Yesterday the FDA said in a statement that procedures such as lipodissolve, mesotherapy, lipozap, lipotherapy, and injection lipolysis all involve unproven injections of drugs, and that “We are concerned that these companies are misleading consumers.” Â The FDA reports that none of the drugs used in these therapies have been shown to work in clinical trials.
What does this mean for plastic surgery patients? Â As most of us plastic surgeons have said all along, there are really only two ways to remove fat- healthy living, and surgery. Â I’m a fan of both, and have been doing a lot of body reshaping for my patients recently. Â That being said, I emphasize to my patients, as to myself and my family, that eating well with a healthy diet, and a great exercise program is such an important aspect in weight loss and body contouring… so eat your vegetables and get on your bike! Â And if persistent areas of fatty deposits still bother you, I will be happy to see you in my office for liposuction or tummy tuck or any one of the many plastic surgery procedures that I perform in Santa Barbara for body contouring.
Recently, our entire Santa Barbara community was affected by the Jesusita fire, from Goleta to Montecito. Personally, my wife and I hosted evacuees from the foothills, and my wife additionally volunteered at the call center to help provide information regarding the Jesusita Fire. Only by the outstanding work of the firefighters was the home of our nurse, Suzanne, spared. Homes all around hers were unfortunately destroyed, and despite the fire burning down the tool shed in the back yard, and even charring the house itself, the firefighters were able to save her home and we are all so very grateful to them.
Although I’ve been buying dinners for firefighters at any restaurant that I see them at, I’m hoping to do more for the brave men and women that fought the Jesusita fire here in Santa Barbara. I am going to be donating 100% of our profit from all injectables- fillers and additionally BOTOX® as well, from now to the end of June, to the Santa Barbara Fire Department. I’m calling the event, “FILLERS FOR FIREFIGHTING”.
Soft tissue fillers including Retylane®, Juviderm™, and Evolence™ will be available, as well as BOTOX® used to treat dynamic wrinkles. I hope that our patients will enjoy not only the outstanding results obtained from getting their fillers and BOTOX® performed by a plastic surgeon himself, but also receive a sense of pride that the means to enhance their beauty will additionally be going to a good cause. We are expecting to raise several thousands of dollars to donate to the Santa Barbara Fire Department as a thank you for their skill and valor fighting the Jesusita Fire.
I’m posting this on our “What’s New” page of this website as well, and I hope you will tell your friends and spread the word as much as possible. I’m hoping to raise as much as possible by donating the entire profit from our medical injectables for the next 6 weeks.
In about 2 weeks I’m going to attend a course which will allow me to use a new soft tissue filler made by Johnson and Johnson- it is a cross-linked collagen product for moderate to deep wrinkles and folds and is supposed to last AT LEAST 6 months. Only a plastic surgeon who has attended this seminar will be able to get and inject the Evolence product, so it is not something that will be easy to find in the run of the mill medical spa. I don’t anticipate that this will replace the other plastic surgery injectables that I use such as Radiesse and Juviderm and Resylane, but I do think for certain situations, this new product should be pretty fantastic. Give us a call or send us an email to schedule an appointment if you think this type of plastic surgery injectable soft tissue filler is something you might like to have.
Plastic surgery in Santa Barbara- what’s in a name?
The term plastic surgeon is getting more confusing to understand, every day. Cosmetic surgery, cosmetic medicine, plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery, facial plastic surgery- many patients, and unfortunately some physicians, are using these terms interchangeably.
This is largely because any physician with a medical license can call themselves anything they want. A general surgeon can advertise themselves as a plastic surgeon. So can a physician who is trained in obstetrics and gynecology. A family medicine physician, who has a very limited training or experience in invasive medicine, nonetheless surgery, can even advertise under a variety of self-deemed terms from cosmetic surgeon to plastic surgeon. And in fact, it’s hard to blame them. (more…)
