What Is Collagen?

Collagen is a naturally occurring protein that helps to nourish the skin, joints, bones, and ligaments with in your body. Injectable collagen, is derived from purified bovine collagen. The purification process results in a product that is very similar to the collagen produced naturally in the human body. In the early 80's, the FDA approved collagen for cosmetic use. This purified collagen is produced in varying thicknesses to meet the needs of individual patients. Collagen is used as a filler for treat fine lines and wrinkles, though it can also be used to fill in scars on the face, neck, back and chest.
During the collagen injection procedure, a knowledgeable and experienced skin care specialist or cosmetic surgeon will perform a skin test to determine if a patient is allergic to the collagen. Once the test is complete, and the specialist or surgeon determines the subject is not allergic, the collagen is then injected under the skin using a fine needle which is inserted at several points along the edge of the treatment area. In some cases a mild local anesthetic is used. If no anesthetic is used, you may experience a mild stinging and/or burning sensation during the injection process. Collagen is partly comprised of salt water, which will be absorbed by the body within a few days of the procedure. Because of this, the specialist or surgeon will overfill the treatment area slightly.

Plastic Surgery Procedures Can Help After Significant Weight Loss

People who have lost significant amount of weight can easily be frustrated by the appearance of excess redundant skin. Significant weight loss is becoming much more common due to the growing number of weight loss operations that are becoming increasingly popular. Just as some women have excess abdominal skin after one or more pregnancies, many patients who undergo these wight loss operations have excess skin in the areas of weight loss. This can occur in any area that was affected, including the neck, breasts, arms, back, abdominal wall, hips, and legs. Just as excess weight gain, or breast deformities and a large bulbous nose can affect one's self esteem, self confidence and self image, the loose hanging skin left after significant weight loss can also have these same effects.

There are several plastic surgery procedures that are helpful in treating these issues. A neck or a face lift can reduce the excess folds of skin around the face or neck; a breast lift procedure can be extended to the sides and back to help eliminate excess skin in those areas; an abdominoplasty surgery procedure is frequently required as well. Techniques that were originally meant to rejuvenate the upper arms can be used to eliminate any excess skin that may occur following significant weight loss. Similarly, thigh lifts can be used to tone and improve the appearance of the legs. When one is considering plastic surgery procedures after significant weight loss, that person should always consult with a plastic surgeon and discuss your expectations of the results, and devise a custom tailored surgical plan designed specifically for you and your needs.

Bigger, Easier, Better - LookingYourBest.com Reaches for the Next Level

LookingYourBest.com, the nationwide reference guide to a Who's Who of America's Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeons, offers more than just a bold new look with its comprehensive re-tooling. It offers an enhanced experience.

The first aspect of the new LookingYourBest.com that will surely catch the eye is the new layout and color scheme. The old, sterile layout with its pastel colors blending out to the window's edge has been supplanted by a sharp, clean page set against a rich chocolate tone, with deep rose accents and a commanding presence. In all the site wears a more focused, sophisticated feel that visitors are sure to appreciate.

The visual changes, however, belie the underlying metamorphosis that now makes it even easier to seek out doctors and procedures by multiple criteria. A simplified menu and site structure are two of the keys to the improved ease of use, despite the addition of even more data than before. LookingYourBest has long been an excellent source for finding and comparing professionals in aesthetic medicine, both locally and nationally. Now, the search function in both the gallery and surgeon areas has been simplified and visitors are treated to informative videos and 3D procedure animations to further enhance their search.

There's an important difference in the underpinnings as well, though a casual visitor may not even notice. Nevertheless, by streamlining the site's code, the programmers at LookingYourBest have sought to improve what is often the most important aspect of a web site; browsing speed. The new LookingYourBest.com loads faster and is more intuitive than ever.

Reshaping the Chin and Upper Neck

The chin, jaw line and upper neck play a vital role in your facial appearance
When we think about what makes an attractive face, we often consider the beauty of the eyes, the curve of the brows, the size and angle of the nose, or the shape of the lips. We may not focus as specifically on the chin and the jaw line, yet these features are, in fact, an important part of the skeletal framework that defines our facial appearance.

