Posts Tagged ‘Virginia’

Hair on Hair off

Monday, February 13th, 2012

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. In one room in our facility we spend our days putting in hair, and in another room just down the hall we take it off. Who’d of thunk?

Hair transplantation has become ever increasingly popular. So why don’t you see more people who have had it done? You probably do but you just don’t know it, both men and women. It looks that good. The days of big hair plugs, dolls head results and grand surgeries are largely gone. The state of the art is called microfollulicular grafting, basically putting in one hair at a time. It’s a daylong procedure done under a local anesthesia. Hair is taken form the back of the head and planted to restore the area of concern. The goal is to create a normal looking and age appropriate hairline. You must have an area where the hair can be harvested from and depending on the amount of hair loss you may need one or more sessions.

Laser and pulsed light technologies continue to be the mainstay for hair reduction. With the introduction of cooling technologies, better crystals and tunable flashlamps the number of patients who can achieve success has grown. Hair removal technology is imperfect. Hair grows in and out at different stages and cycles in our lives and some skin types do better than others, but for the right candidate the results can be dramatic and long lasting.

If you are interested in hair removal or an evaluation by the hair restoration group please contact us or give us a call.

PIP and safety of Breast implants

Monday, January 16th, 2012

Recently a French manufacturer of silicone breast implants, Poly Implant Prothèse or PIP, came under Investigation by the French government for using low grade silicone in their silicone gel breast implants. The French have recommended that patients with these implants have them removed and replaced as a preventive, but not urgent matter.

These breast implants are not approved for use in the United States and I have never used them in my practice. The concern is only relevant for patients who have had breast augmentation outside the United States.

The only gel breast implants approved for use in the United States are manufactured by American companies and adhere to strict quality and manufacturing requirements.

The FDA requires extensive bio-compatibility testing on all its breast implants as described in their administration’s Summary of Safety and Effectiveness Data. These guidelines have resulted in silicone shells that have been tested and shown to possess excellent strength, resilience and elasticity.

If you have any concerns or questions about what is going on in France please do not hesitate to contact our office. If you had breast augmentation surgery outside the U.S. and would like to remove or replace your gel breast implants just please let us know.

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.

Adam and Eve do Plastic Surgery!

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

I wasn’t looking for it and I didn’t even really think about it until a few weeks after Eve Pandit joined our team. A patient brought the irony to my attention. Yes, together with my Physician assistant we have become Adam and Eve.

So who is Eve? I could tell you about her amazing credentials and her extensive experience in the field of plastic surgery, but she is so very much more than that to me.

She is a good person, a fine and kind and gentle human being with a soul a mile wide. She is my right arm, my closest and trusted advisor and sounding board. She is the kind of person I am proud to have in my practice and proud to have helping care for my patients. She is a passionate and compassionate mother. I feel very lucky to have her.

But what I think may be unimportant, is what my patients think that counts the most. For those of you who know her you know that it’s all true. She has a gentle touch whether it is with Botox, filers or microdermabrasion. The advice she gives is honest and heartfelt and it has won her the trust of countless patients. She is an artist with fillers. It is a case of the student exceeding the master.

So if you have been considering plastic surgery, fillers or Botox and you would like to meet Eve (and Adam) feel free to contact us!