Why Cosmetic Surgery Credentials Count
The New York Times published an article this week about a growing problem: doctors performing cosmetic surgery outside their given specialties. This is a significant issue with some serious consequences, and one which should rightly be discussed in the press.
As the article explains, nonspecialists putting patients under the knife is a problem with potentially wide-ranging repercussions, from danger to the patients to the significant expenses associated with corrective surgeries.
From the NYT:
“The public needs to be protected from doctors who are not upfront about what board certifications they have,” said Dr. Malcolm Z. Roth, chief of plastic surgery at the Albany Medical Center in Albany and president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
What can you do to ensure your surgeon has devoted years of training to the specific procedure at hand? Don’t be afraid to ask questions, of course. Always check your surgeon’s credentials. And never, ever look “outside the box” when it comes to essential surgery of the face and neck.
To learn more about safer plastic surgery, please don’t hesitate to contact my L.A. cosmetic surgery offices today.
More Raves for Los Angeles Ultherapy
The cutting-edge facial cosmetic procedure known as Ultherapy® continues its victory lap through the press. The latest stop: nationally syndicated talk show America Now, where an on-air presentation of a medical Ultherapy® treatment inspired oohs and ahhs from the assembled guests. The segment described the procedure as “The same kind of technology used in baby ultrasounds, helping to deliver a tissue-tightening zap under the surface.”
That’s pretty much right. Ulthera® ultrasound therapy works with extremely low-dose energy to prod your body into producing its own natural collagen. The effects are long-lasting and the drawbacks minimal; this is fast and easy cosmetic enhancement that leaves no lasting scars or discomfort.
I have been at the forefront of the Los Angeles Ultherapy movement since day one, and today my practice continues to garner acclaim for its safe and precise approach to this extraordinary technology. Want to learn more? Please contact us today for a free consultation.
Earlobe Surgery in the News
Working as a facial cosmetic surgeon in a major metropolis like Los Angeles has its clinical perks. One of the biggest is that I get to see and treat some truly fascinating cases of body ritual and alteration. Case in point: lobe stretchers, or young people who use so-called gage piercings to enlarge the holes in their earlobes, sometimes to startling proportions.
Recently the San Francisco Chronicle caught up with a new trend I am seeing increasingly often in my practice: lobe stretchers who want to undo the damage of such youthful habits. Los Angeles ear surgery like this typically requires removing the dangling flesh and resculpting the existing lobe to create a more conventional look.
The effect can be exceptionally hard to detect: patients often tell me their employers, partners, and friends have no idea they ever engaged in such an exaggerated form of “body hacking.” Rave reviews like these are encouraging for those of us who believe cosmetic surgery works best when you can keep your options open.
In other words: it’s music to my ears.
Plastic Surgery for Couples?
I often write about the very latest trends in Los Angeles facial plastic surgery, which is why a recent national news story on an interesting concept caught my attention: couples’ cosmetic surgery.
As the TODAY show reported, a growing number of married couples are opting to “stay young” as a team, undergoing similar minimally invasive cosmetic procedures under the same roof. The report focused in particular on one couple, and summed up their journey thusly:
Three months later, Ira and Robert Almeas are delighted with the results of their joint cosmetic procedures. “I think it’s a great experience to grow younger together,” Ira Almeas says. “We feel a little bit more refreshed, a little bit more energy, and it’s just another part of our life together that we’re sharing.”
Of course some couples might have complementary goals instead – BOTOX® for one, say, and Ultherapy® for the other. Whatever the case, I applaud the notion that cosmetic procedures should be stripped of their stigma and shared openly, especially in a good and healthy marriage.
Want to schedule your appointment today? Contact my Los Angeles cosmetic surgery offices for a free consultation.
