Here is a little something from Dr. Andrew Weil.

It's one of life's small injustices - women are more prone than men to form wrinkles around the mouth. There are a few reasons why:

Eliminating upper lip wrinkles
Before dermabrasion and soft tissue filler to the lips by Dr. Joseph Cruise	After. Notice the more subtle wrinkles. One treatment of dermabrasion typically will correct the wrinkles by about 50%.

Luke had suffered with gynecomastia, male breast enlargement, since he was 10 years old. Growing up a few blocks away from the beach would be a dream for most children. Luke, however, dreaded the summer season and never participated in any activity that would require him to take off his shirt.

 

Luke
At 290lbs	Luke 210lbs

“Even though I lived close to the beach, I never wanted to go…I always looked forward to when it was cold so that I could hide under a jacket,” says Luke.

At the time of the surgery, Luke was 18 years old, about 6’4” and had topped out at 290lbs. He attributes his weight gain as a teenager with the emotional and physical effects of having gynecomastia.

“I never felt confident or comfortable with myself and ended up just letting myself go. I thought I was just stuck with having the enlarged breasts, I was unaware there was a solution and felt totally powerless,” says Luke.

 

According to Dr. Andrew Weil pineaple is good not only a tropical fruit with a sweet and tangy taste. When fresh, it is an excellent source of manganese and vitamin C, as well as a good source of bromelain - a natural anti-inflammatory that is helpful for addressing the symptoms of sinusitis, gout, and arthritis, and for swelling and bruising.
 

Pineapple is versatile - can be eaten plain, in a smoothie or fruit salad, or can also be used in relishes or to add sweetness to dishes such as pizza. Because pineapple has an intermediate score of 66 on the Glycemic Index, diabetics looking for low-index fruits should eat cherries and apples more often than they eat pineapple.




 

For the past 15 years Richard Lee Norris has lived as a recluse, his face covered by a mask after being shattered in a gun accident. By day he hid from the public, shopping only at night to avoid the curious stares of children and adults.

 

Face Transplant

Richard Norris following the 1997 accident (left) and after last week's surgery (right.)

Surgeons from the University of Maryland Medical Center on Tuesday detailed what they said was the world's most comprehensive face transplant - allowing a 37-year-old man to emerge from behind a mask 15 years after a gun accident almost killed him.

Younger patients with "early or minimal signs of facial aging" achieve better results and higher satisfaction rates at least a decade after facelift surgery, according to a study in the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Face Lift Patient Early 40s
Before	After

Spring is here and if you are feeling like you want to make a few minor changes to help rejuvenate your look, we have some options for you. The following procedures are done using a local anesthetic and all have minimum down time for healing, but produce major results.
 

The healing time is aesthetic in nature with just minor bruising or swelling for about 1 week. While you may not feel that you are completely healed at about a week, most people won't notice you had something done.

Erin, 26, underwent breast augmentation with Dr. Joseph Cruise of Newport Beach, CA in anticipation of being able to reveal her body for the first time on her wedding night.

In the present time of women augmenting their bodies in an attempt to draw more attention and where sexual promiscuity seems to be the norm, one young woman stands apart from the crowd. Erin, Orange County, Calif., decided to keep the results of her breast augmentation concealed until her wedding night where her new husband would be seeing her body for the very first time.

Erin had been thinking about having her breasts augmented since high school. She has always been a confident girl. As the years progressed, it stayed on her mind and although she still wanted to have the surgery, there was something holding her back. Unlike other girls who have breast augmentation in hopes of attracting a man, Erin wanted to wait until she had found her future husband first in order to see how he felt about her having the surgery.
 

"When I first met Gavin, we had an unmistakable connection and in a few short months, when we were getting a more serious, I asked him how he felt about me having a breast augmentation. We had both decided to wait for marriage to be intimate and although he had not yet seen my body, I wanted to make sure he was alright with the decision," says Erin.
 

The benefits of having the surgery usually fall into the categories of the positive effect it has on the marriage relationship. After speaking with some of our Mommy Makeover patients, however, we are also discovering that an unexpected benefit is how they changed as a mother.

“I would never want to be in a bathing suit at the beach and therefore would turn down my kids request for me to come and play with them, I was taking myself out of fun summer memories that they would have with me. The thrilled looks on their faces when I now splash around and play with them in the pool and at the beach is probably the best gift from having the surgery.” ~M.C.

“I feel like my energy has increased due to my rise in confidence, which overall just makes me a better mom as I feel I am in a better mood… prior to the surgery how I felt about myself really must of affected my mood.” ~C.S

“I now look forward to doing new summer activities with my children, where before I always had a dreaded feeling whenever I thought a bathing suit would be involved.” ~S.M.