Atlanta Plastic Surgeons

I want to be an actor. What cosmetic surgery will help my career?

morgan — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:33:53 +0000

For movie or television acting, there are five ways cosmetic surgery is used:

high-light angles for the camera,
look thinner – the camera adds 5-10 pounds
Increase femininity/masculinity
Decrease age.
Get noticed.

For camera angles, this usually means –

For men, chin implants, cheek implants, neck liposuction.

For women, cheek implants, neck and face liposuction.

For men and women, nose surgery, fillers, fat injections, Botox.

To look thinner – lots of liposuction, plus gym work outs and healthy eating.

For femininity/masculinity -

Young small-chested women often get a breast enlargement.

Older women may get a breast lift.

Men often get chest/pectoral implants and calf implants.

To decrease age – eyelid surgery and face lifts, usually by 40. And skin care, peels and lasers.

To get noticed – unknown actors struggle. There are many fewer opportunities for women.

An ambitious unknown female actor may be willing to do anything bizarre to get noticed – including truly outrageous cosmetic surgery. I do not recommend this. It can be psychologically dangerous.

Dr. Morgan worked in Beverly Hills and understands the special needs of actors.

Call us if we can help. Best wishes!

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Is there an age limit on breast reduction? Is 67 too old?

morgan — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:03:30 +0000

Definitely not.

I have done breast reductions on women in their mid-70s.

They have healed as well as younger women.

Their results have been as life changing.

One 77 year old woman called me a month after surgery from her aerobics class to say, “This is the first exercise I have been able to do since puberty.” She lost 50 pounds after surgery.

A few suggestions for planning your surgery.

If you have a chronic health condition – obesity, diabetes, hypertension – have your primary care physician and any specialists clear you for surgery in writing.
They need to advise your surgeon of any special care you may need.
Your mammogram should be within a year of surgery.
An electrocardiogram (EKG) is needed within 2-4 weeks of surgery.
Few plastic surgeons accept Medicare so surgery may be self-pay. M
Medicare may cover the hospital, anesthesia and an over-night stay.

Breast reduction has always been a good operation. Today with the shorter incisions (lollipop reduction) and addition of liposuction to the reduction, results are even better.

If you have suffered from large breasts, do not wait any longer.

You can have a better life!

For more information from Dr. Morgan about cosmetic surgery and treatments, call us for an appointment, search our blog or go to www.realself.com – where Dr. Morgan regularly posts answers.

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Are Board Certified Plastic Surgeons actually better at doing cosmetic surgery than other surgeons?

morgan — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:58:04 +0000

Research shows the answer is Yes.

Research last year showed that as residents in training, Board Certified Plastic Surgeons get far more experience and training in cosmetic surgery than any other specialty – including facial plastic surgeons and dermatologic plastic surgeons.

Research published in May 2013 studies complications in panniculectomy (cosmetic skin removal from the abdomen) when the operation was done by Board Certified Plastic Surgeons compared to other Board Certified Surgeons. Research showed 1) Board Certified Plastic Surgeons have many fewer complications including serious complications and 2) took more time doing the surgery.

Why is slower surgery better? In plastic surgery, faster doesn’t mean better because doing it right is all that counts — understanding the anatomy, knowing exactly what needs to be corrected, being meticulous, handling tissue gently, adjusting the result to make it as good as possible, understanding how to get the best possible healing – these are what make a plastic surgeon. It is the hallmark of a plastic surgeon and the bedrock of our training. So naturally, we get the best results.

404.941-3200

melissa@drelizabethmorgan.com

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How safe is it to travel abroad for a tummy tuck and implants?

morgan — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:37:25 +0000

Lots of people do it. But it increases your risks.
1. You lack family/friend support,
2. It is harder to check a surgeon’s credentials.
3. Foreign surgeons often can’t be sued – less ethical ones will cut corners and take risks.

Combining a tummy tuck with breast surgery is especially hazardous abroad.

Blood clots are more common
• after combined surgery, after tummy tucks, after travel.
These clots can make you desperately ill.
Mixing a long operation, + a tummy tuck + travel in one cocktail triples your blood clot risk.

When is cosmetic surgery abroad reasonable?
1. If you lived in the country,
2. have friends/family there,
3. know the surgeon’s real credentials
4. and his/her reputation.
5. Stay 5 – 10 days to recover.

Still, healing takes time. Complications can occur 2-3 weeks after surgery. About 10% of cosmetic operations need a touch-up after 6 months.
You may end of paying a lot for this care.

The USA has excellent Board Certified Plastic Surgeons. Fees here are usually a good value. If a fee seems exorbitant, don’t go abroad – stay home, stay safe and get a second opinion.

Call us if we can help. Best wishes!

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Can a laser treatment get rid of my lower lid bags?

morgan — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:25:04 +0000

No. Not even powerful CO2 laser resurfacing or a phenol peel can do this. Why not?
• Lasers and peels treat the skin.
• Eye bags are caused by excess fat under the eye and a weak orbital septum – this is the tissue that holds the fat in place. (In older people, there may be loose skin as well as excess fat.)

• Even teenagers can have lower lid bags because of a genetic tendency. Treatment of eye bags in the young is a transconjunctival lower lid blepharoplasty – a long name for a scarless lower lid lift that trims the excess fat. Young skin snaps back, usually no skin treatment is needed.

• Later in life, fat bags in the lower lid can appear along with loose skin. Treatment here may be a transconjunctival lower lid blepharoplasty plus removal of excess skin and/or a laser or skin peel. Or a traditional lower lid lift which removes skin and fat through one incision just under the eye lashes – this leaves a virtually invisible scar within a few months after surgery.

