Smoking and plastic surgery
February 1, 2011
It’s certainly no secret on how dangerous smoking can be in any situation, but in weeks leading up to a plastic surgery procedure, it’s even more important to quit ALL nicotine products.
Everyone at my office can understand how difficult this must be, but in order to give yourself the most proper chance at recovery, it’s worth the grouchiness and mood swings. Smoking can have dramatic effects on the healing process in a number of ways. If you smoke, it is hands down a longer healing period as well as an increased chance of scarring. Dr Adam Rubinstein, a respected Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in Florida just talked about this subject on his talk show, and it’s the number one thing all surgeons agree on. Here’s why:
1. Nicotine (any nicotine product including the patch or gum) shrinks blood vessels. When blood vessels are smaller, there is less oxygen being delivered to your wounds. Your wounds rely heavily on this oxygen to heal. When it’s not there or coming in restricted amounts, your wounds simply can’t heal properly.
2. Tar gets built up in the lungs. When there is tar in the lungs, it inhibits proper oxygen flow there, which inhibits proper oxygen flow to all other organs in your body…including your wounds. Not to mention that if anesthesia is used, it can have serious effects on that as well.
3. There is carbon monoxide in cigarettes. Carbon monoxide actually binds to blood vessels, inhibiting oxygen to bind to them. The carbon monoxide stays alive in your body, attached to your blood vessels, until the blood cells die and new ones are created. If you’re still smoking, the carbon monoxide will cling to new blood cells, thus creating a vicious pattern.
These are very serious things to consider. If you’re going through a major surgery, the one amazing thing you can do for yourself is to quit smoking. Did you know that if someone stops smoking two weeks before their surgery and continues for two weeks afterwards, their wound healing becomes the same as a nonsmoker? That’s definitely worth it.
This barely touches the surface of this subject, but it’s so important to be honest with your surgeon about what you’re putting in your body. So, did any of you struggle with quitting smoking or nicotine products for your surgery? Let’s talk about this.
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Emotions can be tricky, and I’ve seen them all. One example I’ll give you is a breast reduction I did a few years back. It took my patient over a year to accept her new breasts…not because she was unhappy with the results, but because she felt like a piece of her identity had been taken…despite the fact that she was in back pain and something had to be done. She had lost the largeness behind which she had been hiding. I’ve also had patients who are very concerned with how others might view them. We can be pretty hard on ourselves sometimes.
And, not all patients go through emotional roller coasters, but it does happen. This is why it’s so important to have people in your life you can talk to and lean on. I wrote a post a while back on the pre-conceived notions we can have about plastic surgery, so definitely check that out.
The thing to remember is that plastic surgery, for most people, isn’t about looking “perfect.” There’s really no such thing. The biggest percentages of my patients just want to feel good about themselves. At the end of the day, having an emotional connection and sharing your experience with others can help you heal faster and be more comfortable.
What are your thoughts?
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So, I’m one-month way from flying into Albuquerque and having Dr. Ronel work on me…actually 29 days to be exact. So I’ve been preparing. Okay, wait, I’m lying…I’ve been preparing to prepare, if that makes sense.
I’m already in the place where I meditate on a daily basis and practice visualization and things of that nature. I also work out regularly. The place where I’m really going to focus on in the coming weeks leading up to my surgery is alcohol consumption. That’s always been my downfall. I’m not an alcoholic by any means, but I’m in a rock band and we’re in a bar-like environment most of the time. It’s easy to have a couple beers or a cocktail a couple nights a week. (I’m also the tamest of the band, which is interesting.)
So, for me, with alcohol, comes cigarettes. Oh, the vicious circle. I’ve decided to take this month and next month off from drinking. I’ll keep you posted on how that’s going. Instead, I’m getting really focused on healing visualization (yes, I know, the surgery isn’t even done, but I’m serious about all this. I want this to be the best surgery experience of my life.) I want people to understand that state of mind has everything to do with your physical everything. This is why I’m guest posting.
Okay, so, I’m working out, journaling, meditating, drinking plenty of water and eating right. I’m getting excited. Not nervous. That’s where I’m at today.
For any of you out there, did you do any kind of prepping for your procedure? I’m curious to know what worked and didn’t work for you.
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Journaling your recovery
November 12, 2010
How often do you write down how you feel, what’s going on with you, or even what your goals are? We recently wrote a post talking about the mind/body connection and how our thoughts can breed huge changes when it comes to the healing process after surgery.