Dr. Carlo Honrado Wins Patients’ Choice Award for 4th Year in a Row
For the fourth year in a row, I have been honored with a Patients’ Choice Award for my Los Angeles facial cosmetic surgery practice. This distinction is given to a select few physicians who are “so highly regarded by patients that they feel the need to talk to others about the positive influence of your work.” I am especially humbled that this honor comes on the heels of three years running in the Patients’ Choice Winners community.
As many of you know, I take great pride in offering my patients the very highest standard of cosmetic surgery. My offices in beautiful Century City are staffed by an expert group of technicians and medical assistants, and our home in the LaPeer Surgery Center is widely renowned for its cutting edge technologies. Whether you are looking for a minimally invasive cosmetic procedure like Ultherapy® or Botox®, or something more advanced like a rhinoplasty, otoplasty, or facelift, my staff and I are always available to offer superlative care before, during and after your procedure.
Thank you to everyone who voted for this kind honor. I will do my best to make 2012 another great year for my patients and their families!
Happy New Year,
Carlo
When Minimally Invasive Cosmetic Surgery Makes Sense
I live and work in Los Angeles, the facial cosmetic surgery capital of the world. Often trends that begin here tend to propagate outward, reaching major cities first, and then slowly permeating everything in between. Such is the case with the growing trend toward non-surgical cosmetic procedures, or what some people call “minimally invasive cosmetic treatments.”
Several recent news stories have picked up the trend, including this recent post on the Huffington Post. The piece is one of the few to zero in on the intersection of economics and facial plastic surgery, namely that people tend to choose faster and less expensive procedures when times are tight. As the article puts it:
A study by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery found that a majority of respondents who were affected by the economy were going to delay plastic surgery for one or more years. It is likely that this trend will continue as long as the economic slump does — people think that, with noninvasive treatments, they are getting more “bang” for their buck.
But are they? The answer is yes and no. There is no question that minimally invasive procedures such as BOTOX®, Ultherapy®, and cosmetic fillers can enhance your appearance without long recovery times. But it’s also true that these procedures are rarely permanent: for deeper, lasting structural changes, traditional cosmetic surgery is still the best choice out there.
Which option is right for you? To make a free appointment for a consultation at my world-renowned Los Angeles plastic surgery offices, please don’t hesitate to make contact today.
The Korean Plastic Surgery Explosion
I write frequently in this space about ethnic cosmetic surgery because of my abiding interest in the topic. As a Filipino-American, I am mindful of the many ways that politics, culture, and shifting standards of beauty inform the various nonwhite patients who visit my Los Angeles facial plastic surgery offices. Recently this NYT story caught my eye: titled “In South Korea, Plastic Surgery Comes Out of the Closet,” the article details the many ways that cosmetic surgery has taken Korea by storm.
The statistics are remarkable:
Cosmetic surgery is not covered by national health insurance, making it difficult to determine the exact size of the industry. A survey last year by the Seoul city government found that 31.5 percent of residents 15 or older were willing to undergo surgery to improve their looks. In 2007 the percentage was 21.5.
In a 2009 survey by the market research firm Trend Monitor, one of every five women in Seoul between the ages of 19 and 49 said they had undergone plastic surgery.
The article goes on to detail the extraordinary fact that despite such widespread acceptance of cosmetic surgery, it was only recently that anyone felt comfortable talking about their own “work” in a public forum:
“It used to be all hush-hush when mothers brought their daughters in for a face-lift before taking them to match-makers,” said Dr. Park Sang-hoon, head of ID Hospital. “Now young women go plastic surgery shopping around here.”
Now, reasonable people might disagree about whether this is a positive or a negative development. I am generally of the mind that cosmetic surgery is a personal decision, and that any stigma associated with enhancing your appearance should be replaced by understanding and acceptance. That said, these numbers do feel unusually high, even to an experienced Los Angeles cosmetic surgeon like me.
Feel free to add your comments below. I look forward to engaging my patients and colleagues about these developments in the months ahead.
Cyberbullying Leads to a Nose Job?
