Study: Less Frequent Botox Injections Achieve Same Results

A study recently found that patients require less frequent Botox® injections after two years of treatment to maintain the same wrinkle-reducing effect.

“After two years of treatment at recommended intervals, patients can potentially cut the frequency, and thus, the cost of their Botox® treatments by half,” says Roger A. Daily, leader of the study and professor of oculofacial plastic surgery at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). The research also showed that Botox® injections are capable of preventing wrinkles in patients who begin treatment during their 30s.

During the study, 50 females aged 30 to 50-years-old were analyzed over two years while they underwent regular Botox® injections. Dailey and his colleagues found that, after undergoing injections every four months for two years, patients can slow the frequency to once every six months and still see desired results.

Physicians previously advised patients—based on earlier research—that they should undergo Botox® injections every three months to see maximum wrinkle-smoothing benefits. According to Dailey, the cost and frequency of Botox® deterred some patients from starting or even continuing their treatment.

Botox® was approved by the FDA for cosmetic purposed eight years ago. In 2009 alone, more than 2.5 million Americans underwent the popular injection (source: ASPAS). Botox® in Delaware should be injected by, or under the supervision of, a board certified plastic surgeon.

Japan Makes Sizable Advances in the Use of Stem Cells During Fat Grafting

Fat grafting is an alternative used during soft tissue augmentation that has grown in popularity over the past few years. Although this technique has been around for over a decade, recent international advancements and the use of stem cells have dramatically increased the presence of fat grafting in the plastic surgery industry.

Fat grafting is beneficial in that it only leaves incisional scars and often has less complication then injecting dermal fillers and other foreign substances into the body. Although doctors around the world have been working hard to improve the final result of fat grafting, physicians in Japan have recently made the most important headway

Kotaro Yoshimura, M.D., associate professor of plastic surgery at the University of Tokyo, is leading the investigation into the use of stem cells of aesthetic applications. The doctor and his team recently developed a strategy called cell-assisted lipotransfer (CAL) to overcome some common issues with traditional fat grafting such as unpredictable results and low fat cell survival rates due to necrosis.

How CAL Works:
Stem cells found within adipose (fat) tissue are combined with traditionally lipoinjection. The fat removed after liposuction is split in half and stem cells from one half of the fat are removed and added to the other part of the fat. This process creates stem cell-enriched fat. Dr. Yoshimura and his colleagues found that after grafting fat, some of the cells die off and are replaced by new fat generated by the stem cells. The amount of stem cells contained in the graft is crucial in determining the final results following lipoinjection.

Dr. Yoshimura has tested the CAL process on more than 450 breast augmentation and restoration patients since 2003. The results demonstrated CAL as a safe and effective alternative for soft tissue augmentation.

How Stem Cells Are Isolated:
There are three basic steps executed during CAL: fat and stem cells are extracted from a donor site, the soft tissue is purified, and then the tissue is injected elsewhere into the body. The most difficult step in the process is isolating the stem cells from the rest of the fat cells. This can be done manually using a cell-processing room or automatically using Tissue Genesis technology.

According to Dr. Yoshimura, using stem cell-enriched fat during grafting may boost the safety and effectiveness of the traditional methods. The fat stem cells may even have a therapeutic effect, similar to bone marrow-derived stem cells, which can aid in the healing process following lipoinjection.

These advances in stem cell technology are certainly promising, however, Dr. Yoshimura stresses that the long term safety and efficacy of CAL still needs to be studied. Patients with a low BMI may also be poor candidates for fat grafting as issues may arise in harvesting enough fat and stem cells to make the procedure successful.

C-Tucks: Unsafe For Regaining a Post-Baby Body

While celebrities like Jessica Alba and Gisele Bundchen may be able to bounce back to their pre-baby bodies quite easily, not all women can slim down with ease just weeks after childbirth. Skinny celeb mommas—who have the luxury of hiring personal trainers, chefs, and nutritionists—have sparked rumors about a controversial new cosmetic procedure: the ‘C-Tuck’.

The C-Tuck is a cesarean section for childbirth, immediately followed by a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty).  If the idea of having a little nip and tuck during childbirth sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It is hard to find a doctor offering the procedure, however, this is not a surprise as the C-Tuck is considered to be relatively unsafe. While OB/GYNs or other unlicensed individuals may be performing C-Tuck’s under the radar, you won’t catch a board-certified plastic surgeon cashing in this trend.

The average abdominoplasty can take up to five hours, which would require an unsafe amount of anesthesia for both the mother and child. Combining an abdominoplasty with a cesarean section could be potentially deadly for both parties.  In addition, a woman’s hormone levels are spiked during childbirth and therefore the skin and soft tissue of the abdomen may not heal the same with a C-Tuck as it would with a standard tummy tuck.

C-Tucks can also run a high risk of infection as there are numerous cavities exposed to a combination of fluids during a cesarean section. By adding another in another procedure, there is more tissue exposed to pathogens. Combining a hysterectomy with a tummy tuck is a more controlled procedure that is more commonly practiced.

If you are a mom who is considering a tummy tuck, I recommend waiting at least nine months after childbirth before undergoing the procedure. Patients will see optimum results if they allow their body to heal and the abdominal skin to shrink as much as possible.  Also, you should not undergo an abdominoplasty unless you do not plan on having any more children. Giving birth after a tummy tuck can reverse the results of the procedure completely.

