Southern Plastic Surgery - Blog
Posts for the ‘In the News’ Category
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Posted on May 10, 2010 2:40PM
Study Shows Rise in Number of Unqualified Practitioners Offering Cosmetic Services like Liposuction and Botox
It is not surprising that, in a down economy, people will be doing anything they can to keep their business afloat and continue to make money. Understandably, fast food chains will jump on the “value menu” bandwagon or nail salons will begin to offer two for one pricing – but what is the beyond the realm of understanding is unqualified medical practitioners who are offering surgeries they have no training for. Unfortunately, this is exactly what has been happening in the world of cosmetic surgery procedures, namely liposuction and the administering of injections like Botox® and Dysport®.
In a recent study, published in the April issue of the Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery journal, researchers found that nearly 40 percent of doctors offering liposuction in the Southern California area had NO specific surgical training. In fact, other than plastic surgeons, dermatologists, otolaryngologists (head/ Neck surgeons), and Primary Care Physicians were the top four groups providing liposuction. The study examined 1876 cosmetic practitioners in the California test area, and only 495 of them were trained in plastic surgery!
So, how can people get away with this? Well first of all, there is no law that makes offering these services illegal because no actual training in surgery is required by law. Second of all, injections and liposuction can technically be performed in a practitioner’s office; therefore, hospital privileges (which are only given to legitimate, qualified doctors) are not an issue. What consumers are left with are untrained/ minimally trained practitioners offering surgical procedures in less than safe conditions just to see a bump in their paycheck.
Luckily, there are things that you, as a consumer, can do to protect yourself. First of all, be weary of misleading practice names that are not supported and backed by a real doctor. You have every right to ask about your practitioner’s qualifications, so make sure that you do so. You want to make sure when getting any cosmetic or surgical procedure that your physician is board certified in plastic surgery, and not just general surgery – specific training in plastic surgery is the key to the best and safest results.
For more information on Dr. Whiteman’s qualifications, visit the Southern Plastic Surgery website. Feel free to contact our office with any more questions you may have!
Posted on May 3, 2010 2:38PM
Dr. Whiteman Cautions Patients to be Weary of Doctors Offering ‘Awake’ Breast Augmentation Surgery
A recent article in the NY Times discussed a group of doctors who are boasting the ability to perform breast augmentation surgery while patients are awake. This breast implant procedure is performed in the physician’s office and only requires local anesthesia – boasting lower costs and the ability to interact with patients during the actual surgery.
Traditionally though, and at the practice of Southern Plastic Surgery, breast augmentation surgery is performed in a hospital while the patient is under general anesthesia to ensure patient safety. While the “awake” breast augmentation surgery sounds like a good idea in theory, the safety and legitimacy of it has been called into serious question. Here are just a couple of reasons why I caution against opting for this kind of procedure:
• Performing operations while a patient is awake, under local anesthesia takes an amount of control away from the surgeon and is not conducive to the best possible results.
• Surgeries performed in a physician’s office instead of a hospital are not subject to proper accreditation or safety standards.
• If something goes wrong in surgery or if the patient becomes uneasy by the graphic nature of the surgery there will not be an anesthesiologist or hospital staff on hand to assist.
• Local anesthesia still makes a patient “out of it” – so they may request something like a size change during surgery that they would not otherwise ask for with a sound mind.
• Many people performing these procedures are not board certified or even trained in plastic surgery! (The article notes a non board certified doctor that teaches this procedure to other non-plastic surgery doctors with a two day course!)
• Just as many complications can arise from local anesthesia as from general anesthesia, but with local anesthesia you do not have the support of a hospital or specialist if such a complication should arise.
While some procedures are perfectly safe performed under local anesthesia, a procedure as invasive as breast augmentation is not (at least not yet anyways). You don’t want anyone performing a surgery as serious as a breast augmentation who has not gone to school to study plastic surgery; or who is not board certified by an accredited, third party medical board such as the American Board of Plastic Surgery.
Dr. Whiteman is double board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada and specializes in cosmetic plastic surgery procedures of the face, breasts, and body. If you are interested in learning more about breast augmentation surgery, or any other cosmetic procedure, contact the office of Southern Plastic Surgery today.