Many of you have sent in a news story concerning a 13-year-old in New York who underwent a rhinoplasty to put an end to online taunts. It is a fascinating story, to be sure: a young adolescent simply couldn’t stop the bullying that was filling up her Facebook page, so her mother finally made an appointment with a local facial cosmetic surgeon. Reportedly the child was so grateful upon emerging from surgery that she “cried from happiness and said [her new nose] looked ‘so pretty’”.
To those who have asked me what I think about the ethics of performing elective plastic surgery on such a young patient, I say: it depends. Of course I don’t personally know the child or family in question, nor have I spoken directly with the surgeon who performed the “nose job” surgery. That said, as a father, my heart goes out reflexively to victims of cyberbullying to matter what age or gender, and this story certainly sounds extreme enough to warrant an extraordinary response.
It is worth noting as well that the girl in this news story had apparently broken her nose multiple times, so the surgery was also reconstructive in nature, rather than just cosmetic. Either way, rhinoplasty is widely considered safe enough that families can make such decisions without worrying about any lasting health consequences.
The only true question in every case of cosmetic surgery is what is appropriate for the patient and that patient’s family. In this case it sounds like this decision wasn’t taken lightly, and the procedure resulted in a tremendous sense of freedom and relief for everyone involved. I call that a job well done.
Cosmetic Enhancements for Your Wedding Day
A number of trend pieces in the media have zeroed in recently on a telling statistic – men and women are getting married far later than they used to. This means that brides and grooms are working even more actively to achieve that perfect day – better planning, bigger budgets, and of course, the very latest in facial cosmetic surgery. Today that means popular minimally invasive cosmetic surgery procedures such as LATISSE™, Botox®, and Ulthera™.
LATISSE™ is hugely popular because of its simplicity. Unlike true surgical procedures, LATISSE™ is a topical application that you brush onto your lashes to achieve greater growth. The results can be astonishing – thicker, fuller, completely natural lashes that persist for several months. Because this is a topical application, you don’t have to worry about anesthesia or many of the side effects that are normally associated with Los Angeles facial plastic surgery.
Botox® remains a perennial favorite for its ease as well. Just a few safe injections can smooth wrinkles and ease the ravages of time in a matter of minutes – no anesthesia required. When applied carefully in the presence of an experienced cosmetic surgeon, Botox® can also help you to achieve truly subtle effects that naturally mimic the contours of your own youthful face.
Ulthera™ is the latest blockbuster to gain a following in Los Angeles and beyond. This procedure is also non-invasive, using simple ultrasound waves to tighten the musculature of the face and reduce wrinkles, sagging, and sallows. I have been recognized as a pioneer in proper Ultherapy™ treatments since this revolutionary procedure first gained FDA acceptance, and today my cosmetic surgical center performs several Ultherapy™ procedures each week.
Getting married is all about creating flawless memories. If you would like the day and the pictures to shine indefinitely, I invite you to contact my Los Angeles facial cosmetic surgery offices for a free consultation today.
Another Life Changed By Ear Surgery
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Another week, another truly touching story about otoplasty, or ear-pinning surgery. In this case a 5-year-old boy who was being teased mercilessly was referred to a program that offered the life-changing procedure. The family talked it over, and the child became excited at the prospect of ridding his life of the torment and discomfort of protruding ears. The procedure took two just hours, but the benefits will last a lifetime.
Otoplasty is best performed during youth because that is when the cartilage is most able to be shaped, sculpted, or re-positioned. Although some people might object to operating on such a young child, I can say from my experience that the benefits often far outweigh any stigmas associated with elective cosmetic surgery. Just like with braces, Los Angeles otoplasty is designed to be corrective without being transformative – your child will enter and exit the procedure with the same face, the same personality, and the same prognosis for growth. It is the bullying that really changes.
If you want to learn more about my exceptional Los Angeles otoplasty team, please don’t hesitate to contact our facial plastic surgery offices today.
