Botox as "Push Present"?

Apparently, Push Presents have become all the rage over the past few years: a present a new Dad gives a New Mom around the time of the baby's birth. I think it's a sweet idea, something to make Mom feel honored, respected, and maybe even a little glamorous after all she's been through during pregnancy and childbirth.

There are plenty of opinions regarding Push Presents: some people think the baby is present enough, and others think it's just a sweet gesture. And there are plenty of ideas for Push Presents--of course the jewelry industry hopes Dad will choose a true bauble for Mom. Fortunoff even has a Push Present registry!

But I just had an expectant mom tell me that she wants Botox and some Fotofacial skin care treatments as her Push Present! Nothing like a little wrinkle reduction and skin smoothing to make a mom feel a little more confident and gorgeous, I say. And, you know, if Mama's happy....

The End of the Man-Boob

Women are the greatest consumers of plastic surgery procedures, comprising about 85% of my practice. I think there are many reasons for that, including childbearing, age discrimination, and others that could be a topic for another blog.

Men come, generally, to have a few things touched up. They come for Botox when their scowls make them look "too mean" to make a sale. They come for liposuction when they can't get a handle on their love-handles. They come to have their heavy eyelids removed, so they don't look so tired. And, more often than ever now, they come to get rid of their man-boobs. Our professional term for "man-boobs" is "gynecomastia.

There are a few ways to get rid of man-boobs, including laser-assisted liposuction and direct excision (cutting out the extra tissue). The scars are minimal and so is the down-time.

In fact, the procedure can often be done in the office under local anesthesia. Southside Steve, one of The Regular Guys from Rock 100.5, had his procedure done in my office a few months ago and took the time to create a YouTube video about it. My disclaimer here is that I had no editorial control over the video and it probably won't appeal to all of you. View at your own risk.

Fox News ran a story today about man-boobs and the trend of getting rid of them. Thought you might be interested.

Thanks for stopping by here!

Jumping on the Heidi Bandwagon

I was as stunned as anyone to see the latest Heidi Montag photos in People magazine (and everywhere else!). She looks like an older, plastic version of herself. Or, as a friend of mine said, "She looks like an old porn star."

Now, I'm obviously a fan of plastic surgery. But, as with most things, plastic surgery is better in moderation. And it's better when the procedures are actually correcting a problem, not just tweaking things that are just fine. I'm not sure how any 23 year old could really need 10 cosmetic procedures.

Here's my take on what she had done:

1. Botox: at age 23, likely not needed. But not bad maintenance and prevention, so I can't really knock it, even though her brow position now makes her look a bit evil.

2. Mini-browlift: I'm not even sure what this procedure is exactly. You either do a browlift, or you don't. Meanwhile, it's clear from her "before" photos that she didn't need anything done to her brows.

3. Chin reduction: Ok, I see the difference, but, again, not necessary.

4. Revision of breast augmentation: Obviously to go even larger. All I can say is this: the bigger they are, the harder they fall. She may regret this later.

5. Liposuction: I can see this difference, too, in her hips and waist. Many otherwise thin women do come for contouring of areas that they consider to be their "problem areas", and I think that's not entirely unreasonable. I'm not sure Heidi has done anything to take care of problem areas, though. It seems to me that she's had all this work done, and had People magazine following her every step of the way, just to get more press for the launch of her pop album.

6. Fat grafting to the cheeks: completely unnecessary in a 23 year old

7. Lip augmentation: Not bad

8. Buttocks Augmentation (presumably with fat): I can't really tell a difference here, nor can I see that she needed this procedure done.

9. Revision rhinoplasty (nose-job): She may be on the Michael Jackson path here. Her nose looked just fine before this second surgery.

10. Otoplasty (ear pinning): I don't recall noticing her ears being prominent prior to her surgery, so I can't really say if this made sense. It wouldn't be unreasonable if they did stick out quite a bit before.

I just hope that Heidi doesn't have as many fans as she seems to think she has, so there won't be be hordes of young women following her lead. And I hope she gets the help she needs for her obviously impaired self-esteem. And I hope her 15 minutes are over soon.