New Jersey Plastic Surgeons

This isn’t your mother’s liposuction!

Liposuction, the popular plastic surgery procedure which removes fat and cellulite build up from under the skin of various parts of the bodies is starting to have a make-over of it’s own and one New Jersey plastic surgeon is leading the way.

Standard “tumescent” liposuction breaks up body fat with an injected sterile saline solution and a cannula (liposuction wand) is used to literally suck out the excess and broken down fat. After suction the cannula is removed and the incision is closed, allowing the body to begin healing. While the standard practice of saline liposuction is a fairly advanced surgical procedure in itself, there are some plastic surgeons who are now employing even more advanced techniques to this already modern surgery.

Board-certified New Jersey plastic surgeons like Dr. Richard D’Amico and Dr. William K. Boss are some of those surgeons who are on the cutting edge of cosmetic surgery procedures. Some NJ plastic surgeons are now using lasers, ultrasonic and even radio waves to perform liposuction surgeries in place of the normal sterile saline.

Each new form of liposuction breaks up the fat under the skin and separates it from the muscle so that it can be sucked out. These new types of liposuction offer some advantages over the standard ways.

Ultrasound Assisted Liposuction (UAL) – In this cosmetic surgery procedure a saline solution is used to break up the fat under the skin but then a cannula which transmits ultrasonic energy is used to practically liquefy the excess fat deposits, which makes it easier to suck out of the body. There is even a procedure now which calls for ultrasonic energy to be applied externally that allows the body to handle the dissolved fat without the need for sutures or an incision.

Laser Liposuction – Like the other forms of liposuction, this procedure first requires the fat in the body to be broken down, but instead of using a saline solution a laser or ultrasonic heat energy from a tiny instrument is used to essentially melt away the fat. The procedure requires no sutures, leaves a very small scar, requires only local anesthesia and usually involves a minimal amount of bleeding. Recovery periods are often much less than traditional liposuction techniques.

Radiofrequency Assisted Liposuction (RFAL) – This technique uses radiofrequency energy to melt away the fat under the skin by using an external and internal probe to apply a uniform heat which can melt away fat molecules. The procedure is reported more comfortable than some others and shows promise as being a less painful alternative to some other forms of liposuction.

While there are many plastic surgeons in New Jersey who can perform liposuction, you’ll want to be sure that the plastic surgeon you work with is well-versed in the traditional as well as more advanced types of liposuction. Lipo is one of the more common cosmetic surgery procedures performed in the United States and it’s getting easier and less dangerous as new technology emerges.

Pundits are calling it the “Botax” but the reality of electric plastic surgery procedures being taxed in New Jersey may soon become a nationwide idea. Congress is looking into the tax on cosmetic surgeries, which is said to be a $12 billion industry, as a way to help pay for the healthcare overhaul. Elective cosmetic surgeries might be taxed, while it’s unlikely that medically necessary or less elective surgeries would fall into the same category. Supporters of the plan say that these elective plastic surgery taxes could help pay for the life and death medical treatments of others while critics of the plan aren’t sure if the tax revenue would be worthwhile.

There’s no word on exactly how much the tax would be, but numbers from 5% to 10% have been thrown around as possibilities. Some members of congress have suggested that the tax on elective cosmetic surgeries would essentially amount to nothing more than a “luxury” tax on expensive procedures, though critics argue that it is “normal” people of modest means who often save up to pay for the majority of the plastic surgery procedures done in the United States.

Critics of the idea, such as the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, argue that it’s unfair to tax some fields of business more than others. One plastic surgeon who is against the proposal has stated that his average patient is a middle class woman between the ages 19-64 who makes about $50,000 a year. Fueling the argument against implementing a plastic surgery tax is the one state that actually already has a tax in place: New Jersey.

New Jersey implemented a 6% tax on most elective cosmetic surgeries in 2004 and it has not raised as much money as initially hoped. The unpopular New Jersey cosmetic surgery tax has been close to being overturned several times, but has always remained law by several close votes.

There is yet no word on what would happen to the New Jersey plastic surgery tax if a national plastic surgery taxation plan was put into place. Other states are also looking at New Jersey’s plastic surgery tax model and considering implementing the same tax, even if the tax does not become nationwide.

The 36 million Americans who suffer from regular migraines may have a new friend in a common plastic surgery procedure that’s reported to be helpful in alleviating the powerful headaches. Surprisingly, this new treatments comes from a common cosmetic surgery procedure that’s usually only considered for beautification purposes.

It turns out that the elective surgery of a “forehead lift” may really be a good way to almost completely eliminate migraines from people who regularly suffer from them. A forehead lift consists of smoothing out the skin on the forehead to make wrinkles disappear. To do this muscles around the temple and forhead often have to be slightly shifted or moved to smooth out the forehead. During the cosmetic surgery it is thought that perhaps the muscles around the forehead that are thought to be responsible for the migraines are loosened and deactivated, which almost completely eliminates migraines completely.

A study published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery reported that 57 percent of patients who received the forehead lift surgery reported a a complete ceasation of migraine headaches one year after undergoing the procedure. And even if the headaches weren’t completely eliminated, 83% reported a partial improvement in relief from migraine headaches. The procedure studied was designed specifically for migraine relief and was slightly different from a traditional forehead lift that is performed for strictly cosmetic reasons.

For years there have been unscientific studies and anecdotes about Botox injections in the forehead behind used to prevent migraine headaches. The problem with Botox is that it’s not a permanent solutions and migraines were returning to most patients within three or four months. The few migraine sufferers who have undergone forehead lift surgery, however, largely report a lessening of migraine symptoms and recurrences. Just as with Botox, some migraine victims who happened to have a forehead lift later reported have many fewer migraine headaches after the procedure was done.

This forehead lift procedure designed for eliminating migraines is still a fairly new process and the initial study was one a relatively small group of people. It may be years before the process is perfected and widely offered if it ever is fully adopted by most plastic surgeons. The study also had a rather high placebo success rate, which indicates that the high success rate may not be completely due to the surgery alone. There are plenty of plastic surgeons in New York and New Jersey who are currently performing forehead lifts for cosmetic reasons but we’re not yet aware of any aiming to reduce migraine headaches with them.