A BAN on silicone breast implants in America has been reversed after 14 years by the regulatory Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after independent studies failed to find evidence that they caused tissue damage or cancer, writes Sarah Baxter.
Silicone gel Breast implants are considered to have a more natural look and feel than the salt water “balloons” that replaced them. Cosmetic surgeons expect them to become the top choice for the 300,000 American women a year who opt for breast enlargement.
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Hypothermia prevention is the second issue being tackled by the ASAPS Campaign for Patient Safety, an ongoing initiative to raise awareness of steps that plastic surgeons and their patients can take to improve the safety of cosmetic surgery. The first campaign issue focused on the prevention of venous thromboembolism.
Read the complete press release

For more information, log onto http://www.surgery.org. To access the complete journal article, “Prevention of Perioperative Hypothermia in Plastic Surgery,” log onto http://www.aestheticsurgeryjournal.com.

From a personal point of view: I have suffered the misery of waking up from an anaesthetic and shaking with the cold…I learnt it is not a pleasant experience.

All our patients having surgery under either Sedation or General anaesthetics are warmed during the surgery. The theatre team at the commencement of the procedure place a warming blanket that is filled with air warmed to body temperature, this precaution to minimise and or prevent hypothermia is a fundamental step not only for safety but a courtesy to the patient in providing the optimal procedural experience.

An investigating into the cosmetic surgery industry goes to air on the ABC’s Four Corners program this coming Monday 23 October, at 8.30pm in each state.

To read a synopsis of the program.

From a personal perspective I welcome a balanced investigative commentary on the cosmetic surgery industry. It is important that the public understand that there is a difference in the training of a plastic surgeon who performs cosmetic surgery. As the promotion sates:
“In most states it is legal for an ordinary GP to call him or herself a cosmetic surgeon and start wielding the scalpel on patients, or consumers. Many do. ”

(Peter Dixon)These “cosmetic doctors” do not participate in stringent review. Their thought and work are not overseen by their peers and Royal colleges of education.(RACS.)
The training and review systems that plastic surgeon participate in are a major safeguard to the community and patients excellence of care.

All to often I see patients who have been advised by the “makeover shows or cosmetic doctors” these patients understanding of what they are considering is flawed and over simplified.”

“Whilst good plastic ( and for that read cosmetic surgery as they are one and the same) surgery can be a life changing positive experience a poor or inadequate result can leave the individual in anguish.”

Going to a plastic surgeon who specialises in cosmetic surgery and even consulting other plastic surgeon is the minimum you should do when considering the surgery of change…Then and only then can you know that you have obtained the opinion most appropriate to your needs and expectations.

Having cosmetic surgery won’t magically change your life, but it could improve your mood and your quality of life; it also might help you quit taking antidepressant medications. Those are the findings of two separate studies presented at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Plastic Surgery 2006 conference in San Francisco.

Self-esteem was boosted 99 percent of those not taking antidepressants before surgery and 98 percent of those who did take antidepressants before surgery cited better self-esteem,

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