We have an exciting new announcement!  Dr. Lowenstein and Dr. Sheffield have partnered with The Santa Barbara Institute of Aesthetics- S’Bia Medical Spa.  S’Bia is the premier medical spa in the central coast, with fantastic services to augment your plastic surgery experience at the Montecito Center for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.  Patients of Dr. Sheffield and Dr. Lowenstein will now benefit from special referrals on a great variety of Spa Services including:

Laser Hair removal
Titan Therapy
Fraxel Treatments
Cosmetic Makeovers
Laser skin treatments including laser resurfacing and laser pigment treatments
Intense Pulsed Light Treatments
Oxygen Facial therapy
Biomedic Micro Peels

New patients of Dr. Lowenstien and Dr. Sheffield will enjoy a free one our consultation with Laurie Grizzard for an evaluation of skin care needs and establishment of a therapeutic regimen of anti-aging care, in addition to one free treatment.  Evaluations may include recommendations of dietary changes and supplements, medical grade skin care with Obagi or other medical grade products, and preparatory recommendations to optimize your aesthetic surgical experience.  Following surgery, ongoing evaluation and recommendations will provide a maintenance plan to help sustain and enhance a youthful appearance and healthy lifestyle.  We are extremely pleased to offer these services to our plastic surgery patients, and anticipate a fantastic experience for you.  This multi-dimensional approach to beauty and health will provide the most complete, comprehensive program of anti-aging in the California Central Coast.

It seems that more and more and more surgeons are performing breast augmentation in the same techniques that Dr. Sheffield and I have been proponents of for quite some time.  The dual plane breast augmentation seems to be gaining favor by many plastic surgeons around the country.  On of the most respected breast surgeons in the world, Dr. Dennis Hammond, is a friend who has been kind enough to participate on my panel at the ASPS meeting for two years running.  He and I additionally share responsibility for much of the educational program at the ASPS meeting pertaining to surgery of the breast, and I have the highest opinion of Dennis as a great, thoughtful surgeon and educator.  He is also a proponent of the dual plane approach for many patients, and like me, believes in an individualistic approach to breast augmentation and breast lifts.  Breast implants should be chosen on the basis of individual patient anatomy, including length and width of the chest wall and torso, as well as specific patient expectations. (more…)

I’ve just returned from the 2008 meeting of the ASPS- thousands of plastic surgeons converged in Chicago last weekend to discuss the latest trends in plastic surgery, as well as issues of patient safety and improving plastic surgery outcomes for patients around the country and the world. I had the pleasure of being involved with two of the most popular programs, one of which I’ve been asked to put together now for I think the 6th year running. We discussed issues ranging from wound care to breast augmentation, breast lifts, breast implants, body contouring, facelifts, and eyelid surgery. I had the opportunity to teach by sharing my thoughts, while hearing from some of the world’s experts about their recommendations and experiences. Having previously served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, I also had the great opportunity to see many of my friends from around the country, and help mentor some of the younger, up and coming plastic surgeons. On top of that, I got to do some shopping on Michigan Avenue, and have some fantastic Italian food. And then there was that amazing Chicago style hot dog at O’Hare airport….. ☺ I’ll try to include some of my thoughts about some of our discussions over the next few blog entries, and I’ll limit my thoughts to plastic surgery instead of pasta and hot dogs.