Is Pre-stretching the Breast with BRAVA Suction Bra worth the Struggle?

A patient asks me this:

What are your opinions on the BRAVA technology? Is it worth the struggle before having a breast ‪fat transfer?

My answer is: Depends on your volume requests and your breasts flexibility. Such suction bras are expanding the breasts and thus increase their ability to adapt for more fat in lipotransfer for breast augmentation or breast reconstruction.

Flexible breasts do not need it. Stiffer breast might profit from it especially when bigger volumes of fat shall be transferred. The stiffer the breast is the more important a pre-surgical mechanical expansion treatment will be. Such treatment will make the breasts more flexible so bigger amounts of fat can be transplanted. As an alternative repeated lipofilling of smaller amounts of fat can be done in such cases.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

What Is the Difference Between Breast Augmentation with Autologous Fat and Stem Cells?

In each breast augmentation with autologous fat also stem cells are injected into the breast because adipose tissue is the body tissue with the highest content of mesenchymal stem cells.

One speaks of stem cell breast augmentation when the stem cell content of the autologous fat was increased. The correct term is “breast augmentation with stem cell-enriched autologous fat”. The higher number of stem cells in stem cell-assisted lipotransfer usually improves the sustainability of the result compared to the conventional autologous fat transfer.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

BHRT for Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (Part 1)?

A female patient with Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS) mailed me this:

I am on low dosage progesterone and DHEA applied transdermally. I am not aware that these can weaken the adrenals?

My reply was that low dosage progesterone and DHEA are useful in healthy women around 30 to 35 with strong adrenals but are neither the proper Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) in case of weak adrenals nor sufficient in women over 40. Insufficient BHRT can in fact weaken the adrenals even more.

She will additionally need other hormones and another composition to specifically treat AFS and better her condition. For more information kindly check out our page on Hormonal Regeneration® with bioidentical hormones. My team and I would be pleased to give you detailed advice on an individual basis.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Sexuality – A Product of Hormones?

In terms of sex men and women differ remarkably. Meanwhile, this is even scientifically proven. In the male brain sexual stimuli provoke significantly increased brain waves in the so called amygdala, a region which is responsible for motivation and action, than in female brains.

Is this perhaps because of the fact that men and women carry different chromosomes? Researchers say no.

In a certain study scientists didn’t just investigate male and female persons, but also those who suffer from a quite rare disease, the “Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome” (CAIS). These are people who carry also an X chromosome apart from the Y chromosome; nevertheless they develop – at least superficially – female genitals. This is caused by defective testosterone receptors which prevent testosterone from taking its full natural effect.

A difference regarding brain activities between “normal” women and CAIS women couldn’t be determined in the study mentioned previously. This leads to the following conclusion: Not chromosomes take control of our sexuality, but our hormones!

Hormones are messengers which play a big regulating role in our body. They are produced by different organ systems and are able to deliver information that is important to keep up the essential body functions within a minimum of time.

Of course the regulation of sexuality is also part of the essential range of tasks accomplished by hormones. Both estrogens and testosterone – the most important sex hormones – take control of our sexuality. What was working well in younger days could become a problem with increasing age. In most cases the reason is a lack of hormones which could lead to libido disorders and loss of potency, among other things. The good news is: This problem can be solved.

Hormonal Regeneration® by DDr. Heinrich contributes to a regeneration of the hormonal balance and helps to boost the love life. The intake of bioidentical hormones as part of a Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) shows the desired effect within a short time. Because the hormones used in BHRT have the same chemical structure as our body’s own hormones, unpleasant side effects of synthetic hormone preparations can be avoided, if correctly dosed.

Hormonal balance provides the basis for a new sense of life. Another benefit: The hormone therapy is not only good for your soul, but it can also induce positive effects on your outward appearance. My team and I will be gladly at your disposal for a comprehensive and individual consultation.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Methods of Rejuvenation: A Look into the Future: Gene Therapy (Part 6)

The viability of cells and the organism is ultimately determined by their genetic material. Thus it is clear that it would be necessary to intervene in the genetic material in order to get down to the root of the problem of aging. Theoretically it would be possible to improve the genetic substance by specific replacement as desired.

However, in practice this intention fails because genetic substances would have to be incorporated by viruses. This approach leads to a number of problems: Shedding of viruses by the immune system or diseases like leukemia or other similar diseases. Currently there is no practical application of genetic therapies in sight for the purpose of prolongation of life. We keep you informed about the latest findings.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Read more about other methods of rejuvenation

Treating Wrinkles in a Thirty Year-old Woman with Autologous Fat?

