Types of Breast Enhancement Surgeries and How They Affect Your Lifestyle

Breast augmentation is one of the most popular cosmetic surgery procedures performed today. Dr. Andres Taleisnik, an Orange County breast augmentation specialist, offers this procedure to women in order to help them achieve the shape, volume and size of their breasts that best matches their goals and physique.

Breast Implants

Breast implants are used to increase the size and fullness of a woman’s breasts. Breast implants can be filled with silicone gel or a saline solution, and come in a variety of shapes and textures designed to achieve a certain aesthetic effect. Implants are typically inserted into a pocket created beneath the breast or behind the pectoralis muscle. Depending on certain circumstances, the implant may be inserted through the areola, the armpit, the belly button, or at the breast crease.

Greater self-confidence is one of the main benefits of breast implants. Women also happily report that they are able to expand their wardrobes to include styles of clothing that they couldn’t wear before.

Breast Lift

Breast lift surgery (mastopexy) is used to treat breast sagging – the natural loss of elasticity, firmness and shape caused by pregnancy, nursing, excessive weight loss and aging. A breast lift typically consists of the removal of excess skin, tightening the skin and, in some cases, it is combined with breast augmentation in order to restore shape and volume.

Breast lifts result in “perkier” breasts and a more youthful overall look. Because of this, breast lifts are a popular component of the “Mommy Makeover,” a series of cosmetic procedures that is designed to reverse the effects of childbirth and nursing.

Breast Reduction

Excessively large breasts can cause neck, back and shoulder pain which can lead to chronic health complications. Breast reduction surgery helps correct this issue by removing fatty tissue, glandular tissue and excess skin so that your breasts better match your frame size and become smaller.

Breast reduction helps alleviate strain on your neck and back and makes it easier to shop for clothing and exercise. Because of the long-term health benefits of breast reduction, these procedures are sometimes covered by insurance.

Dr. Taleisnik performs these breast surgeries and others at his Orange County plastic surgery practice. For more information, visit his website or call to schedule a free consultation.

Top 10 Cosmetic Surgery Lawsuits

Taking Botox to court is something akin to suing Santa Claus. Almost everybody likes Botox as much as Santa, so how would you get a jury to vote against either one? Only time will tell….about Botox, that is.

Three months before Christmas, Santa is certainly on safe ground.

So nobody is suing Santa. Yet, anyhow. But in January, all bets are off!

Given the number of lawyers looking for something to do, the Momma-put-a-lump-of-coal-in-my-Xmas-stocking class action lawsuit is just around the corner.


(Pamela Moore photo)

Patrick Hudson, M.D., a plastic surgeon in New Mexico, located some insider statistics that show which plastic surgery procedures are most likely to lead to the court house.

Here are the top ten litigated procedures, along with the percentages of actions the procedure draws. More.

1. Nose surgery……………………..22 %
2. Breast reduction………………….17 %
3. Eyelid surgery……………………16%
4. Breast enlargement……………….13%
5. Face lift…………………………… 9%
6. Various………………………… 7%
7. Breast reconstruction…………..… 6%
8. Tummy tuck……………………… 5%
9. Liposuction……………………….. 3%
10. Facial resurfacing………………. …2%

Nose surgery heads the list because it’s the most difficult plastic surgery procedure to learn and perform. More.

Breast reduction involves removing a lot of tissue; however, eyelid surgery is a surprise because it is supposed to be one of the easier procedures to perform. Breast enlargement made its way onto the list because it’s very popular, with 329,000 patients undergoing the procedure in 2007, the most recent year for which statistics exist. A tummy tuck involves a long incision across the abdomen so insurance companies should be thankful the percentage is relatively low. Ditto breast reconstruction.

Hint: If, for some reason, you aren’t satisfied with the outcome of your plastic surgery, two eminent Beverly Hills cosmetic plastic surgeons, Drs. Robert Kotler and Stuart Linder, tell the top five constructive things to do if your procedure does not go well.

Read their blog, Top 5 Remedies for Unsatisfying Plastic Surgery.

Mother’s Milk for Upscale Diners?

There’s a standard list of questions a patient should ask when considering any type of breast surgery.