Well, according to KOAT7, journaling can help you really listen to your body. I mean, how often do you stop and think about what’s going on in your body. It can be astonishing to think about the amounts of bad things we put in us. Have you ever had a sip of alcohol and your body just didn’t really agree with it, but you kept at it anyway? What about a cigarette?
So often, people ignore what their bodies are telling them. Journaling is one way that allows you to sit back and actually feel and listen to your body. This is especially useful right after a procedure. Between meditating on and visualizing your body actually repairing itself, and keeping a journal on how you feel emotionally, physically, and spiritually, these things will allow your body to react positively. It will literally heal quicker!
I challenge you today to take some time and write about how you feel. Take some time for YOU. What are some of your experiences with journaling?
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Botox for headaches
October 20, 2010
Here’s the story from Natasha Singer of the New York Times:
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Botox, the anti-wrinkle shot from Allergan, as a treatment to prevent chronic migraines, a little more than a month after the company agreed to pay $600 million to settle allegations that it had illegally marketed the drug for unapproved uses like headaches for years.
The agency’s decision endorses doctors’ use of Botox to treat patients who suffer from a severe form of migraine involving headaches on at least 15 days a month. Britain’s drug agency approved Botox for the same use this summer.
Botox is already approved by the F.D.A. to treat uncontrolled blinking; crossed eyes; certain neck muscle spasms; excessive underarm sweating; and stiffness associated with muscle spasticity in the elbows and hands. It also is approved for cosmetic purposes — to smooth lines between the eyebrows.
Botox had worldwide sales last year of about $1.3 billion, divided equally between medical and cosmetic uses.
But Allergan said sales of Botox for chronic migraine and other medical uses would soon eclipse sales of the drug as a wrinkle smoother. Allergan is also studying the drug for a variety of new medical uses, including overactive bladder, said Dr. Scott M. Whitcup, the company’s executive vice president for research and development.
“For the business, Botox has been an incredible medication. We call it our pipeline in a vial,” Dr. Whitcup said. “People still think about it as a cosmetic product, but the therapeutic indications in the next five years will far surpass its cosmetic use.”
Industry analysts have forecast worldwide sales of the drug for the severe migraine condition at $250 million to more than $1 billion annually by 2015.
Unlike the occasional headache, the chronic migraine condition is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness, intense sensitivity to light and noise, and moderate to severe pain.
The audience for Botox headache shots could be significant because some chronic migraine patients do not improve when they take the pills that are now the standard treatment, neurologists said. Treatments include pills like Topamax, taken daily to prevent migraine, and the triptan family of drugs, taken to ease an existing migraine.
Botox is a purified form of botulinum toxin, a nerve poison produced by the bacteria that causes botulism. Injections of Botox typically act to temporarily blunt nerve signals to certain muscles or glands. Researchers are still exploring how the drug works on migraines. Dr. Whitcup said one theory was that it blocked pain signals from reaching nerve endings.
A Botox migraine treatment generally involves a total of 31 injections in seven areas — including the forehead, temples, the back of the head, the neck and shoulders. To treat the chronic condition, injections are given about every three months.
Industry analysts estimated that the migraine treatment would cost $1,000 to $2,000, depending on the amount of the drug used and the physician’s fee. Some private insurers are likely to cover the migraine treatment now that it has received F.D.A. approval, analysts said, although patients may have to cover a significant co-payment.
“The cost is prohibitive for some,” Randall Stanicky, a vice president for global research at Goldman Sachs, said in an interview earlier this year. “But given the debilitating challenges of having migraines more than 15 days a month, if Botox can cut down on that, it’s clearly going to be a big opportunity.”
Other analysts have expressed skepticism that doctors and patients would embrace the drug, arguing that Botox has a marginal effect on headaches compared with a placebo.
“The true drug effect is minimal,” Corey Davis, an analyst at Jefferies & Company, said in an interview earlier this year.
Patients in one study financed by Allergan, for example, typically experienced about five fewer headache episodes a month than they had before the study — no matter whether they had injections of Botox or a placebo.
After Allergan reviewed the results of that first study, the company changed the primary end point — the scientific goal post — on a second study so that it would focus on the drug’s effect on the number of headache days rather than the number of headache episodes that a person experienced each month. Dr. Whitcup said it was easier for patients to remember how many headache days as opposed to how many headache episodes they had every month.