I just got asked by a prospect who is interested in facial rejuvenation why I discourage from fat injections to treat fine lines in the skin in women who are in their early thirties.

My answer: Because fat injections are used to fill volume defects, and not for the treatment of small wrinkles. Fat injection would make her face fuller and thicker. If it’s all about the wrinkles, we recommend treatment with stem cell suspension without injection of autologous fat (lipofilling).

Since the prospect is still young, it would be sufficient for her to take Perfect Skin by DDr. Heinrich® Beauty Drink or Powder (with collagen and hyaluronic acid) regularly.

Collagen and hyaluronic acid strengthen the skin from the inside and smooth fine lines quickly, without any surgical intervention.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Bruce Jenner: Is He the New Michael Jackson?

Once he took Gold for America at the Olympic Games in Montreal. Nowadays he is obviously spending time rather at the beauty doc than on the sports ground. Who knows Bruce Jenner from his decathlon career will hardly recognize him at his performance in the reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians. This is all about the pompous life of Kim, her siblings and her mother, who are all among the regulars of plastic surgery. Bruce imitates what his family is demonstrating – but in an even more excessive way.

Since his break-up from his wife Kris Jenner not only his appearance changed significantly, but also his whole life. At first he all alone moved into a huge beach home in Malibu, then he let his hair grow, got himself a Harley-Davidson and decided for one aesthetic procedure after another. Diagnosis: midlife-crisis. The break-up from his wife, with whom he was going through peaks and valleys together for 22 years, does not seem to go unnoticed at Bruce, even optically.

After a correction of his nose and a lifting of his neck and face his craze succeeds with a smoothing of his Adam’s apple, with which he was unsatisfied since ever, according to insiders. Especially the last mentioned surgery let media – indeed warranted – vigorously discuss about a possible gender reassignment of the reality star. His family vehemently denied this rumor, but if we take a short look at him we immediately recognize that the overall picture of the former Olympic champion becomes more and more female – hardly anything is left from the seasoned man.

Although the media declare the 64-year-old as the new Michael Jackson due to his tendency to plastic surgery, voluntary support from the family is ensured, TMZ reported. The identity change would be his method to deal with the break-up. Important would be that he’s lucky! Well, if so!

Outward changes and his new life style let us suppose at least, that the ex-athlete wishes himself back into his days of youth, which were full of physical fitness and sex appeal, and obviously he wants to run through this lucky time again. Countless surgeries are not enough to achieve this aim. With increasing age structures of our body like the hormonal glands lose their effectiveness, which is apparent on the one side in form of reduced hormone levels, on the other side in form of optical and psychical changes.

If Bruce doesn’t want somebody to think he’s an old rocker on his Harley-Davidson, who is past his sell-by date, he could consider a Hormonal Regeneration® with bioidentical hormones (bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, BHRT). Thereby his body gets strengthened from within, libido and sexual power get increased and the complexion of the skin gets improved as well. Maybe this is a realistic way to spread new power and endurance and to attract women again, including his ex-wife Kris. The procedure is quite easy:

At the beginning of every Hormonal Regeneration® there is a comprising analysis of the actual hormonal state. Afterwards each patient gets his own tailor-made therapy plan, taking account to the patient’s personal aims. As a part of the therapy lacked hormones like DHEA, growth hormone, testosterone, thyroxine, and pregnenolone gets supplied to the body in bioidentical form. Therapies with bioidentical hormones last optionally 3 or 6 cycles (1 cycle = 28 days) and can be repeated as desired. A regenerative effect can already be recognized short time after therapy begins.

A difficult phase of life, like the one in which Bruce Jenner is currently standing, is anyway a conceivably wrong moment for impetuous operative physical changes. Instead an individually adjusted therapy with bioidentical hormones could help him to recharge his batteries. And who knows – if Bruce is smoking full of wit riding his Harley-Davidson across California, maybe his desire for further physical changes done by scalpel disappears by itself, says

DDr. Heinrich, MD

The Ball Season Has Started: Everything for a Fresh Appearance

Brilliance and glamor are to the fore in the ball season.

Obviously, women do not only take their finest dresses out of the cupboard, but also want to put visible parts of the body like face and décolleté perfectly into focus.

