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Plastic Surgeons Predict Cosmetic Medicine Trends for 2011

Newly Divorced Patients Seek Plastic Surgery for Confidence Boost

According to an article in the Washington Post, divorce is motivating more and more men and women to seek out body shaping, facial rejuvenation and other cosmetic procedures with plastic surgeons across the country.

While some say they merely want to look and feel better in the wake of the stress and emotional turmoil caused by divorce, others hope their enhanced appearance will help them find a new mate and even serve as a form of revenge against their former mate for discarding them.

Dr. Michael Cohen said one of his breast augmentation patients, a woman in her 20s who had recently discovered her husband had cheated on her, “suggested to the people preparing her for surgery that it was sort of payback.”

Divorce-inspired plastic surgery is becoming so popular that some physicians have even created “divorce packages,” according to the Washington Post article, which offer discounts to patients seeking plastic surgery after a breakup. One such plastic surgeon, Dr. Stephen Greenberg, says that of the patients taking advantage of the divorce package offered at his practice, about 70 percent are women.

Anne Soriano, a 49-year-old divorcee, said she was motivated to seek Restylane injections to put her best face forward upon re-entering the dating scene. She is also considering liposuction to slim and shape her mid-section.

Soriano’s attitude is a common one, according to Seattle plastic surgeon and American Society of Plastic Surgeons president Phil Haeck, who said many of his patients come in saying, “I’m going back on the market, and I’m afraid how I look right now isn’t going to work.”

“The first thing [people notice] is the look, unfortunately,” says Soriano, underscoring the reality that finding a potential mate after passing your physical prime can be difficult.

But Dr. Haeck is quick to point out that while having plastic surgery can boost the confidence of men and women looking to make romantic connections, choosing to undergo cosmetic surgery or other procedures during an emotionally unstable time, such as during or immediately after a divorce, can lead to unrealistic expectations and disappointment.

This is especially true for the small handful of patients who think plastic surgery will offer some sort of vengeance against those who rejected them, or an instantaneous date with the man or woman of their dreams.

“There’s a discussion that has to be had – do they expect to find Superman or Superwoman the next day after they change their appearance? Because that person may not suddenly drop into their lives just because they’ve had something done,” says Dr. Haeck.

However, Haeck agrees, as do patients like Soriano, that surgical and non-surgical cosmetic enhancement can produce subtle changes in appearance and self-esteem, which make it easier to attract and engage strangers and potentially make romantic connections.

Galderma Makes Billion-Dollar Offer to Acquire Restylane-Maker Q-Med

Galderma SA, the Swiss maker of Cetaphil skin care products, recently offered Q-Med AB, the Swedish maker of the Restylane family of injectable fillers, a hefty 7.45 billion kronor ($1.08 billion) to acquire the company in hopes of expanding its own cosmetic treatment product offerings.

Galderma plans to make its offer public in January, and Q-Med’s board has unanimously recommended that its shareholders accept the cash payout offer of 75 kronor a share, which is 13 percent more than Q-Med’s Dec. 10 closing price of 66.25 kronor per share.

All shareholders would purportedly receive this buyout offer with the exception of Q-Med’s founder and Chairman Bengt Aagerup, who would receive 58.94 kronor a share in cash for his 47.5 percent stake in the company.

The one condition of the offer is that Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp., the U.S. company that licenses the Restylane family of injectable fillers and serves as a business partner to Q-Med, must also accept Galderma’s offer, presumably so the Swiss company can achieve its goal of investing in more cosmetic treatment products.

The products that make up the Restylane family of fillers include Restylane, Restylane-L, Perlane and Perlane-L, which have been approved for cosmetic use in Europe since 1996 and in the U.S. since 2003.

Each of these products is derived from hyaluronic acid and used by doctors like Houston plastic surgeon Dr. Bob Basu to fill in wrinkles, plump thin lips and restore volume to facial features that have inadequate projection, such as the cheeks and chin.

Nestle SA and L’Oreal SA, the two companies that own Galderma, would each be paying half of the billion-dollar bill to acquire Q-Med, a relatively small amount of the 5 billion Swiss francs ($5.1 billion) that Nestle plans to spend on investments this year.

The acquisition would balance out Galderma’s other cosmetic holdings, such as Cetaphil skin care products and Azzalure, an injectable wrinkle-relaxer similar to Botox approved for use outside the U.S.

Critics Revist Heidi Montag Plastic Surgery Obsession Following Surgeon’s Death

After celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Frank Ryan was in a deadly car crash last August, scrutiny of his controversial and widely publicized cosmetic surgery work on reality TV star Heidi Montag has re-ignited all over popular media.

The most widely criticized aspect of the 10-procedure surgical makeover Dr. Ryan performed on Montag wasn’t the pair of nose jobs, liposuction or mini brow lift the then-23-year-old had done, but rather the gigantic G-cup breast implants Dr. Ryan gave her after surgically-enhancing her breasts for the first time about two years prior.

Heidi Montag has publicly denounced her obsession with plastic surgery and cartoonish new breasts since undergoing multiple plastic surgery procedures for the second time in November 2009, however before his death Dr. Frank Ryan expressed shock and surprise that Montag was experiencing buyer’s remorse.

“When I asked him how he could have been so foolish as to operate on someone like [Montag], he mentioned he was completely taken aback when she went public in such a negative fashion,” a source close to Dr. Ryan told Joan Kron in the December 2010 issue of Allure.

Dr. Steven Hoefflin, another colleague and friend of Dr. Ryan’s, said of the situation, “Frank said he had expected Heidi Montag would get publicity, but he was surprised at the tone and concerned about his reputation.”

While some surgeons defend Frank Ryan’s decision to perform the breast implant revision surgery and more on Montag, others feel it was unethical, especially given Montag’s notorious attention-seeking behavior and outlandish cosmetic goals.

“At best, 700-cc implants will distort a patient’s breasts, and at worst, they will maim them,” said plastic surgeon Dr. Steven Teitelbaum. “Not only did Frank probably harm Heidi Montag; he harmed the specialty of plastic surgery by perpetuating the stereotype that plastic surgeons are irresponsible and plastic-surgery patients are frivolous.”

Most reputable plastic surgeons agree that ensuring good plastic surgery outcomes and avoiding post-procedure regret is largely dependent on patient selection.

“Young augmentation patients can be a problem, but not always. Also, anyone who seems to have some type of personality disorder or is very narcisstic, I avoid,” says New York City breast augmentation specialist Dr. Tracy Pfeifer.

Many surgeons like Dr. Pfeifer take the stance that maintaining ethical standards and patient safety should be the first priority for plastic surgeons.

In her Manhattan practice, Dr. Pfeifer says she feels it is irresponsible to accept patients who don’t trust her professional opinion, refuse to accept potential risks or set unrealistic expectations of what they can accomplish with cosmetic plastic surgery.

“I will not operate on them. If someone wants something that in my opinion is too much, like overly large implants, I will not perform the surgery,” says Dr. Pfeifer.