Are you seeing spots on the sides of your face, on your chest and on your forehead? Did you know that these types of facial imperfections can actually be treated and minimized?

Skin blotches on the face, chest and hands are actually common, and you should be happy to know that we carry the entire Obagi® therapeutic skin care line. Many have heard of Obagi® but not everyone is aware that Obagi is the #1 Skin Care line sold exclusively to physicians.

Obagi® is known for its effective Nu Derm® System, also known as Corrective and Enhance®, which smoothes fine lines and fades brown spots and other skin imperfections in just a few months.

As people age, dark spots, uneven skin tone and sometimes even a mask over the nose and cheek area can appear, especially after pregnancy or use of birth control. Obagi’s, Clear™, uses prescription strength Hydroquinone to correct discoloration and equalize skin tones. Hydroquinone is the active ingredient that is used for its “fading” qualities, proactively correcting the early signs of damage by regulating the production of cells responsible for pigment in your skin.

Prescription Obagi skin care products are far more effective than any over-the-counter product.  They are specially formulated to achieve a desired end, and they’ve become a real way to get visibly dramatic results. Obagi® is a medical grade skin care program so you will need to speak with Dr. Grenley before purchasing.

If you’re interested in lightening those dark spots on your face, chest and hands with Clear™ or are interested in other Obagi® products give us a call at 206-324-1120 or request a free consultation here. You will look better and feel so much better about your one and only face.

If you know someone who has pigmentation problems, have them get in touch with us. We now know if this type of pigmentation problem goes untreated and if you continue to over expose your skin to the sun, these areas can darken to the point where even make up won’t cover them up. Anyone that has wrestled with these problems should know this firsthand.

First, call Dr. Grenley at Seattle Plastic Surgery right away!

Breast implants can be covered under warranty, which might help you with the replacement cost.

A ruptured saline implants carries no health risk, but it will certainly look and feel strange. If you have silicone implants, the only way to diagnose the problem is by MRI.

There are many different possible causes of breast implant failure. In some cases, the problem occurs when the implants are filled above or below the manufacturer’s recommended fill range. Other times, texturing of a saline implant can result in excessive wrinkling and premature wear, causing the implant to fail. Breast implant deflation can even be caused by simple wear and tear, and your lifestyle definitely plays a role in how long your breast implants will last.

A deflated implant can be successfully removed and replaced in a surgical procedure similar to the original breast augmentation. Typically the same breast augmentation incision is used to approach the deflated implant.

While all this might seem like a hassle, the good news is that recovery from breast implant exchange surgery is usually easier than the original surgery, since the pectoralis muscle has already been stretched.

The average person’s environment and lifestyle might play a more significant role than their genes, at least when it comes to the onset and visible progression of facial aging.

A recently conducted study by the ASPS analyzed identical twins with contrasting lifestyle factors to visibly check for signs of facial aging.

Leader and author of the study Dr. Bahman Guyuron said, “we looked at identical twins because they are genetically programmed to age exactly the same, and in doing so we essentially discovered that, when it comes to your face, it is possible to cheat your biological clock.”

The twin subjects were photographed, surveyed, and then visually inspected by members of an independent panel.

An interesting finding revealed in the study was the conclusion that subjects over 40 who were heavier than their identical counterpart actually appeared younger.  Dr. Guyuron speculates that this finding provides some scientific basis to support facial rejuvenation through volume restoration - the correction of facial lipoatrophy.

The results also revealed a higher perceived age difference in divorced subjects and those who had used antidepressants.

A talented group of surgeons, doctors and various medical professionals at Cleveland Clinic have completed the first-ever “80 percent facial transplant”  on a female patient that was suffering from the residual effects of serious trauma.

No personal information about the patient will be released, but Wall Street Journal reports that the procedure was one of the “most complex face transplants in the world.”  Many functional and structural components of the were restored.  Surgeons precisely integrated facial structures like the
lower eyelids and nose, while also restoring different complex tissues like skin, nerves and arteries.

Team leader Maria Siemionow has spent a great part of her career researching and developing such procedures. She was able to lead a group of professionals from a variety of disciplines, including psychology, anesthesia, opthamology, dentistry and others. A cooperative approach of this magnitude is the only way to succeed in such a complex surgical procedure.

Dr. Siemionow has a profound connection between her work and her motivation to help injured patients.
She states,”patients with facial disfigurement have very difficult challenges in society.  We hope that one day we may be able to help the tens of thousands of patients who are quietly suffering.”

Breast implant and aesthetic specialities supplier Mentor Corp. was acquired by medical products giant, Johnson & Johnson on December 1st, 2008 for a reported $1.1 billion.

JP Morgan analyst Michael Weinstein said the deal was most likely possible thanks to the recent economic strain, which had Mentor aggressively marketing its silicone implants over its other products.

While the vast majority of Mentor’s income is in breast implants, in mid-late 2010, Mentor is expected to receive FDA approval on a new wrinkle reducing, botulinum toxin-derived injectable. The new drug - Purtox - will compete with Allergan’s well known wrinkle reducer, Botox.

