Posts Tagged ‘changes plastic surgery’

Good, Better, Breast: FIVE NORMAL BREAST SHAPES

Monday, February 18th, 2013

The best kept secret when it comes to a woman’s breasts is that just about every shape is normal. Breasts are as individual to a woman as the choice of the bra she carries them around in. Thank goodness for variety – since not every woman wants to be Barbie.

But if you’d like to size up your breasts against some kind of standard of normal, let this breast blog guide you to some good, some better, and some breasts that seem to be best.

The “Ideal” Breast

For lack of a better word, the “ideal” breast shape is more uncommon than not. There is a gentle slope from the breast bone to the nipple, with the nipple pointing outward and parallel to the ground. The ideal breast does not sag and appears firm and rounded. From a frontal view, both nipples fall evenly on a horizontal line that runs midway between the shoulder and elbow.

FIVE NORMAL BREAST SHAPES

Small Breasts

Breasts are made of fatty, or adipose tissue. Small breasts have very little fatty tissue and therefore not much “padding” between the skin and the chest muscle. There is usually no sagging in small breasts.

Large Breasts

Large breasts have an abundance of fatty tissue and frequently have large nipples. Because of the weight of this excess fatty tissue, large breasts have nowhere to go but downward. The weight of the breast is concentrated much lower with nipples pointing downward and falling well below the midline of the upper arm. Woman with extremely large breasts may experience back problems, bra strap grooves and skin irritation or rashes underneath the breasts.

Sagging Breasts

Sagging, or ptotic, breasts have an increased amount of skin and breast tissue falling below the natural fold of the breast. Sagging breasts are commonly associated with aging – gravity and a loss of fatty tissue lending to the migration of the breast downward. Sagging breasts have lost fullness in the upper pole and display heaviness or a “bottoming out” of the breast shape.

Tubular or Tuberous Breasts

The tubular breast is cylindrical in shape with a narrow base and a tendency to drop downward. Because of the narrow base, tubular breasts often appear spaced far apart on the chest.

Rib Cage Deformity

A normal rib cage is slightly rounded outward with breasts following the natural curve. If the rib cage is bowed forward (pectus carinatum) the breasts will fall to the side with nipples pointing outward. If the rib cage is sunken inward, the breasts then fall toward the center of the body with nipples facing inward. Breast augmentation with implants cannot correct the orientation of the breasts in rib cage deformities.

Breast Augmentation, Breast Reduction, and Mastopexy (Breast Lift) are common surgical procedures that can make your good breast shape better. Breast augmentation with silicone or saline implants is a popular way to enhance small breasts. Breast reduction is often combined with a breast lift in very large breasted women. Sagging breasts can benefit from a lift and may or may not require augmentation.

Good, better, best. Consider your own breast attributes as normal no matter what their shape. Most breasts are asymmetrical, and few, if any, are Barbie-perfect. However, if you’d like to better your breast shape, consider a consultation with Dr. Lee at Changes Plastic Surgery & Spa. Your “normal” breasts will be assessed and your “better” breasts shown you through 3-Dimensional Computer Imaging.

Tags: breast augmentation, breast reduction, breast shape, changes plastic surgery, Large breasts, mastopexy, small breasts
Posted in Breast Augmentation | No Comments »

Beauty Outside of the Box – Softening the Asian Jaw Line with Dysport®

Wednesday, December 5th, 2012

When we think of American beauty icons an array of faces come to mind. Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston, even Reese Witherspoon can be included for her wholesome and feminine beauty. Our culture views these women as attractive- notable for their facial beauty. But in the Asian culture, these women exemplify a facial trait that is seen as undesirable – the square jaw.

Increasingly, Asian women are seeking cosmetic correction of a heavy or squared jaw line. The Asian ideal face shape is closer to a heart than a box. A slimmer jaw line and smaller chin is seen as more feminine, whereas a strong, square jaw masculinizes the face. In some eastern cultures, the square jaw is even seen as a sign of promiscuity.

Dr. Gilbert Lee at Changes Plastic Surgery & Spa has seen a rise in Asian patients seeking a way to reduce the width of their jaws. "There is a rising trend of Asian women seeking to soften their jaw line with Botox or Dysport." Dr. Lee, who has perfected the Asian Double Fold eyelid surgery, is now seeing more and more Asian clientele for non-surgical jaw reduction.

The masseter muscle is a large bulky muscle at the angle of your jaw. The masseter muscle is used in chewing and you can feel this muscle by clinching your jaw and feeling along the jaw line. To lessen the heaviness of the masseter muscle, Dr. Lee uses Dysport®, a neurotoxin muscle relaxant similar to Botox®, to restrict the movement, soften the bulk of the masseter and lessen its prominence.