Posted on April 19, 2010 5:22PM
Diet, Exercise, and a Healthy Lifestyle are Vital to Any Cosmetic Surgery Procedure Dr. David Whiteman Launches Health & Wellness Section to Southern Plastic Surgery Website
In every consultation, Dr. Whiteman tells his patients that he will do his part in enhancing their appearance with a cosmetic surgery procedure, but is careful to remind his patients that it is of utmost importance that they do their part to maintain the results. For ALL patients, that means maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Especially for liposuction, tummy tuck, and breast reduction patients, keeping up with regular diet and exercise is the only way to maintain their results. But even cosmetic surgeries of the face, patients must maintain their health – such as quitting smoking – in order to facilitate healing.
Because plastic surgery and healthy lifestyles go hand-in-hand, Dr. Whiteman decided to launch a health and wellness section to southernplasticsurgery.com. The health and wellness section will provide patients with diet and exercise tips including: Common Diet Mistakes, Tips for Diet Success, Hidden Calories in Foods, Healthy Snacks, and a feature on how to correctly read food labels.
The health and wellness section will also contain a section of healthy, delicious, and low calorie recipes. All of the recipes have been personally made and approved by members of the Southern Plastic Surgery staff.
Dr. Whiteman hopes that, with the help of the health and wellness section of his website, that all his patients will make strides towards healthy, fit lifestyles to keep them looking and feeling their best!
Posted on April 14, 2010 6:27PM
Thinking of trimming your look? Southern Plastic Surgery’s Featured Procedure!
Posted on April 5, 2010 4:08PM
The Sport of Giving’s Founder Sheila Stevens Featured on CW 69’s Focus Atlanta
This past Sunday March 28th, CW 69’S Focus Atlanta featured The Sport of Giving (TSOG) founder Sheila Stevens. Sheila was on the show to discuss The Sport of Giving’s broadened scope and recent switch to take the organization national.
Just this year, The Sport of Giving Board, of which Dr. David Whiteman of Southern Plastic Surgery serves as spokesperson and medical director, decided to expand the boundaries of TSOG to help more people than ever! While initially, the organization was founded to raise money and awareness for women with breast cancer, the organization will now work to support ALL women’s cancers. Also part of the change was expanding the organization beyond the local Atlanta area. Seeing the success that TSOG has had in the Georgia community, the board wanted to give other communities a way to make the same positive impact in their own city. Therefore The Sport of Giving developed a template coined “The Sport of Giving in A Box” detailing the steps and work involved in holding a similar TSOG event in another community.
What is special about The Sport of Giving is that, even though the organization is going national, all of the money raised remains local to benefit the respective community in which it was raised. Unlike other national organization, a percentage of money does not go to benefit a national headquarters – but will go directly to the people in the community that worked to raise it!
For more information about TSOG visit www.thesportofgiving.org.
Posted on March 30, 2010 4:20PM
Male Breast Reduction Surgery Gains Popularity in England and the United States
For women, surgeries of the breasts have been among the most popular procedures in the plastic and cosmetic surgery world. In fact, breast augmentation surgery surpassed liposuction as the most popular plastic surgery procedure for the first time in 2008. But what may surprise you is that surgeries of the breasts are growing in popularity for male plastic surgery patients as well. More specifically, male breast reduction has become the fastest growing cosmetic surgery procedure in England and is gaining popularity in the US as well.
According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, there was an 80 percent increase in the total number of male breast reduction surgeries from 2008 to 2009. And in the United States, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons estimated a total of 18,000 male breast reduction surgeries in 2008 alone.
The popularity of male breast reduction surgery may be explained by the fact gynecomastia, a condition marked by enlarged breasts in males, is more common than one may think. In fact, gynecomastia affects an estimated 40 to 60 percent of all men – ranging from teenage boys to professional athletes! The solution to this problem, or male breast reduction surgery, is a minimally invasive and very reliable procedure – undoubtedly another factor contributing to its increased popularity. The procedure involves liposuction of excess fat and the occasional removal of excess breast glandular tissue to reshape the natural contour of the male breast wall and takes only a little more than an hour to perform.
If you are a male who is suffering from gynecomastia or is unhappy with the look and shape of their chest, male breast reduction surgery can be a realistic solution. Schedule a consultation with Dr. Whiteman today or visit our website for more information.
