Basal Cell, Squamous Cell, and Melanoma Discussed

By D.J. Verret, MD

Basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma are the three most common types of skin cancer and affect millions of people each year. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States but fortunately most types are easily treated. Unfortunately, the most aggressive form, melanoma, kills thousands of people each year. The key to treatment though is prevention.

There are three main types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Melanoma requires aggressive treatment and there are very well defined guidelines about treatment. The other two types can be more conservatively treated. Depending on the stage, location, and size, several treatment options exists. Topical medications can be used which help to 'burn' the skin cancers, cryotherapy can be used to freeze the tumors, and surgical excision can be used to completely remove the tumors.

If surgical excision is the treatment of choice, for basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas in sensitive areas such as the face, eyes, ears, nose, and lips, Mohs micrographic surgery may be necessary. Mohs surgery is named after Dr. Frederic Mohs, an early 20th century surgeon who developed a special technique of examining pathologic skin specimens. The procedures allows for presevervation of as much normal tissue as possible.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure with skin cancer. Use of appropriate sunscreens, excess sun avoidance, and tanning avoidance are good ways to help prevent skin cancers from forming. These tumors don't generally appear overnight and are the result of a lifetime's worth of sun exposure and sometimes sun abuse.

A family or personal history of skin cancer and significant sun exposure warrant yearly head to toe skin examinations by a primary care physician or dermatologist. The sooner is a skin cancer is diagnosed and treated, the better the cosmetic and medical prognosis can be.

About the Author:

For more information about lip enhancement or earlobe repair, visit Dr. Verret on the web or call for a consultation 972.608.0100.

Are the best laser clincs making the most money?

Is you're medical spa, cosmetic surgery center or laser clinic providing the best medical care or just making the most money? Are they mutually exclusive?

There's a New Yorker article detailing the commencement address Atul Gawande Atul Gawande delivered this commencement address, titled “Money,” to the graduates of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. It expands on the themes he touched on in his recent article about health-care costs in McAllen, Texas, which figured in President Obama’s speech on health care.

The text of this speech is available in this Medical Spa MD: best medical spas?

How to Tell if Your Doctor Knows Jack.

Istockphoto

From Health magazine

Watch for these red-flag phrases that suggest your “skin-care specialist” is subpar, says San Francisco ophthalmologist Krista Ramonas, MD, who has treated medical and aesthetic patients for six years.

“You’ll look 20 years younger.”
Beware the cosmetic doctor who overpromises, Ramonas says. Instead of flattering you, he should be discussing what you can reasonably expect from the procedure and addressing possible side effects.

“I’m an artist.”
The prima donna who tosses this phrase around may value her vision over standard operating procedures. “There is a little bit of art to it,” Ramonas points out, “but there’s a lot more science. We have certain parameters we all have to follow.”

“I’m so good, I’ve never seen complications.”
That may be code for “not very experienced,” Ramonas says. “Medicine is always about being prepared for complications.” You need a doctor who can handle the unexpected.

Of these, the greatest is the 'Artist'.

Posted via web from Laser Treatment MD

Get These 5 Answers Before Getting Plastic Surgery Or Laser Treatments.

Istockphoto

From Health magazine

Not every doctor is qualified to perform every procedure. Do you really want to turn your body over to someone who doesn’t really know what they’re doing? Here are five questions you should ask before you get a cosmetic tweak from a doctor working outside of her specialty.

How many times have you done this procedure?
Ideally, you should hear “hundreds” or “thousands,” not “dozens” or something vague like “more than I can count.” Also ask the doc how long she’s been doing the procedure (less than a year means there’s still a learning curve) and how many times a week she does it (too few times a week means she’s less likely to have fresh product or offer you free touch-ups if you aren’t happy).

Do you own or rent your laser?
Renting may be a tip-off that the doctor isn’t doing the procedure often enough to make owning worth it. Rented lasers aren’t always calibrated correctly, which could mean an increased chance of a burn. Also, not every laser is suitable for every skin type, so be wary of the physician who has only one. Ask about the number of fillers being offered, too.

What muscle causes the lid to droop?
If a doctor can tell you it’s the levator muscle, then he probably knows enough facial anatomy to avoid or fix this problem that can result from a poorly placed Botox injection.

How did you learn how to do this procedure?

If the answer is, “I took courses,” ask: Who taught them? How long did they last? Look for the MD who has completed multiple courses and takes continuing-ed classes in the field. If she trained with a top plastic surgeon, ask, “How did you find time for that?” She may let it slip that the training only took one afternoon.

