BUT FIRST … LET ME TAKE A SELFIE …

… as the song by The Chainsmokers says!  And it seems that nowadays, whatever we do, wherever we are, we have to take a selfie! 

What is a selfie?  Well, the Oxford Dictionary defines it as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and loaded to a social media website”.   On November 19^th, 2013, they even went ahead to announce selfie as their international Word of the Year 2013.  The Word of the Year is a word (or an expression) that has attracted a great deal of interest during the year to date.  The Oxford Dictionaries’ editors conducted language research revealing that the frequency of the word selfie in the English language has increased by a staggering 17,000% since the same time last year. 

So where does that leave us?  What does this mean?  Is technology taking over and we are victims of trends? Have selfies influenced our existence?  Thinking about it, I was actually reading the TIMES the other day, and it said: “As tweens and teens try to form their identity, selfies serve as a way to test how they look, and therefore feel, in certain outfits, make-up, poses and places.  And because they live in a digital world, self-portraits provide a way of participating and affiliating with that world.”

Having read that, actually scared me … I got to realize that selfies can actually be influential in molding the sense of self … something that a few years ago we would do by reading books, searching the web, listening to the news, watching people and interacting with them, and even following fashion trends … but this … this gadget/camera we have in our hands is actually taking more control of our “being” than anything else in history.

            But it seems that I’m not the only one inquiring about the effect of selfies!  A survey conducted by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is actually coming out saying that the selfie culture is actually even changing the cosmetic surgery numbers and shifting the trends.  The survey found that 30% of the facial plastic surgeons surveyed saw an increase in requests for procedures due to patients being more self aware of looks in social media and that a great number of patients were dissatisfied with their own image on social media sites.   This is really having a poll on self-confidence with people needing to hold a microscope up to their image and self-critique it.  Even if these pictures are taken from our most flattering angle, they still may have lighting issues and they may still force us to see whether we are comfortable … within our skin!  After all, these images, uploaded in the social media sites, are the “first impressions” given to other young people, potential romantic partners and even employers!

            The outcome?  A 30% increase in “changing appearance” procedures performed on younger patients, when prior the selfie-era, the facial procedures where mainly performed to prevent or erase the visible signs of aging. And now you may ask: What are the “changing appearance” procedures?  Well, they include, but are not limited to otoplasty, rhinoplasty, mentoplasty, cheek implants, lip augmentation, scar revisions, and so on.

            Otoplasty, also known as ear surgery, will get rid of protruding ears that may have given us the cruel nicknames of “Dumbo” or “Mickey Mouse” from our beloved classmates! This surgery can offer a real emotional boost in addition to its cosmetic benefits.

            Rhinoplasty, also known as nose surgery, will enhance the appearance of the nose, a part of our breathing system that unfortunately sits right in the middle of our face and has a great impact on our appearance.  With proper analysis, realistic patient expectations and the skills of a qualified and board certified facial plastic surgeon, rhinoplasty is a very rewarding procedure, which makes a huge difference in overall facial harmony.

            Mentoplasty, also known as chin surgery, will help give balance to the face and create a major part of one’ s profile, especially if the procedure is done on a “weak chin” which obviously is not an asset.  This procedure may take one of two routes: chin augmentation or chin reduction.  The augmentation is achieved with the help of chin implants available in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, while the reduction sculpts the bone to a more pleasing size.

            Cheek implants add aesthetically pleasing definition to the face improving the contour of the middle of the face creating higher and more prominent cheekbones. The size and contour of the cheek implants to be used will be determined by your plastic surgeon and custom fit to achieve the most natural looking results.

            Lip augmentation is basically a cosmetic procedure that can give fuller and plumber lips but can still change the overall balance of the face and give … better selfies!

