Archive for November, 2011

Temporary Rhinoplasty?

Monday, November 28th, 2011

A number of people have seen us over the past few years asking about the liquid or temporary rhinoplasty. Popularized by a dermatologist in California, it is essentially a technique of using injectable fillers to alter the shape of the nose.

If a patient has a bump on top of the nose the bump can be camouflaged by adding filler just above it. In some cases mild asymmetry can be improved. Eventually fillers will reabsorb and the procedure will have to be repeated.

I think it is a good option for people who are not ready to or healthy enough to consider rhinoplasty. It also allows a reversible change for people who don’t want to burn any bridges. Liquid rhinoplasty works by enlarging specific areas, while standard rhinoplasty can alter the underlying bony structure giving permanent changes.

If you are considering rhinoplasty, also known as nose surgery, contact our office today to schedule a consultation at one of our offices in Rockville, Maryland; Annapolis, Maryland; or McLean, Virginia.

Don’t try this at home

Monday, November 21st, 2011

This is a follow up to a blog I posed a few weeks ago about the pencil test. I am going to describe a sequence of operations that I really do not advocate but I hope makes sense when I describe it.

Every month or two, I will see a woman with a double D or more breasts who wants me to do a breast lift and give them gravity defying breasts. Now I can do a breast lift on just about any size breast. The problem is that if I lift a large and heavy breast that breast will go south again quite quickly. Heavy natural breast tissue will always respond to gravity and usually the patient does not want to be smaller (smaller breasts droop less).

So here’s how you create a gravity defying large breast… and please recall I generally do not recommend this to patients, but I hope the concept makes sense. First do an aggressive breast reduction and remove most of the natural breast tissue, the tissue that responds to gravity. Come back a few months later and then put in a large implant. The implant restores the volume and upper fullness and tends to defy gravity more than natural breast tissue.

When I do a breast lift with an implant I will often remove a moderate amount of tissue if the patient agrees for the reasons listed above. If an aggressive reduction is needed at the time of lift and augmentation, it is often safer to stage the two in order to preserve blood supply to the breast.

To make a breast smaller only to make it bigger kind of seems like the death of common sense to me but for some it may be the only option to achieve their goals. This is a very technical and difficult concept to get across for me.

If you want to know what’s right for you, or to set up a consultation then contact me and let’s chat.

Labioplasty- reducing the size of the Labia

Monday, November 14th, 2011

When I started performing Labioplasty a number of years ago I had no Idea how popular it would become. A patient once told me that she regretted not having had it done when she had her breast augmentation; she just didn’t know that I did it. Because of her I added a “while you’re at it” section to my D.C. breast webpage to point out surgeries that are commonly combined.

Labial tissue comes in all shapes and sizes. Some have more, others less. Common concerns patients share with me include a self consciousness during sexual activity, difficulty wearing certain clothing or swimwear and even discomfort with some athletics.

There are two basic types of Labioplasty and I perform both procedures. I believe both are good as long as the patient’s goals are accomplished. The labia minora is the most commonly reduced.

Straight excision simply cuts away the redundant tissue and leaves a straight narrower labial edge. It is the simplest and removes the most tissue. Some believe that it leaves an unnatural looking edge but I have not found this to be the case.

The other method involves removing a wedge or wedges of tissue which preserves the natural edge of the labia.

Labioplasty can be done under a local or general anesthesia. I am happy to show examples in consultation but I don’t put Labioplasty photos on the web. If you are interested in a Labioplasty then contact me to schedule a consultation.