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Michael J. Will, MD, DDS, FACS
Maryland (301) 874-1707

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Tyra Banks Open to Cosmetic Surgery

Tyra Banks isn’t afraid to express how she feels — especially when it comes to the beauty industry.

Believe it or not, Banks admits to being bullied for her looks as a young girl.

“I was very much teased as a kid for my forehead, and even on the internet,” Banks shared.

When recently asked her opinion about cosmetic surgery, an oftentimes controversial subject in the Hollywood scene, the host of “America’s Next Top Model” said she thinks it’s “absolutely fantastic” but not necessarily the right choice for everyone.

The former model went on to say “I hate when models say ‘Oh, plastic surgery is just a wrong thing.'”

“What’re you talking about? You won the genetic lottery,” she went on. “You look like this specimen that’s making people everywhere feel insecure and you’re going to ridicule someone for getting plastic surgery?”

So is Banks planning to go under the knife?

While she’s certainly open to the idea of cosmetic enhancement, Banks hasn’t admitted to any recent surgeries, though she anticipates there may come a time in the future.

“I’m very lucky,” Banks said. “Black people and Asian people have similar (strong) skin… But if one day I have wrinkles and I don’t like it, I don’t know if I’ll cut myself but maybe… a little Botox, fillers?

Other celebrities who have admitted to being open to cosmetic surgery

Though cosmetic surgery is often a very hush-hush topic in Hollywood, some other stars have admitted to being open to the idea of cosmetic surgery including:

  • Diane Keaton
  • Scarlett Johansson
  • Jennifer Lopez

Source: Yahoo Singapore

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Cosmetic Surgery Fixes Patients’ Stretched Earlobes

Cosmetic surgery is being used to reverse gauging, which is where the earlobes are deliberately stretched and widened. Msnbc.com reports that ear surgery, also known as otoplasty, is being requested by patients who regret having their lobes stretched.

Ear surgery is often requested by people looking for a new job and going on job interviews, according to Dr. Angelo Cuzalina, a cosmetic surgeon in Tulsa and president-elect of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery.

“It’s almost becoming a fad. People have the gauging procedure where they gradually stretch out their lobe so it has a giant hole that’s larger than a quarter,” says Dr. Cuzalina. “But then they want to join the workforce and think their chances for a job might be better if they didn’t have this.”

Plastic surgeon Dr. Brian Glatt, who does surgery for those who want their lobes reconstructed, says he is seeing more young people who gauged their ears as teens but are now outgrowing the trend.

The basics steps to the earlobe surgery, according to Dr. Cuzalina, are: the surgeons remove small strips of skin from the bottom of the lobe; the edges of the lobe are stitched back together; and then skin tissue is used to re-create the shape of a normal ear lobe.

The patient should be able to wear regular earrings after a few months; the procedure will probably result in some scarring, but overall the earlobe should look normal, says Dr. Cuzalina.

“It’s not a really painful operation to have done, but you may never get the lobe back to its original shape,” he says. “But more people are doing it. It usually takes some change in a person’s life to force them to come in and get the surgery.”

Dr. Will performs ear surgery in his Ijamsville, Maryland cosmetic surgery practice.

Rash of “Beauty Bandits” may be Due to Economy

A woman dubbed the “Beauty Bandit” who received over $3,000 worth of Botox and dermal fillers in a Fort Lauderdale cosmetic dermatology center and then disappeared after telling staff she had to get cash at a nearby ATM,  was recently arrested.

While this might sound like an oddity, it’s apparently becoming more common. Msnbc.com recently reported on these “cosmetic criminals” who undergo Botox, dermal fillers, and other beauty treatments and then leave without paying. The cosmetic criminals usually use a fake name and information on intake forms, and then spend hours getting a consultation and treatment. When it’s time to pay, they may write a bad check or make a run for it—saying they need to use the restroom or get their checkbook from the car.

Other beauty bandits have been reported in Newport Beach, Calif.; Port St. Lucie, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.; Brisbane, Australia and Kenton, England.

According to msnbc.com, some surgeons point to the bad economy as a factor, as well as the perceived “necessity” of cosmetic procedures as the motivation behind these crimes.

