A plastic surgeon is able to form a breast mound by using an implant or by using tissues from another part of your body. Breast implants are silicone sacs filled with saline (salt water) or silicone gel. The sacs are placed under your skin behind your chest muscle. Your body type, age, and cancer treatment will determine which type of reconstruction will give you the best result.

SALINE AND SILICONE IMPLANTS

Saline-filled breast implants are available for anyone who wants them.

Some scientists are concerned about possible short-term and long-term health problems associated with silicone gel-filled breast implants. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided that breast implants filled with silicone gel may be used only in an FDA-approved clinical trial. Your surgeon can determine if you are eligible and can make arrangements for you to join the study.

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS: As with any surgery, you may have some pain, swelling, bruising, and tenderness. These problems should disappear as you recover. Scars will fade over time. You should let your doctor know immediately about any fever, infection, or bleeding.

Side effects that could appear later include rupture, leakage, deflation or shifting of the implant, or interference with mammography readings. Breast implants age over time and may need to be replaced.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BREAST IMPLANTS

• Contact Ageless and Beautiful Plastic Surgery at 619-299-0264.
• Call NCI's Cancer Information Service (CIS), 1-800-4-CANCER.
• Call the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 1-800-532-4440.
• Call the American Cancer Society (ACS), 1-800-ACS-2345.
• Talk to breast cancer survivors who have had reconstruction.
• Contact your health insurance company

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Enhancing your appearance with a tummy tuck

A flat and well-toned abdomen is something many of us strive for through exercise and weight control. Sometimes these methods cannot achieve our goals.

Even individuals of otherwise normal body weight and proportion can develop an abdomen that protrudes or is loose and sagging. The most common causes of this include:

• Pregnancy
• Aging
• Significant fluctuations in weight
• Heredity
• Prior surgery

Also known as abdominoplasty, a tummy tuck removes excess fat and skin, and in most cases restores weakened or separated muscles creating an abdominal profile that is smoother and firmer.

What it won’t do:

A tummy tuck is not a substitute for weight loss or an appropriate exercise program.

Although the results of a tummy tuck are technically permanent, the positive outcome can be greatly diminished by significant fluctuations in your weight. For this reason, individuals who are planning substantial weight loss or women who may be considering future pregnancies may be advised to postpone a tummy tuck.

Also, a tummy tuck cannot correct stretch marks, although these may be removed or somewhat improved if they are located on the areas of excess skin that will be excised, generally those treated areas below the belly button.

Is it right for me?

Tummy tuck surgery is a highly individualized procedure and you should do it for yourself, not to fulfill someone else’s desires or to try to fit any sort of ideal image.

Abdominoplasty is a good option for you if:

• You are physically healthy and at a stable weight
• You have realistic expectations
• You are a non-smoker
• You are bothered by the feeling that your tummy is too large

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Nose surgery improves the appearance and proportion of your nose, enhancing facial harmony and self confidence. Surgery of the nose may also correct impaired breathing caused by structural abnormalities in the nose.

Enhancing your appearance with nose surgery

While the shape of your nose is usually the result of heredity, the appearance may have been altered in an injury or during prior surgery.

Also known as rhinoplasty, surgery of the nose improves the appearance and proportion of your nose, enhancing facial harmony and self confidence.

Surgery of the nose may also correct impaired breathing caused by structural abnormalities in the nose.

What can surgery of the nose accomplish?

Rhinoplasty can change:

• Nose size, in relation to the other facial structures
• Nose width, at the bridge
• Nose profile, with visible humps or depressions on the bridge
• Nasal tip, that is large or bulbous, drooping, or too upturned
• Nostrils that are large, wide or upturned
• Nasal asymmetry and deviation

Is it right for me?

Nose surgery is a highly individualized procedure and you should do it for yourself, not to fulfill someone else’s desires or to try to fit any sort of ideal image. Surgery of the nose is a good option for you if:

• Your facial growth is complete and you are 13 years of age or older
• You are physically healthy
• You stop smoking
• You have specific, but realistic goals in mind for the improvement of your appearance

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Also known as rhytidectomy, a facelift is a surgical procedure to improve visible signs of aging in the face and neck.

