Cosmeticsurgeon.co.uk - UK Cosmetic Surgeons

It has been reported that more and more people in the US are requesting cosmetic surgery to adjust the appearance of their ears.

This development is very likely to become popular in the UK soon and it shows that in today‘s world people are looking for more ways to perfect every single part of their bodies.

The Guardian claims that UK plastic surgeons have already been asked to perform earlobe plumping and reduction as well as other similar procedures.

Dr Rita Rakus from London, who specializes in non-surgical cosmetic treatments, told the Guardian: “I have noticed an increase. “It can be part of the total package in making you look a bit younger and in particular it can bother women who wear their hair back.”

Earlobe plumping is a procedure when a filler such as Restylane is injected into the ear. It costs around £400. Earlobe reduction is a slightly more complicated and thus more expensive treatment, which may cost around £100 and more.

A study has revealed that men treated with Botox injections generally need a bigger amount of the material than women undergoing the same procedure to achieve similar improvement in their skin condition.

The review was published in the journal Dermatologic Therapy. According to the researchers, the reason why men need higher doses of Botox may be the fact that men have more muscle mass than women.

The study has found out that taller, bigger and more athletic men are likely to need more units of Botox per procedure as opposed to thinner and less bulky men. This explains why some results in male patients vary.

Dr Timothy Corcoran Flynn, one of the researchers, wrote: “Men have a growing interest in cosmetic dermatologic treatments. “Botulinum toxin type A treatment offers a minimally invasive approach to improving facial lines and is often the first cosmetic procedure chosen by male patients. “In general, men can be treated with the same techniques as women, but often require more units.”

The leaders of cosmetic surgery industry frown upon clinics specializing in plastic operations for using deceptive methods advertising their services.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons claimed to be “increasingly concerned” with some of the sales techniques used by clinics.

BAAPS has warned that patients are shown models with “anatomically impossible” breasts and offered opportunities for “lunchtime facelifts”, which lead the patients to developing unrealistic expectations and getting disappointed.

Regulating bodies of advertising have encouraged any initiative to promote fair treatment of prospetive patients.

Representatives of the BAAPS annual conference were shown a variety of ads in which suspicious sales techniques were applied, such as offering financial rewards for those who undergo surgery.One of the examples advertised a £250 discount to clients who decide to have the surgery straight away.

BAAPS surgeons reacted negatively to another ad which offered a “lunchtime facelift”, which is unrealistic because the procedure cannot be performed in such a short time and patients are bound to be disappointed.
BAAPS is not a regulating authority and even though it is comprised of one third of UK‘s plastic surgeons, it does not have any powers to take measures against cosmetic clinics. However, BAAPS is about to start a marketing campaign in order to encourage people to take all aspects into consideration before choosing cosmetic surgery.

Plastic surgery should be considered as a serious matter.  The president of BAAPS Douglas McGeorge, who is also a consulting plastic surgeon, said: “Surgery is a serious undertaking which requires realistic expectations and should only proceed after proper consultation with a reputable and properly qualified clinician in an appropriate clinical setting.” He also noticed: “It is very difficult to regulate these adverts.
“We are particularly worried about younger, vulnerable readers of magazines who are being targeted very heavily.”

The Independent Healthcare Authority’s code of practice has been accepted by a number of clinics. It claims that advertisements should be aimed at protecting customers from false hopes and should use realistic models as examples. However, this code of practice is not compulsory.

Former president of the organisation Adam Searle said: “Plastic surgery, when used well, is the most powerful tool to improve patients’ well-being. “What it should not be used for is to make money. “It is the patient who should benefit not the surgeon.”

A representative of the Advertising Standards Authority said they encouraged initiative by organisations to promote fair treatment of customers in adverstisement. “We look into all complaints and make an adjudication. “This is not something we are inundated about but there are more adverts of that nature out there now so we you might expect more complaints.”

The General Medical Council (GMC) has published a new document concerning the use of botox which is aimed at recuding medical complications that occur as a result of a popular trend called ‘botox parties’.

The GMC’s ‘Good Practice in Prescribing Medicines’ guidance has been amended to target improperly performed botox procedures that do not meet supply and administration requirements, especially if a medical doctor is not present during the procedure.

Before the release of the amended document, doctors have been able to prescribe botox to groups of people, which enabled a nurse to perform the procedure on a group of people without them needing to see a doctor. However, from now on prescriptions of botox and other non-surgical cosmetic treatments will have to be “patient specific”, according to a GMC spokesman who was interviewed by the Daily Telegraph.

“The doctor must know the patient’s medical history or have for example seen a photo of the patient,” he added. “This is because the treatment is delivered by injection and the doctor needs to be able to assess where (for example on the face) the injection is needed and where it should not be administered.”

Patients are recommended to only address reputable plastic surgery clinics at all times to receive botox injections and should strictly avoid alcohol consumption in botox parties.

It has been revealed that a new long-lasting temporary cosmetic filler aimed at getting rid of unwanted smile wrinkles has been created.