Dr. Jon Grazer, a Newport Beach plastic surgeon who was hit by a Botox bandit last year, says that Botox is no longer a luxury. “It’s something people have to have, and if they can’t afford it because of the economy, I think it’s going to push them to get it by whatever means they can.”

Dr. Samir Pancholi, who practices cosmetic surgery and facial plastic surgery in Las Vegas has had it happen several times. “The first time, it was a woman in her 50s who came in and got treatment, then said, ‘My purse is in the car, I’ll go grab it and be right back.’ Then she was gone.”

How are cosmetic centers responding? Some practices hit by criminals are changing their payment rules, such as requiring all new patients to pay upfront.

Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Grows Among Minorities

The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery has released a new survey about minorities’ attitudes toward plastic surgery, which revealed that over half of the respondents think the popularity of cosmetic surgery has grown among members of their racial/ethnic group in the last five years.

Cosmetic surgery is most popular among Asians (31.4 percent of respondents), followed by Hispanics (27.4) and African-Americans (18.8). About a quarter of respondents said they knew someone of the same racial/ethnic background who has had cosmetic surgery.

“Cosmetic surgery is en vogue no matter who you are,” said Dr. Mark Berman, President of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery. “Feeling better about yourself and making improvements to your looks is thankfully not limited to a specific race or culture.”

The survey found the top invasive procedure for Asian respondents was facelift; for Hispanics it was tummy tuck; and African-Americans surveyed chose liposuction as their top procedure.

More than 30 percent of those surveyed said they would look for a cosmetic surgeon of the same race/ethnicity as themselves; however, over half (56.6 percent) said they thought it would be difficult to find such a surgeon.

When asked to identify reasons that would affect their decision to get cosmetic surgery, cost was the most-cited reason by Hispanics. Asians were more likely to say because of “stigma” or “not interested.” African-Americans were more likely to select “don’t need it” as a reason.

Dr. Will is is a Fellow and Trustee of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and performs cosmetic surgery at his practice in Frederick County, Maryland.

How to Stay Slim Throughout the Summer

Summer can be an especially hard time to keep a slim figure, and if you’re worried about regaining the belly that you just got rid of, don’t stop reading! While many of us would like to believe that the summer is full of calorie-incinerating activities like running up mountains and white-water rafting, the truth is that we often set aside our adventurous side for lying out in the sun and eating pound after pound of junk food and sugary sodas and cocktails. If you have recently undergone a tummy tuck or a weight loss procedure, don’t worry, we’re here to help you maintain your sexy new figure throughout the long and lazy dog days of summer.

Be a picky eater

A large majority of the most popular summer foods are among the worst things that you could be putting into your body. Foods like potato and macaroni salads may taste delicious, but despite the word salad being in the name, these foods are incredibly high in saturated fats and can really start to pile the fat on your belly before you know it. With all the street fairs that come through in the summer, food like churros, elephant ears, chicken, and anything else you can imagine being deep fried will be hard to avoid. Imagine all that grease and oil ending up in your body.  Not good. Avoiding foods high in sodium and carbonated drinks will also help you to keep your belly from bloating up like a balloon. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but these foods are not worth the damage that they can do to not only your figure, but your health as well. We often forget how delicious a slice of watermelon or nice corn-on-the-cob can be during the summer. And if you’re craving a sweet beverage, drop some fruit into a bottle of water and let it sit in your fridge overnight. Your belly and your health will thank you!

The Two C’s: Cardio & Crunches

It is important to stay physically active during the summer, but you have to get clever with your routine. You can do hundreds upon hundreds of crunches a day, but if you’re not pairing the abdominal exercises with cardio, you will not be efficiently burning the fat away and preventing it from sitting on top of your abs. It is important to consistently incinerate the fat with cardio while building muscle with crunches or sit-ups if you want to maintain a sexy, toned belly.

Stay consistent

Maintaining a flat belly requires a lot of dedication. As we get older, our metabolism slows down, and it becomes more and more important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Now that you have the body that you have been wanting, it is important to follow these steps in order to keep your belly looking slim and smooth. While a tummy tuck or a weight loss treatment can help you to achieve a flat stomach, it is important to remember to stick to a healthy lifestyle afterwards as well in order to maintain the figure that you desire.

How Much Could Cosmetic Maintenance Cost Over a Lifetime?

