Media Watch -- 36 DD for a Day

British reporter Clover Stroud, below left as she normally looks and while having the equivalent of a 36DD breast implant applied.



Stroud, a reporter for the Daily Mail in London, England, wondered about all the fuss over breast enhancements.

So a movie makeup artist applied the bosom of a woman who has 36 DD implants. Stroud then wore the getup for 24 hours and walked around London while noting the different ways men -- and other women -- responded to her.

Wrote Stroud about a range of odd reactions: “But what had inspired this frankly odd behavior from complete strangers? Quite simply, it was my pair of perfectly perky 36DD breasts.” Read more.

NEXT: Toe-besity: There’s a surgery for that!

Dox: Got Pain? Take a Computer Game!

If any surgical procedure, including cosmetic plastic surgery, has left you hurting, skip the anti-pain drugs and try a video game instead.

Researchers at the University of Barcelona in Spain are using computer games and virtual reality helmets to measure how much high tech gizmos can reduce pain. So far, researchers have found the technique reduces the need for sedatives. Video games seem to work because you can only pay so much attention to any one thing; the games or virtual reality helmets distract your brain from your pain by more fully involving your other senses. More.

The Spanish are not alone in trying e-cures.

Researchers at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, have done experiments that show patients who are distracted in a virtual reality world like a 3-D skiing adventure, report less pain than others using drug-based pain therapy. More.

But it’s not so bad when you consider that surgical pain is just weakness leaving the body.

Physicians can read about it here: Article: Wismeijer, AAJ; Vingerhoets, AJJM, "The use of virtual reality and audiovisual eyeglass systems as adjunct analgesic techniques: A review of the literature", Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 30 (3): 268-278 DEC 2005

Got a Bald Patch? See Your Dentist!

Researchers at the University of Granada in Spain have found the bald patches on both women and men might be because of bad dental health.

Known to doctors as Alopecia, the hairless spots usually occur on the scalp, beard or eyebrows. The malady affects one of every 1000 people.

Wrote Professors Jose Antonio Gil Montoya: “The typical pattern is one or more round bald patches appearing on the scalp, beard or in the eyebrows or to undergo loss of eyelashes.”

Researchers say this is the first time a relationship between dental disease and hair loss has been established. Read more.

One of the least known -- but very popular -- plastic surgery procedures is hairline lowering for women. It happens when a woman’s hair line recedes and shows too much forehead. Read more.

Many plastic surgery patients are also concerned with their eyelashes. Some are transplanted. Read more about eyelash transplants.

Can “Miracle” Plastic Surgery Tape Beat Actual Surgery?

We recently found a likely alternative to expensive and time-consuming plastic surgery in the form of inexpensive beauty tape. For only $14.95 a roll, (plus a small charge for delivery right to your doorstep) the smart consumer can him-or-herself apply a secret formula tape that literally strips away the years, according to information about the tape.

To scientifically test it for our readers, Chas., chief correspondent for your humble blog, was volunteered for the experiment.
Chas. has a 28-year-old son going on about, oh, 11 or 12, so there are considerable, deep worry lines on his, Chas.’s, forehead. Lots of tape there.

He is also an editor who reads and writes tiny lines of print all day so he squints all the time. More tape on and near the eyes.
Chas. has additionally -- and unwisely -- spent far too much time in the sun, so lots and lots of tape goes on his mid face. And just in case anything else threatens to droop or sag, we carefully followed the instructions and put generous amounts of the plastic surgery tape everywhere else to insure a completely positive patient outcome.

Before.
Chas. as he normally looks.



During.
Our subject has been instructed to keep the special tape in precisely determined positions for exactly 20 minutes to obtain the maximum possible cosmetic results. He reported little to no pain while wearing the tape.



After.
Voila! Look at the difference! The tape has magically swept away 25 years! Is not life in a highly technological society a wondrous, amazing thing?

Outcome

So, does the plastic surgery tape really work? Should we recommend it to our many readers who are also interested in surgical rejuvenation? As well as saving time and money? Of course, we would not be so bold as to skew the outcome by judging our own test.

So we organized a panel of 10 highly placed expert plastic surgeons -- representing almost 300 years of higher education and a combined I.Q. of 14,000 -- to study all the data in question, analyze the pictures and draft a carefully considered and worded analysis to officially judge our test.

They wrote: “Would you people also buy the Brooklyn Bridge on the Internet?”

(O.K., time to ‘fess up. You’ve been had! Thanks for bearing with us, but the “after” picture was actually taken 25 years ago when our subject was a junior in college. I know it’s hard to believe, but the tape did not do a thing except slim down our wallet.)

Top Ten U.S. Cities for Plastic Surgery

A recent Forbes Magazine recently counted the number of top plastic surgeons in large U.S. cities and compared them to the population. Read more.

The survey turned out differently than what you are probably thinking. Beverly Hills, often consider the Mecca of global plastic surgery, does not lead the list.

The only surgeons counted in the article are board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. So cosmetic surgeons were not included. What’s the difference between the two types of surgeons and the work they do? Read about it here.


Here are the top ten:
1. Salt Lake City

There are six plastic surgeons per 100,000 people there. 45 plastic surgeons live in Salt Lake City.

2. San Francisco

The city by the Bay has 5.4 plastic surgeons per 100,000 population. That means 175 surgeons do the work.

3. San Diego,

With 115 plastic surgeons in San Diego, the numbers crunch to 5.2 surgeons per 100,000 citizens.

4. San Jose, California

The silicone valley town has 5.2 plastic surgeons per 100,000 people. 70 plastic surgeons handle the rejuvenations.

5. Miami, Florida

Even though the wacky T.V. show Nip/Tuck started in Miami, there are 5.2 board- certified, very non-wacky surgeons per 100,000 citizens. 218 plastic surgeons live in Miami.

6. Louisville, Kentucky

Forty one plastic surgeons live in Louisville which boils down to 4.4 surgeons for every 100,000 people.

7. Nashville, Tennessee

Same again. With 48 plastic surgeons in and around Nashville, there are 4,4 surgeons per 100,000 population.

8. Virginia Beach, Virginia.

With 51 plastic surgeons, the population of Virginia Beach offers 4.1 surgeons to every 100,000 people.

9. New York, N.Y.
A whopping 591 plastic surgeons have set up shop in the Big Apple but The City is so big, it boils down to 4.1 plastic surgeons for every 100,000 New Yorkers.

10. Los Angeles

Gotcha! You probably thought fad crazy Los Angeles would lead the list! Actually, the 384 plastic surgeons living and working there creates a ratio of 4.1 surgeons to do the heavy lifting for every 100,000 Angelinos.