Dr. Dreyfuss held a wonderful Open House at the new office location in Orland Park, Illinois on June 19th, 2013.  More than 80 people attended a great event.  Since moving to the new location at 9721 W 165th Street, Suite 25, Orland Park, Illinois, we have wanted to let our patients, neighbors and referring doctors see our outstanding new location.  For about 3 hours, with plenty of food and refreshments, our visitors could meet with Skin Care, Laser and Breast Implant Representatives from multiple different companies. Every attendee was given a special coupon for discount offers from skin care products, to Botox and Juvederm, and even Surgery.

Our new Aesthetician, Samantha, was also in attendance to meet our visitors and inform them of the new available treatments in our office.  From facials to peels, eyelash extension, and expert skin assessment, Samantha was a huge hit with our patients.  Patients also had the opportunity to get more information about the revolutionary truSculpt system, for non invasive Fat Removal and Body Contouring.

The new office in Orland Park is comfortable, beautiful and very private for all of our aesthetic patients.   Dreyfuss Plastic Surgery has been and will continue to be the premier Cosmetic Surgery Practice in the Suburbs for the even the most discriminating patient.  It is all about the personalized care and the outstanding results that keep patients returning and referring their friends and neighbors.

Please check back soon to hear about new opportunities to meet with a member of our practice and experience the best that Dreyfuss Plastic Surgery have to offer.

TruSculpt is a breakthrough, non-invasive radio frequency technology that allows for fat and cellulite reduction, in a comfortable office setting.  The procedure takes approximately 30-60 minutes per treatment that feels like a hot sensation on the skin.  No anesthesia, pain medication or cooling gels are necessary.

The treatment requires 2 sessions, 4-6 weeks apart.  The results become apparent after approximately 10-12 weeks, however some patients begin to see improvement after as little as 4 weeks.  Normal activity, exercise and diet may be continued during the treatment.  This procedure does not remove the fat as in liposuction, but causes fat cell disruption.  This disruption allows the fat cells to leak and shrink and is gradually expelled from your system.  Trusculpt Chicago is designed to provide a safe and comfortable procedure.  Redness, swelling and mild tenderness can last for approximately 10-12 hours.  Mild analgesics such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen may be used as necessary.

TruSculpt costs start as little as $600 per session.  Approximately a 25-30 % improvement in an area can be expected.

 

Liposuction is an operative procedure that is usually performed in an outpatient surgical center.  It is performed at a single setting.  Liposuction requires 2-3 small incisions that are most often well hidden.  The procedure can take 30-90 minutes.  It usually requires sedation or general anesthesia.  It is a much more aggressive procedure that TruSculpt.   Unlike the office procedure, tumescent fluid may be injected and thin cannulas inserted underneath the skin to remove the excess fat.

Areas such as the abdomen, thighs, flank, back or neck can be contoured dramatically with liposuction.  Limitations on activity and exercise normally last 4-6 weeks.  A compression garment may be worn for the first 4 weeks.  Pain medication, such as codeine-based products, may be necessary in the first few days.  Although improvement in the contour may be immediately apparent, swelling and fluid retention are common and can take weeks to resolve.  Final results can take 4-6 months.

Liposuction costs in Chicago start as little as $1800 per area with anesthesia and facility costs extra.

 

Dreyfuss Plastic Surgery

Non-surgical cosmetic procedures have gained popularity because of the small risk and little downtime involved with them, one in special, has lately generated a great deal of interest from: Non-invasive body contouring procedures. For most patients removing unwanted body fat without going under the knife sounds like a dream, and this dream has now come true.

There is now a simple and comfortable way to reshape your body in Chicago without surgery. The truSculpt™ system, a revolutionary non-invasive radio frequency technology, designed to treat multiple zones of the body such as thighs, abdomen, buttocks and other stubborn areas.

The truSculpt™ procedure uses radiofrequency (RF) energy to heat fat cells deep below the skin. The heat helps shrink fat cells and promotes skin contraction, leading to a smoother, slimmer contour in the treated area. After a truSculpt™ treatment, visible results can be seen as soon as 4 weeks with maximum results taking up to 12 weeks. Results may vary from patient to patient depending on the areas treated and the number of treatments administered.

The truSculpt™ system is safe for all skin types, and typically patients can return to normal activities immediately. Often, patients return to work after the session.

The truSculpt™ system is now available to all greater Chicago area patients at Dreyfuss Plastic Surgery Experts. Contact us to schedule a consultation and learn if truSculpt™ is right for you.