A special report titled “The Beauty Advantage” on Newsweek‘s website includes “The Beauty Breakdown,” an interactive feature that estimates what a lifetime of cosmetic maintenance will cost a “modern diva.”

Gathering data from a number of sources, such as the Professional Beauty Association and Allure magazine, it looks at beauty costs for American women from their early teens through age 50 plus for treatments for the hair, face, body, and hands/feet. The lifetime total cost it comes up with: $449,127.

For those in their 30s and 40s, it included facial treatments like microdermabrasion, Botox, and lip plumping and body treatments such as varicose vein treatments and waxing, in addition to hair care, tanning, manicures, and pedicures. For women in the 50 plus age range, chemical peels and deep line wrinkle fillers were added to the facial regimen.

The lifetime total spent on the face was estimated at just over $314,000—more than treatments on hair, the body, and hands and feet combined.

The feature argues that spending money on these treatments may not be “frivolous.”

“Economists have long recognized what’s been dubbed the ‘beauty premium’—the idea that pretty people, whatever their aspirations, tend to do better in, well, almost everything. Handsome men earn, on average, 5 percent more than their less-attractive counterparts (good-looking women earn 4 percent more),” writes Jessica Bennett in the article “The Beauty Advantage” on Newsweek.com.

A Newsweek survey of 202 corporate hiring managers found that:

  • 56 percent said qualified but unattractive candidates are likely to have a harder time getting a job
  • More than half recommended spending as much time and money on “making sure they look attractive” as on perfecting a résumé
  • When asked to rate nine character attributes in order of importance for job applicants, looks came in third, behind experience and confidence, but before where an applicant went to school

(image via Newsweek.com)

New Website Aims to Cover All Things Beauty

Project Beauty is a new beauty website launched this week by the ASAPS that aims to help consumers navigate all the information available on beauty products and procedures by answering questions such as:

  • What treatments work?
  • Which treatments don’t work?
  • How can you tell if a product is legitimate or just marketing hype?

Project Beauty is a video news magazine that “features a ‘who’s who’ list of experts on fashion, makeup, and skincare as well as news and first person stories on all things related to aesthetic surgery,” according to the ASAPS press release. The content includes videos, blog entries, and forums.

Videos cover a range of beauty topics, including hair, makeup, nutrition, fashion, skin care, and cosmetic surgery. Current videos include:

  • Staying Fit While Away from Home
  • The Dr. Gets a Facelift
  • How to Apply Perfect Day Make-up
  • A Very Personal Decision: Breast Augmentation

To kickoff the launch of Project Beauty, the site is hosting a month-long giveaway contest called “30 Days of Beauty.” Each day from July 6, 2010 to August 4, 2010, Project Beauty will offer one prize, such as a Sonicare toothbrush or SmashBox cosmetics, per day. To win, you just join the Project Beauty Community and enter daily to win the prize of the day.

To join the Project Beauty community, sign up at www.projectbeauty.com. Project Beauty also launched a social media campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Mentor’s Breast Augmentation Tool Helps Patients Envision Implants

Brooke Burke-CharvetA new online interactive tool allows you to upload and manipulate your own photos to see how you would look after breast augmentation.

The New You Visualizer tool is part of a new educational campaign launched by breast implant maker Mentor that features former Dancing With the Stars winner and host Brooke Burke-Charvet. It is available on the Love Your Look website and allows you to:

  • Securely upload your own photo and make adjustments for implant size, shape and lift.
  • Create personalized before and after images that show your new look with breast implants.
  • Save your results to review or adjust later.
  • Share your simulated breast augmentation results with friends and your surgeon.

Burke-Charvet, who is a mom of four, had her breast augmentation in her 20s. Through the campaign, she says she’s promoting the education of women to make a healthy choice. “All of the information you’ll find at Love Your Look is designed to help women in that decision-making process, encouraging them to have a great relationship with their doctor and ask a lot of questions and really educate themselves,” she says.

If you’re considering cosmetic surgery it’s important to make an informed decision, stresses Burke-Charvet. “Women are bombarded with information about breast augmentation, but don’t get the answer they really want, specifically ‘How will I look afterward?’ I love that the New You Visualizer empowers women to inform themselves,” she says.

