Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery Blog – Harley Medical Group

Reducing the number of cosmetic procedures performed on the NHS could help to save some Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) somewhere in the region of £12million every year.

The Audit Commission has revealed that weeding out the removal of teeth and tonsils, as well as procedures such as rhinoplasty operations (nose jobs), fat removal surgery, and elective hysterectomies, all treatments that can in some circumstances be deemed to be cosmetic, could save the NHS around £500million per year in total.

The Audit Commission’s managing director of health Andy McKeon said: “PCTs are currently paying for treatments that cost the taxpayer money and according to clinical experts have little or no real value to patients. This needs to change.”

The report highlights the need for fundamental changes to be made to the way the NHS is run if we are to stop essentially pouring money down the drain.

A recent survey carried out by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) has revealed that 51 per cent of all Americans approve of cosmetic surgery.

This is an increase of three per cent on the statistic from the same survey carried out in 2009 and is regardless of income. When broken down in terms of annual salary, the numbers look like this:

52 per cent of those earning $25,000 or less approve of cosmetic surgery, 48 per cent of those earning between $25,000 and $50,000 approve, 45 per cent of those with an income of between $50,000 and $75,000 approve and 56 per cent of those asked with an annual salary of more than $75,000 approve.

The gender split was also fairly even, with 53 per cent of women approving of cosmetic surgery, compared to 49 per cent of men. 37 per cent of those aged between 18 and 24 would opt for a cosmetic procedure, making them the most likely group to have surgery.

Coleen Rooney is said to have undergone a non-surgical treatment in order to help keep her skin looking fresh and healthy.

A friend of Coleen’s has allegedly come forward to tell Now magazine that the star has had work done to keep any wrinkles at bay.

The pal said: “She’s still young and very fit – but she’s had Botox to help stave off wrinkles, rather than get rid of them.”

Coleen, who is married to Manchester United striker Wayne, was all smiles last week when she enjoyed a day out at Aintree’s Ladies Day. The WAG looked tanned and happy as she posed for the cameras in a designer pink dress.

Now magazine enlisted the help of a medical expert to help discover the truth. He said the 25-year-old has a very smooth forehead, and while she could be showing signs of having had Botox, he thinks Coleen is too young to need non-surgical procedures.

Richard Hammond, a co-presenter on BBC2 motoring show Top Gear, has attracted attention after appearing at an event in the capital with particularly smooth skin.

The 37-year-old was photographed at the Carphone Warehouse Appy Awards looking particularly youthful, leading to speculation that the television star may have had Botox injections in order to reduce the appearance of his wrinkles.

According to Hammond’s spokesperson though, the presenter’s fresh-faced look was simply down to the lighting at the event rather than non-surgical solutions.

He said: “Richard hasn’t had anything done. It could be the lighting that has made him appear younger. ”

But not everyone is convinced. Speaking to the Daily Mail newspaper, Dr Roberto Viel, from the London Centre for Aesthetic Surgery, thinks Hammond has received treatment.

He said: “It appears as if Richard could have undergone a blepharoplasty to remove bags and excess skin around the eyes. The area looks much less puffy than previously.

“I would also say that the wrinkles around the eyes have lessened, indicating he could have also had Botox to smooth out crow’s feet.”

The Only Way is Essex reality TV star Chloe Sims has admitted she is considering having breast enhancement surgery for a second time.

The 29-year-old, who joined the ITV2 show during its second series, originally opted to have cosmetic surgery to enhance her cleavage and make her look more feminine.

In an interview with Star Magazine, Chloe said the first operation took her breasts from a B cup to 34DD.

She said: “I didn’t have any boobs and I want to feel more womanly. I always wanted bigger boobs as I felt out of proportion.”

The television star is now looking into having larger breast implants in an effort to emulate her idol Jordan.

“Yeah, it’s something I’m considering,” she said. “I like big boobs. I never regret having them done. I want to change the shape of them.”

An American health professional has urged anyone preparing to undergo a cosmetic surgery procedure to check the credentials of the person carrying out the work.

Fox News health correspondent, Dr Manny Alvarez, was speaking following the death of a woman in Las Vegas last weekend. The 42-year-old died after a cosmetic surgery procedure carried out in the back room of a tile store went wrong.

In February, a 20-year-old British woman died after suspected illegal backstreet surgeons carried out a cosmetic buttock procedure in a Philadelphia hotel room.

