Continuing Medical Education: Agility in Minimally Invasive Surgery

Dr. Graham recently attended one of his regular annual plastic surgical educational meetings. The meeting subject focus was, "Agility in Minimally Invasive Surgery."

This outstanding course features in-depth discussions of cosmetic surgical techniques by national and international experts and innovators. The most important aspect of this meeting is the numerous live surgical demonstrations performed by those speakers. There is no other meeting like this in the country, and it regularly attracts faclty & audience members from Central & South America, Europe and Asia.

This year's focus areas were breast augmentation and body coutour surgery, although endoscopic brow and facial procedures were also highlighted. Dr. Graham is already experienced in these areas, and the educational updates allow us to maintain our high level of quality of care. We offer the latest in proven surgical techniques and technology. And we avoid unproven hype and bluster.

Dr. Graham is an experienced board-certified plastic surgeon practicing in Greenville, South Carolina. Our practice includes well-trained and experienced nurses, skin care specialists and administrative staff in order to provide you the best experience in skin care, peels, injectables, minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures and ultimately cosmetic surgery for the face, breast and body. We primarilly serve the areas from NE Georgia, through Central & Upstate South Carolina, to Western North Carolina: Clayton, Toccoa, Hartsville, Elberton, Royston, Abbeville, Greenwood, Newberry, Laurens, Clinton, Union, Gaffney, Boiling Springs, Inman, Landrum, Spartanburg, Greer, Travelers Rest, Taylors, Woodruff, Fountain Inn, Simpsonville, Anderson, Piedmont, Pickens, Clemson, Seneca, Salem, Westminster, Franklin, Highlands, Cashiers, Brevard, Hendersonville, Flat Rock, Tryon, Asheville, Waynseville, Rutherfordton.

Consumer magazine warns readers about fine print in facelift advertisements

Each issue of Consumer Reports has humorous notes and photos inside the back cover. My staff was tickled to see their "Asterisk Alert" in the March 2010 issue, page 63.

One of the pieces was a before-and-after photo of one of the "1-800-facelift" type advertisements. It said, "Looking years younger is simple with a _______lift." Just check these before-and-after shots of Linda Sue, with "no retouching." Oops: There's an asterisk. It refers to this disclaimer: "Patients had optional neck-firming procedure in addition to ________lift." We asked what that procedure might be. "You'd have to come in to one of our 42 offices around the nation and be assessed," a customer-service rep said. "I can't tell you over the phone.""

Our patient coordinator (Betty) or nurse (Cathy) are happy to fully discuss all the procedures Dr. Graham performs with any caller. Our web site has additional information and our photo gallery.

Dr. Graham is very experienced at a variety of facelift techniques.

Public education success in Upstate South Carolina

We were very pleased with the response to our public education efforts last night.

Dr. Graham, our patient coordinator Betty Babb, and our nurse practitioner Janice Sasser hosted a well attended presentation at a beautiful restaurant meeting room in Seneca, South Carolina (Rudy's on Ram Cat). They had some great appetizers and refreshments for our guests.

We presented information on cosmetic surgery, cosmetic medical procedures, and professional skin care. We covered breast & body, and facial procedures in two, back-to-back sessions. We offered Dr. Graham's presentation, interesting statistics, before & after photographs, periods for audience questions, and time for individual questions. We were pleased with the numbers of people in attendance and their interesting questions. Thanks to all of you that came and shared the evening with us. We hope you'll want to do it again sometime.

End of Summer Obagi Day: Skin Care, Injectables, Minimally Invasive Procedures

Now is the time. Summer is winding down, school has started, and you can focus your attention on your skin's appearance.

Are you concerned about the health of your skin? Fine lines, wrinkles, pigmentation, sun damage, poor texture, large pores? Attend our Seminar and learn about the #1 physician dispensed skincare system - OBAGI, and other minimally invasive procedures.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st, 2009
From 11am-12noon we will present a seminar, and welcome new or established patients.

In addition, from 9am-4pm our Skin Care Specialists and OBAGI products representative will provide complimentary Skin Consultations. Whether or not you attend the seminar, you can learn and experience private, individual sessions.

For this day, all OBAGI products will be 10% off. Also receive 15% off your first Obagi Blue Peel by scheduling your appointment.

Call now to RSVP and schedule you Skin Consultation. 864-676-1707 or E-mail your RSVP to info@expertplasticsurgeon.com

Reloxin approved by FDA (Dysport in Europe) - Botox alternative

An alternative to Botox will be available later in 2009. Medicis Corporation, which markets Restylane and Perlane as well as other dermatologic products, announced recently that the FDA has approved its application to market an alternative botulinum toxin in the USA. Medicis has licensed the product known as Dysport in Europe from Ipsen Corporation there.

The new toxin Reloxin will work similarly to BotoxCosmetic, but with different dosages due to different activity of the product. Doctors will need to evaluate its effects on patients and adapt correct dosages.

Dr. Graham has been aware of this alternative neurotoxin for many years due to it's overseas use, and will evaluate it's benefits and risks for our patients when available here. We are one of the most active Botox users in the area, and will certainly offer proven benefits to our patients.

For a press announcement see www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/fashion/02SKIN.html?_r=1
For more information on our practice and botulinum toxin seehttp://www.expertplasticsurgeon.com/html/injectables.html#botox

We hope Reloxin will be a less expensive alternative to Botox!

ASPS annual statistics are out. And the Top Five are...

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is the large national organization of board-certified plastic surgeons. Their 2008 statistics were recently published. Reconstructive surgery and minimally invasive cosmetic procedures (laser, fillers, neurotoxin) increased compared to 2007.

As expected cosmetic surgery was down, but a relatively small 9%. Articles in The New York Times (April 6th, "When All You Have Left Is Your Pride") and the Wall Street Journal ("Keeping Up Appearances") may explain why patients continue to seek care to enhance their appearance. In some circles, appearance may be critical in a time of high competition for jobs. Time Magazine had a recent article about the popularity of Botox for men.

The top 5 cosmetic surgery procedures in 2008: Breast Augmentation, Rhinoplasty, Liposuction, Eyelid Surgery, and Tummy Tuck. Botox was the most popular non-invasive treatment (5 million in 2008).

For a complete listing visit www.plasticsurgery.org/Media.html

Beauty for Life Update

In my first post, I said everyone should be aware of this concept: appropriate procedures (minimally-invasive and surgical) are available at different stages of life. Our national societies have published a new website www.beautyforlife.com.

It starts with good skin care in your teens. Botox may help maintain softer expression lines. Breast lift & tummy liposuction or tuck are known as the mommy make-over, after having children. Eyelid lifts and facelifts compliment the later changes in our faces. If you're interested, look at our practice website and the beauty for life site.

New Office Seminar - April 8th

SKIN CARE, MAKE-UP, MINIMALLY INVASIVE SKIN REJUVENATION
We'll cover all these great topics in morning and evening sessions on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008. The first session will be 11am-1pm. The second will be 6-8pm. We welcome patients, their friends, and others with interest to register by e-mail or phone. Contact info available on our website http://www.expertplasticsurgeon.com/

Presenters will be our Skin Care Specialists (Erin Riddle & Stacy Linder), our Nurse Practitioner (Janice Sasser), along with Karen Wiese (Obagi representative) and Shannon Kelley (Jane Iredale cosmetics). We'll feature photofacials, non-invasive skin tightening (aka Thermage, Fraxel or Titan), Botox, Restylane, Perlane, Juvaderm.

New products to improve your skin's appearance will also be featured. Seminar attendees will be offered special pricing on Obagi (10%). Contact us to register soon.