For a woman, a well-defined jaw line that is slightly curved contributes to attractive facial proportions. A delicate but adequately projecting chin generally is the ideal of feminine beauty. For a man, somewhat greater chin projection combined with a more angular jaw line is perceived as conveying a strong, masculine appearance.

For both women and men, the transition from the jaw line to the upper neck should be a "clean," smooth line without excess fat or sagging skin. Unfortunately, the jaw line is one of the first areas to show early signs of aging, losing its youthful angles and definition. Heredity, as well as age, often plays a role in aesthetic problems of the lower face. Younger patients may be dissatisfied with a recessive, or "weak," chin, a chin that is too long relative to their other facial proportions, or excess fatty tissue underneath the chin. Plastic surgery can help solve all these problems, either by restoring lost facial contours or creating new contours in better harmony with your other facial features.

Breast Asymmetry Explained

Breasts are almost never perfectly symmetrical. All women have some degree of asymmetry, or difference in size or shape or location of the breast on the chest. The point at which the breast asymmetry becomes a problem necessitating plastic surgery is when the degree of breast asymmetry is such that the woman has a day-to-day issue with camouflaging the asymmetry with padding or other such measures. This is embarrassing and a nuisance. It is not uncommon to see a patient who uses a D cup bra on one side, but could wear a B cup on the opposite side.

The exact nature of the asymmetry is not always readily apparent. The patient usually realizes there is a different volume, or amount, of breast tissue. But what is often not so obvious is that this is usually accompanied by more skin on the larger side, possibly a larger diameter areola, a difference in the relative position of the nipple and areola, a difference in the location of the crease beneath the breast, and sometimes even a different configuration of the underlying rib cage. Not all of these facets of the asymmetry may be present and not all need be addressed to achieve an acceptable degree of symmetry.

The nature of the surgical approach to this problem varies from placing an implant on one side only to attempt to match the larger breast, to reducing the size of the larger breast to match the smaller breast, to placing implants of different sizes, to doing a breast lift with or without implants. Rather than going into all the permutations of the treatment here, suffice it to say that your plastic surgeon will analyze to the best of his ability the patient’s asymmetry and will then tailor a treatment plan that will attempt to address as many of the aspects of the asymmetry as the patient is willing to have addressed.

By this, what is meant is that what may be required (e.g. a mastopexy or breast lift) may not be desired by the patient. The patient may only wish to correct the volume issue but live with the difference in the positions of the nipple and areola. So the treatment is individualized. Long-term studies have shown that the stability of the asymmetry correction is greater if the larger breast is made smaller than is an implant is placed in the smaller side. The stability of either a breast implant procedure or a breast reduction procedure can be adversely affected by pregnancy and nursing, such that revisionary surgery may be required after the completion of childbearing.

Los Angeles Breast Enhancement Procedure

Cohesive gel implants, sometimes called "gummy bear" implants thanks to the implant gel's similarity to the candy, enjoy considerable popularity in Europe. These natural-looking and -feeling implants are still being investigated by the FDA, and so they are only available from a few surgeons in the United States. Dr. Steven Teitelbaum is one of these select surgeons, and he has been using cohesive gel breast implant in Los Angeles since 2000.

Breast enhancement surgery is a highly personal matter, physically as well as emotionally, and realistic expectations are important. So is a doctor who will carefully listen to his patient's goals, honestly educate her about any limitations her own individual body will present, and then work together with her to reach the best possible results. Dr. Teitelbaum can help you plan for your Los Angeles breast augmentation surgery.

Surgical Breast Augmentation in San Diego

There are any number of reasons to seek surgical breast enhancement in San Diego. A woman may wish to have larger breasts to feel more attractive, or just more proportional. Breast surgery may also be performed to help women return to their previous size after pregnancy or to balance the size of uneven breasts. Creating symmetry and increasing overall breast size can also help to strengthen a woman's self-confidence.

Doctor Robert Kearney MD is a board certified plastic surgeon serving the breast enhancement needs of Southern California communities such as San Diego, La Jolla, Del Mar, Encinitas and beyond. Breast augmentation is a most personal decision in which your goals should be realistically determined and discussed with your surgeon in San Diego. Together you and Dr. Kearney can choose which specific procedures will work best for you as well as which type of implant will be used.