In our Clinic DDr. Heinrich® we offer outpatient treatments which can help you to achieve your desired look even at the last minute:

“Vampire Lifting”: Skin Rejuvenation with PRP

The platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is obtained from a small amount of your own blood and gets injected into the skin gently. It is especially suitable for local skin rejuvenation because of its bio-effective ingredients. PRP refreshes you not only for the night of the prom, but also leaves a lasting effect for several months.

Treatment duration: 30 minutes to 1 hour

Skin Rejuvenation with Growth Factor and Stem Cells

In mesotherapy with growth factors small amounts of special growth factors from skin cells (epidermal growth factors) are injected into the skin. There they exert a tightening and rejuvenating effect.

Treatments with stem cells extracted from the body’s own fat allow for regeneration and rejuvenation of the skin that goes beyond the effect of growth factor treatment.

Treatment duration:
Growth factors: 30 minutes to 1 hour
Stem cells: 30 minutes to 3 hours

Power Infusion: Increased Power from the Inside

The so called Myers’ Cocktail – a special mixture containing magnesium, calcium, B vitamins, and vitamin C – strengthens your body via infusion and supplies it with essential substances, which help you to start fitter through night and day.

Treatment duration: 5 appointments, 1 hour each

Regeneration Infusion as Detox Treatment

Sugar deposits caused by diabetes or diet-related toxins can be removed from the body with the help of alpha lipoic acid infusion therapy. Driving out the so-called “slags” from our tissues leads to a more vital body and more enjoyment of life.

Treatment duration: 5 appointments, 1 hour each

Fat-Away Injection (Injection Lipolysis) and Liposuction with Microcannulas

Tiny fat pads in the facial region such as double chin and tear sacks can be broken down by injection of a natural fat-dissolving substance. In order to achieve the desired result two treatments are needed in most cases.

For the treatment of larger fad pads we recommend microcannular liposuction, which is very gentle because it is performed manually.

Treatment duration:
Fat-away injection: 30 to 90 minutes
Liposuction: 30 minutes to 3 hours

For further question or arranging of an appointment we are gladly at your disposal, either via e-mail or by telephone +43 1 532 18 01.

We wish you a glamorous ball season!

Your Team at Clinic DDr. Heinrich®

Cameron Diaz: Tired of Botox?

As the daughter of a Cuban and an American Cameron Diaz turned her appearance to account already in her youth when she started a modelling career, before she changed to Hollywood many years later. Without having any experience Cameron was able to cast a spell over the producer of The Mask (1994) and got her first role as blonde in the mentioned film.

With her smile she fascinated a wide audience in the love comedy There’s Something About Mary in 1998, which was also responsible for her breakthrough. One film followed the other and soon Cameron Diaz was ranking among the best-paid actresses. With such a dream career it doesn’t surprise that Cameron is permanently wearing a smile on her face.

But in the last months we could watch her smile freezing more and more. According to media hardly anything of Cameron’s pleasant smile could be noticed at her performance at the Met Gala. The facial outlines of the Hollywood beauty were stiff and her countenance seemed quite impassive. Since these performance rumor has it that Cameron did deal too much with botulinum toxin, better known as botox.

In the beginning of 2014 the 41-year-old confessed the open secret about her botox treatment in an interview to Entertainment Tonight. And she was everything but satisfied about the result: “It changed my face in such a weird way that I was like, ‘No, I don’t want to [be] like [that]’ … I’d rather see my face aging than a face that doesn’t belong to me at all.” Cameron goes on to say that she likes her laugh lines: “I love it, I don’t mind. It’s like, ‘Guess what this means, I’ve smiled my whole life.’”

As reader of my blog you know that freedom from wrinkles through botox does also mean a mask-like appearance and a dollish facial expression. In addition botox causes degeneration of the cutaneous glands by which skin gets dryer and thinner.

It’s no surprise that Cameron seems to be only one of many women regretting botox afterwards: In the past year both Gwyneth Paltrow (42) and ageless Nicole Kidman (46) admitted that they are unhappy with the result from botox. But are wrinkles unavoidable in reality if the desire for naturalness ranks first?

Everybody’s hormonal glands become weaker over the years and as a consequence our body’s own hormone production decreases. We can see this lack of hormones in form of wrinkles, sunken cheeks, and faint and dry skin. Which opportunities do we have to preserve juvenile appearance without giving up naturalness?

