The UK’s growing cosmetic surgery industry has come under fire for using ‘hard selling tactics’ and illegal advertising to entice prospective patients in. There are also allegations that patient safety is being neglected in the push for profits.
Which? And The Observer conducted an investigation into the cosmetic surgery industry – an investigation which led to the head of the industry admitting that bad practice was rife.
A new face cream known as a ‘facelift in a jar’ has just gone onto sale in the UK. The Athena 7 Minute Lift cream – already available in the US – is now in UK shops and claims to be the first cosmetic cream offering an injection free, non-invasive, painless alternative to Botox. The UK launch is six months behind the US thanks to six months of wrangling over licenses.
According to the Los Angeles Times, liposuction is a bigger killer than car crashes. The American Society of Plastic Surgeon figures show that nearly 11 million cosmetic surgery operations were carried out in 2006 – that’s a 7% increase on 2005 – with liposuction being the second most popular surgery, just after breast augmentation.
Fillers are one of the most popular forms of non-invasive cosmetic surgery however new research shows that these anti-aging and anti-wrinkle solutions may be very damaging.
Researchers found that injecting fillers into the skin may damage underlying facial tissue. Researchers asked 900 surgeons to collect evidence to support the study. The research highlighted that some practitioners inject too much filler into the face and this can cause permanent damage to the facial tissues. It is thought that as many as 5% of patients may be suffering from irreversible damage – to both facial tissue and the fibrous connective tissues.
Dr. Jan Adams, the surgeon who reportedly operated on Kanye West’s mother in an operation which later killed her, has two malpractice suits already filed for against him.
Donda West died of complications following cosmetic surgery earlier this month. West went under the knife for a tummy tuck and breast reduction. It has been reported that the surgery took over 8 hours – this is twice the amount of usual amount of time for this operation and suggests that there may have been problems during the surgery. West was then allegedly sent home instead of spending time recuperating in hospital.
Arizona State University physicists have developed a new laser technique which can destroy virii and bacteria without damaging human cells. It is hoped that the laser can be adapted for use in stopping hospital infections such as MRSA.
The technique uses an infrared laser that is fine-tuned so that is can discriminate between human cells and micro-organisms. Femto-second laser pulses are used to produce vibrations in the protein coat of the micro-organisms. This vibration disrupts the coat, killing the viruses and bacteria but does no damage to the surrounding tissue because the structural compositions of the cells and the micro-organisms are different.
Hormone injections are one of the latest cosmetic surgery crazes in America. Most people know that hormones can affect our moods and skin, however it turns out that they may also have a part to play in wrinkles, beautiful hair, cellulite and fat deposits therefore it is no wonder that the beauty industry has an interest in them.