But, given that some places are now offering expensive dishes that contain mother’s milk, here are some more appropriate questions to ask plastic surgeons before a breast procedure:

1. If I have a breast lift, will my milk still mix well in a Crème Brule sauce for braised tenderloin tips and asparagus?

2. If I go ahead with a breast enhancement, will surgery do anything to the milk to spoil the appeal of curry in a nice breast milk creamy sauce with tender bits of Rock Island lobster tails?

3. Will a breast reduction affect the formulation and consistency of breast milk used in Bosomberry milk ice cream?

Here’s how it all came about:

Swiss Restaurateur Hans Locher, head honcho of the restaurant Storchen (Little Stork in German) intended to serve a special soup and a recipe calling for antelope steak with mother’s milk sauce. Another dish consists of small chunks of meat, also in a creamy milk sauce.


Hans Locher with his favorite recipes.
(Swiss Info photo)

For supply, Hans lined up some new moms who were willing to sell breast milk for $14.50 a quart.

Gastronomes were, ah, udderly delighted. But the authorities declared that mother’s milk for the public is verboten. Read more about Hans.

On the other side of the globe, the Chinese were not to be outdone in tapping a seemingly heretofore unknown market and started offering fresh poached abalone and perch in a human breast milk sauce. More.


Poached abalone and Perch in a creamy sauce.
(BBC News photo.)

Said the restaurant owner: “When customers are having the human milk banquet, they can experience maternal love at the same time.”

In the United States, a California entrepreneur first used his wife’s breast milk to create the following cheeses:

• Holy’s Original Blend

• Mothers’ Milk Maid Cheese

• Miss Cheese.

Care to guess what the not-so-shy guy named his business? Hooterville Farms!

You can even email them and inquire about other products like YoGoGirls yougurt or his Chunky Mammal and Bosomberry ice creams, also containing, well, hey, you’ve got the picture now.

Just go to http://www.hootervillefarms.com and check it out.

Okay, you’re a wonderful sport for hanging in there, but you’ve been had! I went for it too and quickly saw that Hootervillefarms.com is actually a shameless link farm that has nothing at all to do with mother’s milk. (But an off-kilter article says it’s the real deal. Read it just for fun.)

Nonetheless, the rest of our report is true! Really!

It seems Hans started something. PETA read about his restaurant and is now asking Ben & Jerry’s to give up cow milk for human breast milk in their ice cream. (We’re NOT making this up….read more.)

Now, here’s the disclaimer part: kill joy health inspectors say you should not actually consume any real dishes containing human breast milk because nobody knows the health status of the donor.

Now that we took care of that chore, I would like to point out that a McGill University study of 14,000 children reveals that breastfeeding results in a higher I.Q.
Read more.

If it works for babies, won’t it also help adults?

Anti-Bully Plastic Surgery

You may already know that the United Kingdom (Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland) have a single, taxpayer health care system known as the National Health Service (NHS.)


(naktouf photo)

The U.K. is a very civilized place -- soccer riots notwithstanding -- so folks don’t much cotton to bullying. Also verboten is serious teasing, rude e-mail, sticking tongues out, making faces or using neiner! neiner! neiner! too forcefully. So hundreds of young bully victims have had taxpayer provided cosmetic plastic surgery -- like breast enlargement or breast reduction, nose surgery or ear pinning -- so they won’t be bugged about their looks. Read more.

The school bullies I knew in the South were so mean they would throw a drowning man both ends of a rope. Or maybe toss him a bucket of water. How to deal with them? Just remember the words of English Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli: “Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke. “

Way down South in Dolly

Dolly Parton has a nickname for her, er, generous bosom. Her inspiration?

Remember the invasion of Iraq four years ago?

When the U.S. Army and Air Force get serious about their work, they refer to hundreds of bombs going off on enemy targets as “Shock and Awe.”



Country singer Dolly Parton, always known for her huge bust, nicknamed them, not something logical like “Massive-Way-Too-Huge-for-a-Tiny-Frame-Implants” but, you guessed it, “Shock and Awe.”

I just hope no explosives are hidden in there!

(Like most Southerners, Dolly is also outspoken. She once said: “I wanted to be the first woman to burn her bra, but it would have taken the fire department four days to put it out!”)

It turns out Dolly is a-belly achin’ bout them thar huge knockers a-cause they is a-hurtin’ her pore ol’ back cuz she is a-carryin’ them big ole things ‘round the whole durn day.