            Scar revision is needed when the skin is injured from a cut or tear and the body heals by forming scar tissue.  These scars may range from being nearly visible to very obvious and disfiguring, often times acting a reminder of the traumatic experience associated with it. There are various surgical techniques used in scar revision and it really all depends on the scar, where it is located and how it looks.  A visit to your plastic surgeon will give you all the options available for this revision surgery and may be even a bad memory erasure!

            And now that I’m done with the article … let me take a selfie!!!  NOT!!!

Works cited:

1)    http://healthland.time.com/2013/09/06/why-selfies-matter/

2)    www.webmd.com

3)    www.aafprs.org

4)    www.plasticsurgery.org

TOP 10 NUTRITION MYTHS

Reading articles and research papers on plastic surgery and dealing with procedures all day long, does not mean that I can disconnect myself from remembering that plastic surgery and nutrition are closely related … However many surgeries one undergoes, if the lifestyle and nutrition habits are not there … it will all seem like a lost cause and at some point we will need to start over if we don’t adopt what’s right!  Thus, here I present some of the top nutrition myths that will help you maintain what you get after surgery. 

1.     Sugar Causes Diabetes.
This is probably the most common misconception about diabetes. Yes, if you have diabetes, you need to watch your sugar and carbohydrate intake to properly manage your blood sugar levels. However, if you do not have diabetes, sugar intake will not cause diabetes. So far, a diet high in calories, being overweight, and an inactive lifestyle are the main risk factors for Type 2 Diabetes.

2.     All Fats are bad.
The fact is we all need fats. Fats help nutrient absorption, nerve transmission and maintain cell membrane integrity … just to name a few functions. However, when consumed in excessive amounts, fats contribute to weight gain, heart disease and certain types of cancers. (Like you didn’t already know this!!) Not all fats are created equal though. Some fats promote our health positively while others increase our risk for heart disease. The key is to replace bad fats (saturated fats and trans- fats) with good fats (monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats) in the diet.

3.     Brown Sugar is better than White Sugar.
The brown sugar sold at the stores is actually white granulated sugar with added molasses. Yes, brown sugar contains minute amounts of minerals. But unless you eat a gigantic portion of brown sugar everyday - the mineral content difference between brown sugar and white sugar is absolutely insignificant.

4.     Brown Eggs are more nutritious than White Eggs.
Eggshell color can vary but it has nothing to do with the quality, flavor, nutritive value, cooking characteristics or shell thickness of an egg. The eggshell color only depends upon the breed of the hen. According to the Egg Nutrition Council, "white shelled eggs are produced by hens with white feathers and white ear lobes and brown shelled eggs are produced by hens with red feathers and red ear lobes. There is no difference in taste or nutrition content between white and brown colored eggs".

5.     Avoid seafood to lower blood cholesterol
I can't believe that this myth was even created. As a matter of fact, cholesterol found in seafood has little effect on blood cholesterol in most people. Saturated fats and trans- fatty acids are the most important factors that raise blood cholesterol. Saturated fats are found in most pre-packaged and processed foods containing shortening or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Trans-fatty acids, on the other hand, are also found in packaged snack foods, deep-fried foods or firm margarine containing hydrogenated oil. Those are the evils … not shrimp, crab and lobster!

6.     Avoid carbohydrates to lose weight.
The key message that many Low Carbohydrate Diets convey is that carbohydrates promote insulin production, which in turn results in weight gain. Therefore by reducing carbohydrate intake, we will lose weight. Many low-carbohydrate diets actually do not provide sufficient carbohydrates for the body for daily maintenance. Therefore your body will begin to burn stored carbohydrates (glycogen stored in the muscles) for energy. When your body starts burning glycogen, water is released. Therefore the drastic initial drop of weight, especially at the beginning of a low-carb regime, is mostly the water that you lose as a result of burning glycogen. Further, these diets are often calorie-restricted! Actually, to lose 0.5 kg (1lb) a week, you only need to eat 500 calories less per day in your normal diet. Therefore, whatever you eat, you will lose weight if you decrease your caloric intake to less than what is needed to maintain your weight.