The second study reported that patients who received Botox injections typically experienced about 2.3 fewer headache days than the placebo group, a statistically significant difference. But the placebo group also experienced considerable improvement — a common feature in pain studies — raising questions among some doctors about the magnitude of the Botox effect.
Dr. Whitcup said Botox had consistently beaten the placebo at different time points in the study and that patients had reported an improvement in their daily functioning and quality of life.
Although the F.D.A. approved the drug for the chronic condition, the agency said in its statement Friday that Botox had not been shown to work for the occasional headache or migraine.
Common side effects were neck pain and, of all things, headaches. But neurologists point to a more welcome side effect for some — fewer wrinkles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/health/16drug.html?_r=1
So, if you’re one who suffers from severe migraines, perhaps Botox is the solution for you.
I’ve used it successfully for the headaches that are triggered by muscle tension. It does not work for other headaches, such as those caused by the common cold, or lack of sleep, or anxiety.
Neurologists are the ones who see most patients with headaches. With proper training for headache treatment, they can perform the injections as well.
What are your thoughts? Have you used Botox to relieve severe headaches?
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Cosmetic Dentistry: Dr. Gabriel Roybal
September 20, 2010
One thing that I feel has always gone hand in hand with cosmetic plastic surgery is dentistry. If you think about it on a cosmetic level, if someone is not happy with how their teeth look, it can cause some serious self-esteem problems. They may not want to smile out of embarrassment. They may not want to talk because of halitosis (bad breath) caused by corroding teeth or gums. It can cause a major hurdle in everyday communication for some people.
But that’s not all. One topic that has been hit pretty hard in the news media lately is the relationship between periodontal diseases (gingivitis) and cardiovascular disease. With the technology now available, dentists in some areas can now tell you your risks for cardiovascular disease and your risk for heart attacks by examining your DNA.
We had Dr. Gabriel Roybal, who has been a dentist in Santa Fe for 24 years, guest speak on our show last week. He explained to us that the same plaque that builds up on the heart and causes disease, is identical to the plaque we have on our teeth. And because of this, they can do DNA work ups on the patient and do DNA work on the actual cultures from the samples they take.
So, can a simple swab of the mouth and good oral care guarantee you never have a heart attack? We’ll let Dr Roybal explain:
So, as you saw and heard in the video, Dr Roybal is doing much more than helping keep your smile in check. He’s giving back to the community in a HUGE way. I’m honored to have him as a friend and associate. If you’re interested in speaking with him or knowing more about what he has going on, visit his website here, and as always, if you have any question for me, let me know!
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Body Contouring – After Massive Weight Loss
September 1, 2010
One of the biggest issues people deal with after weight-loss surgery is excess skin. People who decide to go in and get serious about weight loss often don’t think about the after-effects. And in the past, it wasn’t something talked about during consultation with the weight-loss surgeon (nowadays they are better at preparing the patients for what to expect). In many cases, there have been some people who come out of the weight loss phase and are suffering just as much mentally because they weren’t prepared for the excess skin.
So, now that the weight has been lost after the gastric bypass, or lap band, or other procedure, what can be done with the excess skin? I typically don’t even think about body contouring on anyone until their weight has been stabilized for about three months, and this usually takes two years or so after the surgery. The only way to get rid of excess skin is to excise it…cut it off. The same goes for stretch marks. So, during this procedure, both are typically taken care of during the same surgery.
It’s not uncommon to combine procedures, two or sometimes three at a time (modern techniques have made this safe on most patients). Later on down the road, there can be another combo — popular ones are thighs and tummy, or breasts and arms, or tummy and breasts. We really wouldn’t know what would be best until we actually sat down and talked.
Concerning the insurance question, you’d have to ask your insurance company. Removal of excess tummy skin has been covered in the past, but not in all cases. Sometimes large-breasted women can have a reduction covered. Arms and thighs are not covered, unfortunately.
Questions?
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Last week, I posted about aromatherapy and how we’re incorporating it into our practice. We had celebrity aromatherapist, Kris Wrede, on our show and we’re excited to now have her on our team. Well, I wanted to follow-up by sharing an article written by celebrity Feng Shui consultant, Ken Lauher, from New York City. In his post about aromatherapy, he shares a bit from Daniel Reid about how different aromas and the effects they can have….positive or negative. It’s interesting how sometimes the smallest changes can have a profound effect on our quality of life. Here is Ken:
Aromatic essences extracted from flowers and medicinal herbs have been used for millennia to cure disease and balance human energies. The volatile aroma extracted by a flower or the essential oil of a plant carries the essential energy of that plant in the air in a way similar to negative ion energy, and this energy is assimilated into the human system through the same sensitive olfactory receptors in the nasal passages.
