Botox, dermal fillers, breast implants and liposuction are bread-and-butter cosmetic procedures for plastic surgeons and dermatologists, but sometimes patients demand much, much more.
For example, dimple surgery, cankle liposuction, and collagen injections into the feet to make high heels less painful.
The Daily Beast online news site has assembled a slide show featuring 12 such varieties of cosmetic procedures that it labels “ridiculous,” including some that don’t deserve that label.
Local cosmetic doctors know of them, but don’t have much good to say about them. Here’s a rundown:
RISKY
Dimpleplasty. Wish you had dimples like Colin Firth or Jennifer Garner? It’s doable, but risky in the long-term.
“I’ve done a few for the cheeks, and they work reasonably well,” says plastic surgeon Dr. Val Lambros of Newport Beach. “I have concerns about how the dimple looks in 10 15 years. A dimple turns into a crease with time. A dimple arguably looks good. A crease does not.”
Plastic surgeon Dr. John Di Saia of San Clemente and Anaheim agrees. “This is risky and unreliable — how it might turn out is less than predictable. It is not a common request either.”
Chin cleft surgery. This procedure, like a dimpleplasty, is “fraught with problems,” says plastic surgeon Dr. Edward Domanskis of Newport Beach. “One needs only look at Michael Jackson, trying to look past his nose, to his chin. Unfortunately, the results of trying to create a chin cleft/dimple result in a totally unnatural appearance, primarily due to the dynamic muscular forces in those areas. If a patient wants to draw attention to herself/himself, then this is a good procedure!”
Lambros is less worried about the procedure. “It’s a look. It can be done and some people like it,” he says.
Abdominal etching. The idea of tailoring your fat to look like muscle seems outrageously wrong-headed, but this operation is growing in popularity among men. They turn to VASER devices and others to “sculpt grooves in layers of fat to suggest a muscular appearance,” in the words of Daily Beast.
Plastic surgeon Dr. Marcel Daniels of Long Beach says, “Nineteen years of private practice has taught me that there are very few shortcuts in life and abdominal etching isn’t one of them. To create the
illusion of musculature, lines of scar are created on the underside of the skin with the intervening fat now looking like bulging muscles. Sounds good so far! If the patient gains any weight (and most of us do as we get older) the bulges can stop looking like muscle and look just plain bizarre! Buyer beware!”
Lambros agrees: “When you take down the fat so much, the abdomen has the possibility of looking funny with time. My concern isn’t for the young guy. It’s for when that young guy is 50 and puts on 20 pounds and his skin isn’t so good. He will put on fat where there is fat and he will not where the fat has been taken away. Might look very odd. Plastic surgeons, like patients, tend to live for the moment.”
Domanskis says, “Most patients want as much definition as possible but the risks of complications like scarring, unevenness, are very real no matter what type of liposuction is used. This is where the plastic surgeon’s experience as to how much fat under the skin can be removed safely without causing problems is extremely important.”
LESS RISKY
Cankle liposuction. For an estimated price of $5,000 to $8,000, it’s possible to have the fat sucked out of chubby ankles, known as “cankles.”
“It has been considered dangerous,” warns Di Saia. Other doctors aren’t so worried.
“It’s just liposuction and this has a long tradition in lipo surgery,” Lambros says.
“This is not that unusual,” says Domanskis. “A patient requesting a reduction in the size of her calves with liposuction may also have unwanted fat accumulation around her ankles. Liposuction can remove this also, primarily on either side of the ankle, through a single extremely small cut. The amount of fat removed is usually quite small. … The final appearance in the ankle and calf area is usually not seen for at least six months because of prolonged swelling.”
Patients might be disappointed with the results, warns Daniels.
“The shape of a woman’s ankle is only partially dependent on fat in the area. The rest is due to bone structure, which can’t be ‘fixed,’ so removing fat from the area may result in a significantly more modest degree of improvement than the patient may hope for. Also since the liposuction is done so far away from the heart, swelling in the feet may take several weeks or even months to resolve,” he says.
NOT REALLY COSMETIC PROCEDURES Eyebrow and eyelash transplants.
