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Bird poop facials

An upscale new york spa is offering facials with a secret ingredient: bird poop.

In fact, its currently on special. Check out the NY Mag link: here.

You can probably get the treatment for free by laying out in central park's great lawn for an hour.

Get breasts from a japanese vending machine

A claw-style vending machine in Japan carries imitation breasts- perhaps for those who can't afford legitimate implants.  Only in Japan. For now.

Japanese Bust Roller

Another one from the strange Japanese cosmetic gadget shelf: a breast roller. 10 minutes of rolling are purported to inflate the cleavage. Is it possible? Maybe if the trauma temporarily induces swelling. But unlikely to affect a long-term change. Here's the link for more pics.

Subdermal Star Implant

There is always someone who will take their appearance one step further. Subdermal implants are an example of taking things 10 steps too far, in our opinion. But who is to judge beauty?

It's similar in process to the subconjunctival implants, but under the skin. This Flickr user documented the implantation. Wired magazine reported on this in '06. Infection would be the most feared risk of this type of surgery, and embarassment at family events would be second. 

Male Pregnancy

The pregnant man has been a hoax/urban legend for as long as time can remember. For instance, this clever website advertises the world's first pregnant man. But it's not real.

Another entrant in this strange contest has emerged, and has taken the press by storm. He/she has gotten in on a technicality- he used to be a woman. Amidst jokes and rants, this person is a part of the collective spectacle that has populated daytime television airwaves and propelled Jerry Springer to stardom. 

Is Dr. 90210 harmful to plastic surgery?

The popular E! show, Dr. 90210 has received a backlash in the medical community. There is a growing consensus that medical reality shows highlight a sensationalist side of medicine that is detrimental to the trade. Is this well founded?

We watched an episode tonight. One doctor in a consultation had his shirt unbuttoned down to his belly button. Another told a patient regarding revisional breast augmentation: "My goal is to make you perfect... let's make this the last surgery you will ever need." Two horrible things to say to a patient. 1. this sets up unrealistic expectations, and 2. a breast implant is not to be considered a lifelong prosthesis. The average patient goes 10-13 years before having another surgery.

In general, shows like this are probably giving legitimate physicians (as opposed to wannabe celebrities) a bad name. 

Facile Technique: misleading misinformation

You will hear about procedures that don't really exist as cosmetic physicians try set themselves apart from their competitors. Here is an example sent in by a reader: "As defined, the Facile Technique is a newer, better, and more importantly a safer process in plastic surgery". Read more about this here.  The actual technique is never described and there are no scientific papers available describing this technique and its results as named. The term "bladeless" is also misleading, because an incision is made nonetheless, with either a 'cautery knife' or a 'radiofrequency knife'.  This may be an example of marketing gone too far.

Bumpy tattoos for blind people

Why is it that tattoos are only enjoyed by those with sight? That has all changed, with the advent of the braille tattoo. Small subdermal implants (titanium, plastic or steel) are placed under the skin in a careful arrangement. Looks like it could be mistaken for a rare skin condition.

Read here about removable tattoo ink and crucial tattoo advice.

Prenatal plastic surgery

In Beverly Hills, cosmetic surgery is not just for those outside the womb. Read this story about a woman who had a large nose, who wanted her child, destined to share her genetic trait, to have a nose job before birth.

Her rationale: "I don't want my own child to have to wait thirty years like I did.  We've seen sonogram pictures that show she's likely to have a sizeable schnoz, too.  Why should she suffer from it when the science and technology now exists to make kids still more perfect little human beings, ready to take on the world the moment they emerge, and not predisposed to all the insecurities that result from something like that.  If it makes just one kid more confident, it'll all be worthwhile."

Read the whole article here, and realize that this is a farce.

Electric Facial Mask

Halloween is over, but there are still plenty of everyday, creepy masks out there. Take this one for instance. It stimulates facial muscle contraction by electrical impulses. It probably doesn't make you look much younger, but it definitely scares your partner into getting white hairs, making you comparatively more youthful.  Other facial gimmicks that probably don't work here, here, and here.