7.     Avoid nuts as they are fattening.
Yes, it's true that nuts are quite calorically dense. 15 cashews, for instance, deliver ~180 kcal! On top of that, it is very tough not to over-eat these tasty snacks. If you can restrain yourself from overeating them, nuts can be a part of a healthy diet. In fact, nuts are high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (the good fats) as well as plant sterols, which have been shown to lower LDL cholesterol. Thus, instead of simply adding nuts to your diet, the best approach is to eat them in replacement of foods high in saturated fats.

8.     Eating for 2 is necessary during pregnancy.
Energy requirements vary among individuals. Unfortunately, pregnancy is not the “ice-cream-free-for-all,” as we would like it to be. It is generally recommended that pregnant women increase their daily intake by 100 kcal in the first trimester and 300 kcal in the second and third trimester. For instance, an extra snack before bedtime consisting of a fruit, a serving of non-dairy milk or sheep’s yogurt and a few biscuits is often enough.

9.     Skipping meals can help lose weight.
Many people think that by skipping a meal, they eat less food and therefore it's effective in helping them lose weight. However they fail to recognize that our bodies do not operate this way. If we skip a meal, our body will think that we are in a starvation mode and therefore slow down the metabolism to compensate for this. We then tend to overeat at the next meal.  Nice one eh? What’s even worse is the fact that often times, skipping a meal results in an increase in total caloric intake than if we just ate more frequently throughout the day. A better approach is to eat smaller frequent healthy meals and snacks to keep our blood sugar balanced.  Haven’t you ever wondered where thin people, who snack all day long, put the food they consume?  Well … they “put” it in their regions sewer … because, the small frequent meals make the digestive system work more efficiently and this results in more regulated bowel movements … I’m sure you understand what I’m saying. 

10.     Red meat is bad for health
I often hear people saying that they do not eat red meat. When asked why they don't and what do they consider to be red meat, the answers vary dramatically. It is true that some studies linked red meat with increased risk of heart disease, partly due to the saturated fat content. In fact, even chicken can contain as much saturated fat as lean cuts of beef or pork. For instance, a serving of sirloin beef or pork tenderloin has less saturated fat than an equal serving of chicken thigh with skin. It is true that poultry, such as chicken and turkey, is naturally lower in saturated fats - it is only true IF you do not eat the skin. Instead of excluding red meats, choose leaner cuts of beef and pork. For beef, choose eye of round, top round roast, top sirloin and flank; for pork, choose tenderloin and loin chops.  Ok, ok … it’d be best if you turned vegetarian and avoided animal products altogether … but for those … carnivores among you, I have to bust this myth as well.

MOTHER’S DAY … 100 years old!

I am not up there, at the 100s, even though sometimes I do feel that way, but I still love Mother’s Day and know all of its history.  I got to appreciate this day more when I gave birth to my daughter and the name “mother” suddenly acquired a completely different and heightened meaning!  

This year, I had to spend it away from my daughter … the pleasures of a college education (!)… and it hurt.  After all, when U.S. President Woodrow Wilson officially set aside the second Sunday in May in 1914 for the holiday, it was meant “to celebrate the best mother you've ever known—your mother—as a son or a daughter", which basically means that you (as a son or daughter) would go home to spend time with your mother and thank her for all that she did.  Don’t get me wrong … I did get my “thank you mommy” from my daughter – who actually does not have to wait for Mother’s Day to tell me how much she loves me and appreciates what I’ve done … but … she did not “come home” … she couldn’t!  And I felt so awkward …

I did however had a good look at myself … twenty years after having earned the name “mother” and I could very clearly see why the marketing term “MOMMY MAKEOVER” was born.  It is really not a surgical term, as it involves multiple plastic surgery procedures, but the wanted outcome is one: the restoration and improvement of the bodies of mothers postpartum (or post-pregnancy). 