 

Dreyfuss Plastic Surgery Experts

Welcome back to our blog!

It’s time for another patient question of the week: How Long Should I Wait After my Bariatric Surgery Before I Get Plastic Surgery?

We do not have a specific time frame. The most important aspect of the timing is that your weight should have stabilized. Though you may not have met your goal weight, you should not be actively losing weight at the time of your plastic surgery. Your bariatric surgeon will monitor your weight loss, and once your weight has leveled off, we can then meet with you to set up a plan for your plastic surgery procedure(s).

These plans are completely individualized. Not only do we discuss which procedure(s) would benefit you the most, we also set up a plan for those procedure(s) and individualize how they are done. All panniculectomies/abdominoplasties (post-bariatric tummy tucks) are not the same. Arm lifts (brachioplasties) and thigh lifts differ greatly from patient to patient in regards to the location of scars and the extent of the procedures. Some patients benefit from buttock lifts, others from mid-back lifts. Breasts are a very personal decision in regards to size and if a lift (mastopexy) is needed. After we meet with you, we will be able to come up with a plan just for you.

 

Thanks for reading. Be patient, you’ll get there.

 

“The only reason for time is so everything doesn’t happen at once” – Albert Einstein

 

Dreyfuss Plastic Surgery Experts

This week’s patient question is pretty simple: “What is a mommy makeover?”

A “mommy makeover” is the surgical approach to bring back the abdomen and breast shape that you had before pregnancies.  Or in many cases, the flat tummy and perky breasts you always wanted, even before pregnancy.

For the abdomen, many women need a full tummy tuck.  Exercise can actually make the abdomen bulge more.  With pregnancy the rectus muscles (those six pack ab muscles) actually separate to allow room for the baby.  These often don’t come back together, especially with multiple pregnancies.  Exercises that pull the oblique muscles (on the sides of the abdomen) keep pulling the rectus muscles apart. So, you get that bulge in the middle or bottom of your tummy (the “muffin top”) that won’t go away.  We can make that go away.  Some women can get by with a “mini” tummy tuck, which tightens the lower abdomen and liposuction on the upper abdomen.

For the flanks (“love handles”) and thighs, liposuction can be added to the tummy procedure, to get back that shape you used to have, or always wanted.

For the breasts, some women want a reduction, some of you just need a breast lift, and some of you may want breast implants.  We often do a “lift” with implants.  As with all our procedures, everything is individualized specifically for you.

If you have multiple procedures done on the same day, both surgeons will work together to minimize time in the operating room. There are no residents or assistants, just two board-certified plastic surgeons. Surgery can last between two to five hours, depending on the number of procedures done.  As we said before, we will work with you to find the best procedure, or combination of procedures, for you to achieve the body you deserve.

 

“Children reinvent your world for you” -Susan Sarandon

Now you can reinvent your body for you.

 

Thank you for reading,

 

Dreyfuss Plastic Surgery Experts

 Welcome back to our blog on plastic surgery.

This week’s patient question:  “Does the fat go somewhere else on my body after liposuction?” The short answer is “No.”

But we guess you may want a slightly longer answer. Liposuction is not a weight loss procedure. Liposuction allows for the removal of fat cells from problem areas. These areas get cute names like “love handles”.  They also get some less cute names like “beer belly”, “saddlebags”, and “buffalo hump”.  We all have one or more of these area of fat deposition that are difficult and seemingly impossible to lose. These areas can include the inner or outer thighs, the knees, the flanks, lower or upper back, the roll under a brassiere, the neck or the abdomen.

Liposuction removes fat cells from these areas. Those fat cells are gone. When you gain weight, fat cells get large. When you lose weight, those cells shrink. Since liposuction actually removes cell, those cells are no longer able to increase in size.  So “no,” the fat does not move, but if you gain weight, other cells can increase in size.

That being said, liposuction is an excellent procedure to get improve the appearance of problem areas and get you a look you are trying to achieve.

Of course a sensible diet and exercise will greatly augment the looks you achieve from liposuction.

“We thought we had the answers, it was the question we had wrong” – Bono

Thanks for reading,

Dreyfuss Plastic Surgery Experts

Welcome to our blog.  Each week, I will try to find an interesting question that our patients ask us.  We’ll see if I can do this every week.  So here goes.