Dr Alvarez said a large number of foreigners were coming into the US to practice medicine, who claim to be qualified in their own country, but are not legally allowed to work in America. He stressed that the only sensible option is to go through a qualified and experienced plastic surgeon.

He said: “I would encourage any person, regardless of socioeconomic status, that if they do require medical treatment, to make sure the person has proper credentials, a license to practice medicine, and that their offices or surgical centres contain the proper equipment to deal with medical emergencies.

“A hotel or motel room does not cut it.”

Star of Sex And The City Kim Cattrall has told The Los Angeles Times that she wants to grow old gracefully and is too scared to have surgery anyway. She also said that she doesn’t judge those who wish to have cosmetic surgery, as long as it makes them happy.

“I think it’s every woman’s choice, not just every actor’s”, she told the American newspaper.

The 54-year-old has admitted to having Botox injections in the past but admires 76-year-old actress Judi Dench and wants to emulate her.

Speaking to the LA Times, Cattrall said: “I look at people like Judi Dench, who’s in her 70s, and I think, ‘What the hell am I frightened of?”

“In my life and career I want to embrace ageing because I think that’s what’s interesting”, she added.

The actress’s glamorous on-screen character Samantha was the reason for Cattrall nearly turning down the lead role in new film Meet Monica Velour, in which she plays an ageing porn star living in a caravan park.

“I didn’t know whether I could do it, because to be that stripped of makeup, clothes, shoes, in Hollywood, you have to be beautiful”, she said.

“You have to be desirable. And that’s why so many woman of my age or even younger are pushed to Botox and plastic surgery, all the things that people say, ‘Why do women do this?’Where do you go in your 50s in your career?”

A New York plastic surgeon has dubbed the craze for altering breast size more than once the “goldilocks phenomenon”, in an interview with Beck/Smith Hollywood.

Dr Robert Grant, a plastic surgeon to many celebrity women, uses the term to describe women who choose to have breast implants to make their chest bigger and who then decide to go smaller again later in life. Far from being simply a case of changing their minds, Dr Grant thinks it’s down to a number of other, physical factors.

Speaking to the online magazine, Dr Grant said: “Most often it’s simply a matter of their bodies changing as they get older or have kids.”

“Sometimes it’s because they’ve lost weight, and the implants they had five or ten years earlier no longer look the way they did.  They get implants put in, and over time, gravity works on them as it does on our bodies.  With changes in the structure of the skin, the loss of elasticity, the implants droop.  Then they can get into a cycle of getting implants, then getting new ones until they can start to look ridiculous.  Eventually, you can have a reconstructive challenge”, he added.

Sharon Osbourne, Kendra Wilkinson, Heidi Montag, and Victoria Beckham are all so-called goldilocks gals, having had breast implants and then had them taken out or replaced with smaller ones.

Confidence and imperfect features such as teeth with gaps and wonky smiles are the secrets to true beauty, according to a survey of four cosmetic surgery experts.

In a world obsessed with looks, The Daily Mail decided to ask four renowned surgeons what they thought being beautiful looked like and how they help patients to feel more confident. While all agreed that symmetry, balance and bone structure equated to most people’s ideal of beauty, they also had very specific views on beauty outside of this.

Angelica Kavouni, director of a London medical practice, is influenced by classical elements of beauty and tries to enhance one or two key features and avoid giving patients trendy features. David Ross, senior plastic surgeon, feels the same way and believes that gappy teeth or asymmetric features can be what make a person attractive. Ross talks about Lauren Hutton, often seen as the first supermodel, and how the gaps in her teeth and her amazing bone structure made her “hugely attractive”.

All agreed that getting good results is about working with the features their client has already got, not by blindly going with what the patient believes to be right when they attend the initial consultation.

American actress January Jones has revealed that she would consider plastic surgery but would never have anything done to her lips.

In the May issue of women’s magazine Marie Claire, Jones talks frankly about makeup, modelling, insecurities, plastic surgery, and how she has been bullied for being beautiful. But it was in a recent interview with The Times that she admitted considering plastic surgery.

“It makes you feel good about yourself, although I wouldn’t have anything done to my lips. I wouldn’t be averse to having something pulled back and up, but I can’t deal with the idea of my skin being taken off my face”, she said.

Jones, who is 33, made a name for herself as Betty Draper in the cult television series Mad Men. She has also appeared in Hollywood comedies Love Actually and American Wedding, part of the American Pie series.