Enhancing your appearance with a facelift

If you are bothered by the signs of aging in your face, a facelift may be right for you. Technically known as rhytidectomy, a facelift is a surgical procedure to improve visible signs of aging in the face and neck, such as:

• Sagging in the midface
• Deep creases below the lower eyelids
• Deep creases along the nose extending to the corner of the mouth
• Fat that has fallen or is displaced
• Loss of muscle tone in the lower face may create jowls
• Loose skin and excess fatty deposits under the chin and jaw can make even a person of normal weight appear to have a double chin

Rejuvenation procedures typically performed in conjunction with a facelift are brow lift, to correct a sagging or deeply furrowed brow, and eyelid surgery to rejuvenate aging eyes.

What it won’t do: As a restorative surgery, a facelift does not change your fundamental appearance and cannot stop the aging process.

A facelift can only be performed surgically; non-surgical rejuvenation treatments cannot achieve the same results, but may help delay the time at which a facelift becomes appropriate and complement the results of surgery.

Is it right for me?

A facelift is a highly individualized procedure and you should do it for yourself, not to fulfill someone else’s desires or to try to fit any sort of ideal image.

Facelift surgery is a good option for you if:

• You are physically healthy
• You stop smoking
• You have a positive outlook and specific, but realistic goals in mind for the improvement of your appearance

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If You're Considering Ear Surgery...

Ear surgery, or otoplasty, is usually done to set prominent ears back closer to the head or to reduce the size of large ears.

For the most part, the operation is done on children between the ages of four and 14. Ears are almost fully grown by age four, and the earlier the surgery, the less teasing and ridicule the child will have to endure. Ear surgery on adults is also possible, and there are generally no additional risks associated with ear surgery on an older patient.

If you're considering ear surgery for yourself or your child, this information will give you a basic understanding of the procedure-when it can help, how it's performed, and what results you can expect. It can't answer all of your questions, since a lot depends on your individual circumstances. Please be sure to ask your doctor if there is anything you don't understand about the procedure.

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(Fat Auto-Graft Muscle Injection)

Shrinkage of facial muscles is one of the primary manifestations of the aging process. Aging combined with diet and exercise can cause many people to develop a thinner face. In some cases a dramatic "skeltonization" may occur. For these patients a lifting procedure alone may produce a "masked" look. Restoring the volume of the atrophied muscles is an obvious method of facial rejuvenation. Augmenting the volume of the muscles in the forehead, cheeks, mouth, chin and jawline with fat restores the more youthful look of a fuller face.

What does Fami stand for?

FAMI stands for Fat Autografting Muscle Injections. It is a non-surgical approach to aesthetic surgery that facilitates the correction of facial deficiencies. FAMI is an outpatient procedure in which your doctor removes fat tissues from the lower part of your body with Liposuction and then refines this fat tissue by centrifugation and injects it into your facial muscles with the use of specially made instruments.

What is Fami?

Fat Transfer, also called autologous fat transplantation, has been around since the seventies. This technique did not respect the facial vascular paths. The results were very inconsistent and for many patients asymmetric. The new FAMI bloodless technique respects the facial vascular network and places the fat into the facial muscles to provide long-lasting, symmetric results. FAMI is also the only procedure that uses specially-designed cannulas to place the fat autograft into the vascular facial muscle bed. The main facial muscle groups are injected with a maximum chance to integrate the host tissues.

Who is a good For this procedure?

The aging process can produce hollows and depressions in anyone's face. Patients with skeltonization of the frontal, cheek, or chin areas, who are looking for rejuvenation without an open surgery, can benefit from FAMI. Patients with sagging jowls will likely need a full facelift to remove the excess skin, but once the folds are removed, these patients will benefit the most from FAMI. The procedure will give these patients a more thorough rejuvenation and a softer, younger appearance.

What is the recovery like?

After your FAMI procedure you might have some bruising around the injection sites. This can be easily masked. There will be some swelling and it might last several days. Most patients resume all of their routine activities within two days and public or professional activities within two weeks. As the swelling subsides, you and your friends will begin to notice the rejuvenation.

Can the procedure be repeated?