This week, I again was asked, “Do breast implants need to be replaced every ten years?  I’m not sure where the “ten year” time frame came from.  The manufacturers offer a ten-year warranty on the implants.  That warranty is free with silicone gel implants and costs $100 for saline-filled implants.  The warranty covers the cost of the implants, and reasonable anesthesia costs, surgeon’s fees and operating room charges.

But the simple answer is “No, breast implants do not need to be replaced every ten years.” They are not tires and don’t need to be rotated either. That being said I will quote verbatim from Allergan’s product information:

“No medical device can be considered to last forever, just as no natural body part necessarily lasts a lifetime. It is possible for any breast implant to leak, and that is true of both the saline and silicone gel filled breast implants. So assume that all implants will eventually wear out, because of the constant repetitive movements of the chest caused by breathing some 15,000 times a day. If every person with a pacemaker, breast implant, heart valve, knee joint etc lived to be 100, it is likely that all of these devices would need to be replaced at some point in their lifetime.

Implants do not have a date when they have to be routinely replaced. But little by little they do wear out. Based upon the best currently available information, many plastic surgeons tell patients to assume that the need for replacement at five-years would be about 1%, by ten years 5%, by fifteen years 25%.

It is not required to just routinely replace older, still intact implants because there is no known danger to you. But the FDA recommends frequent MRI testing for silicone gel implants.”

So there you have it, your implants may well last for your entire lifetime.  You may need to have them replaced. In the case of a ruptured implant, the removal and replacement surgery is usually much easier for you than the original implant surgery.  We just open the previous incision, take out the old implant and put a new one in the same pocket.  Some cases can be more complicated.

I have many patients who have had implants in for 30 years without a problem. I hope that answers this week’s question.

Remember: “it is better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers” – James Thurber

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Dreyfuss Plastic Surgery Experts

Here’s the third installment in the breast augmentation video series brought to us by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. In this segment, a patient discusses her satisfaction with breast implants and the reaction she got from friends and family. See our post last week for the previous episode.

Here is a clip from The Doctors, which features dermatologist Jessica Wu showcasing the new eyelash enhancement drug, Latisse.

Dr. Wu explains that Latisse can give you “crazy long spidery lashes” in just 4 months. You apply Latisse to the base of the upper eyelashes once each night, “just like liquid eyeliner.” The results should yield lashes that are 25 percent longer and 100 percent thicker!

See the video for a before & after photo; it is quite impressive. If you are interested in learning more about Latisse in Chicago or Munster, Indiana, contact us.

Based on recent events, it seems the common perception of male breasts has changed; what was once a relatively obscure condition is now approaching the level of pop culture phenomenon.

Finlo Rohrer of BBC news speculates that media – especially the tabloid scrutinization of celebrities – has popularized the concept of ‘man boobs.’ Tony Blair and UK conservative party leader, David Cameron, were pictured shirtless during the summer of 2006, which led several media outlets to “comment on their moobs.”

The weblog www.manboobs.uk, which according to one reader, has “plumbed the depths of poor taste,” pokes fun at the concept, but further popularizes it.  American television sitcoms like Seinfeld and Friends have done the same.  According to Rorher, this popularity could lead to “more men making their way through the surgeon’s doors.”

So what is the deal with male breasts?  Here are a few things you might not know:

  • Gynecomastia that forms breast tissue in males, is a relatively common condition that is often mistaken for simple excess fat. It can affect newborns, pubescent boys, and adults.  While it isn’t serious (unless it is a sign of something else), it can be painful and embarrassing.
  • Obesity can cause a condition of excess breast tissue, but real gynecomastia is caused by a hormone imbalance. In either case, surgery can alleviate the symptoms.
  • Medications, or illegal drugs like marijuana and anabolic steroids can cause gynecomastia. Particular drugs that are used during treatment for prostate cancer are to blame.
  • Gynecomastia can also be caused by genetic conditions like Klinefelter’s Syndrome.
  • Surgery isn’t the only option: in cases of pubertal gynecomastia, the condition will often disappear over time or when puberty is over.  Other cases have shown improvement without any interventions; one case published in the June 2008 issue of Endocrine Practices documents a rare case of bilateral gynecomastia in a 60 year old man. The patient’s examination results were normal, but he reported a daily intake of 3 qts soy milk.  Once the patient ceased his intake of soy milk, his condition improved and his hormone imbalance was resolved.

While underlying issues like hormone imbalance and obesity should always be addressed,  many patients find that surgery is the right choice for correcting excess breast tissue.  Male breast reduction can restore a natural masculine appearance. If you are interested in learning more, contact us for a consultation.