Sunscreen facts and information

The Skin Cancer Foundation - Sunscreen

This seems like the perfect post after a long three day weekend full of fun and sun. Hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful weekend.
Please take some time to look through The Skin Cancer Foundations web site. It is filled with information that may help keep you and your loved ones out of our office for skin problems.

How Botox Makes Those Lines Disappear

You can add wrinkles to death and taxes on the short list of things that are certain in life. As you age, the supple skin of youth gradually gives way to fine lines around your eyes, across your forehead, and between your brows. The non-surgical wrinkle reducer BOTOX ® Cosmetic now lets you graciously decline encroaching wrinkles instead of accepting the frown lines of the over-30 crowd.

BOTOX ® treatments for the temporary reduction of brow wrinkles have been approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 2002. It is an extremely popular cosmetic treatment and over one million people have indulged in its face smoothing benefits.

To understand how BOTOX ® works, you need to understand how you develop frown lines. As years go by, your skin loses some of its natural elasticity and fails to bounce back from the movement and stretching that takes place as your facial muscles continually flex and release. This wear on your skin is evident in the fine lines that begin to form as early as your late 20s or early 30s when your skin stops returning completely to its smooth form.

How BOTOX ® Reduces Your Wrinkles

The basis for the BOTOX ® Cosmetic treatment is a protein obtained from the Clostridium botulinum bacteria. When small amounts of this protein are injected into muscle tissue, the nerve impulses to the muscles are blocked and paralyze the muscle. Because BOTOX ® is only used on small facial muscles around your brow, the paralysis is minute but the effect on the lines of your upper face is quite noticeable. Without the continual movement of muscles wearing on your skin, the skin has a chance to return to a smoother state.

After receiving a BOTOX ® treatment, people usually see results within a few days and improvement continues to rise for the first month. The wrinkle reduction is typically visible for up to four months before the protein is cleansed from the body and the effect fades.

What Is a BOTOX ® Treatment Like?

If you were to get a treatment, you would receive several tiny injections of BOTOX ® to the facial muscles around your brows. The process takes approximately 10 minutes and involves brief discomfort. The momentary pain of the injections can be reduced with the application of an anesthetic cream beforehand. The short amount of time needed for a BOTOX ® treatment and the absence of recovery time contribute to its rising popularity for cosmetic relief of wrinkles.

It is important to note that who administers BOTOX® treatments varies. It can, of course, be done by a physician, but many service providers have nurses or physicians' assistants handling the injections. It will be up to you to consider who should administer your BOTOX ® treatments should you choose to get them.

As you explore your options for rejuvenating your face, keep in mind that BOTOX ® has only temporary results. However, the treatment can be repeated as you need it, and its speedy application and affordability have tremendous appeal for wrinkle relief. Also, keep in mind that Dr. Rau administers BOTOX to the patient himself, so you are getting the optimum treatment and potency for your money.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to call our office at (909) 792-1100.

Breast Implants – “Gummy Bear” and Silicone Gel

Most Internet videos showing the so-called “Gummy Bear” breast implants feature a cosmetic surgeon cutting open a Gummy Bear implant.
Watch a plastic surgeon cut a Gummy Bear implant in half.
Why all the slicing and dicing?
Leakage of any breast implant is the basic concern. If a saline implant leaks, only harmless salt water is released into the body. (But the breast goes flat!)
The silicone implant now approved for use is known as “form stable silicone gel” If that implant springs a leak, small amounts of the gel escapes into the body. While the silicone gel is very thick — like honey — and leaks much slower than saline, another wrinkle presents itself: the leakage is not obvious.
Virtually all plastic surgeons ask that women receiving form stable silicone implants have periodic X-rays or mammograms to check on implant integrity. Patients don’t immediately notice or feel anything related to the leak, like a breast suddenly collapsing.
The latest generation of silicone implants – the Gummy Bear — bumps things up a notch. Even if that implant is cut in half, the silicone stays put and does not run.
The downside about Gummy Bears: you can only have them implanted in a few centers as part of the FDA approval process. The Gummy Bear is still being tested and not yet cleared for general use in the United States.
If you want to make sure you are asking about the real McCoy, use the whole tongue-twisting technical term for Gummy Bears – “semi-solid, high-cohesive, form stable implants.”
(Read the FDA page that lists the manufacturers of Gummy Bear breast implants.)
During testing, some cosmetic plastic surgeons question the Gummy Bear implants results.
Commenting on RealSelf.com, Tarick K. Smaili, a board-certified Beverly Hills plastic surgeon (and California Surgical Institute’s founder and medical director,) is among their numbers.
“The Gummy Bear implant will fall less naturally in the surgical pocket of the breast, similar to issues found with the tear drop implants,” writes Dr. Smaili.
Other plastic surgeons have noted that a larger incision is required for Gummy Bears and that some implant patients think their breasts are too firm after healing.
If you would like to read more about silicone breast implants, visit Love Your Look

Seven Things You Should Know About a Tummy Tuck

You have discovered that ending your relationship with your love handles is harder than finding help in a box store. Your efforts at diet and exercise have not gotten rid of stubborn fatty bulges, and the loose skin from multiple pregnancies or weight loss simply hangs and hangs. For a smoother and shapelier torso your remaining option is the tummy tuck, also known as Abdominoplasty.

With a tummy tuck, excess skin and fat are removed surgically from the abdominal region and the underlying muscles are tightened to create a slimmer and smoother contour. The procedure also better defines the waist. This plastic surgery procedure is a major surgery and does require some recovery. Like any plastic surgery, not everyone is a candidate, but if you are considering a tummy tuck, consider these facts about this common cosmetic procedure.

1. Your physical condition determines whether you are a suitable candidate for a tummy tuck. Ideally, men or women who are in reasonably good physical condition make the best candidates for the removal of excess fat bulges and loose skin, especially if they have already tried to get rid of it with diet and exercise.
2. If your excess skin and fat is mostly concentrated below the belly button, you may be a candidate for a mini tummy tuck. In this procedure, there is a shorter incision and the belly button is not moved. There is also a shorter recovery from a mini tummy tuck than from a standard or full tummy tuck.
3. Because a tummy tuck is a surgery that requires a long incision, you will be left with a scar. To reduce this negative consequence, we place the scar in the lower abdomen that will typically be covered by underwear and bathing suits. And, with proper healing, the scar often becomes very faint.
4. Smoking interferes with recovering from surgery and increases the risks of complications following a tummy tuck. If you are a smoker, you will have to face quitting smoking two weeks before your surgery and during your recovery. Permanently quitting would certainly be best for many reasons.
5. You should be aware that liposuction may be used in conjunction with your tummy tuck. Indeed, liposuction might be all that is needed to achieve the desired result on your abdomen. Be open to the possibility that you may only need the less invasive procedure of liposuction. When you meet your plastic surgeon, he or she will examine you and help determine the best option.
6. When you visit Dr. Rau for a consultation about a tummy tuck, be candid about your body-shaping goals. Your surgeon will be evaluating the skin and fat deposits of your body along with your expectations about results. Then, your surgeon will discuss with you what can be realistically achieved with a tummy tuck.
7. The results of a tummy tuck can be very long lasting if you eat sensibly and stay active. If you overeat and gain weight excessively, then your skin and tissues will be forced to stretch out into new bulges.

A final thought for you to consider about tummy tucks is that nothing is standard with plastic surgery. Each body is unique with its own shape and underlying physical attributes. A plastic surgeon must assess each person individually and perform a tummy tuck that is suited to each body. If you get a tummy tuck, it will be the tummy tuck for your body and it will not necessarily look like the tummy of another person who also had the procedure.