plasticized.com

Laser wound closure

Can stitches be a thing of the past?

read about it here!

Compounding Controversy in Cosmetics

There has been controversy related to what is legal according to FDA regulations for compounding pharmacists and physicians. This has been seen in the bioidentical hormone arena lately. Many of the shaky ground issues are in regard to unsubstantiated claims and marketing drugs for non FDA-approved uses.  In the case of an improperly compounded botulinum toxin, the results were fatal. Some organizations have popped up as compounding advocates, but many may have no specific credentials or authority.

A similar issue came up with Jan Marini's eyelash product, as it was a drug marketed for a non-approved purpose. Others try to skirt this issue by marketing a product for a non FDA-approved use but have individual physicians buy directly from a compounding pharmacy. This can be a slippery slope.  How this story develops will influence how many physicians practice in the future.

McCain and melanoma

It's no secret that Presedential Candidate John McCain has a scar on the left side of his face from a surgical excision of a cutaneous melanoma, one of the most dangerous forms of skin cancer. It brings to light the importance of monitoring skin lesions and having them treated at the earliest signs of bleeding, irregularity, growth, and color changes.

Read more here about McCain's "melanoma secrecy".

Endoscopy made easy at home

Have you always wanted to perform your own endoscopic procedure? Are you intrigued by tiny cameras that can record the magnified details of your body on a large screen for everyone to see? Are you wondering if your dental fillings are intact? Then the Miharu is for you. It's a small camera that can see inside you, and send the image to a television. Yes please.

Does it matter if your cosmetic surgeon is fat?

Here is a question posed by a reader:

"Should I be concerned if my plastic surgeon is fat?"

At first it seems like a frivolous question, but maybe this reader raises a significant point. Will a person who does not care about their own health be able to take care of others? Does this hold true for all doctors? Does obesity impede a physician's ability to effectively perform strenuous surgical tasks that require dexterity and flexibility? Please add your own comments.

Are artificial sweeteners causing obesity?

Rats given saccharine as compared to glucose gained more fat and ate more calories, in a lab somewhere. A sweet lab.

Read more here.

Fuze Slenderize: hip gloss?

Is it possible that a lip gloss can reduce your waist size? Too Faced cosmetics has a product called Fuze that is tagged as a "guilt free" lip gloss. It has ingredients that are supposed to supress appetite. There is absolutely no evidence that this will work, but obese magic-bullet seekers can hope. MSNBC has a nice report on the subject, here.

Perkies

Perkies, are bra inserts for patients who are considering breast augmentation and want to get an idea about size and appearance. There are probably a lot of other uses, but most of them are best left unsaid. Here's the website link.

Kinoki footpad scam

The company promoting these footpads even claim that they remove cellulite. Yeah, right.

Video games relieve postoperative pain

For over a decade, distraction technique has been researched and applied successfully in clinical practice, with the aim of relieving the pain associated with certain medical procedures. The application of distraction is based on the premise that the perception of pain has an important psychological component in which the amount of attention paid to the unpleasant stimulus affects the perception of pain.Spanish researchers have found that video games can help minimize pain after surgery, by means of distraction. They used virtual reality headsets to reduce the amount of narcotics needed by patients.

"For over a decade, distraction technique has been researched and applied successfully in clinical practice, with the aim of relieving the pain associated with certain medical procedures. The application of distraction is based on the premise that the perception of pain has an important psychological component in which the amount of attention paid to the unpleasant stimulus affects the perception of pain."

Read about it here.