Is Plastic Surgery Right for You?

With today’s cultural emphasis on health, longevity and wellness, cosmetic surgery has become a popular accepted extension of improving one’s self image.
At a press conference on “Redefining Vanity”, a social psychologist at Stanford University described a new world in which plastic surgery is acceptable and unstigmatized; a world in which it is “healthy” to do whatever it takes to feel better about yourself. It is a world in which “women and men are increasingly pro-choice about appearance enhancement.”
Women generally do not list aging, career advancement, or attracting a mate as their primary motivation for cosmetic surgery – the top reason given by most women is to feel better about themselves. Cosmetic surgery today is not just about self as in ‘selfish’. It’s about self as in ‘self-worth’, ‘self-confidence’ and ‘self-fulfilling’. To suggest that changing one’s looks can profoundly affect the quality of one’s life is extreme; however, small details of our appearance can be critical determinants of how well we do in our personal life, interactions amongst friends and our professional life.
The circumstances for each individual will be unique. While making the decision whether or not one is a good candidate for cosmetic surgery, it is important to consider the following: nasal surgery will never cure depression, a tummy tuck will not secure a job for which one is not qualified, and a breast reduction will never make your parents or boyfriend love you more.

What cosmetic surgery can provide is the combination of a self-confidence boost and the edge that good looks confer in this society. Potential patients who seem seriously depressed or looking for a quick-fix or impossible results should consider other means for addressing issues that surgical intervention could never resolve. Some patients will take heed in this advice while others will continue to look for a surgeon willing to perform the “quick-fix”. However, the vast majority of people who want a breast augmentation, nasal surgery or liposuction are not emotionally unstable or selfish people. They are realistic women who think a smaller nose, slimmer thighs, or bigger breasts will make them feel good about themselves and be noticed and approved by others.
Can plastic surgery change your life? Yes. Will it? That depends on several factors, most notably: what you look like, what you think you look like, and what aspect of your life needs changing. If your answers point toward having cosmetic surgery, go for it – and focus on how wonderful the new you is going to feel.
Sources: cosmetic surgery

In Honor of Kanye's Mom, Lawmakers Push for Stricter Plastic Surgery Rules

SACRAMENTO — Six months after Kanye West's mother died following liposuction and breast surgery, two state lawmakers are pushing for greater protections for cosmetic surgery patients.

Such surgeries are increasingly carried out in outpatient clinics, where doctors can avoid the type of rigorous review they would expect at traditional hospitals.

"These (clinics) are not hospitals," state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development, told the Los Angeles Times in a story printed Monday. "You have to raise the standards."

Though California has previously pushed to regulate outpatient surgical centers and legislators passed a law saying such centers must be accredited by a state-recognized agency, Ridley-Thomas said the law has been ineffective. He has proposed legislation requiring regular inspections.

Known as SB 1454, his legislation would require outpatient facilities to be inspected at least once every three years.

Another lawmaker is also pushing for new protections.

Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter said Donda West's niece asked her to introduce a bill requiring a health check before a person chooses to have cosmetic surgery. She introduced the "Donda West Law" in February.

West, 58, died at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Nov. 10, a day after she underwent breast reduction, tummy tuck and liposuction procedures.

She had been sent home following

her 5 1/2-hour surgery. A coroner's autopsy report found that West most likely died of heart disease coupled with complications after plastic surgery. But, it said the exact cause of death couldn't be known.

Dr. Jan Adams, who operated on West, has denied any wrongdoing.

California is not alone in seeking to increase oversight of cosmetic surgery doctors. Florida has passed a law designed to educate patients about their doctor's credentials and in the Canadian province of Ontario, officials are clamping down after a woman died following liposuction.

Source: News

Cosmetic Skin Fillers May Cause Delayed Side Effects

Cosmetic skin fillers called polyalkylimide implant injections may cause infrequent, but sometimes severe, immune-related side effects months after treatment, Spanish researchers warn.

These implants, which consist of gel and water, are used in cosmetic procedures for facial features such as the lips, cheeks, forehead and lines that develop between the nose and mouth (nasolabial folds).

