Posted June 19, 2012 in Beauty, Blog, Office News, Plastic Surgery in the News, Uncategorized
The 8’th Annual Vegas Cosmetic Surgery 2012 took place last week at The Bellagio, Las Vegas. Sarmela Sunder, MD and Michael Persky MD were honored to be among the distinguished faculty at the international multi-speciality symposium. What happened in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas. By far, the most popular Bellagio poolside female summer reading material was E.L. Lewis’ “50 Shades of Grey”. Groups of women unabashedly displayed their soft (ironically) covered books while many of the world’s top aesthetic surgeons shared their more than fifty shades of beauty in the conference halls. While Dr. Persky was moderating a Master’s Seminar session on Hand Rejuvenation presentation by Heidi Waldorf, MD (NYC, NY) and Tatjana Pavicic, MD (Munich, Germany), a reference to 50 Shades of Grey came up during the evaluation of a pair of hands. The combined use of filler (Radiesse) and laser skin resurfacing (Fraxel Dual or Fraxel repair) result in beautiful and youthful hands that match the rejuvenated face of their owner. A photo of Madonna‘s rejuvenated face with her aged hands exemplified the potential benefits of hand rejuvenation.
Non-invasive treatments continue to grow in popularity. A live injection session using Botox, Sculptra, Radiesse, Juvederm, Restylane, and Dysport was one of the highlights of the meeting. Any volunteers for next year’s meeting?
Dr. Persky was particularly interested in evaluating the safety and effectiveness of Cellulaze, the only device FDA approved for the treatment of cellulite in a single session. According to studies by plastic surgeon Barry DiBernardo, MD (Montclair, NJ), 90% of woman treated with this laser device were satisfied with the treatment of their cellulite both one and three years after a single treatment. Jason Pozner, MD (Miami, FL) was enthusiastic about the technology though he had only treated a few patients too recently to be certain. Dr. Persky will be attending a three hour presentation by Dr. DiBernardo in Beverly Hills this weekend. Stay tuned.
Traditional full coverage CO2 laser skin resurfacing seems to be coming back, and fractionated CO2 continues to be well accepted. Fraxel Dual laser received nice reviews from multiple presenters. Ulthera non-invasive lifting and tightening continues to grow in popularity. There was debate as to the consistency of treatment, but it was agreed that in properly selected patients, Ulthera has a role in facial plastic surgery. The use of blunt tipped microcannulas is quickly becoming the new standard technique for facial injections as they greatly decrease the risk of injection complications, bruising, and discomfort.
Steven Dayan, MD (Chicago, IL) presented a non-CME cocktail presentation sponsored by Kythera entitled, “Science of Beauty: Psychosomatic Impacts of Nonsurgical Facial Rejuvenation“. Dr. Dayan’s most interesting talk emphasized our basic Darwinian need to pass our DNA (genes) on to the next generation. Kythera manufactures an injectable fat dissolving agent that may be the answer for that little bit of “pudding” under the chin or other areas of the body. Speaking of 50 Shades, “Oh, my!” one of the studies quoted by Dr. Dayan claimed that women who make love to men with symmetrical faces have more orgasms! Obviously, for the remainder of the meeting symmetry was emphasized in our treatments. Symmetry is a sign of health and reproductive virility, orgasms help sperm get to the egg more effectively, then bingo, it’s your facial plastic surgeon’s fault for that unexpected pregnancy! Also, according to Dr. Dayan’s research, studies have found that a woman’s pupils dilate 8% when they are aroused by a man in a social situation. Blue eyes are attractive because the contrast of dilated pupils can be noticed more easily. He even extrapolated this to Disney characters, check out Cinderella’s blue eyes and dilated pupils!
Many of the world’s greatest aesthetic surgeons presented lectures and participated on panels, sharing their wealth of experience in rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, facelifting, otoplasty, liposuction, stem cell use, and fat injection. There will always be a place in aesthetics for well performed surgery.
Lastly, probably the most attended sessions were the Practice Management/Marketing Forum where topics such as “Striking a Balance Between Self Promoting and Disseminating Useful or Interesting Information” by Anthony Youn, MD (Troy, MI), “Educating Patients in the Increasingly Complex, Multi-Option, 21’st Century Aesthetic Marketplace” by Sharon Giese, MD (Chicago, Il), and “What Women Want-Understanding and Connecting with your Customer” (no 50 Shades references here!)
As always we learned most outside of the lecture halls, informally sharing ideas, philosophies, and techniques with colleagues and friends. And then there was some summer reading to get done! Unlike most of the poolside female readers, I recommend “A Short History of Almost Everything” by Bill Bryson. We look forward to seeing you soon, be well and enjoy your summer!
Dr. Michael Persky and Dr. Sarmela Sunder are located in Encino, California and Beverly Hills, California (The Lasky Clinic) but service all of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Including, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Hancock Park, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Pacific alisades, Malibu, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills and more. Please subscribe to our blog by clicking the link above, right. Thank you!
