Allure Magazine’s senior editor, Ms. Joan Kron, recently published an article called the “11 most overrated cosmetic surgery procedures”(link), and I thought this was well worth commenting on. Ms. Kron has received several awards from our plastic surgery societies for journalistic excellence in covering our field – so her articles are always worth a read!
1. Vampire Facelift – There’s no good science to support this treatment as being beneficial. I don’t perform it, even though Ms. Kardashian and others celebs like it. (link)
2. Laser Liposuction – There’s no study showing it’s actually better, results-wise, than regular liposuction. But the trademarked name sure sounds cool, doesn’t it? It’s certainly not minimally-invasive, as often advertised. While some surgeons are enthusiastic about it – typically those who have bought the machine and have to make the payments on it – others say it causes more scar tissue, and makes further liposuction more difficult. I’m in this second group – so I use Power Assisted Liposuction, which has a proven track record.
Recently, Cynosure, the manufacturer of SmartLipo is promoting a modified version of SmartLipo for use in the face called the “lazerlift”. Don’t do it! There’s a whole blog post coming on this bad idea!
3. Stem Cell Facelift – The New York Times just did an article on this (link). Most doctors that offer a so-called stem cell facelift are really just doing standard-issue fat transfer to the face. Since 1% of the fat contains stem cells, they use the “stem-cell” buzz word. Very misleading.
4. Sculptra and Artefill for the lips – These products are designed for the cheeks and other areas where they can be placed deep in the tissues. In the lip, they will cause lumps for sure. And did I mention that these are permanent lumps?
5. Silicone Cheek Implants – Pretty much made obsolete by our injectable products and fat grafting techniques.
6. Ulthera – Very subtle ( i.e. hard to see) results, painful to have done. Current treatment protocol is “under revision” by the company.
7. Fat Injections To The Breasts – Here’s one topic where I disagree with Ms. Kron. I think that this really is a useful technique, for both augmentation and reconstructive purposes. It’s certainly more expensive and more time consuming than a breast implant, and gives a different, more natural looking result than an implant.
8. Brachioplasty – The issue here is the scar, that typically goes from armpit to elbow. This can be a great procedure for massive weight loss patients, especially with our posterior scar technique. It’s not good, however, for someone who just needs a little improvement of a basically normal arm silhouette.
9. Buttock Augmentation with Implants – These are really only used if the patient is not a candidate for fat transfer to the buttock, also called the Brazilian Butt Lift.
10. Zerona Lipo Laser – Essentially this is like shining a few laser pointers on your skin and expecting there to be fat loss. I am still surprised that this gadget got FDA approval.
11. Foot Lifts – My scrub tech, Lindy, says “no go on toe lipo”. Or cosmetic foot surgery. I agree!
(407) 339-3222(407) 339-3222 or visit: