Dr Robert Freund

FDA Questions Filler Companies about Risks

Synthetic facial fillers are in for a little problem with the FDA. Seems several hundred patients have had untoward problems without adequate reporting and further, doctors have not adequately reviewed the risks and benefits with their patients.

My general feeling is that the problems focus around one particular filler called Sculptra and that the FDA is likely throwing out the baby with the bath water. In the meantime, I will be careful to describe all risks and benefits with each and every patient.

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Sleep ‘n Beauty

Early to bed,
Early to rise,
Makes a man
Healthy, Wealthy and wise.

But the saying should add—younger looking too!

I write this after a roller coaster ride on wall street this week. No one I know is sleeping well and everyone is afraid that their job is on the line.

One thing I am sure of: like all cycles, these bad times will end. However, the stress of the times and what it does to your skin may not! You see – every night when you go to bed, the levels of a stress hormone called Cortisol goes down. Conversely, diminished sleep and added stress makes the level in your bloodstream rise.

What does cortisol do to you? Well, Cortisol modulates many bodily functions: it effects your ability to think, to reason, to love, but most importantly it affects your skin and youthful looks. The most important thing to keeping your skin looking and feeling young is to keep the content of collagen and elastin in your skin high. When you were a baby, collagen and elastin levels were extremely high in your skin hence the term “soft as a baby’s bottom”. But if you can read this, those levels are getting lower each and every day. One of the enzymes that assists in reducing the levels of collagen and elastin is called metalloprotease. This bad enzyme which makes you look older, goes up as cortisol rises. Thus, lower the cortisol level and you lower the level of metalloprotease and subsequently collagen and elastin rise – this means healthier, younger looking skin. A great example of what not to do is to become the president of the United States. That sleepless, thankless, stressful job makes everyone age rapidly during their term. I guess the reason presidencies only last 4 years was to give president’s skin a chance to recover.

In the end, the more sleep you get the better you look.That advice is the cheapest advice on beauty that you will ever get on this Blog!

Calling all Patients with a wide space between implants

Last week, I had the opportunity to create a new technique that will improve breast lifts significantly for the future. The patient had implants placed under the muscle 3 years ago. The result was implants that were too wide, nipples too wide and a large hollow space between the two breasts. The incision for the previous procedure was under the breasts in the inframammary fold and were 3 cm long. the patient wanted them to look better, correct the hollow space in the middle and most of all she wanted no new scars. Voila! the Inframammary incision Breast Medialization procedure was invented. I hereby call this the IBM procedure.

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FDA Questions Filler Companies about Risks

Synthetic Facial fillers are in for a little problem with the FDA. Seems several hundred patients have had untoward problems without adequate reporting and further, doctors have not adequately reviewed the risks and benefits with their patients.

My general feeling is that the problems focus around one particular filler called Sculptra and that the FDA is likely throwing out the baby with the bath water. In the meantime, I will be careful to describe all risks and benefits with each and every patient.

I would also like to say that Fat injections will not be affected by any FDA reviews of synthetic fillers. More on the Viafill System from Lipose corporation in later posts. But this system increases the viable fat cells that are injected in fat transfers by 500%.

Sensible Weight Reduction Avoids Plastic Surgery

This post is not for the overweight – it is for those of us who have gained a few pounds over the years and are now interested in some kind of surgery to correct those newfound bulges above the pantlines or below the belly button.

Forget the surgery and treat your body well.

Here are some of the mistakes that are made in an effort to lose weight:

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Plastic Surgeons are some of the best trained doctors you can find!

A board certified plastic surgeon goes through some of the toughest training you can imagine. I personally went through five years of general surgery training, one year of microvascular surgery training and two more years of plastic surgery. Each of my training programs was filled with leaders and pioneers in the field of plastic surgery. Many of my teachers would be quoted and mimicked by doctors in other fields trying to compete in the field of plastic surgery.

Facial Plastic surgeons, Oculoplastic Surgeons , Cosmetic Surgeons, Aesthetic Surgeons – the list goes on and on. But none of these are plastic surgeons. So if you want a Rolls Royce, get a rolls Royce.