Yes, FAMI is an "a la carte" procedure. Many patients are so excited with their results that they elect to have other facial areas treated in subsequent sessions.

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Also known as a forehead lift, a brow lift minimizes the creases that develop across the forehead, or those that occur high on the bridge of the nose; improves what are commonly referred to as frown lines; and repositions a low or sagging brow.

Enhancing your appearance with a browlift

If you are bothered by expression lines or other signs of aging in the brow region, a brow lift may be right for you. A brow lift:

• Minimizes the creases that develop across the forehead, or those that occur high on the bridge of the nose, between the eyes
• Improves what are commonly referred to as frown lines, vertical creases that develop between the eyebrows
• Repositions a low or sagging brow that is hooding the upper eyelid
• Raises the eyebrows to a more alert and youthful position

Rejuvenation procedures typically performed in conjunction with a brow lift include:

• Eyelid surgery to rejuvenate aging eyes
• Facelift to correct aging changes in the mid- to lower face and neck regions
• Skin resurfacing techniques

Is it right for me?

A brow lift is a highly individualized procedure and you should do it for yourself, not to fulfill someone else’s desires or to try to fit any sort of ideal image. Brow lift surgery is a good option for you if:

• You are physically healthy
• You don’t smoke
• You have a positive outlook and specific, but realistic goals in mind for the improvement of your appearance

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If You're Considering Facial Surgery...

Plastic surgeons use facial implants to improve and enhance facial contours. Frequently, these implants will help provide a more harmonious balance to your face and features so that you feel better about the way you look.

There are many implants available, manufactured from a variety of materials. They may help strengthen a jawline or bring the chin or cheekbones into balance with the rest of the face.

This brochure describes some of the facial implants currently available as well as the techniques for their use. It will familiarize you with these procedures but cannot provide all the details which may be relevant to your particular needs.

If you feel that one or more of the procedures described in this brochure may be of benefit, be sure to ask your plastic surgeon for more information.

What to Expect From a Facial Implant

Facial implants can enhance your appearance and bolster your self esteem. If you are looking for improvement, not perfection, in your appearance and are realistic in your expectations, you may find that a facial implant is the right choice for you.

Plastic surgeons will frequently use such implants to bring better balance to the features of a younger patient. For instance, a teenage girl may want her nose reshaped or her chin brought forward so that these traits are better proportioned. The more mature patient may choose to have an implant placed in conjunction with another cosmetic procedure. For example, during a facelift, a patient may wish to have implants placed over the cheekbones to help restore a more youthful appearance. Implants may also be selected to fill out a face that appears "sunken" or tired.

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Also known as blepharoplasty, eyelid surgery improves the appearance of the upper eyelids, lower eyelids, or both, and gives a rejuvenated appearance to the surrounding area of your eyes, making you look more rested and alert.

Enhancing your appearance with eyelid surgery

Cosmetic eyelid surgery, called blepharoplasty, is a surgical procedure to improve the appearance of the upper eyelids, lower eyelids, or both, and give a rejuvenated appearance to the surrounding area of your eyes, making you look more rested and alert.

Specifically, eyelid surgery can treat:

• Loose or sagging skin that creates folds or disturbs the natural contour of the upper eyelid, sometimes impairing vision
• Excess fatty deposits that appear as puffiness in the upper eyelids
• Bags under the eyes
• Droopiness of the lower eyelids, showing white below the iris (colored portion of the eye)
• Excess skin and fine wrinkles of the lower eyelid

Is it right for me?

Eyelid surgery is usually performed on adult men and women who have healthy facial tissue and muscles and have realistic goals for improvement of the upper and/or lower eyelids and surrounding area.

You should do it for yourself, not to fulfill someone else’s desires or to try to fit any sort of ideal image. Good candidates are:

• Healthy individuals who do not have a life-threatening illness or medical conditions that can impair healing
• Non-smokers
• Individuals with a positive outlook and specific goals in mind for blepharoplasty
• Individuals without serious eye conditions

You must tell your doctor if you have any of these medical conditions:

Eye disease such as glaucoma, dry eye or a detached retina

Thyroid disorders such as Graves’ disease and under or overactive thyroid

Cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure or other circulatory disorders or diabetes

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