Also, be sure to check out the March issue of Best Self magazine! Dr. Whiteman will be featured as an expert on male breast reduction and liposuction in the Men’s Health Section.
Posted on March 22, 2010 2:28PM
Dr. Whiteman of Southern Plastic Surgery is Proud to Announce the Launch of ‘Life After the Fight’ – A Business Directory Committed to Supporting and Promoting the Professional Ventures of Breast Cancer Survivors!
After years of working with breast reconstruction patients and involvement on the board of The Sport of Giving, a local breast cancer (now all women’s cancer) nonprofit, Dr. Whiteman noticed an inspiring trend among these women. Becoming painfully aware that life is short, many survivors’ battles with the disease become a catalyst for them to start their own businesses and begin new careers that truly made them happy. Thinking of how great it would be to make others aware of these strong women and their new businesses, “Life After the Fight” was born.
Life After the Fight is a local business directory that ONLY lists the businesses of breast cancer survivors – an effort to promote and support these amazing women’s professional ventures as they move on with their lives. Through the forum of Facebook, Life After the Fight is also a way for these survivors to support and interact with each other.
We at Life After the Fight say that these businesses are built from the strength of the survivors that created them – so not only are you supporting breast cancer survivors, but your are getting access to and information on some GREAT businesses in the local area.
WE NEED BUSINESS SUBMISSIONS:
If you are a breast cancer survivor, or would like to submit a business on behalf of a survivor, you can either post your business information on the Life After the Fight Facebook page wall or submit the following information via email to lifeafterthefight@gmail.com :
• Name of your business/service
• A short description of your services
• Business phone number, email, and website
*Businesses submitted both via Facebook and email will be included on this Life After the Fight directory webpage.
*Business submissions are based on the honor system, please respect the fact that Life After the Fight is meant to provide information and support solely for the businesses of breast cancer survivors/patients.
Click here or read below to find out more about Life After the Fight. And don’t forget to become a fan of Life After the Fight on Facebook!!
We encourage you to suggest the page to all of your friends (via the ‘suggest to friends’ link under the default picture on the facebook fan page). The more people that know about Life After the Fight, the more we can support these survivors!
Posted on March 15, 2010 2:26PM
Dr. Whiteman Announces Changes to the World of Injectables: Fillers with Lidocaine and Dysport Rebate Special
The market for facial filler and cosmetic injectables is one of the most competitive in the world of plastic and cosmetic surgery. So it is not surprising that each product is constantly trying to improve – a bonus for the patients and doctors that use them. Most recently, popular facial fillers including Juvederm®, Restylane®, and Perlane®, are now FDA approved for use with lidocaine. Lidocaine is a local anesthetic, which will gently numb the injection site, making the procedure much more comfortable for the patient. Facial fillers are effective for smoothing out deep folds and facial wrinkles, plumping up lips, and correcting scars and depressions; and now that these products can be used with lidocaine, the procedure is easier than ever!
Also new in the world of injectables is the Dysport® “Love it or Leave it” challenge. Patients can receive a $75 rebate if they try Dysport® – then after 15-30 days, if they love it, they can receive another $75 off their next Dysport® injection. Or they decide to leave it, patients can still receive a $75 rebate off a competitive treatment (Botox®).
For more information on any of these injectables, or to schedule a consultation, contact Southern Plastic Surgery.
Posted on March 8, 2010 3:06PM
Diet, Exercise and Plastic Surgery
Diet and exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle can help improve your Plastic Surgery results. Whether you wish to firm certain areas or slim down the body in general, you can help shape your body with good diet and exercise habits.
In order to help you look your best, Dr. Whiteman will do his part to make sure you receive the treatments that will enhance your body. But you also need to make sure to do your part—maintaining a healthy diet and regular exercise—to help achieve your best results. In some cases, difficulty losing weight can be a symptom of a medical problem. If you suspect this to be your problem, check with your doctor to rule out medical conditions, such as hypothyroidism or polycystic ovarian disease. In the majority of cases, people have difficulty losing weight because they are consuming too many calories and not burning enough off with exercise.
Common Diet Mistakes:
Skipping Meals
If you skip meals, you will likely be extremely hungry and may overeat at the next meal. Aim to eat 3-6 small meals or snacks per day. Listen to your body and do not ignore your hunger cues. Eat when you are truly hungry, and do not eat when you are not.
