Timing is everything

I have been practicing a song with my husband that we are going to perform at a recital in a couple of weeks. I’ve been playing guitar and singing for many years but my husband is a beginner. One of the challenges we have is getting the timing just right – or as our zen master guitar teacher says, “really getting in the groove”. A few little chord or note mistakes here and there can sometimes fly right by most listeners but even the tone deaf will pick up an error in timing.

This, of course, reminds me of plastic surgery because almost everything reminds me of plastic surgery. Timining is also so important when patients schedule surgery. It’s not that I mean 4/4 time with a swing rhythm at 92 beats per minute. I mean timing the surgery so that the procedure and the recovery fit into the everyday rhythm of a crazy, busy, modern life and I don’t think this sort of timing is ever easy. But it is so important.

Almost everything I do requires a little “down time” even if it is just resting five minutes after a Botox injection or an hour with a cold pack after filler injection. Surgical procedures require anywhere from 3-5 days “off” for small area liposuction to a full 2-3 weeks off for a body lift or some face lifts or deep chemical peels.
The cases that are hardest on the patients are the cases such as a face lift or a deep chemical peel where the patient feels pretty good but looks really bad and where over activity can really delay healing by prolonging bruising and/or swelling.

I always try to tell it like it really is so patients know what to expect and can plan accordingly. I have a page on my web site devoted to this topic because not planning a realistic recovery can leave a patient very sore and very frustrated.

On this topic, I am speaking from personal experience as a pretty bad plastic surgery patient. I remember attending jury duty a few years ago and having to attend to my surgical drains during breaks. I took a lot longer to heal that average and it was no one’s fault but my own. What a naughty patient! Do as I say and not as I do.

So what is a "Lifestyle Lift"?

Okay, okay. I have had a jillion questions about the “Lifestyle Lift” in the past few weeks. All I can figure is that they are doing some sort of marketing blitz. I don’t watch T.V. so I am a little out of the loop. I am not one of those anti T.V. snobs. It’s just between work, the kids, this blog, my guitar practice, my reading, my working out, my sort of decent social life and my all time favorite thing (sleeping), I don’t have the time.

Here I will tell you everything I know about “Lifestyle Lift”. This information comes from patient reports, the reports from one of our employees who checked it out, and what I know about facelifts (a lot) and what I know about in office operating rooms (a lot). Here goes.

1. A “Lifestyle Lift” is a short scar (usually just in front of the ear) face lift done to improve the lower face and jawline. Additional procedures are necessary to improve the neck, the forehead and/or the eyelids. There appears to be no difference in the technique of a “Lifestyle Lift” compared to other short scar or minimal access facelifts that most plastic surgeons (including me) perform for on some patients.

2. The procedures are done under local anesthesia only.

3. In office operating rooms that do procedures under local anesthesia only (for example “Lifestyle Lift” clinics) do not require any inspection or regulation at the state or national level. They are “under the radar”.

4. Patients are evaluated by non-surgeons. Often the person evaluating the patient has no medical training. They are often “saleswomen” who receive a commission for each patient they schedule. In my opinion, only the operating surgeon can determine if a patient is a good candidate for surgery.

5. The doctors who do the surgery arrive at the “Lifestyle Lift” clinic, meet the day’s patient(s), do the surgery and then return to their home clinic. Their main practice is not at the “Lifesytle Lift” clinic.

6. The doctors who do the surgery at the “Lifestyle Lift” clinic are often not certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery or any other surgical specialty recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (www.abms.org).

7. Follow-up care is often provided my non-doctors.

8. “Lifestyle Lift” has been prosecuted and fined for “astroturfing”, that is providing false online reviews.

9. The Seattle Lifestyle Lift doctors are Ear, Nose and Throat doctors and are not certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

10. Wikipedia has a good entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_Lift

Any questions? Shoot me an email at sowder@eplasticsurgeons.net.