Interviewed in the June edition of Women's Health & Fitness Magazine:

"There comes a time when you'll have to choose between your rhymes-with-farce and your face, so the saying goes. That time is now, as the next big thing in facial filling doesn't gel with single-digit body fat. 'Autologous fat transfer facial filling' uses fat from one part of your body – liposucked out of your butt, thighs, abdomen or jowls – to plump up your face.




"It's rich in stem cells, fortified with autologous blood derived growth factors.
The results can be breathtaking with long lasting youthful re-contouring and scarless outcomes," says Cosmetica cosmetic physician Dr Ronald Feiner. The bonus is an improvement in overlying skin. But chicken breast dieters beware: "In slender patients without body fat (and always for cases of lip enhancement) commercial fillers remain the mainstay of treatment."

Read more:

http://www.womenshealthandfitness.com.au/home

https://www.facebook.com/womenshealthandfitness

The Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery (ACCS) Liposuction Workshops – May 2013, Sydney

According to our Regen www.regenlab.com/site/  representative, we probably performed the first PRP enhanced fat graft (extracting abdominal fat and transfer grafting it into the face) in Australia and actually videoed that event. We did not fully appreciate the exciting future of this development in facial aesthetic enhancement practice.

I had the pleasure of participating as one of  four trainers at the ACCS Liposuction Workshops event last weekend http://www.accs.org.au/pdf/ACCS-liposuction-workshop-program-2013.pdf.

My fellow trainer colleagues Dr. Soo-Keat Lim, Dr. Sarojini Nair  www.ashbrookecosmetic.com.au/surgery-staff/
& Dr Ralph Bright www.cosmeticmedicine.com.au/world-class-facility/cosmetic-surgeons-sydney/  are masters in this field of work. It was a great pleasure to work with them, passing on our collective  experience to enthusiastic doctors from a variety of medical craft groups eager to introduce these techniques into their own practices. The trainees were of a very high standard and included general surgeons, neurosurgeon, facio-maxillary surgeon, breast cancer surgeon and medical generalists.

Dr. Bright is also a respected expert in the clinical application of adipose derived (i.e. from fat) Stem cells and platelet derived (i.e. from blood) growth factors. His insights into this brave new world are fascinating and reinforce our own intuitive perceptions about the value of both fat reduction by liposculpture and fat transfer grafting for facial rejuvenation.

Among many interesting topics Dr. Bright explained how fat, being full of stem cells, is important for immunity and how successfully grafted fat improves the tissues into which it has been injected.

As an aesthetic injectable filler it is amazingly bioactive in function  in contrast to comparatively inert commercial filler products. Injected fat not only has the propensity to improve facial contours but also improves the adjacent tissues and overlying skin.

Dr. Bright has stated (http://www.macquariestemcells.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/R1.-Introduction-to-Macquarie-Stem-Cells.pdf):

"Stem cells and stem cell therapy have been surrounded by myth and magic. As we have learnt more about stem cells and their use fact has begun to replace Myth. At Macquarie Stem Cells for many years we have been moving fat and all the cells it contains around the body (Fat transfer)."
 &

"This rich cocktail of cells is known as the Stromal Vascular Fraction (adipose-SVF cells) also contains many growth factors and cytokines. The adipose-SVF cells when grafted into a new location will aid in repair and regeneration of the tissue in their new location. Vast numbers of these cells are available in fat and we routinely transfer hundreds of millions of these cells for each patient."
Dr Bright writes "stem cells release anti-inflammatory messengers, called cytokines, that have an effect on the entire system."

Dr Bright referred to the pivotal work of Dr. Patricia Zuk on Adipose Derived Stem Cells-amazing reading!
http://www.molbiolcell.org/content/21/11/1783.long
 

News Releases - ASAPS Annual Meetings - ASAPS Press Center - Do Stem Cell Claims in Aesthetic Surgery Hold Up?

Do Stem Cell Claims in Aesthetic Surgery Hold Up?
“There is a lot of marketing hype about the role of stem cells in aesthetic procedures,” said Dr. Singer of La Jolla, CA.  “We are hopeful that this is the next frontier, but, unfortunately, there is no current scientific evidence that stem cells improve aesthetic outcomes.”
News Releases - ASAPS Annual Meetings - ASAPS Press Center - Do Stem Cell Claims in Aesthetic Surgery Hold Up?

Certainly in my practice a sample of blood that allows us to extract growth factors from platelets do appear to enrich harvested fat, improving the success rate of that grafted fat. However there is a lot of science to evolve before the impression is proven.

US plastic surgeon Dr Sydney Coleman is a longstanding leader in this field. A link to his website appears below.
http://www.lipostructure.com/fat-graft

"Professional Beauty Magazine" previews our Cosmetex 2013 Paper

"With Cosmetex just around the corner, here is a sneak peek of the talk “Blood, Sweat and Tear Troughs,” which Dr Ron Feiner and Dr Naomi McCullum will be presenting on Saturday 20 April,  2013".


http://www.professionalbeauty.com.au/2013/04/03/article/Cosmetex-2013-Blood-Sweat-and-Tear-Troughs/LHVLMZTDAU.html

Hold the Muscle Relaxants!

Hold the Muscle Relaxants- (at least a little)! The gorgeously curvy, feminine and mega-talented Italian Mezzo Soprano Cecilia Bartoli could not achieve her exquisite & expressive musical heights if she was injudiciously injected with Muscle Relaxants. Natural beauty must
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDeFdGzthV0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhNRWduBPmY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4EVNbHX1lI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYnZqRVmOCw
At last some degree of expression is important for communication and thankfully patient demands for rather naïve "no wrinkle" outcomes have finally plateaued over the last 2 years. This has allowed us to be creative in much more intelligent ways enhancing natural feminine curves and proportions.
 Natural beauty must shine through.

Happy Easter, Passover and peace to all.

Upper Eyelid Reduction-"Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes....".

I see many cases of post upper eyelid reduction during my clinical week and find myself analysing post surgical outcomes. Some cases have merit with sparking natural results. Other cases demonstrate overly operated-on features such as hollowed out orbits and ridiculously manufactured and unnaturally high positioned lid creases. There is very little chance that these silly, unaesthetic outcomes can be corrected. As a general rule the patient's naturally positioned eyelid crease should be retained and redundant tissue above resected while allowing the eyelids to close in order to maintain corneal protection. Ideal outcomes are natural sparkling eyes. The big bonus is that future botulinum toxin injections are enhanced dramatically after successful upper eyelid reduction. There is much synergy in our minimally invasive cosmetic treatments which may explain why "less is truly more"in our craft.    www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvn9lIfQRZU

Multiple 9 Yearly Facelifts-?Acceptable Contemporary ProceduralAesthetics??

I was surprised today to read about a study extolling the virtues of 2nd & even 3rd facelifts after the first lift being performed in the patients' early 50s. Each facelift lasted some 9 years. In the era of minimally invasive cosmetic procedures it is extraordinary that some plastic surgeons should view this as an acceptable treatment plan . The reality is that patients usually develop an "operated on" appearance even after the initial facelift. Recurrent radical procedures in this way are in my view inconsistent with modern aesthetic principles & expectations. However it should be appreciated that plastic surgeons are unlikely to surrender their scalpels while patients can be convinced that such a radical approach to facial rejuvenation is in their best interests.
In fact we have now followed up patients for up to 10 years who, despite the passage of time, appear more beautiful than they did before using only minimally invasive procedures with natural outcomes.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/257036.php