Will you be the one doing the procedure?
It doesn’t matter how many hours of training your gyno has in fillers if his assistant is the one shooting you up. If something goes wrong, you want to know that the med school grad is right there to manage the complications. Remember: You’re paying for the expertise of the best-trained person in that practice.

Of course you'll want to be somewhat circumspect when asking all of theses questions. You don't want an angry plastic surgeon performing your liposuction or boob job.

Posted via web from Laser Center

I recently purchased Dysport from Discount Medspa.

I recently purchased Dysport from Discount Medspa. Did it myself, and the results were just fine. I did experience ptosis in the left eyelid, but that was my own fault for injecting too close to the brow. The ptosis only lasted about 10 days.This occurance is very common even for all those professionals out there...about 3 to 5% of patients get the temporary droopy eye. I do recommend doing a great deal of research before you decide to inject yourself, but overall I have been pleased. Maybe the price of getting it done at a spa will go down someday, who knows. I know in my case, the expense is what brought me to purchase on line. No regrets. Just be very careful.

via medicalspamd.com

This woman is a damn idiot! Injecting herself with some 'Botox' substitute she bought online.

Not only is she an idiot, she's completely wrong. In seven years I've never seen tosis (droopy eyelid from Botox) from any physician.

Posted via web from Medical Spa RX: Wholesale Botox

Plastic surgery for Tiger’s mistress?

Photos: Above, recent online photos of Rachel Uchitel. (Photos courtesy of Gala.de and TheImproper.com) Below, Rachel Uchitel yesterday in Los Angeles. (AP photo)

Plastic surgeons and celebrity watchers gave party hostess Rachel Uchitel a once-over as soon as the tabloids thrust her into the spotlight last week as the alleged mistress of golfing great Tiger Woods.

She flatly denies the allegation, but Uchitel’s photos on the Web have provided evidence for cosmetic doctors to analyze. For example, plastic surgeon and blogger Dr. John Di Saia of San Clemente and Huntington Beach wrote:

[Her photos] show her to be an attractive woman who has probably seen the inside of a plastic surgeon’s office before. She seems to have had breast implants at the least from the images we have seen.

The online Plastic Surgery Channel commented on the uncertainties surrounding Uchitel:

Her lips do suggest lip injections, and her chest suggests breast augmentation. Uchitel would likely deny rumors of plastic surgery, just as she has denied other rumors. But, in all cases, she may be telling the truth.

The Talk Surgery site went far beyond what the photographic evidence supports when it called her a “Surgery Diva.”

via inyourface.freedomblogging.com

Posted via web from Laser Center

Model's death highlights plastic surgery risks...

More of this tragedy playing out today.

Argentine model dies after plastic surgery:

• Model Solange Magnano died after complications following plastic surgery
• Injecting fat or silicone into the buttocks can lead to a blockage of blood supply to the lungs
• "No cosmetic surgery is totally risk free," says top cosmetic surgeon

London, England (CNN) -- Following the death of a former Miss Argentina after complications arising from plastic surgery, questions are being raised about the risks of cosmetic surgery.

Solange Magnano, 37, died in hospital, after being transferred from a clinic where she underwent an elective surgery on her buttocks last Wednesday.

Nigel Mercer, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, last month described the cosmetic surgery industry an "unregulated mess" in the journal Clinical Risk.

Following revelations of Magnano's death, he told CNN, "Unfortunately, the things we're saying about this type of surgery keep being proven right by people having major disasters."

Magnano is reported to have died from a pulmonary embolism, a blockage of the blood supply to lungs.

It is currently not known if Magnano's death was a result of her surgery and there is no suggestion that it came about through surgical error, but there are risks associated with buttock-enhancement surgery.

Mercer said Magnano may have had a solid implant in her buttocks, a relatively low-risk procedure, but he said it's possible that she had liquid silicone injected into her buttocks -- a "highly unpleasant" procedure that is banned in most countries. An alternative would have been to extract fat from another part of her body using liposuction, and then inject the fat into the buttocks.

"With a pulmonary embolism something blocks blood supply to the lungs and circulation literally stops dead," Mercer told CNN.

"The lump in the lungs can be stuff you've injected into the patient -- their own fat or a lump of silicone -- or it can be clots from leg veins as a result of deep vein thrombosis (DVT)."

While DVT is not common with cosmetic surgery, Mercer said that operations on the pelvis, buttocks and legs carry a much higher risk of causing the condition.

"No cosmetic surgery is totally risk free," Mercer told CNN. "Even having botox and fillers is not risk free. There's a chance of infection, bruising or bleeding with any procedure."

via cnn.com

Posted via web from Laser Treatment MD

Miss Argentia dies after Brazilian Buttlift.

