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Selfie esteem! How Instagram is fueling a new wave of plastic surgery

a recent article in the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS discusses how women like how their selfies look using filters, and then head to their doctors to help create what they see.

 
You is the new you. Years ago, people seeking cosmetic surgery would bring pictures of celebrities to their doctor — and ask for “Angelina Jolie’s lips,” “Kate Beckinsale’s nose” or “Kim Kardashian’s butt.”
But now people bring their selfies — filtered through Instagram.
“This is a huge trend,” says Upper East Side surgeon Dr. Elie Levine. “People are bringing in pictures of themselves taken at a favorite angle or filtered, and saying they want to look like that.”
Anyone can nowadays, thanks to Photoshop — which even Beyoncé uses to always look her best in pictures.
But real life requires real solutions, and that’s where the Instagram-aided knife comes in.
Central Jersey mom Geri Hubner says she became obsessed with her growing wattle after staring at photos from her daughter’s wedding. She started using photo filters but then came to the ultimate real-world conclusion:
“I wanted to look like that all the time,” says Hubner, 56.
So she called facial plastic surgeon Dr. Andrew Miller in Edison, showed him the Instagrammed pictures and sprung for a neck lift, which can run $10,000 to $20,000.
“He’s an artist. I should have done this years ago,” says Hubner, who says the surgery and week-long recovery were relatively painless.
Queens resident Nancy Chacon, 32, also showed her best face on Instagram, using “either the Inkwell or Sutro filters, or the sepia tones, to hide blemishes.”
It worked — too well, she admits: “I decided I wanted people to see that person in person.”
So she got some laser treatments and broadband light photofacial therapy at Levine’s Manhattan clinic. It cost about $1,000, but her complexion is in the clear.
“So many people asked, ‘What are you doing to your face? You look so young!’ ” she says. “It was worth it.”
Huber also got Botox, for about $300, and injections of Juvederm, which runs about $1,000 per syringe. The result is smoother and fuller skin.
“I now have cheekbones,” she says. “It’s put a real skip in my step.”
These women aren’t alone: The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery says there’s been a 33% bump in procedures driven by self-awareness from social media since 2013.
Midtown plastic surgeon Dr. David Shafer has clients pleading for a “social-media makeover” every day.
“They whip out their cellphones and start flipping through their pictures, saying, ‘I want to look like this all the time,’ ” he says.
Doctors can respond with an arsenal of minimally invasive, lunch-break treatments for under $1,000. The changes are big, but friends and family often don’t know that any work was done.
“I only tell my closest, tightest girlfriends that I’m doing this. Everyone else thinks I just look really well-rested,” says Janet Ross, 47, from San Francisco, who relied on the Amaro filter to soften her selfies before Dr. Jonathan Kaplan used Belotero fillers to reduce the lines around her eyes and mouth.
“I don’t want to look like one of the ‘Real Housewives,’ ” she says. “I just want to look like myself, but better.”

INSTAGRAM 101

The boom in Instagram-fueled cosmetic surgery may sound shallow, but it’s a step in the right direction for an industry where too much work can leave clients looking grotesque.
“Clients are not trying to look like a whole different person anymore,” says Dr. Andrew Miller, who is based in Edison, N.J. “We always stress taking what you have naturally and making it better. Otherwise, people can look really weird, with lips that are too big, a jawline that’s unreal.”
As a first step, here are some ways to tweak your selfies before contemplating surgery:
Soft, warm Instagram filters such as Rise and Toaster deemphasize pores and imperfections by highlighting your skin.
Black-and-white filters are universally flattering. They eliminating red or ruddy complexions and automatically make ho-hum classy.
Blur imperfections with the softer Willow filter, or go bold with the high-contrast Inkwell.
The duck face works: Purse your lips and shoot down from a higher angle to highlight cheekbones, conceal double-chins and emphasize your eyes.
Before you snap the shutter, shake up your hair by doing a quick punk rock head-bang, or ruffle your fingers through it to give limp strands a quick boost.
 
This Article Brought to you Courtesy of Dr. Mark Bishara and The Paragon Plastic Surgery & Med Spa in Mansfield & Southlake, TX

 
 

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FDA APPROVES FIRST DERMAL FILLER TO TREAT ACNE SCARRING

PLASTIC SURGERY & AESTHETIC MEDICINE- FDA Approves First Dermal Filler to Treat Acne Scarring
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first dermal filler to treat pitted scarring of the cheek caused by acne, the most common skin disorder in the United States afflicting 40-50 million people.
Bellafill, developed by privately held Suneva Medical Inc, is made primarily of bovine collagen. When injected, it is designed to lift and smoothen scars to the level of the surrounding skin, in patients over the age of 21.
A cure for acne has long eluded drug developers. And despite treatments ranging from topical gels to lasers, nothing so far has satisfactorily treated scarring that affects up to 95 percent of acne sufferers.
A study testing Bellafill against a placebo in 150 acne patients showed a significant improvement in those receiving Suneva’s treatment that continued for up to a year, Suneva said on Tuesday.
“Until now, multiple laser treatments or other injectables have been used but are limited both in terms of efficacy and longevity and are hampered by potential side effects.
Approved in 2006 to smoothen “smile lines”, demand for Bellafill has grown more that 30 percent a year for the last several years, Suneva CEO Nicholas Teti said in an interview.
Pricing of the acne treatment is likely to be similar to that of the wrinkle treatment. Dosages would depend on the severity of the scarring.
San Diego-based Suneva, which was formed in 2009 out of the assets of Artes Medical, a publicly traded company that filed for bankruptcy the previous year, plans to launch Bellafill for scarring toward the end of January.
Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Aaron Gal, who covers Botox-maker Allergan Inc, termed Bellafill a “niche” product.
For these reasons, he said it was unlikely Bellafill would become “a big drug” such as Allergan’s Juvederm and Valeant Pharmaceutical International Inc’s Restylane.
Both are based on hyaluronic acid, a substance occurring naturally in the body but not approved to treat acne scarring.
This News Brought to you courtesy of Dr. Mark Bishara and The Paragon Plastic Surgery & Med Spa