            The package includes procedures that refresh the body and allow us mothers to bring back the body we had before pregnancy and before we actually set ourselves as second-in-line (sometimes even third or fourth or fifth…) since dedicating our lives to nurturing our children.  It’s a way of saying “thank you” to ourselves, for a change.

            So looking at our bodies, we know we need to fix the sagging boobs that became enlarged and bloated during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and then kind-of emptied out and …went South!  A breast lift is really the answer to that, but since there was the “emptying out” as well, a combined breast augmentation brings back the youthful bust we had and allows us to rid ourselves of the “required” unwire bras and thick straps that hurt our shoulders.  A good way to see whether you actually need a breast lift, which reshapes and raises the sagged breasts, is to put a pencil under your breast and see if it stays there.  If it does … then a breast lift is your option.   If you have also lost a significant amount of volume from your breasts and have extra skin that needs “tailoring” then a breast implant can be inserted at the same time as the lift, resulting in both an increase in the volume and firmness.

            Ok, and the breasts are raised and moved back to the correct position (not mid belly anymore!) but now, we can actually see our tummy, which took the worst toll from the pregnancy … that’s where our treasure was growing, and realize that we have loose skin we have no control over.  We are determined to get rid of it, watch what we eat and hit the gym five times a week, doing abs over and over …and over.  Nonetheless, the skin is still there, reminding us of our gems, our pearls, our children … but making the good old flat-tummy times seem like centuries ago.  Here is where the tummy tuck comes in place.  Abdominoplasty, as it is more scientifically known, is the procedure that removes the excess skin and fat from the middle and lower abdomen, tightens the muscle of the abdominal wall and reduces the appearance of a protruding abdomen, removing unsightly stretch marks at the same time!  Wow!  Nice one!  

            Since we are under the observant eye and expertise of our skilled and board certified plastic surgeon and under general anesthesia, we might as well go ahead and have some liposuction done, in any areas that could possibly need it. 

            … at the end of the day, the outcome is … “THANK YOU MY BEAUTIFUL MOMMY!  You look gorgeous! I wish that I look as good as you when I get to your age!”

LIVING IN A PHOTOSHOP WORLD …

While at the hair-dresser’s or the barber’s, waiting at the doctor’s anteroom, or at the car-rider line, I flip through magazines … not necessarily reading the articles, but definitely looking at the photos of people, particularly those of celebrities, who always look so fabulous!  I am often times jealous of them … with their flawless bodies and their beautiful ageless faces!  It’s amazing and even miraculous that they manage to look so stunning at any age, at any occasion and with any outfit … and then I remember the “magic” of Photoshop!  I was told some time back that this process of fixing everything imperfect is called “retouch”.  Actually, photo retouching is “the treatment of a photograph to remove dust spots or blemishes, or to adjust or remove unwanted elements of the image, or add new elements to an image.”

Ok, these celebrities have the benefit of having their bodies and faces retouched so all their photos look remarkable, astonishing and immaculate.  Whether their photos are taken in a pre-organized setting or they are selfies, before being posted or printed anywhere, magazines, social media sites, etc., they are always “fixed”.  Their cellulite disappears, their stretch marks vanish, their tummies are “tucked”, their wrinkles are faded away and all imperfections … evaporate!  Need I say more about these photos?

The question is what do we do? What about all of us who do not have the luxury of having a mobile photo-retouching-Photoshop-expert 24/7?  Do we stay looking at ourselves in the mirror and remain unhappy with the image reflected back?  Do we vow to accept that “person” looking at us from inside the mirror or do we do something to change the “imperfections?”

Well … I am a fighter, thus I always look at my options, and here I have made a list of the possible plastic surgery procedures that help improve “thy self” … not momentarily, as photo retouching does, but more permanently!