Mentor’s goal for the campaign, according to president David Wilson, is to “enable a better conversation between a woman and her doctor so she can achieve the best results possible.”

You can share the images with your surgeon at your breast augmentation consultation, where you’ll discuss all aspects of the procedure, including implant type and size.

If you’re interested in breast augmentation in Frederick County, Maryland, contact Dr. Will’s office to set up a consultation.

Sources: PR Newswire, BabyCenter

Cosmetic Surgery for Dads isn’t Taboo

The “mommy makeover” phenomenon, where new moms get several cosmetic procedures (typically a breast augmentation, tummy tuck, and/or breast lift) helps women return their bodies to their pre-pregnancy shape.

And while women make up the majority of plastic surgery patients, men—some of them dads—turn to plastic surgery to enhance their appearance as well. According to 2009 statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), men received 13 percent of all cosmetic surgical procedures and 9 percent of all cosmetic minimally-invasive procedures performed last year in the United States.

Bill Neville, 52, a father of a four-year-old son, recently shared his plastic surgery story with reporter Elise Morgan of WHNT NEWS 19 in Huntsville, Alabama. Neville began to worry about how old he looked. “He’s going to start t-ball, swimming, and I don’t want to be out there with the rest of the dads and have them looking at me like, ‘Hey! Grandpa is out here to watch his grandson!'” he said.

While changes in his diet and exercise helped, he decided to get cosmetic surgery as well. “Just rolling back the clock a bit on this turkey gobbler and possibly getting the skin off my eyelids would be great,” he said before the surgeries.

Neville’s surgeries included his eyelids, a facelift, a neck lift, laser resurfacing of his skin, and injections to fill in wrinkles. “I was hoping not to look real “plasticky” and stretched, and I don’t think I do,” said Neville. “I think it looks real natural and everyone I’ve talked to thinks it looks great.”

According to ASPS statistics,the top 5 cosmetic surgical procedures and minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures for men last year were:

  1. Rhinoplasty (surgical) / Botox (minimally-invasive)
  2. Eyelid surgery / Microdermabrasion
  3. Liposuction / Laser hair removal
  4. Breast reduction / Chemical Peel
  5. Hair transplantation / Wrinkle fillers

Bill Neville’s story is on the WHNT News website: “Plastic Surgery for Men Isn’t Taboo”.

Men considering cosmetic surgery in the Frederick, Maryland and Washington, D.C. area should choose a surgeon who has extensive knowledge regarding special considerations to take into account when performing a cosmetic procedure on a man rather than a woman.

Smoking Increases Hospital Costs, Complications for Elective Surgery Patients

skin cancer study

Cigarette Smoker by Valentin.Ottone, on Flickr

About 30 percent of patients who undergo elective surgery smoke, and these patients have higher hospital costs and more complications, according to a new study.

Respiratory complications after surgery were a major factor in the higher costs among smokers, according to lead author Dr. Aparna Kamath, a clinical assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

The researchers looked at data for 14,853 patients who underwent elective surgery at 123 Veterans Affairs hospitals during a one-year period. Thirty-four percent were current smokers; 39 percent were former smokers who had quit a year or more before surgery; and 27 percent had never smoked.

Other findings from the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, included:

  • Costs for former smokers did not differ significantly from those who never smoked.
  • Inpatient hospital costs were 4 percent higher for current smokers compared to those who never smoked.
  • Postsurgical complications resulted in the higher costs among smokers, not the length of hospital stay.

Quit Smoking Before Surgery, Researchers Say

The researchers noted that quitting even a few weeks before surgery can benefit patients.

“Although our research did not directly address this issue, evidence suggests that quitting smoking before an operation, even as little as four to six weeks prior to the procedure, improves postoperative outcomes and decreases complications in patients,” Kamath said in a news release.

This research may be of particular interest to cosmetic surgeons and their patients, since cosmetic surgery is elective, so patients aren’t usually on a tight time line to get the procedure.

Based on the study, cosmetic surgeons could encourage patients who smoke to try and quit smoking a few weeks before surgery and schedule their surgery after that period.

“Patient care was incredible! We are so very happy our child was referred to Dr. Will. We appreciate the attentiveness given to his medical condition. Will highly recommend to others.”

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