While C-Tucks would certainly make life easier on moms, they are neither realistic nor safe. Tummy tucks in Delaware should only be performed by a board-certified plastic surgeon, not an OB/GYN or otherwise.

All About SmartLipo

SmartLipo is the latest form of liposuction technology that combines traditional fat removal methods with laser technology for maximum results. Laser technology, which is used routinely in dental procedures, lasik eye surgery, facial rejuvenation and hair removal, is what sets SmartLipo apart from its competition.

“Laser” is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Medical-grade lasers create a powerful light beam that is adjusted to a specific frequency range to precisely treat targeted areas.

SmartLipo differs from traditional liposuction in that it uses a carefully calibrated laser to liquefy fat deposits through the top layer of the patient’s skin. The fat is then removed through a tiny incision in the skin made by the doctor.

What makes SmartLipo different from traditional liposuction is that it can also seal blood vessels as it liquefies the fat cells. This reduces swelling, bleeding and bruising and gives the patient less down time. SmartLipo may reduce downtime drop reduce complications.

SmartLipo is also an FDA approved liposuction treatment that has undergone rigorous clinical trials. The laser used also stimulates the production of collagen in the skin, giving it a firmer, more youthful appearance. Delaware residents who are interested in liposuction will benefit greatly from the advantages that SmartLipo has to offer over traditional liposuction.

While SmartLipo is considered minimally invasive, it is still a procedure that should be performed by a physician. When considering liposuction, choose a board-certified plastic surgeon who has experience in the latest technologies in fat removal.

Cigarettes Not Only Cause Wrinkles, They Cause Acne

Cigarettes are undoubtedly bad for you. They’re expensive, have been linked to cancer and are known to cause premature wrinkles. If that isn’t enough to make someone kick the habit for good, the American Academy of Dermatology recently published a report claiming that smoking is correlated to adult non-inflammatory acne.

The study, which was done in Rome, found that 85% of the women had comedonal post-adolescent acne (CPAA), a type of acne characterized by black heads and large pores. Prior to the study, CPAA was believed to be less common than cystic inflammatory acne.

Not only did the majority of subjects have CPAA, 72.9% of the women with CPAA smoked. On the contrary, only 29.4% of women with cystic inflammatory acne identified themselves as smokers. The study also found that the more the women smoked, the worse their CPAA was. Smoking showed no effect on the skin of women with cystic inflammatory acne.

The average smoker spends $2,000 a year alone on cigarettes. Add in medical costs, skincare treatments and other related expenses and you have yourself one expensive habit. Not only that, the negative effects to your health should be enough to persuade anyone to quit. For Delaware residents who are interested in quitting, the state Quit Line is an excellent resource for support advice.

Get Botox®, Get Happy!

The running joke with Botox® is that patients can’t frown or show emotion. A recent study has found that this inability to show emotion may make you a happier person.

Botulinum toxin, the active ingredient in Botox®, is used to temporarily weaken the muscles in the face that cause wrinkles. This not only gets rids of lines in the face, it also limits the body’s ability to move the muscles in the face and express emotion.

The study, which was administered by Barnard College in New York, found that people who have a limited ability to physically express emotion might in turn feel less emotional. Botox® prevents feedback to the brain about such facial expressivity, therefore tricking the brain into thinking that there is less emotion felt during an event.

Joshua Davis, a psychologist at Barnard, and his colleagues showed people emotionally charged videos both before and after they were injected with Botox®. After viewing the videos, the subjects that were injected with Botox® exhibited a significant decrease in the strength of the emotional experience as opposed to the control group.

The study findings tie into a long-standing idea in psychology that dates back to Charles Darwin. The facial feedback hypothesis, which was later developed by William James, simply states that facial movement can influence emotional experience.

If simply frowning can ruin your mood, then not being able to frown should make you a happier person. Now that’s something to smile about!

Adding a Boost to Your Booty

Not everyone is blessed with curves like Kim Kardashian or Scarlett Johansson. Cameron Diaz was even quoted in Marie Claire saying: “I’d love a bigger butt, more meat on my bones. I’d love to be more voluptuous…” Curvaceous celebrities like Kim and Scarlett have ignited the latest trend in plastic surgery: buttock augmentation.

There are numerous methods to naturally boosting ones backside, including everything from gluteus exercises to padded jeans. Although these methods may provide a temporary improvement, the more permanent method is through buttock augmentation via fat grafting (a.k.a. Brazilian Butt Lift). Using fat grafting, patients have fat removed via liposuction from another part of their body and injected into the buttock. The patient benefits from having two cosmetic procedures in one.

Fat transfer is in no way a new technique in plastic surgery. Fat grafting has been used for years to restore fullness to aging faces.  Recent research has found that fat also has a high level of stem cells that can be transferred through grafting. This allows the patient to have minimal volume loss after some of the fat dies off or regenerates following the procedure. Even though regeneration is possible, patients should expect to retain about 50% of the volume from their augmentation.

For slender women with low BMI, such as Cameron Diaz, you may be out of luck. The “Brazilian Butt Lift” is usually performed with the patient’s own fat, and therefore the patient must have enough fat in other parts of the body to harvest. For Delaware residents considering buttock augmentation, you should seek out a board-certified plastic surgeon with experience in fat transfer and liposuction to perform your procedure.