If your diet is too strict, you are not going to follow it. Make small changes in how you eat in order to build healthy life-time changes to last for a lifetime.
Fad Diets
Fad diets frequently lack important nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins and/or minerals). They usually lead to short-term weight loss (losing weight in muscle and water) – BUT not FAT loss. They often lead to clinical symptoms such as headaches, anxiety, fatigue, depression, illness, and decreased metabolism.
You can recognize Fad diets because they boast “magic” or miracle foods (like the grapefruit diet), bizarre quantities, rigid menus, specific food combinations, rapid weight loss (“lose 30 pounds in 30 days!”), and usually no increased physical activity.
Not counting the small stuff
Even a piece of candy from a co-worker’s candy dish, a food sample in the grocery store, a special coffee drink with whipped cream or some extra mayo on your sandwich can add extra inches on your waist. Review your diet for sources of “Hidden Calories”—foods that add calories, but not much nutrition.
Cutting out food groups
Food=Nutrients. Each food group contains certain vitamins and minerals you will not get from other food groups. Include all foods from the food guide pyramid to get all your vitamins and nutrients. Instead, choose smaller portions to help you shed the pounds.
Not planning out meals/snacks
When you don’t plan ahead, your diet choices might not be as smart. Make sure to have healthy snacks in the fridge and pack your lunch (if possible).
Eating “low fat” or “low carb” food items
Be careful with foods with these labels, they may have less fat or carbohydrates, but these foods are not calorie free. Many “low fat” products add extra sugar and “low carb” items often add extra fat, which adds extra calories— READ THE FOOD LABELS!!
Skipping exercise
Exercise is vital for maintaining long term weight loss. When you lose weight, you will lose some muscle. In order to maintain your muscle mass (and therefore your metabolism), make sure to exercise—cardio to burn calories and lifting weights to build muscle (and then later burning calories at rest!)
Tips for Diet Success:
Make small changes to your current diet
Gradual changes are easy to make and stick to in order to keep off weight long-term. Whether it be cutting out one extra juice/soda/sweet tea, changing from whole milk to 2%, or trading in sugar or honey in your coffee for a non-calorie sweetener, these small changes add up in a big way.
Exercise
The Joslin Diabetes Center conducted a study where those who followed a diet and exercise for 6 weeks lost weight. Those who maintained their exercise programs for 6 weeks after stopping their diets maintained their weight loss, whereas only some who continued following their diet for 6 weeks maintained their weight loss. This is because when we exercise, we build muscle. Muscle burns calories. The more muscles we have the more calories our bodies burn—and therefore, the amount of calories we need to maintain our weight is higher.
Decrease your intake of soda, juice, sweet tea, and alcohol.
One 16oz glass of soda, juice, sweet tea or beer is about 240 calories. There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat. If you cut out one soda, juice or sweet tea per day, you could lose nearly one pound per week. If you drink mixed alcoholic drinks, the amount of calories you are drinking is even higher. Since you get calories from the juice or mixer and the liquor (which contains about 150 calories per one ounce.)
Instead choose water, lowfat or fat free milk (cow, soy, etc), or diet soda. You can flavor your water with lemon, lime, or even a cucumber slice.
Cut your portion sizes in half
When eating out in a restaurant, dishes are twice as big as they were 20 years ago and are often seasoned with extra cream, butter and salt to add flavor. Main entrees can contain more than 1000 calories at most restaurants. Ask your server to wrap up half of your meal before you even are served your dish so you won’t be tempted to finish your entire meal, or share with a friend!
When at home, take half of what you think you want to eat – our eyes are often bigger than our stomachs. If you also slow down to enjoy your food, you might find that your hunger is satisfied with a much smaller portion.
Try to eat out at restaurants less.
Due to the higher calorie foods and bigger portions, this can be costly on your waist line.
But, if you are going to eat at a restaurant, try to choose wisely:
Have it “your way”. Ask for food to be baked, broiled, boiled, grilled or stir fried rather than fried. Have sauces and dressings on the side. Order vegetables instead of high-fat sides like French fries.
Avoid items that are described as: crispy, battered, breaded, creamy, rich, “stuffed with” and super-sized. These items are all high in fat and/or calories.
You might say, but I HAVE changed my diet and I eat well, but are you consuming hidden calories?