CNN aired a news segment this week about the Japanese surgeon Kotaro Yoshimura and his innovative, but somewhat controversial breast augmentation method, which uses stem cells to successfully perform fat grafting during breast augmentation procedures. Yoshimura has received public notoriety for the technique and according to the news report, clinical trials are underway in the U.S.

Officials from the Food and Drug Administration met in November with a group of outside experts to review complications that have been reported in association with cosmetic dermal filler injections.

Over the last six years, there have been roughly 900 reports of wrinkle filler issues.  Juvederm, Restylane, Radiesse and other new offerings are products that fall under this category. The group will discuss the possibility of labeling changes and the seriousness of the reported issues.  Is this a reason to be concerned about dermal filler safety?  Yes and No.

It may sound alarming to those outside the surgery profession, but the complications and side effects associated with these products are still extremely rare.  Demand for fillers and wrinkle reducers like Botox has risen dramatically, leading many  untrained persons to believe that they can administer them in non-medical settings. The majority of industry professionals will attribute most of the reported complications to issues like these.

There are also well known problems that occur on a very infrequent basis, like minor swelling or allergic reactions, with the latter being a subject of greater FDA interest.  According to a recent MSNBC news article, Allergan spokeswoman Caroline Van Hove said “no serious problems were seen in clinical trials of Juvederm, and the most common complaint since its approval was swelling in 0.4 percent of patients.”

Also, Food and Drug Administration officials noted that the “reports had several limitations such as failing to say when the problems started.”

Safety and proper training is of the utmost importance when considering any surgical or cosmetic procedure, so we recommend that all patients seek a knowledgeable plastic surgeon with the right qualifications.

For more information on the FDA panel discussion, the briefing is located here.

An Orlando plastic surgeon recently outlined the status of modern breast cancer treatments and the efforts of the medical community to minimize its adverse effects through reconstruction and prevention.

Dr. Richard Bosshardt writes that society’s value of the breast is an ancient phenomenon since historically, many people have viewed them as symbolic of “femininity and desirability.”  Given this observation, it is easy to realize why the possibility of breast removal or disfigurement can be so scary.

Many women know to focus on prevention and are aware of the breast cancer statistics, but aren’t informed about positive developments on the horizon.  New information shared by Dr. Bosshardt in the Orlando Sentinel suggests that ‘genetic markers’ have become excellent risk indicators, narrowing the search for a definite cause.  Also, he notes that breast implants, bras and high-fat diets have never been shown to increase the risk of cancer.

Doctors have finally begun practicing “breast conservation” rather than outright breast removal and reconstruction has become more sophisticated than ever with patients often looking better as an end result.  The article can be viewed here.

Art Caplan is the University of Pennsylvania director for the center of Bioethics. Last summer he gave a one-hour lecture at the historic Chautauqua Institution about extended life, enhancement of our bodies and the potential use of advanced stem cell technology to achieve these goals.

Caplan argues for the permissibility of enhancement by refuting the arguments of a group he calls “new puritans”, who object to medical advancements that could enable us to live longer and look better. Persons who hold this puritanical view often disapprove of cosmetic enhancement as well.  One person in his audience had spoken of a family member getting a facelift, and a younger woman responded with harsh criticism saying, “that’s terrible.  It’s unbelievable that you would do that, you should simply accept the changes as they come.”

Caplan systematically dismisses each of these objections and presents his own argument in favor of true anti-aging, based on a theory that we could double the life-span of a human with the help of stem cells.

His proposal in favor of embryonic stem cell research is this:  We’ve already doubled our lifespan since ancient times.  There is no “natural order of things” when it comes to how long we should exist or how good we should look during that time.  Stem cell technology need not come from new sources, but embryos that we already use for other purposes.

What we use to repair disease, we can also use to enhance.  There can be whole body rejuvenation, including the mind, with the help of this technology.  Skin, organs, hair and everything in between can be enhanced with regenerative cells.  Similar things have successfully been done to small organisms.  If we fund it now and conquer these frivolous (and perhaps not so frivolous) arguments, real anti aging can become a reality.

The hour-long lecture can be found in its entirety here on Minnesota Public Radio.

New research by medical scientists has revealed that human body fat is rich in stem cells. This discovery has spawned many interesting developments on the plastic surgery front. In Japan, a surgeon named Kotaro Yoshimura claims he can fortify fat even further with stem cells and use the product to perform a breast augmentation. The regenerative properties of stem cells apparently make this possible.

A similar procedure has been documented in the United States, but unlike Yoshimura’s technique, it doesn’t involve stem cell fortification. Dr Sydney Coleman of New York claims he has been performing breast augmentations using transplanted fat for years. He published an article in the publication Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery detailing the process.

But Coleman’s technique comes with certain risks. The most undesirable and commonly associated risk is the death and subsequent calcification of the transplanted fat. The body rejects the reintroduced tissue, failing to integrate it into its surroundings. Some speculate that this process might also hinder the effectiveness of mammogram screening.

Theoretically, fat supplemented with stem cells should more readily integrate itself with the body, as a new blood supply forms and the blood vessels bond with the new tissue. If this indeed became a reality, the breast implant would cease to be an implant and become a wholly natural augmentation.

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic surgery is funding a related study. Interested patients should visit can www.ClinicalTrials.gov for more information.