March 2007 Blog Archive
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Alphabet Soup to Know: ICX-RHY, But Only in UK
ICX-RHY is likely coming to a cosmetic surgeon near you -- if you live in the United Kingdom. Phase 1 trials to test safety and tolerability ended successfully last year, and the company is expecting to begin a Phase II trial soon. Phase II will test the efficacy of ICX-RHY.
Fibroblasts, up close and personal
ICX-RHY is an injectable treatment for wrinkles. What makes it different is that the injected cells, fibroblasts, go on to promote regeneration of new collagen. The treatments are believed to last up to several years, rather than the few months that current injectable treatments last.
Additionally, rather than achieving an immediate and, perhaps surprisingly, plumped up appearance, ICX-RHY injections result in a gradual increase in rejuvenated skin.
Depending on how upcoming trials end, Intercytex, makers of ICX-RHY, hope to have it on the UK market by late 2007.
Find out more about
ICX-RHY in this downloadable PDF product sheet on the Intercytex website.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Facial Surgeon - Part Physician, Part Artist
The combination of skills required by a plastic surgeon are phenomenal, especially when viewed by those of us without an artistic bone in our bodies. The aesthetic quality of their work is more than important: it's what makes and breaks careers. A report in the March/April issue of
Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery (
Arch Facial Plast Surg. 2007;9:113-119) details a new technique that plastic surgeons can add to their artisan's toolbox for achieving aesthetic harmony in facial procedures.
Quite simply, the authors, Travis Tollefson MD and Jonathan Sykes MD of the University of California-Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, analyzed before and after photos of facial surgery patients to arrive at a standard scale for calibration of measurements and angles.
They used "constant facial landmarks, the porion and the pupil" to arrive at a reproducible measurement for use by surgeons as a guide. The porion is top of the external ear canal. They measured the distance from the porion to the pogonion (the most prominent point on the chin), in addition to comparing several other measurements of facial features in the photographs.
The similarities that they found in measurement changes after surgery, across all patient photographs and regardless of photo size, led the authors to conclude that the distance between porion and pogonion can be used along with other soft tissue measurements as a guide in facial analysis for reconstruction.
For you and me, that means facial plastic surgeons can be more informed now in their artistic judgement for creating beautiful results.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Decade Sees Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Boom
The recent approval by the FDA of silicone breast implants, and the overall improvement of the safety and efficacy of nonsurgical procedures are combining to result in a rapid increase in the numbers of people seeking enhancement by board-certified plastic surgeons.
This, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) which has been compiling statistics on the use of cosmetic surgery and non-surgical treatments since 1997. The decade's worth of data was gleaned from over 14,000 questionnaires mailed to board-certified plastic surgeons and other care providers across the U.S.
Botox injections top the list of frequently performed procedures, while liposuction is the most popular surgery. Silicone breast implants are up 18 percent from 2005.
Women, by far, have the most cosmetic procedures performed -- 92 percent. In 2006 alone, there were over 10.5 million surgical and non-surg procedures performed on women, while only 1 million were on men.
Since 1997, surgeries are up 123 percent, and nonsurgical procedures increased a whopping 749 percent. Nearly half are performed in office-based facilities, with the remaining half split down the middle in either freestanding surgicenters or hospitals.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Chinese Now Turning to Plastic Surgery
In yet another sign of the changing times in China, plastic surgery for beauty enhancement is becoming more widely accepted.
This Associated Press article on China Daily.com describes how plastic surgery is one way in which the Chinese are channeling their growing desire to spend their newly made money in the once-repressed society. There's even a Chinese reality TV show all about extreme makeovers.
Fortunately, practitioners are getting beyond the techniques that in the past often rendered the Western aesthetic ideal of plump, pouty lips, larger eyelids, and high noses. Now, women are requesting and receiving the looks that work best for Asian faces.
While men, too, are slowly getting into the plastic surgery picture, the gender divide is still stronger in the Chinese culture. As one young woman described it, the norm is to believe that such trivial pursuits as appearance, or "grace", should be strictly of concern to women, not men.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
New Website Encourages Patient Wisdom
A cornerstone of the Be Wise About Beauty campaign by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS) is their new website, www.bewiseaboutbeauty.org.
Recognizing the growing interest in cosmetic enhancement with surgery and other medically-focused techniques, the Academy's site takes both an educational and directional approach to meeting consumers' need to know more about the various options.
Included are facts on:
surgical & procedural techniques
patient safety
choosing qualified practitioners
myths vs facts
For those who are wondering if cosmetic enhancement would be right for them, a self-guided quiz on topics such as beliefs and values can help with the decision-making process.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
A Tale of Two Men
In Mexico, a man who is bed-ridden loses weight by dieting. In Florida, another is denied insurance coverage for weight-loss surgery.
41-year-old Manuel Uribe once weighed over 1200 pounds. He turned down offers of gastric bypass surgery, choosing instead to lose weight with the help of nutritionists and the Zone diet. The Associated Press is reporting that Manuel is now down to 840 pounds after a year of dieting. His target is 265 pounds.
Meanwhile in Florida, 500-pound Neal Pittard has been turned down by the parent company of both his insurance plan and a participating hospital for gastric bypass surgery that he desperately wants to have performed. Ironically, Florida Hospital Celebration is where Pittard's wife works, plus the facility markets weight-loss surgery as "the only proven consistently effective treatment for morbid obesity."
Weight-loss choices are as individual as the people who make them. Wouldn't it be better if there was equivalent support on the part of healthcare companies to match the desire of people struggling to achieve health?
Friday, March 02, 2007
Liotta Says No Way
In spite of the murmuring crowd, actor Ray Liotta said through a spokesperson that he hasn't undergone cosmetic surgery.
Rumors started up after Liotta appeared at the premiere of his latest film, Wild Hogs. A plastic surgeon told New York Daily News that the actor has likely had some injections to compensate for "a bit of a jowl" and acne scarring.
Liotta's spokesperson denies that the actor has had any cosmetic procedures.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Non-Surgical Facial Procedures On the Rise
A new survey by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) found a remarkable increase in the number of men and women who are undergoing cosmetic facial enhancement without surgery.
Since 2000, the annual survey reveals a 69 percent increase among women and 91 percent among men. The AAFPRS polls its membership of over 1300 surgeons.
The increase is believed to be largely in part due to the growing availability of non-invasive techniques that require very little down-time and a natural-appearing result.
Other results from this year's poll:
*Patients are better educated about cosmetic surgery and techniques before even setting foot in a doctor's office for consultation.
*The most common procedures performed on men are microdermabrasion, Botox(R), hair transplants, and chemical peels.
*The most common surgeries for women: blepharoplasty (eye surgery), rhytidectomy/rhytidoplasty (facelifts), lip augmentation, rhinoplasty (nose surgery), and ablative skin resurfacing.
*The most common non-surgical procedures for women: Botox(R), microdermabrasion, chemical peels, and hyaluronic acid injections.
*His 'n Hers surgeries are becoming very popular, too.
*More ethnic minorities are undergoing facial plastic surgery, with Asian Americans leading the way.
*An average of 865 facial cosmetic surgeries are performed per surgeon.
*Almost half of all patients received their surgery as a gift.
*Sadly, almost half of all patients who go abroad for their surgery are returning stateside with complications and a resulting need for re-done surgery.
