A Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in Scottsdale
Posts tagged cosmetic surgery
Your Tax Dollars for Teachers Cosmetic Surgery!
01 year ago
Tax Dollars paying for Cosmetic Surgery.
Scottsdale – A recent report by the Associated Press discusses how Buffalo, N.Y. Teachers Spend $9 Million Dollars of taxpayer cash on cosmetic surgery in 2009.
The report states the plastic surgery procedures left taxpayers on the hook for nearly $9 million worth of cosmetic surgery last year, according to the state-appointed authority overseeing public school finances. The Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority found that last year’s costs for elective procedures such as chemical peels and other skin treatments were up $8 million over 2004′s $1 million tab for cosmetic surgery.
Barbara J. Smith, the district’s chief financial officer, said those 500 people represent less than 2 percent of those covered by health insurance through the district — a figure she estimated works out to an average of nearly $18,000 in elective procedures last year per employee who used the benefit.
“We asked the unions to forgo the cosmetic surgery rider for one year, so we could use the money to reduce the number of layoffs,” she stated.
The procedures, provided under the teachers’ union contract, accounted for 9 percent of the district’s total spending on health benefits for employees and retirees. About 10,000 school employees are eligible for the plastic surgery benefit. District officials said teachers or their dependents accounted for 90 percent of the approximately 500 people who received cosmetic surgery last year.
“We’ve already told them we’re going to give [it] up in these negotiations,” Philip Rumore, president of the teacher union, stated. “We’ve told everybody it’s going to be gone in the next contract.”
I find it amazing, as a board certified plastic surgeon that teachers can use the health benefits for plastic surgery and other treatments like Botox and Restylane. Is this fair?…. I might not be the best person to answer this question, but I believe some authority should look at this more closely and decide whether tax payer’s money should pay for procedures like tummy tuck, breast implants, and liposuction?
P. S. – $18,000 dollars per employee on plastic surgery was the average spent. That just seems a bit much per person! This amount of money is spent on procedures like Mommy Makeovers and Brazilian Butt Lift. That’s quite a treat!
A Comparison of popular Short Scar Facelift Techniques.
02 years ago
Facelift Surgery
Scottsdale – Short scar facelift is very popular among younger women seeking facial rejuvenation. The procedure has several advantages including reducing the length of the scar. With this procedure, the scar is limited to an area front of the ear and patients avoid an extensive scar in the hairline behind the ear. Additionally, short scar facelift is performed with less surgical dissection and is noteworthy because patients experience less pain and swelling and a faster recovery with minimal bruising.
Several short scar techniques have been developed. The two most popular include the Minimal Access Cranial Suspension (MACS-Lift) and the Lateral SMASectomy techniques. An article has been published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, which examines these two surgical options and gauges the outcome at 1 month and 24 months after surgery. The researchers enrolled 97 patients who had short scar facelift using either of the techniques mentioned earlier that were followed for a total of 24 months.
The results of the study demonstrated that MACS-Lift takes significantly less time to perform when compared to Lateral SMASectomy. Patients after Lateral SMASectomy experience significantly less pain than those having MACS-lift. There was no statistical difference in the aesthetic outcome of the operations at 1 and 24 months after surgery between the two techniques. At 24 months some patients had recurrence of the jowling and did not appear as improved in the neck area.
It is not unexpected to see some laxity in the neck after short scar facelift. This area does not respond particularly well to the short scar techniques which are designed to treat early aging signs in the face, but generally do not treat serious laxity in the neck. When a patient requires more lift in the neck I prefer to use a full facelift technique which addresses the neck issues better. The results of the study are impressive, however, and the before and after photos in the article show some very nice results of the surgery.
The article is important as it attempts to identify how long the results of short scar facelift results actually last. More research will be needed to see the actual time the results will last, but given the findings it is likely that short scar results do not last as long as results from full facelift techniques. What is important to note from this article is that the techniques are comparable with regards to the results and low level complications.
I have used both of these techniques and have been happy with the results. I find that patients do well regardless of technique and have a nice aesthetic improvement (model used in illustration).
