Clooney on the run from silicone breasts

Even if you feel sorry for Mr. Clooney’s girlfriend – both as a man and a cosmetic surgeon I can understand him. There is hardly anything less erotic than bulging silicone breasts! It is therefore indeed time for patients all over the world – as could be read recently in Profil – to have the excesses of an exaggerated and no longer up-to-date aesthetic surgery put right! Unnatural-looking silicone breasts, lifted, over-tightened doll faces – from the point of view of doctors this could all soon be a thing of the past. An interdisciplinary beauty and rejuvenatory medical treatment, the New Cosmetic Surgery is currently being developed from the scalpel and tightening cosmetic surgery, where silicone, tightening, and scalpels will be unnecessary in most cases!

Instead of liberal cuts with the scalpel, the New Cosmetic Surgery uses minimally invasive, gentle cosmetic operations under local anaesthetic; instead of silicone, stem cells won through microcannulation from the body’s own fat tissue, whereby, for example, permanent, natural-looking, silicone-free breast augmentation has long been possible as well as bioidentical hormones and growth factors!

If Mr. Clooney’s girlfriend had decided on a modest and completely natural-looking breast augmentation with stem cell enriched body fat, he is certain to have stayed with her. He would probably have asked himself why her breasts were larger and fuller without assuming that medical skills had lent a helping hand.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Botox in Egyptian mummies?

Egypt has always fascinated me. I recently looked through an impressive report on excavations in ancient Tanis. It was here – which remained largely unnoticed – that the untouched tombs of the Pharaohs Psusennes and Shishak were discovered.

Here I also had the opportunity of looking at photos of several mummies from this later era of the New Kingdom. They all looked as if they had been treated extensively with plastic surgery, Botox and fillers: no wrinkles, rounded features, yet lifeless, pallid and old. At that time the faces of cadavers had begun to be treated with various “fillers” before being preserved with powdered natron, in order to achieve full, wrinkle-free cheeks despite dehydration.

I am often asked why I do not offer Botox even though there is no doubt that it is a very effective therapy against wrinkles. If a face is treated with Botox and fillers over a long period of time, tissue changes develop which give the face an eerie, lifeless appearance similar to a mummy. Botox does not just paralyse muscles, which smooths out wrinkles, but it also makes the skin thinner, paler and drier, which means that it looks older. It particularly causes the glands of the subcutaneous layers of the skin to atrophy (an effect used in the treatment of excessive sweating of hands or armpits).

Is there an alternative in the treatment of wrinkles? Yes, New Cosmetic Surgery can indeed offer something better: growth factors. These are particular tissue hormones that are introduced into the skin by means of a special form of mesotherapy; and of course the therapy with the body’s own stem cells, won through liposuction with microcannulas! Both therapies have the effect of rejuvenating the facial skin, making it tighter and reducing wrinkles.

In spite of this, can it still make sense to use Botox in plastic surgery? Yes, for example, if facial movements need to be reduced for several months following surgery to encourage perfect healing in the facial area.

Many women would like to have been princesses in Pharaoh Shishak’s court, but very few would like to look like a mummy during their lifetime if they have the choice. For this reason I am optimistic that the new, natural methods will become accepted and that the mummy look will soon be a thing of the past.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Joint damage through overweight and what can be done about it today

Current investigations suggest that the joints of overweight people are not just damaged by excessive kilos. According to the studies, wear on the joint cartilage in hip and knee joints is also furthered by the hormones secreted by the fat tissue – leptin and resistin play a particular role here.

The high frequency of joint damage in overweight people does in fact have several causes. In addition to the mechanical strain, the leptin produced in the fat tissue probably triggers inflammatory reactions in the joints which damage the joint cartilage.

To prevent joint damage, the inflammatory effect of leptin can be reduced through medication. This type of medication is still being developed at present. However, removal of the cause of the increased production of leptin is just as effective: the overweight.

New Cosmetic Surgery is already giving doctors effective tools for this: firstly gentle liposuction with cannulas in the problem zones to remove superfluous fat. Following this, bio-identical hormones against the causes of overweight, usually hormonal imbalance. Combined with an individual training and nutrition plan, the ideal weight can be achieved in this way with medical support. This naturally requires a certain amount of self discipline on the part of the patient – but even a “silver bullet” has to be fired in order to reach its goal.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Silicone balloon breasts

Some time ago a patient consulted me, not about breast augmentation or liposuction but about hormonal regeneration and also showed me – more or less incidentally – her breasts. 20 years ago she had begun with a small 100 ml implant and after several implant removals she now had huge implants of 800 ml on each side. And she is not an isolated case!

