Plastic Surgery,Skin Care,Cosmetic Surgery

Posts Tagged ‘Plastic Surgery Procedures’

If you are considering plastic surgery, one of the most important things you need to think about first is to find the right plastic surgeon for the procedure you need or want to have done.

While some decisions are as simple as opening up the Yellow Pages and calling around, finding a plastic surgeon is a much more complex process. Here are some things you should consider before you ever even book a consultation appointment.

Board Certification

You might be surprised to learn that any doctor can perform plastic surgery procedures, whether they are trained in plastic surgery or not. And, because performing these procedures can be a lucrative practice, there are many physicians out there who are enhancing and lifting and tucking who are not board certified to do so.

Any cosmetic surgeon you consider should be board certified in plastic surgery by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. You are advised to only consider having elective procedures performed by one who is certified by this board.

The Accreditation of Their Facilities

It is a common occurrence today for plastic surgeons to perform procedures in their offices or in places referred to as surgery centers. These two options offer the patient a reduced cost while offering the physician a more convenient way to manage their practice.

If you will be having your surgery in a doctor’s office or surgery center, make sure that it is accredited. For your own safety, you should only consider having plastic surgery in an accredited facility or local hospital.

Local Hospital Privileges

Even if you will be undergoing your procedure in a doctor’s office or surgery center, your physician should have operating room privileges at a local hospital for the procedure you will be having done.

For instance, if you will be having breast enhancement surgery, you should be able to contact a hospital in your local area and confirm that the physician you have chosen has operating room privileges there to perform breast enhancement surgery.

You want to make sure that the doctor you select is able to use a local operating room if they need to for some reason or if there is an unforeseen emergency.

The Plastic Surgeon’s Experience

In addition to board certification and hospital privileges, you need to take into consideration the experience of the doctor themselves. If you will be having a tummy tuck, then you want to select a plastic surgeon who has performed as many tummy tucks as possible.

You can usually obtain this information by asking the office staff how many of a specific procedure the plastic surgeon has performed. By considering the experience of the physician, you can ensure that your procedure will be performed by the most skilled hands possible.

By taking into consideration the skills and experience of your plastic surgeon, their hospital privileges, their facility accreditation, and their board certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, you can ensure that a plastic surgeon is worthy of scheduling a consultation with for the plastic surgery procedures you are interested in. Your goal is to find a plastic surgeon who can be your partner in reaching your aesthetic goals, and to be worthy of it, she must fulfill all of the above requirements.

The non-cosmetic clinical indications for the use of breast implants are for breast reconstruction, sex reassignment surgery, and for abnormalities, usually congenital, that affect the shape and size of the breast. Non-clinical indications, which are the most common reason women get breast implants, are considered cosmetic and are not covered by any health insurers. And of all the breast plastic surgery procedures performed in 2006 in the United States, 329,000 were for breast augmentations.

Back in 1962 the first woman was implanted with silicone implants. There are two primary types of breast implants: saline-filled and silicone-gel-filled implants

Doctors Thomas Cronin and Frank Gerow, two Houston, Texas, plastic surgeons, developed the first silicone breast prosthesis with the Dow Corning Corporation in back in 1961. Current saline implant devices are manufactured with thicker, room temperature vulcanized shells. There have been several types of breast implants developed other than the two most common, saline filled and silicone gel filled, including polypropylene string and soy oil, but these are not commonly used, if at all; leakage of oil into the body during a rupture would not be good..

Because the saline implants are empty when they are surgically inserted, the scar is smaller than is necessary than for the silicone gel breast implants which are already filled with silicone before they are placed. Saline-filled implants are the most common implant used in the United States due to some restrictions on silicone implants. This may change. They are seldom ever used in other countries. Silicone gel implants have a silicone shell and are filled with a viscous type silicone gel.

An intracapsular rupture can progress to outside the capsule, called an extracapsular rupture, and it is generally agreed that both conditions indicate the need for removal of the implant. Since the early 1990s, a number of independent reviewers have examined studies concerning links between silicone gel breast implants and systemic diseases and the consensus of these reviews is that there is no clear evidence of a causal link between the implantation of silicone breast implants in breast plastic surgery and systemic disease. It is always good to know who is funding these studies and that should clearly be stated.

Countries outside the United States have not endorsed routine MRI screening, and have taken the position that MRI’s should be reserved only for cases involving suspected clinical rupture or to confirm mammographic or ultrasound studies that suggest rupture.

When silicone implants rupture they rarely ever deflate, and the silicone from the implant can leak out into the intracapsular space around the implant. Thousands of women claim to have become ill from their breast implants. These complaints include neurological and rheumatological problems. When breast implants are removed that have been implanted for a long period of time, a mastopexy is often performed to tighten up the loose skin. This is additional surgery usually done at the same time and at an additional expense.

One study reported that only 30% of ruptures in asymptomatic patients are accurately detected by experienced plastic surgeons, compared to 86% that were detected by MRI. The age and design of the implant is an important factor in rupture, but estimating rupture rates of contemporary devices has been difficult for a variety of reasons, mainly because implant designs have changed somewhat over time.

Local complications that happen with breast implants include post-operative bleeding, fluid collections, surgical site infection, breast pain, alterations in nipple sensation, interference with breast feeding, visible wrinkling, asymmetric appearance, wound dehiscence with potential implant exposure, thinning of the breast tissue, and disruption of the natural plane between the breasts.

Manufacturers and doctors are required to let women know that implants are not permanent devices and that most recipients will probably need additional surgery to replace or remove their implants.

And make sure the plastic surgeon you choose, if you decide to do so, is board certified. Some doctors in specialties other than plastic surgery, like dermatologists, perform breast plastic surgery like breast augmentation. Choose a board certified plastic surgeon instead. And it’s just a reminder that breast augmentation is an elective cosmetic breast plastic surgery. Make sure to be aware of all the risks and complications and ask others who have implants for an honest evaluation of their experience.