Depending on their natural affinities for various organs and tissues, different aromatic essences may be used to cure specific diseases, balance particular energies, and stimulate various functions. This is the basic principle involved in aromatherapy, but it only works when using aromas derived from natural sources, such as plants, minerals, and animals. Artificial fragrances have smell but no chi.
Writing in the French medical journal L’Hopital, Dr. J. Valent explains the way plant aromas affect human energies:
“Carried by the bloodstream, the ionized plant aroma impregnates every corner of the body, powerfully revitalizes the polarized and discharged cells, replenishes electronic shortages by recharging the bioelectromagnetic batteries, and disperses cellular residue by dissolving the viscous and diseased substances of the body fluids.
It oxidizes poisonous metabolic waste products, increases energy balance, frees the mechanism of organic oxidation and of self-regulation, and reaches the lungs and kidneys, whence it is excreted or exhaled without trace.”
Meditators throughout the world use incense to enhance their practice due to the balancing effects it has on human energies. Sandalwood in particular is well known among meditators in Asia for its power to pacify emotions and settle energy down into the lower elixir field (second chakra) below the navel, thereby establishing the ideal conditions for entering a stable state of spiritual tranquility.
The smoke produced by burning white sage, used by native tribes of North America for purification, sublimates the dense, heavy energies generated by negative thoughts and conflicting emotions and lifts them away from the body, thereby clearing the human energy system.
It’s interesting to note that during medieval times in the Middle East, medical texts took note of the fact that people who worked in perfume and incense shops were the only ones who never succumbed to the various contagious plagues that periodically swept through the ancient world, and even today it is often noted that clerks who work in fresh flower shops rarely seem to catch the flu and other infectious ailments.
‘Flower Power’ is more than just a catchy phrase: it reflects the potent healing properties of aromatic essence.
- A Complete Guide To Chi-Gung by Daniel Reid
Ken Lauher advises individuals, businesses and organizations on how to implement practical Feng Shui solutions to help you achieve your goals & live a more fulfilling life. For more information on this, visit him at his website www.kenlauher.com.
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The healing power of aromatherapy
July 13, 2010
Kris Wrede has been working with natural plants, mixing, and creating healing aromatherapy blends for over 20 years. She even shares in the video her own experience with a surgery scar that was completely gone within one year. What’s even more exciting is that Kris has joined our team in both the Albuquerque and Santa Fe offices. This means life-changing stuff for our patients. And you don’t even have to be “my” patient to come in and see her.
Check out the video. Kris goes into a bit of the history of aromatherapy, her experiences with it, balancing, healing, and what she’ll be doing with us!
Kris’s website is www.kismetpotions.com. Her number is 505-275-6508. Here is her page on my website as well.
Thoughts on this? Have you used aromatherapy in the past? What were your results? If you’ve not ever experienced it, is this a practice you may perhaps be open to? Sound off now.
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Plastic surgery and spousal relationships
June 23, 2010
We’ve found that couples can experience emotions they never intended. For example, if a woman has had major insecurities about her breasts, then she chooses to have some type of procedure done to help her emotionally, that vulnerability within her is suddenly gone. From the spousal perspective, this can cause resentment because they still have their own vulnerabilities that have yet to be resolved. This resentment or insecurity can manifest in numerous ways.
Because plastic surgery tends to stem from some type of emotional connection, we have a psychotherapist in-house to address what happens with us on the inside, not only for patients, but for partners as well.
Our psychotherapist, Scott Thomas, talks about this balance and shift that can occur and gives some advice on how to address and communicate with one another if something like this occurs.
We’re all human and have feelings that we sometimes may not want to look at or address. Not communicating feelings can often cause more harm than good. As Dr. Thomas says, being aware is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and our spouses or partners. Being able to talk about things with open minds can be key to making the transition an emotionally happy and healthy one.
Have you experienced a shift in the balance when you had a procedure done? I’m curious to know what some of your stories are so we can share with others that may perhaps be going through the same thing.
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