New recommendations can be seen here with regard to PIP breast implants.  PIP was a French breast implant company that was found to be using less than optimal silicone and therefore was investigated regarding health risks.  The link above explains the recommendation from the French Health Minister to have PIP implants removed because of inflammatory risks.  We have removed several of these implants and replaced them with Mentor implants which have been shown to be safer by the FDA and use only the highest medical grade silicone, sourced from NuSil Technology which is a local Carpinteria company.

We recommend all patients with PIP see a plastic surgeon for evaluation and recommendations- we are happy to make an appointment for all such patients.  Please call 805-969-9004 and speak to Danielle or Susanne to schedule a consultation with Dr. Lowenstein.

There was a lot of coverage today of the news that a certain type of lymphoma has been found in a relative few women with breast implants.  Much of the coverage, as expected, lacked the actual information put out by the FDA.  My particular interest is in doing the right thing for my patients, and additionally making sure that my patients are well educated.

Please feel free to follow this link to FDA white paper that was released, which has an excellent explanation of the information that is currently available.  Some key points taken from the FDA report:

�According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, nearly four million breast implant procedures were performed in the United States from 1998 – 2009. The total number of implants worldwide is estimated to be between 5-10 million.�

�In total, the FDA is aware of approximately 60 case reports of ALCL in women with breast implants worldwide. The exact number is difficult to verify because reports from regulatory agencies and scientific experts often duplicate those found in the scientific literature.�

“Health care providers should be aware ALCL in women with breast implants is a very rare condition; when it occurs, it has been identified most frequently in patients undergoing implant revision operations for late onset, persistent seroma. The FDA does not recommend prophylactic breast implant removal in patients without symptoms or other abnormalities.�

�Because the risk of ALCL appears very small, FDA believes that the totality of evidence continues to support a reasonable assurance that FDA-approved breast implants are safe and effective when used as labeled.�

I encourage my patients and the general public to become as educated as possible on this as well as all aspects of any plastic surgery procedure that they are considering.  I am happy to review the pros and cons of any and all of the plastic surgery procedures that I perform in Santa Barbara.  If you are planning or considering plastic surgery, please feel free to come and have an educational, complementary aesthetic plastic surgery consultation with me to discuss any questions or concerns.

As many of you have heard, Dr. Sheffield is planning on retiring at the end of the year. His presence will, of course, be missed by all of us in the office, as well as so many of his patients who have worked with him here in Santa Barbara for over 15 years. Dr. Lowenstein will certainly be looking forward to providing ongoing plastic surgery care for all patients in Santa Barbara, and we anticipate that there will be a seamless transition at Montecito Plastic Surgery. We have hired some new staff (like me!) to aid in patient coordination, and many of our staff, like our outstanding nurse, Susanne, will remain with us (forever, we hope!). We are also not letting our front desk receptionist, Hayden, leave as we are unsure how we would cope without her!

We do want to remind our plastic surgery patients that as the end of the year approaches, both Dr. Sheffield and Dr. Lowenstein are trying to accommodate all of the patient requests for surgery that we can. The schedule is filling up, however, and so we encourage our plastic surgery patients to plan ahead and accordingly, especially if you are looking to have your plastic surgery before the end of the year. In fact, as January is a popular month for plastic surgery in Santa Barbara, Dr. Lowenstein’s plastic surgery schedule is getting filled already.

Please feel free to call us with any questions or requests and we will do our best to accommodate you!

-Alexandra Essex

With every breast augmentation patient in Santa Barbara, I go over the various types of breast implants, the various pockets that breast implants can be placed in, and additionally the different incisions that can be used to place the breast implant into the breast pocket.  With respect to this last issue, I think there is some helpful information that has recently been published.  (more…)

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 been given permission by one of my patients who came for breast augmentation in Santa Barbara to post a video of the transition between her pre-operative breast form and her post-operative breast form. This video is on our YouTube Channel, “videoplasticsurgergery” with several others.
-Dr. L

Deciding on any plastic surgery, especially breast augmentation, is a very personal decision and one not to be made casually or lightly.  Finding the right operation, and having it performed by the right surgeon, is key to increasing your likelihood of a long lasting and great result.  We have seen so many patients over the years, and the vast majorities have come to our office for plastic surgery in Santa Barbara for great reasons.  Here are 5 common reasons we perform breast implant surgery in Santa Barbara: (more…)

The following is a reproduction of one of my transcripts that was published in Breast Disease in 2002. It focuses on discussion of breast reconstructive surgery and I though it an appropriate addition to the BLOG of our website.

BREAST RECONSTRUCTION- PRE-OPERATIVE ASSESSMENT AND EDUCATION

- by Adam Lowenstein, MD, FACS

Breast reconstruction can be one of the most rewarding aspects of health care, not only for the patient, but for the surgeon as well. The diagnosis of breast cancer and its associated anxiety can be devastating to anyone. (more…)

As we begin to utilize our new Blog on our website at the Montecito Center for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in Santa Barbara, I want to touch on a question that I frequently get asked- “Should I use saline breast implants or silicone breast implants for my breast augmentation?� While this is somewhat of an involved question and many issues factor into it, I thought I would briefly discuss a few of the things I think about when discussing this issue with patients before having plastic surgery in Santa Barbara.

The first thing I think about in evaluating you is your age. The FDA has approved silicone breast implants only for those women 22 years of age and older. While this seems somewhat arbitrary, this means that there needs to be a specific reason to use silicone in a woman who is younger than 22 years of age, such as failure of a previous implant or some type of reconstruction.

Secondly, when you come to be evaluated for breast implants in Santa Barbara, I assess the amount of breast tissue that you already have. (more…)