Through their hardness and weight, silicone implants stretch and cause wear in every breast to such an extent that after several years either a surgical tightening or a much bigger implant becomes necessary in order to prevent wrinkles and sagging. At some stage there is then a balloon, which in this case does not float but instead pulls the breasts down even more. This is where there needs to be some rethinking in cosmetic medicine. Plastic surgeons must tell their patients what they can expect in the years following the implantation.

They can expect a breast that is a major construction site with several follow-up operations. As the complication rate with implant operations is said to be 8 to 10 % even with experienced plastic surgeons (which means that it is probably higher than admitted), you can work out what the probability of undesirable complications in 5 operations will be: ¹/₁₀ × 5 = 50 %! I can only appeal to your common sense – avoid plastic surgery for cosmetic problems whenever possible! Do not make your breast a silicone problem zone!

If you wish for breast augmentation, please use the more gentle methods of the New Cosmetic Surgery, breast augmentation with stem cell enriched body fat. This is of course somewhat more expensive than silicone, but consider the fact that you will need only one more injection at the most if your breast was originally too small for an adequate augmentation in one treatment. The complication rate is also much lower. With silicone, on the other hand, you are set up for about 5 replacement operations plus at least one tightening operation in the next 20 years, and you have a “good” chance of complications. And to be honest, who today thinks artificial balloon breasts are sexy? It is a known fact that George Clooney left his girlfriend because of 280 ml of silicone…

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Miss Plastic Surgery as a beauty ideal?

Austrian television and many other media recently reported about an unusual Miss Hungary contest: in the Miss Hungary Plastic Surgery contest only candidates who had previously undergone plastic surgery were eligible to take part. The title was finally won by a 22-year-old hostess whom surgeons had not only assisted with injections – a Botox treatment alone would not have sufficed for eligibility in the Miss contest.

According to the reports, however, the winners were not just the girls who had been “prettied up” with implants but also the plastic surgeons who had helped nature with their scalpels and silicone. One candidate had even undergone an operation to her toes in order to get apparently closer to the ideal of a “perfect body”. However, in the light of current trends and developments in the area of cosmetic medicine, this contest seems positively out of date.

There is no doubt that for some time the trend in cosmetic medicine has been going in the direction of restoration of natural beauty and health. In other words, a healthy body always radiates beauty too, and natural beauty can lead to a better sense of well-being.

The goal of New Cosmetic Surgery is increased beauty and health through methods that are as gentle and natural as possible. Breast augmentation through silicone implants and operative facelifting can in many cases be replaced by treatment using the body’s own fat enriched with stem cells – the consequences are natural results without scars and foreign body implants. Stubborn fat deposits can be removed gently by means of specially developed and patented microcannulas; in many cases it is sufficient to set hormonal imbalance right by means of bioidentical hormones (Hormonal Regeneration®) to achieve cosmetic improvement.

On the other hand, anyone wanting to look particularly artificial can in future fall back on implants and plastic surgery. Whether the results will earn a prize outside of a Miss Plastic Surgery contest is questionable.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Who disfigured Michael Jackson?

In Austrian television recently the theme of the Club 2 programme was “Silicone and slimness mania”. Amongst others, Dr. Mang, Dr. Holle, Cordula Reyer, as well as a philosopher, a music manager and a media sociologist took part in the discussion. I thought the discussion philosophically very inspiring in part, but even the cosmetic surgeons did not call the child by its name: people create demand, demand creates supply, the media reports on supply offers and this creates further demand. Doctors who enjoy cosmetic work offer their services. Patients choose between the services and suppliers offered and in this way create trends in cosmetic surgery.

It was inappropriate and incorrect that Dr. Holle, plastic and reconstructive surgeon, placed the blame for botched up cosmetic surgery on cosmetic surgeons who are not Board certified Plastic Surgeons. It was actually plastic surgeons who disfigured Michael Jackson.

Cosmetic surgeons who have specialised in plastic and reconstructive surgery have learnt surgically sophisticated and complex reconstructive operations during their training, and naturally tend towards a generous use of the scalpel, i.e. to perform complex and invasive operations. This, of course, is often unavoidable in reconstructive surgery following accidents or in the removal of tumours, but it is mostly “too much” in cosmetic medicine – also because the rate of unnatural results and complications increases greatly with invasive surgery.

Apart from this it is not true, as Dr. Holle maintains, that plastic surgeons learn cosmetic operations during their hospital training. Not one of the plastic surgeons working in Austria today learnt cosmetic surgery during their specialist training. This is also just as true of plastic surgeons in other countries, as we doctors know. Or would you allow a surgeon in training in a training hospital to perform cosmetic surgery on you?