FACELIFT – A facelift (technically known as rhytidectomy) is a cosmetic surgical operation to remove unwanted wrinkles by tightening the skin of the face. It can not stop the aging process, but it can “set back the clock” improving the most visible signs of aging by removing excess fat, tightening underlying muscles, and re-draping the skin of the face and neck.  At the end of it, you look at yourself and you recognize the face … it’s the one you’ve lived with for the past years and not the one that suddenly creped up on you overnight … you know what I’m talking about … the one with the wrinkles!

BLEPHAROPLASTY – This procedure, also known as eyelid surgery, removes extra fat and skin from the eyelids. Droopy eyelids can make you look older and can impair vision.  Blepharoplasty corrects these problems but also removes puffiness and bags under the eyes that give a worn and tired look.  Although the change most of the times is not drastic, the procedure gives the patient a more rested and refreshed look.

RHINOPLASTY – The term rhinoplasty is derived from the German “rhinoplastik” which means: “changing the shape of the nose”.  Some people are unhappy with their nose they were born with or with the way their nose has changed with aging.  Others request the surgery due to an injury that may have distorted their nose and for others the goal is improved breathing.  Whatever the case, since the nose occupies a central position on the face, its size and shape has a great impact on an individual’s appearance and it’s really a play between bright areas and shadows.

BREAST AUGMENTATION – This surgical procedure is used to enhance the size and shape of a woman’s breasts for reasons that include the enhancement of the body contour of a woman who, for personal reasons, feels that her breast size is too small, the correction of a reductions in breast volume after pregnancy, and/or to balance a difference in breast size. Chose and pick, whatever the reason, this procedures boost self-confidence and improves body image.

BREAST MASTOPEXY – Over the years, factors such as pregnancy, nursing, and the force of gravity, take their toll on a woman's breasts. As the skin loses its elasticity, the breasts often lose their shape and firmness and begin to sag. Breast lift, or mastopexy, is a surgical procedure to raise and reshape sagging breasts - at least, for a time. (No surgery can permanently delay the effects of gravity and everything on our bodies moving south!) Mastopexy can also reduce the size of the areola, the darker skin surrounding the nipple. If the breasts are small or have lost volume, after pregnancy, breast implants inserted in conjunction with mastopexy, can increase both their firmness and their size.

LIPOSUCTION – This procedure can help re-establish the curves and sculpt a thinner body, by removing the deep layer of fat from areas genetically predisposed to accumulate fat. Patients that are not overweight, but still have "stubborn" pockets of fat, are the best candidates for liposuction. Liposuction techniques may be used to reduce these fat deposits in the thighs, the hips and buttocks, the abdomen and waist, the upper arms, the back, the inner knee, the chest area, the cheeks, chin and neck, and the calves and ankles. A healthy lifestyle is an absolute must for anybody contemplating having liposuction, as without it patients can still gain weight, with the remaining fat cells enlarging – more evenly throughout, but still they can enlarge.

TUMMY TUCK – Abdominoplasty, known more commonly as a "tummy tuck," is a procedure to remove excess skin and fat from the middle and lower abdomen, and to tighten the muscles of the abdominal wall. The procedure can dramatically reduce the appearance of a protruding abdomen, and remove unsightly stretch marks that resulted from pregnancy and/or weight gain. A tummy tuck restores weakened or separated muscles creating an abdominal profile that is smoother and firmer. Sometimes liposuction alone can produce the desired results, but sometimes skin removal along with the tummy tuck is necessary. 

BRACHIOPLASTY – This surgical procedure removes fat and excess skin hanging from the upper arm. For people who have had a dramatic weight loss or who simply want their arms to look shapely, a brachioplasty can help.

Ok, now that you’ve seen what the options are, you can actually fight the “demon” in your mirror … throw him overboard now and forever.  It’s all a matter of choice … and forget about Photoshop altogether!

Works cited:

http://agrilife.org/communications/services/copy/terms/

http://www.stephanidesplasticsurgery.com

http://www.aafprs.org/patient/procedures/rhinoplasty.html

http://www.plasticsurgery.org