Instead of hazarding the side effects of botox Hollywood’s beauties could choose a Hormonal Regeneration® (bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, BHRT) with bioidentical hormones, which correspond to our natural human hormones in structure. Such a Hormonal Regeneration® brings missing hormones to our body in bioidentical form. Thereby our skin could be strengthened in a natural way from within. It makes especially fine wrinkles disappear, without getting anything injected.

In addition, treatments with stem cells extracted from autologous fat support skin rejuvenation and regeneration and restore lost volume in the face. Therapies with growth factors from skin cells as well as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) isolated from autologous blood are also suitable for local rejuvenation of certain skin areas. Thus Cameron and her colleagues could relinquish botox and more and more Hollywood stars are in fact already doing that.

Last July Cameron’s new Hollywood comedy Sex Tape was celebrating its premiere. Just the title was an incentive for a vast number of Cameron’s fans to watch the movie. Afterwards they could assess if Cameron does really keep her hands of botox – as announced – or if that was just one of many resolutions we don’t keep.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Breast Augmentation for Transgender People à la Conchita Wurst

At least since May 10th, 2014 everybody knows “her”: Conchita Wurst sang herself into people’s hearts with her ballade Rise like a Phoenix at the 59th Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen. A honorable performance – because up to now only the world-famous Udo Jürgens accomplished to get the title for Austria in the sixties with the popular song Merci Cherie.

Our landlocked country was thus represented successfully in one case by a man and in the other one by a woman… or actually by an androgyne, a transgender person, as it is called nowadays.

It is well known that Conchita was born as Thomas Neuwirth. To take a stand against discrimination of homosexuals Tom turned into the artificial character Conchita Wurst. The self-appointed drag queen of course did undergo several changes – the beard had to stay for the reason of being a distinctive mark of the brand “Conchita Wurst”. It is worth noting that “Conchita” (shell) means “vagina” in the Spanish colloquial.

Vast amounts of makeup, extensions and glittery gowns alone do not make up a transgender person alone. Depending on how far one wants to go, different additional interventions may be necessary. At the beginning of such metamorphosis of an androgyne “phoenix” there is often a hormonal change. Hormones are messenger substances which take effect within a complex control circuit and control numerous tasks both in male as in female bodies. Depending on the sex different hormones are released in varying amounts and show their impact on our body.

In female bodies larger amounts of the sexual hormone estrogen are produced than in men. Among other hormones estrogens are responsible for growth of the female breasts. These and other effects of estrogen are utilized by transgender people to make their body more female. After analysis of the hormonal status a hormone therapy that is tailored to the patient’s individual needs can be started. In our point of view the option which has proven to be the best is the one where bioidentical hormones are administered, which correspond to the body’s own hormones in chemical structure and thus – other than artificial hormone drugs – hardly cause any side effects when being administered in right dose.

A result can already be seen after a few weeks. Because of fat deposits and enlargement of the glands a female breast can be recognized and also the body composition changes: The body fat content increases and muscle mass decreases. These are signs that the body adapts to female conditions.

The breast is growing due to the intake of hormones, but rather equals a girlie breast than a female breast. Thus transgender people often express the wish for further measures for breast augmentation. Silicone implants are mostly unwanted in those cases because they seem anything but natural.

Breast augmentation with autologous fat or stem cells is an alternative to the foreign object silicone. However, even this breast augmentation technique requires further preparation in transgender people. After it has been clarified that enough body fat is available for the treatment, pre-stretching of the flat breasts using a suction bra or with frequent injections of saline solution is necessary. The latter you may already know from my blog posting about breast augmentation for one night.

Assuming continuous intake of female hormones it is usually possible to obtain the needed amount of fat also in transgender people. A breast augmentation with autologous fat (lipofilling) or stem cells (stem cell-assisted fat transfer) is a proper alternative to silicone for transgender persons in order to obtain natural female breasts.

What is now the résumé? Transgender people who want to accentuate the female aspects of their bodies have to make their bodies more female with the help of hormones. Of course, such a drastic intervention in the hormonal balance and the body should be considered carefully and is not easily possible from a legal point of view. If the decision has been made definitely, typical female body forms can be enhanced and emphasized by aesthetic procedures, for example using autologous fat and stem cells.

It will be interesting if our national drag-queen Conchita will approach with a female cleavage on parties or on stage in the foreseeable future. Indeed estrogens do not really go together with growth of a beard. Thus Conchita would have to decide either for a female body or for her distinctive mark.

DDr. Heinrich, MD