The effect of Dysport® lasts approximately 3 to 4 months and repeat treatments are needed to keep the masseter muscles from activating, strengthening and adding bulky mass. The Changes Plastic Surgery patient above has had a Dysport® treatment to the jaw by Dr. Lee. In each session, 50 units of Dysport® were used and an obvious reduction in the width of her jaw has been achieved.

Whether of Asian descent or not, if a slender, heart-shaped face is your beauty ideal, Dr. Lee at Changes can help you reach your goal. Soften the lines of a boxy jaw line with Dysport® treatments at Changes Plastic Surgery & Spa. Call for a quote at 858-720-1440.

Botox is a registered trademark of Allergan, Inc. Dysport is a registered trademark of Medicis Aesthetics, Inc.

Tags: Asian jaw, Botox, changes plastic surgery, Dysport, non-surgical
Posted in Plastic Surgery in San Diego California | No Comments »

FIVE SWEET FACTS ABOUT SIENTRA “GUMMY BEAR” BREAST IMPLANTS

Friday, November 16th, 2012

If you stay abreast of breast implant news, you have probably heard of “gummy bear” implants. No, the candy companies are not making the beloved candy anatomically correct. Rather these silicone gel implants (FDA approved in March, 2012) have earned their nickname for their form-stable consistency.

Gummy bear implants (a term coined by Dr. Grant Stevens) are manufactured by Sientra and are form-stable, meaning that if punctured, the gel stays intact. Similar to slicing a gummy bear in half, the two parts can stand alone. They are referred to as Style 5 implants and come in round and a more natural tear-drop shape.

Silicone gel implants are commonly used in breast augmentation today having been deemed safe by the FDA in 2006. Made of a cohesive gel, they are stronger than the previous silicone oil versions. Mentor and Allergan are the major suppliers of these “Style 4” implants.

Dr. Gilbert Lee at Changes Plastic Surgery & Spa has this to say, “I just got back from our national Plastic Surgery Conference and attended a long training session on the use of the Sientra implants. Mind you they have just been released here in the US. So the long term experience with them is not known to the American Doctors. However, at the meeting one of the lecturers is a Swedish plastic Surgeon who has done thousands of these and it is his feeling that the biodimensional Sientra implant is a superior product to any other implant currently on the US market. Not my words but his.”

Here are some sweet facts about the gummy bear implants:

They are available in a tear drop shape which better replicates a natural breast shape.

· Lower risk of capsular contracture (tightening and hardening of the capsule surrounding the implant).

· Previous versions of implants, including saline, when held upright will ripple or fold which can sometimes be seen through the skin. Because gummy bear implants are stronger, the wrinkling is less likely.

· Even if the implant ruptures, the gummy bear consistency of the implant means the silicone stays within the breast pocket making removal easier.

· The warranty on these new Sientra silicone breast implants meets or exceeds the warranties offered by the other two U.S approved silicone gel breast implant manufacturers.

Breast augmentation remains the number one cosmetic surgery procedure with 307,000 performed in 2011. If you are chewing on the idea of breast augmentation yourself, keep in mind the gummy bear implants from Sientra, available now at Changes Plastic Surgery & Spa, 11515 El Camino Real, San Diego, CA 92130. Call 858-720-1440 for a consultation with 3D Computer Imaging showing you your Sientra gummy bear implant options.

Tags: 3D computer imaging, breast augmentation, changes plastic surgery, Gilbert Lee MD, gummy bear implant, Sientra, silicone implant
Posted in Breast Augmentation, Plastic Surgery in San Diego California | 1 Comment »

Who Knew Before Reviews – Changes Plastic Surgery Comments Revealed

Thursday, July 5th, 2012

Plastic surgery used to be a hushed subject. Did she or didn’t she? Only her plastic surgeon knew for sure. Finding a personal referral to a plastic surgeon was difficult when many people didn’t admit, much less publicize their private choice to undergo elective surgery.

Oh how times have changed. The internet now hosts a variety of public review forums and directories and more and more plastic surgery recipients are speaking up. Publicly or anonymously, patients are now admitting to undergoing cosmetic surgery, even posting comments (good and bad), writing testimonials, and extolling (or arguing) the virtue of his or her procedure and often the plastic surgeon who performed it.

Gilbert Lee, M.D., FACS at Changes Plastic Surgery & Spa pays close attention to internet reviews as a valuable form of feedback for his practice. Reviews can be found all over the web and include specific physician referral oriented sites such as Real Self and Vitals. Yelp, Google and Yahoo are also popular review forums. Although publicly posted, many of the comments left on these sites are authored anonymously.

