride - so he could sculpt her into his ideal wife.

Reza Vossough hated 33-year-old Cany's body, but they tied the knot anyway after he spotted her "potential".

Cany ... in 2005

This plastic surgeon performed EIGHT operations to change her chest, thighs, eyes and face.

Vossough spent five years pumping 1,600g of silicone into her body, boosting her size A chest to a giant F cup.

He also enhanced her lips, lifted her eyelids and de-creased her forehead.

The former waitress also had nip-and-tuck ops to her bum, tummy and thighs and countless Botox injections.

'Potential' ... Reza Vossough

 

Only AFTER £18,000 of cosmetic surgery did Reza, 48, fall in love with her.

But busty Cany, now a model, is thrilled with her new image. She said: "When your husband is a plastic surgeon, then the scalpel is your friend."

Reza, who operates on 1,200 patients a year at his Berlin clinic, said of his skills: "It's almost like being God - you have the ability to change nature.

"When I first met Cany, she had physical deficiencies, but I could see there was something there. She had big hips and big thighs, so we made corrections, then did a little bit more.

"On the operating table her face is covered, so she's anonymous like any patient. I was interested in working on her. It's better than nature could do."

Since her hubby's last op, Cany has had a secret fourth boob job. But Reza has not ruled out MORE work - saying: "There may be some more in the future, like a facelift, but not yet."

But Reza is wise enough to admit that he's not perfect himself.

He said: "I inherited a big nose from my dad, so my business partner made me a new one. And I have Botox too."

Not something that you'll find in your local Medical Spa or laser clinic since they're using laser treatments and Botox, but there's probably some overlap. Perhaps laser hair removal, IPL for skin treatments, or Restylane as a local skin clinic.