Hidden Calories:
- Skin on poultry*
- Cheese* (100 calories, 8g fat for each ounce of full fat cheese)
- “Fat free” foods
- condiments* (butter, margarine, sour cream, guacamole, mayo, salad dressing, bacon bits, croutons, whipped cream)
- High calorie drinks: Soda, sweet tea, juice (150+ cals/ 12oz can), Milkshakes (a large chocolate frosty is 560kcal, 29g fat medium chocolate chip cookie dough Blizzard is 950kcal, 36g fat)
- Specialty coffees (Can have as many as 700 calories per large drink with whipped cream)
- Snacks from vending machines/food carts*
- Alcohol
- Peanuts/Sunflower seeds* (180 to over 200 calories per ¼ cup).
- Dried fruit (serving size: ¼ cup =60 calories)
- Fried foods*
- Whole milk* (Has 150 calories and 8g fat per 8oz serving versus skim milk has 80 calories).
- *High in fat
Healthy Snacks:
- A piece of fruit (pear, apple, orange, melon)
- Low-fat/Light Yogurt
- Raw Vegetables (Broccoli, celery, peppers, carrots, cucumber, string beans, snow peas, cherry tomatoes, Jicama) with low-fat Dip (Ranch, hummus)
- Half cup of low-fat Cottage Cheese & Fruit
- ½ Grapefruit
- ½ bag Air-popped light Popcorn
- Frozen grapes
- Veggie Pizza without Cheese
- Unsweet Applesauce
- Cooked Plantain
- ½ Lean Turkey Sandwich
- Gingersnaps
- Low-fat Mozzarella String Cheese
- Hummus & Toasted Pita Chips
- Baked Sweet Potato Strips
- Non-fat Frozen Yogurt
- Granola Bar
- Frozen Fruit Bars
- Cold Sugar-free Cereal & Skim Milk
- Low-fat Pita Chips
- Instant Oatmeal & Fresh Fruit
- Natural Peanut Butter on Celery
- Pizza Sauce on Whole Grain English Muffin
- Apple Butter on Toast
- Tomato Stuffed with Cooked Brown Rice
- Baked Potato Chips
- Fat-free Cookies
- Rice Cakes
- Toasted Pita Wedges & Low-fat Cheese
- Ice Milk
- Walnuts (1oz)
- Non-fat Plain Yogurt & Fresh Berries
- Vanilla Wafers
- ½ English Muffin w/ Fruit Spread (like Smuckers sugar-free strawberry preserves)
- Low-fat Crackers w/ Low-fat Cheese
- Whole Grain Breadsticks
- Green Salad w/ Low-fat Dressing
- 20-30 Baked Tortilla Chips & Salsa
- Baked Potato & Low-fat Cottage Cheese or salsa
- Fruit Canned in its Own Juice
- Fruit and yogurt parfait (vanilla light n’ fit yogurt with cut fruit and branbuds)
- Cooked Asparagus Spears w/ Lemon
- Apple Slices Sprinkled w/ Cinnamon
- Sugar-free Jell-O & Fat- free Cool Whip
- Fat-free Pudding
- Bean Dip & Veggies
- Zucchini, Pumpkin, or Banana Bread
- Potato Skins with Fat-free Sour Cream
- Soy nuts (3/4 cup)
- Edamame (steamed soy beans) with salt.
Reading Food Labels:
When reading a food label, there are a couple places you should look.
First, look at the total calories per serving. Then look at the serving size.
Make sure you multiple the calories in your food by the number of servings you are going to eat. So, if we were going to eat 2 servings of this food above, it would be 500 calories.
Then look at the Fat. For each 100 calories in a food, it can have 3g of fat to be considered low in fat (i.e. a 200kcal food can have 6g fat, 300kcal can have 9g fat, and so on.) This food above is not low in fat because it contains 12g of fat for 250 calories.
Also look at Fiber. Foods that have 5g or more fiber per serving are high in fiber. Fiber can fill you up more without giving you extra calories because you do not break fiber down the same way you do other carbohydrates, protein or fat.
Posted on March 4, 2010 8:18PM
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Southern Plastic Surgery
David M. Whiteman, M.D., F.R.C.S.(c)
3855 Pleasant Hill Road, Suite 370
Duluth, Georgia 30096
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Phone: 770.622.9100