There’s no doubt about it, I am no “private person.” You ask me pretty much anything and I’ll tell you. I’m strong in my personality and convictions so I’ve got nothing to hide. Many physicians take great care to never discuss their personal lives with patients. And while it’s true that there must always be…
Recently I’ve been seeing more and more women in their late 30’s and 40’s with acne issues. Typically most patients see dermatologists for this so if I’m seeing more patients there must be an epidemic. So let’s go through this so your acne issue becomes just like the song, a one-hit-wonder. Acne occurs because of…
Recently, a fellow surgeon and I had an interesting discussion about consent for surgery, which was relevant because I had just seen several patients who had visited other surgeons and had procedures done without their consent. For instance one patient went in for a lower eyelid lift and ended up with extensive scars across her…
Breast implants are not designed to fail. In fact their durability is quite impressive, as the picture depicts. They must be able to withstand years of everyday life and the occasional mammogram. Yet they can fail. A recent study of Mentor’s breast implants placed the rupture rate for primary augmentation at 1.1%. The leading theories…
I have found through my work with sites like RealSelf that patients are often left out of the decision making process or simply allow their surgeon to determine the correct implants, only to be disappointed with the outcome. The number of questions I answer about “what size will I be after X size implants?” or…
At the initial consultation, patients and I usually decide on the correct implant. If there is any doubt it can usually be clarified at the preoperative appointment, one to two weeks before surgery. Occasionally some patients, even with sizers, have difficulty visualizing the postoperative appearance of their breasts. They’re simply not accustomed to the new…
In medical school I was taught that patients only hear 35% of what you tell them. In practice I think that’s absolutely true. I tend to spend a lot of time, during my consultations, educating patients on all areas related to breast augmentation. I think this is a good thing because patients are either not…
Prior to their breast augmentation consultation, I have had patients try any number of tricks to estimate the implant size they desire: filling zip lock bags with water, putting coffee beans or rice in baggies and using bags of peas just to name a few. But unfortunately these methods really aren’t very accurate. No surprise. But what is much…
Even the most well informed patients have said to me “my girlfriend has X size implants and we’re the same height and weight so I think I should get the same because they look great on her.” But the operative words here are “…on her.” There are so many anatomical differences such as starting breast…
Both Allergan and Mentor, the only two companies permitted to sell implants in the US, make low, medium or moderate and high profile implants. As implants move from low profile to high profile, the amount of projection increases and the base diameter decreases for any given volume. For instance, a Mentor 300cc high profile silicone…