Domanskis explains, “Eyebrow and eyelash enhancement with Latisse may not be enough when the patient has suffered a burn of the area. That is when either a narrow strip of hair bearing skin or micrografts are used to reconstruct the burned eyebrow and/or eyelash.”
Dr. Christopher Zachary, chairman of the UCI Department of Dermatology, agrees.
“Facial disfigurement comes in many forms, and so loss of eyebrow hair can be a source of chronic concern, embarassment and social stigmatization in patients who have suffered from trauma, burns, and various medical conditions. Eyebrow transplantation is a most appropriate and ethical procedure, though it is difficult to achieve an optimal esthetic outcome,” he says.
Iris implants. At a price of $5,000 or more, this operation is really for people whose eyes have been damaged, not for those who wish their eye color were different.
“I wouldn’t want my irises messed with no-how,” Lambros says.
IF IT BOTHERS YOU …
Toe shortening. The estimated price is $2,000 if you think that one toe is too long, or $10,000 for a “complete foot makeover.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” says both Di Saia and Lambros.
“I have never had a patient request this,” says Domanskis. “However, different length adjustments of the hands and/or toes could be indicated for various congenital malformations of these areas to gain more symmetry and deflect attention to the deformity. ”
Belly button surgery. The price of turning an innie into an outie, or vice versa, is as much as $4,000, according to the Daily Beast.
Lambros is dubious. “That sounds like a lot to me for a simple operation,” he says.
Di Saia performs this procedure only during a tummy tuck.
Domanskis is sympathetic about why a woman would want this work done.
“Unfortunately, after pregnancy, the mother’s body does change in appearance, primarily the breasts and abdomen with its belly button. It is perfectly reasonable to try and recapture what one has lost,” he says. “Reshaping the belly button is one part of a tummy tuck but can be done as a separate procedure.”
SO SILLY
Toddler teeth whitening. Did anyone other than Britney Spears ever want this?
“This belongs to the extremely small minority that want their pet’s teeth white also,” says Domanskis.
THE PRICE OF FASHION
Collagen feet fillers. For an estimated price of $225, you can get injections of collagen to cushion yourself against the pains of high heels.
“I have read about it but not had a request,” says Di Saia. “It’s kind of silly as it would need to be repeated frequently.” Just like Botox, doc.
“I really am amazed how women can walk around with those high heels. The cost of reducing any discomfort is a bargain compared to the cost of the shoes,” says Domanskis.
CROSS-CULTURAL
Pubic hair transplant. This is supposedly an Asian phenomenon.
“Every subset of the population and every individual has their conception of beauty, which is somewhat dictated by fashion and cultures,” says Domanskis. “Everyone would agree that it is preferable that one accept their own appearance without alterations but at least plastic surgery is available to help.”
“People have said my beard looks pubic,”: says Lambros. “That’s why I shave.”
Di Saia adds, “It seems most are shaving most of this hair anyway.”
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Gummy-bear implants. They must have been included in this list because of the silly name. But they’re a serious alternative to current types of saline and silicone breast implants.
They’re available, even though they’re still in clinical trials, awaiting action by the Food and Drug Administration. If they live up to their promise, they will eliminate the problem of implant leakage, because their gumminess keeps them intact even if they were to be sliced open.
But many doctors are skeptical about them.
“They still weep silicone gel,” says Di Saia. “I am not a fan of silicone gel and these new implants have not won me over. I’ll stick with the safer saline, thank you.”
Daniels adds:
“While it is true that the gel doesn’t go anywhere even if the implant is cut open, there are trade-offs. The implants can’t be squeezed through an incision due to the thickness of the gel so a significantly larger incision has to be made, and it almost always has to be in the crease of the breast. The areola is rarely big enough to be an option and you can forget about the armpit or belly button [as an incision site].
The actual lifespan of the implant isn’t really known yet, as it hasn’t been in use long enough, so speculation that it is a lifetime implant is merely that — speculation. …
They also cost significantly more than any other implant on the market.”
“They are not all they are cracked up to be,” says Lambros. “You still see and feel irregularities and hardness. I don’t know if there is still no bleed from the gel.”
resource: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/plastic-255946-liposuction-crazy.html