Plastic surgery marketing in Argentina is booming, with medical spa advertising a common experience for Argentine women. Plastic surgery advertising is seen as putting tremendous pressure on wome to have proceedures like liposuction, breast augmentation, and Brazilian Buttlifts.

The result is sometimes a tragedy, like the death of Solance Magnano, a former Miss Argentina.

From a news story.

38-year-old former Miss Argentina Solange Magnano died after complications arising from plastic surgery on her buttocks.

Solange Magnano, the 1994 winner and a mother of 8-year-old twins, died of pulmonary embolism Sunday three days after having a gluteoplasty, a procedure that involves placing implants to enhance firmness. News of her death shocked her fans. The cause of her death was under investigation, the authorities said. Officials said the injected liquid went into her lungs and brain.    

In the past half decade, the number of people seeking plastic surgery in Argentina has soared by 60 percent, to around 50,000. Estimates say that 1 in 30 Argentines has gone under the knife, making plastic surgeons in Argentina some of the most experienced on the globe, attracting large number of medical tourists.

Medical tourism in Argentina has seen a huge jump over the past decade, and is projected to be a 100 billion dollar global industry by 2010, according to the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, a U.S. research center focused on trends in the health care system.

via freelancemd.com

What a tremendous waste. Perhaps the worst quote of the story is that the 'injected liquid went into her lungs and brain'.

Posted via web from Laser Treatment MD

Medical Spa Legislation

Medical spas in the US and elsewhere have increased in numbers and are popular as medical tourism destinations. Several countries have reported problems of medical spas undertaking medical procedures that neither the spa nor the staff are qualified to do. Unfortunately, this reflects badly on the majority who are professional. They have tended to fall between the gaps in legislation, but one of the first countries seeking to remedy that is the USA. Nationally, the number of medical spas around the country has grown from 500 in 2004 to 2,500 today. If this growth rate continues, more states will follow the four who are preparing regulations, and almost every sate has discussed the idea.

According to the International Medical Spa Association, the official definition for medical spa is a facility that operates under the full-time on-site supervision of a licensed health care professional. The facility operates within the scope of practice of its staff, and offers traditional, complementary, and alternative health practices and treatments in a spa-like setting. Practitioners working within a medical spa will be governed by their appropriate licensing board, if licensure is required.

The death of a nurse, who had a liposuction procedure performed, has raised concerns over the safety of medical spas to the level that several states are progressing legislation. The proposed legislation is now travelling through several state medical boards in Massachusetts, New York, Florida, and Utah. Proposed legislation would require owners of medical spas to have certain credentials, dictate which procedures can be performed, and set a minimum level of training for those performing particular procedures. Legislation does not want to stop consumers having medical procedures in spas, but to ensure that the procedures are performed safely and by someone with the correct training.

The concern of cosmetic surgeons is the lack of training or experience of some employees at medical spas. An employee of a medical spa may start out performing one procedure and move to another more difficult procedure without much experience. Indeed, lack of experience with certain medical procedures has resulted in serious consequences for some customers, but more common is minor problems such as second-or third-degree burns from improperly conducted laser hair removal procedures.

Medical spas in the US offer treatments including laser hair removal and liposuction, as well as massages and other traditional spa treatments. The types of procedures performed in medical spas have expanded to include chemosurgery for skin cancer and reconstructive surgery.

Massachusetts health officials want to crack down on medical spas, following the lead of Florida, which has been preparing legislation for three years. In Massachusetts a medical spa task force has been set up to advise the state legislature on how best to regulate the facilities. It would prefer a system of federal regulation of medical spas as it would be more cohesive than a state-by-state model but believes that is unlikely to happen, as medical and other professional boards, like nursing, electrology and aestheticians boards, are regulated and licensed by individual states. But the government has just decided to take insurance regulation away from states into a national body, so national regulation is a possibility. The task force has proposed that spas be required to get licenses from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and recruit a physician or nurse with special training to remove age spots or tattoos with a laser. Non medical practitioners - cosmetologists, electrologists, and aestheticians - will be allowed to remove body hair using a laser, but only after special training and certification. The task force reported that doctors and other professionals not specifically trained in dermatology have begun offering laser skin procedures, presenting an unacceptable risk to patients.

Regulating medical spas is complicated because they combine many different professionals under one roof, including cosmetologists, electrologists, aestheticians, nurses, and physicians. In most US states each of these professions is licensed by its own board, and each has its own standards. There are no overall regulations governing who can do certain cosmetic procedures and what type of training is required, and there is no requirement that medical spas be licensed.

via imtjonline.com

Posted via web from Laser Treatment MD