Hope this answers your questions. Call us if we can help.

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Is liposuction better than tummy tuck to remove the fat I gained during pregnancy?

morgan — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:27:00 +0000

It depends on what pregnancy did to your body.
• Liposuction removes fat deposits under the skin.
After liposuction the fat tends to return unless you exercise more and eat less.
• Tummy tucks repair stretched muscle, remove loose skin and remove fat from the waist and upper abdomen.

Liposuction is tailored to your needs. If you just gained weight on your tummy, that can be treated. If you gained weight around the waist – that can be treated to. Liposuction often jump starts us by providing the motivation to get fit after pregnancy.

Pregnancies can do lots of different things to our bodies. So there are lots of ‘designer’ tummy tucks –
• Skin only tummy tuck when only the skin is stretched, you are thin and muscles taut.
• Lower muscle only tummy tuck – when only lower muscles are stretched.
• Mini-tummy tuck, that repairs only lower muscles and removes a little skin.

You may have a good idea of what you need. To be sure, see a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon for a full evaluation.

Call us if we can help. Best wishes!

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What is a laser facial?

morgan — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:12:29 +0000

A laser facial often known as ‘non-ablative fraxel’ uses a laser to rejuvenate the skin.
This is an office treatment with no down time.
The best ‘fraxel’ lasers are the ND Yag and fractionated CO2.
I prefer the ND YAG laser facial. What is involved?

• You lie down and skin is cleaned,
• Laser settings are adjusted to your skin,
• You will feel the laser pulse but it should be quite tolerable,
• Too high a setting can damage the skin, too low a setting has little effect.
• The neck and face are often treated together,
• The laser passes over each skin area three times,
• Treatment takes about 20 minutes.
• How does it work? The ‘fraxel’ treatment increases skin blood flow and tightens skin protein.
• Your skin will be red for 12 – 24 hours afterwards.
• Your skin is smoother and tighter, often fine lines vanish.
• Six ‘fraxel’ treatments are needed, 2-6 weeks apart,
• Many people have a few treatments each year to maintain improvement.

ND YAG fraxel’ laser facials don’t replace a face lift or a neck lift – but postpone the need for one by keeping skin firm and healthy.

Call us if you’d like to learn more!

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What is the news in buttock implants?

morgan — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:48:18 +0000

This is your 2013 buttock implant update.

Thanks to new research – we appear to have a buttock implant operation with an acceptable complication rate.

Although many people want larger buttocks, buttock implant results have been discouraging. Fat injections (the Brazilian Butt Lift) look great at first, then absorb. Silicone buttock implants had a 25% risk of infection, requiring their removal. Recovery to minimize infection meant a month of bed rest.

Now the good news. Anatomical research from Brazil now shows that silicone buttock implants can be safely placed under an inch of muscle – without risk of damage to the important sciatic nerve. Placed under the muscle, the risk of infection fell to 1%. Overall complication rate was 11%.

What about recovery? A night in hospital, on your stomach. Home the next day with NO exercise for 3 weeks and no leg exercise for 2 full months. It’s best to take two weeks off work.

This is a big improvement. It doesn’t make them risk free – but buttock implants are now a reasonable operation to consider.

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How common is skin necrosis after a tummy tuck? What causes it?

morgan — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:09:22 +0000

Skin necrosis is loss of skin from poor oxygen. If, in an effort to get your tummy very tight, your surgeon pulls the skin too tight, there is not enough blood flow to keep the skin alive. The skin turns dark, then black and then heals from below, leaving a tight, wide scar.

For this reason many surgeons, myself included, prefer to be cautious, removing as much skin as possible, but not making the tummy tuck drum tight.

Liposuction of the tummy skin at the same time increases the risk of skin necrosis a lot, because it damages the skin’s small blood vessels. So liposuction is only done on the sides and in the mid-upper abdomen.

Small areas of skin necrosis heal without treatment. Larger ones may need surgery. It usually takes six weeks for the area to heal.

If the necrosis is near the tummy tuck scar, it can usually be removed. I have not had the complication in a patient but if it were to happen, I would wait a year before trying to correct the scar. Otherwise the skin may not be loose enough and the necrosis may happen again – not what anyone wants!

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Does the Exilis laser really get rid of fat like liposuction?

morgan — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:30:51 +0000

Yes. But Exilis is not a laser.

• Exilis uses radiofrequency to burst fat cells.
• Your body then absorbs the melted fat.
• Without fat cells, fat cannot return to that area.
• Like liposuction, fat can return to other areas if you do not eat to your new shape.
• How is Exilis done? A metal roller is moved across your skin with deep pressure,
• At least 5 treatments are needed.
• Treatments take about 15 minutes.
• Excilis does not hurt – rarely you may feel a tiny static ‘shock’.
• Your skin feels warm for about 24 hours.
• Exilis treatments are repeated every 2-4 weeks.
• Results last – as long as you eat to your new shape.
• Exilis can be used anywhere – neck, stomach and thighs are popular sites.
• Exilis treatment cost varies from a low of $300 to a high of $600.
• Exilis packages of 5 treatments or more bring down the cost per treatment.
• Can results be disappointing? Yes but most people are very pleased.

Exilis can’t replace liposuction which can remove large amounts of fat in multiple areas all at one sitting. But unlike most earlier technology, Exilis fat reduction results can be dramatic and Exilis has no down time, unlike surgery. Call us if you’d like to learn more!

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