"In the early reports on polyalkylimide implant injections for cosmetic purposes, there were no significant signs of bioincompatibility (rejection of, or reaction to, the foreign material). However, more recent evidence refutes these statements, and so the complete safety of polyalkylimide implant gels can no longer be assured," wrote Dr. Jaume Alijotas-Reig, of Vall d'Hebron University Hospital and Autonomous University of Barcelona, and colleagues.

They assessed 25 patients who developed adverse effects 12 months or more after polyalkylimide implant injection. The problems included swelling, hardening, and swollen or tender nodules (skin lesions) near the injection site, along with systemic troubles such as fever, arthritis, and dry eyes or mouth.

"Eight patients were previously injected with another implant," the study authors wrote. "Tender inflammatory nodules were seen in 24 patients. Systemic or distant manifestations appeared in six cases. Laboratory abnormalities were found in 20 cases. After an average of 21.3 months of follow-up, 11 patients appeared to be free of adverse effects, and 10 still had recurrent bouts."

The actual rate of these kinds of delayed adverse events is unclear, said the authors, whose findings were published in the May issue of the journal Archives of Dermatology.

"Considering the increased use of polyalkylimide implants in European countries and in the United States, physicians should be aware that intermediate or delayed adverse effects can occur with polyalkylimide implants just as they can with collagen, polyacrylamide, polylactic acid or methacrylate (cosmetic fillers)," the authors wrote.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration have more about cosmetic procedures.

New rules loom in cosmetic surgery

Ontario doctors could soon face stringent guidelines preventing general practitioners from performing high-risk cosmetic surgical procedures - including facelifts, tummy tucks and liposuction - after the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons meets to approve two sweeping regulatory changes today.

The vote comes nearly seven months after 32-year-old real-estate agent and mother Krista Stryland died following a liposuction procedure performed by a family physician who advertised herself as a cosmetic surgeon.

One of the new regulatory amendments would bar doctors from using the title "surgeon" unless they are formally certified as such by the provincial body or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

A second amendment would end the popular practice of doctors advertising medical specializations for which they are not formally accredited.

Contravention of these rules would constitute professional misconduct, which is subject to disciplinary proceedings.

Ontario's plastic surgeons, who train for five years in residency before being certified, have long complained that general practitioners who call themselves "cosmetic surgeons" confuse and endanger patients. The college does not recognize the term as a formal specialty.

In April of last year, the Ontario college heeded those protests and embarked on a review of the booming, and largely unrestricted, field of cosmetic surgery. At a meeting that month, council members admitted that rapid growth in the field had outpaced their ability to regulate it. The body realized it had no way of knowing who was performing cosmetic procedures or whether they were qualified to do so.

In its annual membership renewal survey, the college found that the number of physicians performing cosmetic procedures increased 150 per cent between 2002 and 2006.

After Ms. Stryland's death drew wide media attention to the free-for-all field last September, the college fast-tracked its review.During a November meeting, the college revealed that it was investigating 16 physicians who were routinely performing operations for which they may not have been formally accredited.

Investigations of those physicians are continuing, said Kathryn Clarke, a spokeswoman for the regulatory body.

Critics said the college wasn't acting fast enough.

"In hindsight, you might have wished you moved faster," Ms. Clarke said. "We are now moving as quickly as we can, but in a very thorough fashion."

The regulatory body took its first major step toward clamping down on cosmetic surgery in February, moving ahead with the creation of an inspection system for out-of-hospital facilities such as surgical clinics.

Previously, surgical clinics such as the one where Ms. Stryland underwent liposuction were not subject to any form of regulation, according to the college.

The inspections will not apply to minor "lump and bump" procedures performed under local anesthetic in doctors' offices.

The college has been circulating versions of the proposed amendments since November and is expected to approve them today. They would then be passed along to the provincial government for final assent, a process with an indefinite timeline, according to Ms. Clarke.

"These are very big changes and very positive changes," she said.

Source: www.theglobeandmail.com