The Health Blog

Cosmetic surgery is common for people who have low self-esteem due to their looks. With cosmetic surgery, you can change just about any part of your body to achieve the appearance you want, whether you goal is to look younger, more like a certain celebrity, or just more beautiful according to society’s standards. Cosmetic surgery has helped lots of people regain confidence, and it can do the same for you. There are a number of different procedures that can be done. One kind of procedure that will change your look is facial implant surgery.

Facial implants can help people who are looking for a more balanced look to their faces. As humans, we see beauty in balance, and so if your face appears sunken or otherwise unbalanced, you will look tired and old. Facial implants won’t make your face perfect, but if you have realistic expectations, you will like what you see after the procedure.

Remember that facial implants are inserted under your skin in surgery, and no surgery comes without risk. Your body needs time to get used to the foreign materials in your face, and can sometimes attack the implants, as your immune system would with a foreign disease. Infection is also a possibility, and there are also the changes that you will react adversely to the anesthetics or bleed abnormally while on the operating table. Make sure you and your doctor talk about these risks before you have facial implant surgery.

When you initially approach a doctor about facial implant surgery, he or she should be able to digitally use a picture of your face to show you’re the changes that will be made. Make sure that you are very clear as to what you want done. Chin surgery is common to balance out the chin and the forehead. This is a quick procedure that rarely lasts longer than an hour. The same is true for cheek implants, which are also popular, and which many do in conjunction with a face lift, eyelid surgery, or brow lift. Lower jaw implants can also be done, and although this process take a bit longer, it is still something that can be done in a few hours in the afternoon and you can go home afterwards.

After your surgery, people will probably notice that your face looks younger and healthier, but most will not know why or be able to guess you’ve had surgery. Healing takes a few weeks, but then you’ll be able to go back to work or school with confidence.

Preparing for any type of surgery is an unenviable and tedious process. You must make sure you have everything ready and your body in tip-top shape. While preparing for LASIK eye surgery may not be quite as difficult, there are some things you need to prepare for before LASIK.

You definitely need to stop wearing your contact lenses in the weeks leading up to your consultation before LASIK. Since the surgery is dependent on the shape and measurement of your cornea you must let it regain its shape. Lenses sometimes reshape the cornea themselves, causing problems with LASIK. Here are some FDA recommendations based on your contact lenses:

• Soft contact lenses should be removed and not worn for at least two weeks prior to your LASIK evaluation.
• Rigid gas permeable lenses should be removed and not worn for at least three weeks prior to LASIK evaluation.
• Hard lenses should be removed and not worn for at least four weeks prior to LASIK evaluation.

When you meet the doctor to discuss LASIK eye surgery you should let him know a few things about yourself. Let the doctor know about any past or present medical and eye conditions as well as all medications you are taking or are allergic to. It is important that you disclose all of this to your doctor before deciding if LASIK is right for you.

Do you have unwanted hair that you would like to have removed?  If so, you may be interested in learning more about laser hair removal.  Laser hair removal, like all other cosmetic surgery procedures does have its pros and cons.

What many men and women like best about laser hair removal is that the procedure is often considered to be permanent.  It honestly depends on how well the job was performed.  By taking the time to find a qualified laser surgeon and by following all recovery instructions, you shouldn’t have to worry about waxing, shaving, or hiding your unwanted hair anymore. 

Another pro or plus side to laser hair removal is that there are little to no side effects.  Most individuals will experience a small amount of pain and discomfort, but it is often minimal when compared to other cosmetic procedures.  Many also say that laser hair removal is similar to undergoing a waxing procedure.  Ask your laser surgeon about the recovery process, like what to do if you experience pain and discomfort.  What steps should be taken?  Typically, you will find that moisturizing creams, ice packs, and over-the-counter pain medications work best.

The long-term costs are another reason why laser hair removal is a popular choice for men and women, just like yourself.  At first glance, the cost of laser hair removal may seem quite high, but it is important to remember that the procedure is long-term.  This means that you don’t have to spend money on over-the-counter hair removers, shavers and shaving creams, and no more expensive and painful waxing procedures. 

Although there are a number of pros or plus sides to undergoing laser hair removal, there are also a number of cons or downsides to doing so as well.  One of those is that multiple treatment sessions are needed.  As for how many you will have, it will depend on a number of factors. These factors include your gender, skin tone, and the area where work is being performed.  Typically, you will find that three to five sessions is the norm.

