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June 21, 2007
Erasing Tattoos, Out
of Regret or for a
New Canvas
By NATASHA SINGER
Published: June 17,
2007
BEVERLY HILLS,
Calif. -- Kelly
Brannigan was
suffering from a
case of tattoo
remorse.
Just a year ago, Ms.
Brannigan, 24, who
holds up Case No. 24
as one of the models
on the NBC game show
"Deal or No Deal,"
had been full of
hope when she and
her fiancé had each
other's names
tattooed across
their inner wrists.
But now, when she
looks at the letters
-- P-A-T-R-I-C-K --
she is reminded of
the failed
relationship.
For help, she turned
to Dr. Tattoff, a
chain of tattoo
removal stores where
nurses use lasers in
a series of
treatments to break
down tattoo
pigments. Dr.
Tattoff is part of a
growing industry
catering to people
who may not have
thought about the
implications of
"forever" the first
time around.
Removing tattoos is
costly,
uncomfortable and
time-consuming, but
the affinity for
body art is so
strong that some
people say they do
it to clear space to
tattoo all over
again.
Many dermatologists
specialize in laser
tattoo removal, and
some laser
hair-removal centers
are adding services.
In California, there
are removal centers
like Dr. Tattoff,
Tat2BeGone and
Tattoo MD.
Most of Dr.
Tattoff's clients
are women ages 25 to
35, said James
Morel, the chief
executive of the
company, which has
given more than
13,000 tattoo laser
treatments since
opening here in
2004. "Maybe women
are getting more
tattoos than they
used to," Mr. Morel
said, "or maybe they
just have a higher
level of tattoo
regret than men."
On the horizon is a
development that
could change the
very nature of
tattooing: a type of
ink encapsulated in
beads and designed
to break up after
one treatment with a
special laser.
The technology for
the ink, called
Freedom-2, was
developed by
scientists from
Massachusetts
General Hospital,
and Brown and Duke
Universities. It is
to go on sale this
fall.
For complete article
go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/us/17tattoo.html
|
Some Seek Surgical
Solution for 'Outies,'
Eyebrows
Cosmetic Procedures
on the Rise to
Perfect Unlikely
Body Parts
From GMA, April 28,
2007
The great American
obsession with
vanity knows few
bounds. No body part
seems off-limits and
yet it's still
surprising what some
people will do to
"enhance" their
appearance. Forget
tummy tucks; it
seems belly buttons
and toes are the new
rage.
Belly buttons? The
operation is
actually called
umbilicoplasty.
"Women are thinking,
I have an outie. I
hate my outie. What
can I do to fix it?"
said Dr. Michael
Rose, a plastic and
reconstructive
surgeon. "[The
surgery] can be
easily explained as
transforming an
outie belly button
into an innie belly
button."
But some women
weren't necessarily
born with an outie.
Alyssa Jaronko, a
fitness instructor
and mother of three,
knew that an
umbilicoplasty was
right for her.
"After I had
children, my belly
button definitely
did not look how it
used to," Jaronko
said. "All the
exercise I could do
in the world was not
going to fix this
skin."
Dr. Rose agrees.
"From having the
children inside of
her abdomen, they
caused hernias to
happen, one actually
inside the belly
button which pushed
the belly button out
and gave her an
outie," he said.
And now, with her
innie belly button
restored, Jaronko
feels more confident
about her body.
"The fact that I can
now wear a bikini
again is exciting,"
Jaronko said. "It's
back to a normal
belly button as if
somebody who never
had kids."
"Springtime is
always when we see a
huge spike in
cosmetic procedures
that affect the
body," Dr. Michael
Rose said. "People
are thinking about
the beach and how
they're going to
look."
For women unhappy
with their toes,
there is also a
surgical solution.
For podiatrist Dr.
Oliver Zong,
business is booming
because so many
women want a
face-lift for their
feet.
Zong performs 30 to
40 cosmetic toe
surgeries a month --
everything from toe
straightening and
shortening to a
pinky-toe tuck, a
procedure in which
fat is taken out of
the toe to make it
narrower.
After her foot
surgery, Christine
Fortis said she no
longer has to suffer
in style.
"I spent my entire
life feeling very
self-conscious about
my feet, never
feeling comfortable
to wear open-toed
shoes," she said.
"This spring and
summer, my feet will
not see a pair of
sneakers. They're
going to be shown
off in every type of
flip-flop sandal I
can get my hands
on."
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Health/story?id=3095293&page=1
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|
Healthiest Massages
Allison Van Dusen
When Chicago-area
massage therapist
Marilyn Kier opened
her own business
about 11 years ago,
it mostly consisted
of on-site corporate
chair massages. In
recent few years,
however, she's
shifted to using
massage to treat
repetitive strain
injuries and various
types of chronic
pain.
Today, Kier sees
many people via
referrals from
orthopedists,
cardiologists and
other physicians,
who view massage as
a way to help their
patients heal.
"More and more
people hear from
others that their
pain was helped,"
says Kier, who says
she has a six-week
long appointment
waiting list. "You
can't argue with
results."
Relaxation, of
course, is still a
major motivation for
getting a rubdown.