Experts claim that the new specifically designed product consists of non-allergenic pig collagen and cannot be used for injections to lips or eyelids.

NorthWest Cable News were told by surgeon Dr Gerald Bernstein: “It produces an immediate result. You put it in and people walk out and they’re done … I would say the likelihood of bruising is less than some of the other fillers.”

Facial fillers are generally designed to reduce wrinkles and unwanted lines that inevitably develop as part of the ageing process. Wrinkles are usually deeper in certain parts of the face, including smile lines around the mouth.

The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery has published a response to a recent report by the US Food and Drug Administration about cosmetic filler safety, claiming that dermal filler are safe when they are administered correctly.

A plastic surgeon has revealed girls aged just 14 have had cosmetic surgery in order to escape being bullied at school.

Cosmetic surgeon and president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons Douglas McGeorge claimed he had adjusted a teenager‘s nose shape and performed breast enlargement procedures on other teens.

Mr McGeorge, who is a specialist in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, said some parents and children addressed him believing there were no other options to escape severe bullying. The surgeon did not think these procedures could be influenced by teenagers‘ wishes to look like celebrities they admired. ‘Children are very cruel and there’s a lot of stigma attached to appearance,’ said Mr McGeorge. However, charities against bullying claim that the bullies are the ones who need to change and not the ones that are bullied.

Mr McGeorge said he had already performed surgery on a 14-year-old girl’s nose costing around £3,500 after she was targeted over her appearance at three schools. Most plastic clinics do not agree to perform surgery on people who are younger than 18, but children are eligible to receive any medical treatment if their parents agree.

Mr McGeorge claimed that he was approached by the girl‘s parents as their last resort after none of the ways to stop the girl being harrassed had worked. The private surgeon said that the operation had completely changed the girl‘s life. ‘This was an unusual case, but the parents had been through every other option available before taking the decision,’ he added.

He said there have been cases when he was requested to perform breast enlargement procedures on young girls who were slower at developing sexually than other girls of the same age. They were given expandable breast implants to stop them from being harrassed.

To perform the procedure, the surgeons insert breast implants that work by slowly expanding the breast tissue. However, director of the charity Bullying UK Liz Carnell, said: ‘I don’t think bullying victims should be changing their appearance or anything about themselves to please the bullies. It is the bullies that have got the problem, not the victims.’

Director of children’s charity Kidscape Michelle Elliott was alarmed by the fact that young girls were requesting breast enlargement procedures. She said: ‘I can understand a child undergoing cosmetic surgery if there is something specifically wrong that needs correcting, regardless of the bullying, but not breast implants. That’s crazy.’

Last year, there has been a 150 per cent increase in teenagers demanding breast enlargement procedures.

Surgeons think that young girls choose surgical breast enlargement because of the influence of celebrities who have undergone plastic surgery in order to improve the  appearance of their bodies. Statistics gathered from three of UK‘s biggest cosmetic surgery companies reveal that just under 600 teenagers between 18 and 19 had breast implants fitted in the past year.

Just under a third of girls younger than 16 have claimed they would undergo surgery to look better.

In a survey conducted by Beat, an eating disorder charity organization, 40 per cent of girls under 16 said they were bullied due to their appearance.

Girls aged just nine and younger are promoted to look favourably at cosmetic surgery and diets on a website called Miss Bimbo. Young viewers can control the diet of online dolls as well as buy them breast operations and facelifts.

Jay Paine of Peterhead, Scotland, who is nine years old, had to beg his parents to remove a mole on his face surgically because of unbearable bullying at school.

Cosmetic surgery industry in the UK is predicted to reach a total of £1.81billion by 2011. A quarter of these spendings will be for breast enlargement procedures will for a quarter of that. Customers will soon be able to choose more natural surgery as stem cells research enables the use of body cells for cosmetic procedures.

Are dermal fillers an effective treatment for acne scarring?

It has been announced that a new research will be investigating the effectiveness of ArteFill, a non-resorbable dermal filler, as a treatment aimed at improving the condition of skin affected by acne scars.

The product is originally intended to treat smile wrinkles, but some specialists claim it could work just as well for non-invasive cosmetic procedures for treatment of acne scars.

Florida-based dermatologist Dr James Spencer will be conducting the research by using the filler on patients suffering from acne scars and calling them back in after one month to evaluate the results of the treatment.

Dr Spencer, who is also a professor of clinical dermatology at the Mt Sinai School of Medicine, added that the patients will be monitored for another year and the analysed results will be published in a cosmetic surgery journal.

“I use temporary fillers in my practice to treat acne scars and other types of scars,” claimed Dr Spencer. “Unfortunately, temporary fillers necessitate expensive repeat injections so a permanent dermal filler would be desirable to correct a permanent scar. “I’m using ArteFill in my medical practice for smile lines and I can now document the use of ArteFill for acne and other facial scars,” he said. This method could be useful to a number of patients who suffer from acne scars.