Have you recently decided that you would like to have cosmetic surgery? Whether you are looking to undergo a surgical facelift, a tummy tuck, breast enlargements or reductions, or if you are looking to remove wrinkles and slow the signs of aging, you will need to find a cosmetic surgery center.

As for how you can go about finding a local cosmetic surgery center, you have a number of different options. Those options include performing a standard internet search with your location and the phrase “cosmetic surgery,” examining online business directories, using your local phone book, or asking those that you know for recommendations.

Now that you know just a few of the many ways that you can go about finding a local cosmetic surgery center, it is important to know that you need to do more than that. Finding a cosmetic surgery center just isn’t good enough; you need to choose one. Why? Because cosmetic surgery can be dangerous and tricky, especially if it is performed by someone with less than stellar qualifications and experience.

So, what should you look for in a quality cosmetic surgery center? For starters, you will want to examine location. Those who wish to undergo cosmetic surgery either go two ways. One, they want to find a local surgery center that is easy and convenient to visit. Second, they want to find the cheapest cosmetic surgery center, even if it means traveling abroad. Depending on where you live, you should be able to find a top-notch cosmetic surgeon within an hour or two of your home.

When looking to choose a cosmetic surgery center, the procedures performed should be examined. What is nice about choosing a cosmetic surgery center, as opposed to one surgeon with a private practice is that you often gain access to the most services and procedures. A cosmetic surgery center is likely to perform a wide range of procedures, even those that involve the use of lasers. With that said, be sure to call ahead and verify first. Also, know that if you are looking to improve your smile, by way of your teeth, a cosmetic dentist should be visited.

Now, that was gross! Some may say, but as a medical student, hearing that makes me thrilled and amazed. How can it even be possible to remove an appendix through the mouth? As a medical student, I was used to removing the appendix through a small abdominal incision and laparoscopic surgery. Just recently, an experimental surgery of removing the patient’s appendix through the mouth was performed by some US surgeons, first of such surgery in the US.

Last week, surgeons at the University of California San Diego’s Center for the Future of Surgery performed the highly experimental operation, which involved guiding surgical instruments through the mouth, down the esophagus, and into the stomach with a tube-like device known as a flexible endoscope.

Jeff Scholz, a 40-year old former Marine of San Diego, was the first person in the U.S. to try the surgical procedure. He reported that he felt very little pain after the surgery and he recovered within a few days.

The procedure is known as Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES). It is less invasive that laparoscopic surgery because only one small incision is needed to insert a small camera in the belly button to complete the surgery vs. three incisions required for a laparoscopic procedure.

The procedure’s safety is of major concern. Researches are further needed to prove the safety of NOTES.

Source:  WebMD

Since the introduction of LASIK laser eye surgery in the early 1990’s, millions of nearsighted patients have willingly opted to undergo the knife and laser treatment in order to correct their eyesight and reduce their need for glasses and contact lenses. While there is plenty of agreement on the short-term benefits of LASIK surgery, the big unknown has been whether the results of LASIK surgery would last long-term. The results of a newly published study should be reassuring for all LASIK patients, which reports favorable long-term outcomes of LASIK laser eye surgery.

The LASIK case study, which was published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology, was completed by researchers from the Miquel Hernandez University Medical School in Spain . Following over one hundred LASIK patients over a ten year period, it is one of the largest and longest follow-up studies ever done on LASIK outcomes. The study showed that there was a very low rate of complications and a high rate of satisfaction with the LASIK procedure in the long-term.

LASIK (laser in-situ keratomileusis) is the most popular type of laser eye surgery for treating myopia, or nearsightedness. The LASIK procedure is a two step process. The first step is to cut a corneal flap. The second step is to reshape the corneal tissue exposed by the flap with an excimer laser to correct vision.

I have amblyopia and my consultant in ophthalmology said that I can have a LASIK treatment to correct it.

What should I consider before undergoing LASIK treatment

Risk-taking: One requirement before LASIK treatment is conditioning yourself to undergo the procedure. There are unavoidable complications in a percentage of patients, and there are no long-term data available for current procedures.

Costs: This procedure is costly. One has to have adequate monetary funds for the procedure itself, the preoperative and postoperative medications. Most medical insurance will not pay for refractive surgery, so cost could be an issue.

Sports and Activity: People who actively participate in contact sports like boxing, wrestling, martial arts or other activities in which blows to the face and eyes are a normal occurrence are not good candidates for the treatment. In my case, I was a member of a Karate-do club but since I entered medical school, I had to stop.