ISSUE: September/October 2003
Cosmeceuticals & Anti-aging
Going Deeper in Search of Beauty
Chemical Exfoliation Continues to Appeal to Patients
Ah, the chemical peel. On one hand, a slightly controversial yet bona fide method of rejuvenating skin cells. On the other, despite any controversy it is a procedure which has become one of the most popular non-invasive aesthetic treatments on the market. A fully qualified physician who knows how to administer just the right peel to just the right areas of the face can bring in a large and profitable clientele. That is because nationally tucking in under the Botox injection, the chemical peel is an attractive, lunch-time facial pick-me-up. Patients clamor for it, using its milder forms to help undo years of cellular damage, and its more stringent forms to alter dramatic imperfections. Of course, there are detractors...
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Dermatology
Nasal Reconstruction
Cartilage Grafts and the Paramedian Forehead Flap
The nose is the most common location for nonmelanoma skin cancer resulting from chronic ultraviolet damage. Large, recurrent, aggressive-growth, and poorly demarcated basal cell carcinomas in this region represent one of the greatest therapeutic challenges for the dermatologist. These lesions require a treatment strategy to obtain the highest possible cure rate and reconstruction techniques to restore the best possible cosmetic appearance. My treatment for these skin cancers incorporates a two-stage approach: removal with Mohs Micrographic Surgery to obtain the highest possible cure rate followed by immediate repair with advanced reconstructive techniques to achieve a natural restoration. Occasionally, the defect is large and involves structural components of the nose. In these cases, the paramedian forehead flap and cartilage grafts harvested from the ear are my treatment of choice...
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Laser & Light Technology
Intense Pulsed Light Devices
AN INDEPENDENT OVERVIEW
Today there are many companies selling intense pulsed light devices (IPL) with systems ranging from $12,000 to $85,000. IPL systems are mainly distinguished from lasers in that they do not operate at a single wavelength. These devices use specific parts or all of the spectrum between approximately 500 nanometers to 1200 nanometers. The energy they deliver within their selected spectrum range is one of the critical factors in satisfactory clinical outcomes for specific aesthetic treatments...
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Legal Case of the Month
International Marketing Protocols, Strategies, Regulations
GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION MAXIMIZES PROFITS FOR PHYSICIAN-DEVELOPED OR ENDORSED PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGY
Less than a decade ago American companies looked to foreign companies for new products and technology to distribute to the medical market. In this same time period American-developed products, especially those endorsed by leading domestic dermatologists and plastic surgeons, have created a demand for American products and technology in foreign markets...
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Medical Spas
Developing Aesthetic Service Partnerships
FINDING A GOOD MATCH BETWEEN PHYSICIAN AND MEDICAL SPA
Baby Boomers, the “parents” of anti-aging services, are turning 50 in the U.S. at the rate of 25,000 per day. Even before that fateful birthday, they are looking in the mirror and finding wrinkles, their payoff for years of sun worshipping and searching for services to fight them. They are willing to pay whatever it takes to erase those tattletale signs of aging...
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Men’s Aesthetic Procedures
The Truth About Laser Tattoo Removal
Once found primarily on the bodies of bikers and sailors, tattoos in recent years have made their way into mainstream acceptance. In fact, one in seven Americans now has at least one tattoo. The difficulty with tattoos today is due less to any social stigma than it is to the fact that people tend to change their minds about their own tattoos. As their lives change, their career goals, peer groups, and relationship partners change as well; and they may develop different feelings toward their tattoo or tattoos in general. The reality is that it is much easier and less expensive to put on a tattoo than it is to remove one, by a factor of 10 to 20 times. Despite the comparatively high cost, there is no shortage of patients seeking to remove their tattoos...
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Plastic Surgery
Breast Augmentation in the Ptotic Breast
At the Third International Congress of Plastic Surgery in Washington, D.C. in 1963, Cronin and Gerow1 from Houston reported on the use of silicone gel prostheses. Before that a variety of materials such as paraffin, liquid silicone, fat and implants such as Ivalon had been tried. The original prosthesis was teardrop shaped but, according to Tom Biggs2 of Houston, the shape was changed to “round” when Cronin was informed by Gustave Aufricht that breasts are round! Cronin returned to Houston and asked Dow Corning to make the implants round. Today the Texans are still arguing about whether breasts are round or teardrop shaped. The issue is even more confused because the latter are named “anatomical.” In addition, inflatable implants using Dextran and later saline have been available since 1965. Now, forty years later, breast augmentation is the second most common cosmetic surgical procedure after liposuction in the United States...
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