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Dr. Bishara featured in the Arlington Today February Issue- Docs You Need to Know

Read our article in the latest issue of the Arlington Today Magazine February Feature Issue, Docs You Need to Know.  There is an article about our own Dr. Mark Bishara highlighted in the magazine.
www.MarkBisharaMD.com



 
 

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Medical Tourism on the Rise in Costa Rica

In a recent article in Feel Costa Rica, a Real Estate magazine, discusses how Costa Rica is a very appealing option for medical tourism.
Several countries now top the list for medical tourism, including Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Costa Rica. Ranked as among the most appealing destinations for medical tourism last year, these countries have quite a lot to offer, including the ability to recuperate in a beautiful, foreign location. Other countries that are gaining appeal in terms of medical tourism include South Korea, Italy, Colombia, Spain, and Dubai, as ranked by the International Healthcare Research Center.
The Medical Tourism Index measures the appeal of a country for the purposes of medical travel in addition to several key dimensions. As part of the latest ranking, Canada was determined to top the list for both Medical Tourism Costs and Country Environment. Costa Rica came out the winner for Destination Attractiveness. Israel was ranked highest in Medical Facility and Service. The list was based on a survey conducted among 5,000 Americans and included 30 countries.
The Appeal of Medical Tourism in Costa Rica
Medical tourism in Costa Rica has been on the rise the past several years. Recent news indicates that the medical tourism market is expected to increase to more than $32 billion over the course of the next four years. Much of that increase is due to rising healthcare costs. Improved standards of healthcare technology in countries such as China and India have also contributed to increased medical tourism. Other factors, such as increased adoption of advanced technologies, improved exchange rates, and an ageing population have also contributed to the rise of medical tourism.
Travelers seeking procedures abroad are often attracted by a shorter waiting period for treatment and better pricing for procedures, including cosmetic surgeries. In addition to continually rising healthcare costs, a number of surgical and medical procedures are no longer covered by insurance. As a result, it has now become vital for Americans to seek out more affordable, alternative healthcare treatment options. The opportunity to travel to a foreign country that offers more affordable pricing and quality healthcare in a serene environment has proven to be the ideal solution for many people. Medical tourism has now grown far beyond elective procedures to include non-elective procedures, such as hip replacements, neurosurgery, and heart surgery. This has proven to be particularly important in light of the aging of the Baby Boomer population in the United States.
The rise of medical tourism has certainly proven to be good news for Costa Rica. Most recently, it was announced that La Posada, located in Guanacaste has been sold to Rythmia Holdings Company SRL. The new owner plans to convert the property into a medical treatment center and promote the facility for medical tourism with a focus on holistic health. Estimates indicate that the project will create more than 100 jobs, including both direct and indirect jobs. Operations are slates to begin early this year.
This Information is brought to you courtesy of Dr. Mark Bishara and The Paragon Plastic Surgery & Med Spa

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On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… plastic surgery?

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me … two breast implants, a tummy tuck and a rhinoplasty.
That may be a riff on the original, but it’s a tune many are singing this holiday season, as more people are asking Santa to go under the knife.
Holiday gift giving has become a staple at many cosmetic surgery practices, and the popularity has grown over the last several years, according to Tom Seery, Founder and CEO of RealSelf.com, a consumer website for patients considering cosmetic procedures.
Seery said that people are widely more accepting of nips and tucks than they used to be, and the fact that it’s become more mainstream makes people more comfortable admitting they want something done.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 15.1 million people had cosmetic procedures in the U.S. in 2013, up 104% from 2000.
“Because of that, cosmetic surgery is much less of an awkward conversation to have around the dinner table,”Seery said.
The most common plastic surgery gifts to give are anything involving the face — from fillers to lifts — and breast augmentations.
The Christmas season is the busiest time of year for most plastic surgeons, because people have time off to get the procedures and then recover.
This year, Heidi, a mother of three living on Long Island, NY, won’t be looking for the jewelry box her husband usually leaves under the tree. Instead, she’s getting a new kind of gift — money toward the facial filler Juvederm, which she’ll have injected into the area under her eyes.
“I was so excited when he told me, because I’m always complaining that I look so tired and my husband knows this,” said Heidi, who requested that we not use her last name.
Cosmetic surgery is a major splurge, so it’s an obvious choice for a gift wish list.
As in Heidi’s case, the majority of these gifts come from a significant other. A survey of RealSelf community members found that, of those who had gotten some kind of a procedure as a gift, 75% received it from their romantic partner or spouse.
But this gift idea comes with a caveat: About one third of respondents said they’d be offended if a family member, romantic partner or a friend gifted them a cosmetic procedure.
It could sound downright Grinch-like to give a gift that implies your loved one could use some work, but doctors say that’s not generally the case.
Heidi thought her husband’s gesture meant he had been listening to all her complaining and had gotten her what she really wanted.
“I thought it was very thoughtful that he cared that much, and you know, happy wife, happy life.”
This Information is brought to you courtesy of Dr. Mark Bishara and The Paragon Plastic Surgery & Med Spa

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