Then there is Facebook, the super social, social media site where anonymity is forgotten and real names can be found attached to real comments. Changes Plastic Surgery Facebook page displays several comments left by patients and fans:

Robin says: “Dr. Lee is not only a great surgeon but has an awesome bedside manner…”

Get Clean with the Dirty Little Secret – Botulinum Toxin A

Friday, May 18th, 2012

One of the dirty little secrets of many adults, including men, is the problem of hyperhidrosis of the underarms or "excessive sweating". To those afflicted by this, it can be embarrassing, socially unacceptable and can ruin a shirt almost as soon as it is worn. Patient, Alex Gerba, at Changes Plastic Surgery states, "this treatment has changed my life. It is so worthwhile. I have saved tons of money on ruined clothes with this treatment." Alex's last treatment to the armpits lasted nine months and cost $600.

For consideration of treatment for excessive sweating, Botulinum Toxin A shuts off the innervation to the sweat glands, thus stopping excessive sweating for months at a time. Patients who experience excessive sweating of the palms and feet can also benefit from Botulinum Toxin A treatments. For more information call Gilbert Lee, M.D., FACS at Changes Plastic Surgery & Spa in San Diego, CA or contact us at https://www.changesplasticsurgery.com/contact-san-diego-plastic-surgeon.html.

Dr. Gilbert Lee is triple board certified and has been honored as Top Doc in Plastic Surgery 5 years in a row (2007 to 2011) by his peers at the San Diego Medical Society.

Tags: Botox, changes plastic surgery, Gilbert Lee MD, sweating
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The Eyes Have It – Focusing on Non-Surgical Eye Rejuvenation

Monday, August 8th, 2011

The eyes are the windows to the soul. They hold a gaze and are the first thing people see when looking at our face. It is also the first place we notice the signs of aging. Thinning skin, sun damage and facial expressions take their toll on the delicate eye area. Dark circles appear and eyeshadow disappears as sagging skin droops over the lid. Crow’s feet and laugh lines appear and stay there even if we’re not laughing! But aging eyes are nothing to cry about. Rejuvenating the eye area is relatively simple and most importantly, addressing the eye area first results in a more youthful appearance for the entire face.

Although blepharoplasty (eyelid lift) is a common surgical solution to the aging eye area, non-surgical options are discussed here.

Dark circles under the eyes can make you look tired and worn out or worse, unhealthy. As the skin in the eye area thins with age, blood vessels beneath the surface show through creating the illusion of dark circles. In some cases the dark circles are simply shadows caused by a hollowing of the area above the cheeks (tear troughs). One way of masking this appearance is with the injection of hyaluronic acid to plump the area and provide better support for the undereye skin. Restylane and Juvederm are two most commonly used products to achieve this. Both products are affordable, effective for approximately 8-12 months and can be performed in a single office visit. A patient’s own fat can also be injected into the tear trough hollows for a more permanent correction.

Juvederm to tear troughs

Hooded and sagging eyelids can be tweaked with a little Dysport or Botox injected to simulate a mini-browlift and raise the lids. Although a temporary fix lasting 4-5 months, both products are moderately priced and well tolerated by all patients. Dysport or Botox can also be injected into the crow’s feet area to minimize the muscle movement and allow crow’s feet wrinkles to relax and fade.

Wrinkled, crepey and sagging eye area skin can be improved with laser. Using fractionalized CO2 (carbon dioxide) laser, such as Lumenis Total FX, the delicate eyelid skin can be resurfaced to erase existing lines, improve texture and add a few degrees of tightening to lift the lid without surgery (see below). The CO2 Total FX offers results with only one treatment and can be performed specifically for the eye area at a fraction of the full face price.

Periorbital Fractional CO2 Laser

Gaze into your own eyes and see the possibility of a new reflection. Younger, happier and natural looking with the help of a few non-surgical eye-openers. Visit www.facebook.com/ChangesPlasticSurgery or www.changesplasticsurgery.com for more information and pricing on non-surgical facial rejuvenation.

Tags: aging, anti-aging, blepharoplasty, browlift, changes plastic surgery, co2 laser, cosmetic surgery, crow's feet, dark circles, dermal filler, dermal fillers, eye lift, eyelid lift, eyelid surgery, facial filleres, fractional laser, gilbert lee, hooded lids, juvederm, non-invasive, non-invastive, non-surgical, non-surgical treatments, Radiesse, restylane, sagging skin, san diego plastic surgeon, san diego plastic surgery, skin sagging, top doctor in san diego california, total fx laser, undereye bags, undereye circles
Posted in Facial Aging, General, Plastic Surgery in San Diego California | 25 Comments »