All doctors who want to work in cosmetic medicine have to learn this initially in additional courses. Whether a plastic surgeon (like Dr. Holle), an ENT doctor (like Dr. Mang) or a general practitioner (like me). It is shown later who possesses the talent for this and whom the patients trust.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Discussion on liposuction at the La Donna exhibition

The La Donna exhibition took place in the Vienna city hall from the middle to the end of the week. The topic of liposuction was raised during a panel discussion with other specialists on beauty and slimness, not least because apart from myself there were two other doctors present who like to offer liposuction for figure correction. In this discussion I spoke mainly about breast augmentation with stem cells, but naturally also made a contribution to the topic of liposuction.

There are still many misconceptions in this area of cosmetic surgery. Thus most cosmetic surgeons still do not know that the use of microcannulas (1.0–2.5 mm in diameter) make scar-free liposuction with a minimal aftercare of a few days possible.

There are often controversial discussions on whether liposuction should be done before or after losing weight. My experience shows that it should be done beforehand, firstly because it makes further loss of weight easier and secondly because it creates space allowing the tissue to tighten up better during the subsequent weight loss. After a substantial weight loss the fat cells are so “sapped” that it is difficult to perform liposuction on them: they do not burst as easily as full fat cells when pierced by the liposuction cannula.

In many cases of weight loss, of course, liposuction is neither necessary nor effective. Only a consultation with the cosmetic surgeon can clarify things here. If you decide on this measure, however, then please have it done before your diet rather than afterwards.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Do cosmetic surgeons create zombies?

I have just read that my colleague Dr. Mang from Germany, a cosmetic surgeon well-known in the media who took part in a soap opera about beauty, has published a critical book on cosmetic surgery. General theme: No more superfluous breast augmentation, facelifts, or liposuction – stop making zombies out of people! My respect!

Dr. Mang is remarkable for many reasons, not just because he speaks openly about the problems of the branch, but also because he openly admits to being an ENT doctor. It is no secret amongst us doctors that the specialist origins of a cosmetic surgeon say little about his ability, even though some specialists like to portray this differently to the public and the media.

I share Dr. Mang’s reservations – my misgivings about the stressful surgical methods of traditional plastic surgery are known. I am reminded here of the old saying: “Someone who has a hammer sees everything as a nail” – the more tools you have at your disposal the less likely you are to see everything as a nail that need to be hammered in! Surgery is often like the proverbial hammer…

For this reason I am of the opinion that (specialist) general practitioners with additional training in cosmetic surgery have a better basic training for the New Cosmetic Surgery than plastic surgeons! This is because they can choose the optimal tools for beauty and rejuvenation from all medical fields. In the area of beauty minimally invasive surgery, stem cells and bioidentical hormones are normally more effective methods than silicone and scalpels!

Stressful reconstructive surgery that of course belongs in the hands of an experienced plastic surgeon should normally not be necessary in cosmetic surgery.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Therapeutic gold from abdominal fat?

10 years ago, who would have thought that fat can also be useful? With interest I read the article in the current Profil about stem cells that, according to American scientists, can now be won from abdominal and hip fat. It is a fact that in Vienna we have already been working since 2006 with stem cells gained from the liposuction of abdominal and hip fat, and Japanese doctors have been doing this since 2003.

It is now known that these mesenchymal stem cells, which are possessed by everyone in an unlimited number, can be used for a number of innovative therapeutic purposes. And this without any ethical reservations, such as arise with the use of embryonic stem cells, and without the otherwise limiting factors like the painful and difficult extraction from bone marrow or the low cell density of stem cells won from skin.

As we work principally in the field of aesthetics and regeneration in my clinic, we consequently work chiefly with procedures such as breast augmentation without silicone, face rejuvenation without facelifting, scar correction, etc. Yet in many centres worldwide work is being done with therapeutic applications that will heal people with their own stem cells – and all this with a bit of abdominal fat!

DDr. Heinrich, MD

Silicone implants as identification of murder victims?

When I was in the USA recently, I read in the media that the wife of a well-known financial investor had been murdered. Her husband, incidentally, was being searched for as the main suspect after an adventurous escape to Canada with a speed boat, and apparently subsequently committed suicide. The murderer had made his victim’s body so unrecognisable that she could only be identified by means of the serial number of her breast implants. So implants good after all? This is admittedly macabre.

This reminds me of the novel Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?, which was filmed as Bladerunner, directed by Ridley Scott, with Harrison Ford and Sean Young. Here on-the-run replicants, that is artificial humans who need to be destroyed, have to be distinguished from real humans. This can be done by examining skin cells bearing markers with serial numbers, which allow the clear identification of a cloned (replicant) human. Of course Harrison Ford, the Bladerunner, whose job it is to find and destroy the replicants, falls in love with replicant Sean Young of all people… You ought to see this film if you haven’t already done so.

oes this mean we will soon all have serial numbers implanted so that we can be clearly identified? As long as cosmetic surgery can do without implants by, for example, making breast augmentations from the body’s own fat, we should avoid using implants, even if this may one day make identification more difficult.

DDr. Heinrich, MD