(I’m allowed to mock Tennessee accents because I was born there and used to sound just like Sergeant York as a child, uh, that is, I mean, as a little bitty young-un.)


(jzlomek photo)
This is my cousin, my uncle and my
grandfather. He played the Hillbilly boy
guitar player in the movie, “Deliverance.”

Read more about ol’ Dolly: http://celebritycosmeticsurgery.blogspot.com/2008/02/dolly-partons-shock-and-awe.html

However, if you are bosom challenged, there is help. Read more about breast augmentation through the belly button!

Top Five Plastic Surgeries Your Insurance Will Cover (Maybe!!)

There are at least five. Here are the most commonly done.

1.Eyelid surgery

With more baby boomers -- the largest percentage of our population -- passing the half century mark every day, legions of upper and lower eyelids are starting to sag like fleets of Mac trucks crossing rope bridges.

What your insurance company doesn’t want you to know: if your upper eyelids are starting to fall over your eyeballs so that your vision is obscured, they should cover the procedure. Average cost of eyelid surgery in the United States: $3825.

Number of blepharoplasties done in 2006: 210,000 according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS).

Sagging eyelid

2.Breast reduction

Extremely large breasts cause back and other health woes and
will eventually cost your insurance company even more money if left
untreated.

The magic words that cause even the stingiest insurers to let their cash
flow like fountains: “I have back, neck and shoulder pain due to my
extremely large breasts.” But don’t try to bluff. You may have
to show a doctor’s report, proving the condition exists.

Some breasts are so large, the weight on the woman’s bra straps have
worn notches into her shoulder bones. Medically, the condition is known
as shoulder grooving.

The total cost of breast reduction surgery averages about $8500 in the United States. That usually covers the surgeons’ fees, facility costs, the anesthesiologist, post-op visits and medicines.

In 2006, plastic surgeons performed 104,455 breast reduction procedures, according to the ASPS.

3. Breast reconstruction

That is a four-to-six hour procedure that is usually done in one of
four ways to rebuild the female breast, or breasts, after a mastectomy.

The procedure can keep you off your feet for one to six
weeks, depending on the reconstruction method used.

As far as your medical coverage is concerned, there is simply no wiggle room for the insurance company. Current law requires them to cover the operation. Be sure and say you’ve read the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act.

Fees vary widely depending on whether mastectomy is included.
Number performed in the United States in 2006? 56,176, according to the ASPS.

4. Hand Surgery

Plastic surgeons are highly skilled in operating on tiny bodily structures so many also perform hand surgery, usually to relieve carpal tunnel syndrome. But the surgeons may also rejoin amputated fingers or even move a toe to a hand so a person can work again.

Hand surgery rejoins nerves, muscles, tendons and bones to bring back normal function and feeling. The various types of hand surgery vary so much in costs, an average cost can’t be pinned down.

What does your insurance company need to know? Easy! You can’t work without your hands functioning properly. (That way, you can continue writing checks to your insurers!)

2006 saw 155,810 hand surgeries, according to experts.



A 57-year-old English woman shows the difference cosmetic hand surgery can make. The age revealing veins in her left hand have been removed by plastic surgery. Compare the treated hand to her other hand for a sense of before and after. We hope she likes it because a U.S. insurance company would not pay for it.

5. Facial tumor removal.

A plastic or dermatological surgeon may have to take off a dangerous facial growth -- like basal cell carcinoma -- and then transplant some donor skin over the wound.

Your insurance company needs to know the plastic or dermatological surgeon is preventing a much more, expensive condition, something that will cost them even more money in the long run.

Removing a facial growth by electrodessication and curettage runs from $250 to $500.
By excision with a scalpel, about $1200.
By Mohs surgery from $2000 to 2500.
If you have a Mohs surgery in an operating room as an outpatient, plan on about $4000.

The American Academy of Dermatology says about one million cases of facial skin cancer crop up yearly. Overall, 3.9 million tumor removals were done in 2006, says the ASPS.

HINT: Most insurance companies routinely reject the first request for coverage on almost any procedure. It’s because most people then forget about it all together.

Those in the know send a second request which is often approved, especially if you show the procedure is not to make you look better but for serious medical reasons.