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    Low Deflation Rates on Silicone Implants reported.

    Author Archives: drlcorbett

    Low Deflation Rates on Silicone Implants reported.

    Posted on July 8, 2009 by drlcorbett

    Recently one of our implant manufacturers released the newest stats on their silicone breast implants. It’s very good news!

    Deflation rates after a 6 year time period were very low, only 1.1% for breast augmentation patients. For the ladies with implants placed for reconstruction, the number for the same time period was only 3.8%.

    In addition, the rates for scar capsule formation and subsequent hardening  of the breast are very low as well. The capsular contracture rate was 9.8% for augmentation patients and 13.7% for reconstruction patients. While these numbers may seem high, the capsular contracture rate for previous versions of silicone gel implants was reported as high as 30% making todays implant a huge improvement.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

    502.721.0330

    All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville, KY breast implant surgeon, Dr. Lee Corbett.

    I had a Lap Band, can I have my tummy done without hurting my fill port?

    Posted on July 8, 2009 by drlcorbett

    Absolutely. A panniculectomy or any version of a tummy tuck is possible.

    This is a pretty good question that my post Lap Band patients pose when we are talking about doing their skin tightening procedures. The ports are safe for a couple of reasons.

    Most of the patients that I see have ports that are fairly high up on the left upper quadrant of the abdominal wall. This puts them well out of the way of most tummy procedures. Now if we need to make a lower side to side incision and remove a vertical segment of skin, the port does come more into play but it typically still stays out of the way.

    In the event it does come into play, and it has on several occasions in my experience, it’s not a big deal. First, as you know, the thing is pretty easy to feel so we know where it is. As I get close to it I just slow down and pay close attention not to hurt it. In fact the port itself is pretty indestructible. It’s the fill tube that can be injured and that is what I am really on the look out for. The body also does something that helps us, it surronds the port with a layer of scar tissue called a capsule. The capsule is dense, tough scar tissue that envelopes the port and adds yet another layer of protection.

    All of this being said, as careful as your surgeon is, the port can be broken or may need to be moved and this possiblity needs to be part of your discussion with your Plastic Surgeon. Sometimes, your Plastic Surgeon may ask your Lap Band surgeon to help out.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

    All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville Abdominoplasty surgeon, Dr. Lee Corbett.

    Skin and Exercise

    Posted on July 8, 2009 by drlcorbett

    I see lots of women, most of them Moms, who are completely frustrated because their skin won’t tighten up despite their working out like crazy. So they come to inquire about a Louisville Tummy Tuck or Louisville Liposuction. The bad news I have to deliver is that skin will not tighten up in response to exercise.

    With exercise, especially resistance training (lifting weights), you can certainly loose fat and add muscle which is a great thing. As this process occurs, your skin will tighten up to some degree. Skin does have elasticity and so it will snap back. We see this all of the time with significant weight loss and after pregnancy. The skin is actually pretty amazing and tones itself back up rather nicely. But there is a limit and there isn’t much you can do to affect the process.

    So, if you have lost a lot of weight and have been at a stable plateau for 6 months or more or if your last baby is more than 6 months old and you have lost your baby weight, what you see skin wise is probably what you are going to be left with. For some women with thicker more resilient skin, this can be taught, stretch mark free skin. For most though, there will be some residual laxity.

    Age is also a huge factor. Our skin is more capable of snapping back the younger we are. Not much more explantion needed here.

    So all you have to do is never age, never gain weight, and never have kids and your skin will be perfect! Just kidding 🙂

    Lee Corbett, MD

    www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

    502.721.0330

    All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville Tummy Tuck surgeon, Dr. Lee Corbett.

    How long does it take breast implants to ‘settle’?

    Posted on July 8, 2009 by drlcorbett

    In reality, breast implants usually don’t really have to settle. They are usually in the proper position from the get go. It looks like they are sitting high at first because the muscle swells so much. The pec muscle that covers the implants attaches to the edge of your breast bone from bottom to top and and along your collar bone from side to side. When we lift it up and place the implant under it, it will swell. In some patients the swelling can be pretty dramatic. That’s why it looks like the implants are sitting so high.

    Sometimes the implants do sit high on the chest wall. This is more common with larger implants and implants placed via an underarm incision.  In these cases your doctor may have you wear a bandeau or a strap of some sort. In these cases, the implants almost always come down and do so in the first 6 to 12 weeks if not sooner. If they are still too high after 6 months or longer, you may need a revision.

    If however it is just the swelling, from what I have seen over the last 11 years, it will mostly go away in the first 6 weeks. Swelling can last as long as 3 to 6 months but this would be rather unusual for breast implant surgery. If you are unsure of your situation, ask your doctor. The good thing is that gravity usually wins and those implants will come down and the swelling will go away keeping revisions for this type of problem at a low %.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

    502.721.0330

    All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville Breast Augmentation surgeon,  Dr. Lee Corbett.

    On Line Beauty Treatments…Buyer Beware!

    Posted on July 6, 2009 by drlcorbett

    Please be careful when you buy beauty treatments on line.

    Case in point. Today I saw a patient for an Internist friend of mine. The patient thought she had burned her face using a chemical peel kit a friend bought off the internet.

    Chemical peels are great. The one she used was mainstream stuff and perfectly fine…but it was the perfectly wrong peel for her to use based on her skin type.

