« August 2006 | Main | October 2006 »
There are a number of doctors promoting a 'liposelection' procedure that creates six-pack definition. It is done with liposuction to create grooves in the abdominal fat to make it appear to have muscular bulges.
The problem is you are not seeing muscle definition, you are seeing pouches of fat. Fat does not look, feel or behave like muscle. Look at the before and after. Yes, creepy.
The Lifestyle Lift is a procedure performed at a national chain of cosmetic surgery centers- sort of like how KFC's or Taco Bell is a chain, but instead of someone frying up chicken, they are operating on your face.
It is a type of 'SMAS plication' that tightens the musculature underlying the facial skin. It is often effective and safe, but is not for everyone. However, this is the only 'facelift procedure' they perform, so they have an incentive to tell you it is right for you. The surgeons performing the procedure are well trained, but you may not meet them until the day of surgery.
They also take some awesome mugshots. Check out this link to the Lifestyle Lift website and see how they seem to instruct people to frown in the befores and smile in the afters.
Dr. Prakash, 55, pictured here with his wife, claims he has found the secret to eternal youth, and that secret is HGH or human growth hormone. He says the hormone injections have envigorated both of them, and people often accuse them of having plastic surgery.
The injections can cost around $15 a day, and are part of a new movement called anti-aging therapy or natural hormone replacement. The Anti-aging institute has a FAQ on HGH. Some controversy has led to research to determine if HGH can cause cancer.
Dr. Prakash does have a nice smile.
The website, Awful Plastic Surgery has had a lot of awful commetary about what type of work celebrities have had done. For example, a recent post about Kate Jackson suggests that the corners of her eyes were pulled up, as if from an excessive brow lifting. Sorry, but a brow lift does not pull up the corners of your eyes, no matter how hard you tug the brows upward. An aggressive midface lift can possibly do this if the tissues are anchored upward toward the temples, or an eyelid tightening (lateral canthopexy or canthoplasty) is more likely.
Moral of the story: be wary and critical of plastic surgery information from the web, including plasticized.com.
A contest was held in 2004 in Beijing called 'Miss Artificial Beauty Contest'. Each contestant was required to provide documentation of their prior cosmetic procedures. This pageant reflects the growing interest in cosmetic surgery in the Chinese population.
The winner earned $6,000, after besting 19 other entrants. Her photo is here on the BBC website. Pictured above is the only transsexual contestant.
The contest was started after one of the Miss Intercontinental contestants was disqualified for having undergone cosmetic surgery. Since 2004, there has not been another 'Miss Artificial Beauty Pageant', but there have been daytime drama award shows aired on television, which are essentially the same thing.
Many people don't know this, but often the sign of a less-than-skilled facelift technique is the pixie ear. This is when the lower earlobe is connected to the side of the face instead of hanging free. Some people are born with a pixie ear, but when a fine, white scar is seen with it, surgery was the likely culprit.
The photos here show a pixie ear on the left, and a surgical correction of this deformity on the right. If you have any celebrity examples of pixie ears, send us an email.