    Prescription strength MediSpa treatments are potent products. Assuming you actually get what is advertised, these products need to be used by someone who has knowledge and experience! Otherwise, you very well may get a result you didn’t bargain for! Worse case scenario is the product is bogus and then who knows what you can end up with.

    It’s your FACE! Spend a few dollars more and get your facials, botox, lasers etc…from someone you know and trust! It’s worth the extra.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com 

    All posts on this blog are prensented by Louisville Skin Care physician, Dr. Lee Corbett

    I had Breast Augmentation last week. The sides feel different. Is something wrong?

    Posted on July 6, 2009 by drlcorbett

    This phone call comes into our office every day after Louisville Breast Augmentation, so I wanted to address it. The answer is there is probably nothing wrong. This can be totally normal.

    Each breast has it’s own nerve supply and it’s own blood supply coming to it. The nerves come off each side of your spinal cord. They travel along with your ribs and as they do, they shoot off branches into your soft tissues. As the nerves come around under you arm they send off branches into your breast. Well, when we are making the pocket for your implant to live, we can irritate the nerves. That is why the side of the breast can get do tender.

    Because each side has its own nerve supply, one side can be more sore than the other. It’s that simple.

    If you have this problem, I recommend massage, non-steroidals (ibuprofen) and sometimes heat can help. The good thing is that it will go away and should get a little better each day.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

    502.721.0330

    All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville, KY Breast Augmentation surgeon, Dr. Lee Corbett.

    Can I breast feed after a Reduction?

    Posted on July 6, 2009 by drlcorbett

    There is no doubt that having a Louisville Breast Reduction will affect future breast feeding.

    When we do a breast reduction, the breast is truly ‘dis-assembled’. Typically a segment of the breast which supports the blood supply to nipple remains undisturbed. This segment we call the ‘pedicle’. The tissue around the pedicle is then removed to effect the reduction. When we do this the milk duct system is disrupted to some degree and this is the problem. The breast that we leave behind will still make milk after the pregnancy, but the question is will it make it to the nipple to feed the baby.

    I have read studies that reported interference with breast feeding running as high as 80% after a reduction. This is what I quote my patients when they consult. If breast feeding is really important to you, you may want to wait until after you have had all your kids.

    Lee Corbett, MD
    www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

    All posts on this blog are presented by Kentucky Breast Reduction surgeon, Dr. Lee Corbett

    Ear Gauges. They CAN be removed and the ear repaired.

    Posted on July 4, 2009 by drlcorbett

    Earlobe Guages are not uncommon in the late teen and early 20 age categories. The problem is, as this age group starts to leave school and enter the business world, law enforcement, or military, the guages need to go and the earlobe is left fairly deformed.

    Repair for smaller guages is pretty easy. I can treat those like a typical split earlobe. The repair is done in the office, under local anesthesia, in 10-15 minutes. The stitches come out in a week and your problem is gone.

    Some larger guages, those in the 1-2″ category are a bigger challenge. These repairs are trickier and I find they are best carried out in an O.R. Because the problem is more complex, the repair can take 30-40 minutes per side, anesthesia is more of an issue, and because we are in an OR, the cost is much higher. A normal lobe contour is also harder to achieve because in some cases the lobe is so stretched and the anatomy so distorted, normal becomes a stretch. But, the repair can be done and though “perfect” may not be feasible, a near-normal lobe shape is a reasonable expectation.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    https://www.corbettcosmeticsurgery.com/

    502.721.0330

    My earlobe is split & I can’t wear earrings. Help!

    Posted on July 4, 2009 by drlcorbett

    This is actually a pretty common problem. I have fixed a lot of Louisville split earlobes in my time.

    Typically, the patients are women in their late 30’s and 40’s. The reason is the big heavy earrings that were so popular in the 80’s you wore. Over time, the weight of the earring pulled the post downward and the piercing becomes a split.

    This is a very easy problem to correct. I can do it in the office under local anesthesia and it only takes about 10 minutes per earlobe. It isn’t terribly expensive either, ranging from $200 to $300.

    What we do is get the lobe numb, and then remove the skin that lines the split. Then I just sew it up with a few sutures and that’s it. We take the sutures out in a week.

    My recommendation is to wait about 3 months before you re-pierce. In the interim, clip on earrings are allowed.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    www.corbettcosmeticsurgery.com

    502.721.0330

    Why do they call it Plastic Surgery?

    Posted on July 4, 2009 by drlcorbett

    This is a pretty good question. A lot of people think as Plastic Surgeons we use plastic in our operations. Now we do use a lot of prosthetics like chin implants, cheek implants, titanium plates and screws, breast implants and many more. Thing is, none of these are made of plastic.

    The specialty got it’s name from the etymology of the word Plastic.

    The first known defintion of the word dates back to 1632,  and it meant “capable of shaping or molding,” from the latin word plasticus, and from the Greek word plastikos “able to be molded, pertaining to molding,” from plastos “molded,” from plassein “to mold” (see plasma). The Surgical sense of “remedying a deficiency of structure” is first recorded 1839.

    I thought this was a good nerdly bit of Plastic Surgery trivia you might enjoy.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    www.CorbettCosmeticSugery.com

    502.721.0330

    All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville, KY Cosmetic Surgery expert, Dr. Lee Corbett

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