But almost 30% of
those who had a
massage in the past
five years said they
did so for medical
or health reasons
other than stress
relief, according to
a 2006 survey by the
American Massage
Therapy Association.
Their reasons
included recovery
from an injury, pain
reduction, headache
control and overall
health and wellness.
Massage is also
popping up more
frequently in
patients'
discussions with
doctors. About 9
million more people
talked about massage
therapy with a
health-care provider
in 2006 than they
did five years ago.
And the number of
people who indicated
their massage was
paid for by
insurance or a
co-pay doubled from
5% in 2005 to 10% in
2006, according to
the survey.
Kier expects more
insurance companies
to step up as
medical research
continues confirming
the health benefits
of massage. A study
published in the
Dec. 11 Archives of
Internal Medicine,
performed by the
Yale Prevention
Research Center and
the University of
Medicine and
Dentistry of New
Jersey, showed
Swedish massage may
be a safe and
effective way to
reduce pain and
improve the
functional ability
of adults with
osteoarthritis of
the knee. Benefits
persisted eight
weeks after the
four-month-long
study.
"Given the knowledge
of massage we have
right now, I think
we'll be reading
much more about its
variety of
applications over
the coming years,"
says Dr. David Katz,
director of Yale's
Prevention Research
Center and the
study's senior
investigator.
Healing Touch
Hospitals are
getting in on the
game, too. A
biannual 2006 survey
of hospitals across
the U.S. conducted
by Health Forum, a
subsidiary of the
American Hospital
Association, showed
the number of
hospitals offering
massage therapy has
increased by more
than one-third in
two years.
Memorial Hermann
Sugar Land Hospital
in Texas, which
opened its doors in
December 2006,
offers body, foot
and hand massages
for patients, as
well as infant
massage to soothe
crying babies.
Employees in need of
a pick-me-up also
can have chair
massages. The
program came about
when officials began
the design process
for the replacement
facility three years
ago, says Chief
Patient Care Officer
Susan White.
"We determined we
had an opportunity
to change our model
of care, recognizing
that health care had
been delivered the
same way for over 50
years," White says.
Offering free
15-minute massages
to hospital
patients, who are
typically under
stress, makes a lot
of sense since
research has shown
it can reduce
anxiety, heart
rates, blood
pressure and even
the amount of pain
people feel, White
says.
Well ahead of the
trend, Stanford
Hospital & Clinics
has been offering
Swedish massage to
patients since 1993.
The facility has
eight massage
therapists, who talk
to nursing staff to
make sure patients
are ready for a
massage once they've
requested one.
Therapists also
discuss with
patients the areas
they'd like to have
addressed.
Options include a
pregnancy and
postpartum massage
to help relieve a
woman's lower back
pain and increase
blood circulation
and a stretching
massage that pulls
or extends muscles.
Stretching is
popular among active
patients who want to
keep limber despite
being on bed rest,
says Teresa Reyna,
director of programs
and operations for
Stanford Hospital &
Clinics.
While Stanford
charges $30 for a
30-minute treatment,
it hasn't hurt
interest.
"We have so many
requests for
massage," Reyna
says, "that we can't
meet all the
demand."
for complete article
go to:
http://www.forbes.com/2007/06/07/health-massage-wellbeing-forbeslife-cx
_avd_0611health.html
|
More teens go under
knife for new look
By LEEZEL TANGLAO
and ROCKY SALMON
The Press-Enterprise
It hasn't exactly
replaced part-time
jobs or family
vacations on the
summertime to-do
list, but plastic
surgery has become
more popular among
teenagers this time
of year, doctors
say.
And for the families
that can afford it,
a nose job or new
breasts are showing
up on
graduation-gift
lists that have
traditionally
included a car,
computer or a trip
to Hawaii.
The American Society
of Plastic Surgeons
reported that nearly
94,000 teenagers,
ages 19 and under,
underwent some kind
of cosmetic surgical
procedure in 2006,
not including
minimally invasive
treatments like
Botox or chemical
peels. In 1996,
about 11,500
cosmetic surgeries
were performed on
patients 18 and
under. In 2002, the
number had grown to
nearly 81,000.
The most common
plastic surgeries
among young people
are nose reshaping,
male breast
reductions, breast
implants and lifts,
and liposuction.
And those operations
can run anywhere
from $3,000 to
$12,000.
Dr. Kelly Gallego, a
plastic surgeon with
offices in Irvine
and Corona, said
each summer he sees
a spike in young
patients. They have
more time available
for surgery and
recovery, he said,
and while he doesn't
ask his patients
specifically, he
says he thinks some
of them are being
rewarded for
graduation.
"It's not a huge
spike," said Gallego,
who has operated his
Corona office for
four years. "But it
is noticeable."
Child psychologists,
women's rights
activists and
plastic surgeons all
agree that surgery
among teenagers is
on the rise,
especially at
graduation time.
"In many families,
the kids get
whatever they want,"
said Diane
Zuckerman, president
of the National
Research Center for
Women and Families,
a nonprofit group
that studies trends
among American
families. "They got
the clothes, the
car, the vacation
... what's left? How
about new breasts?"
Some plastic
surgeons warn that
parents and
plastic-surgery
bound teens have to
weigh medical risks,
future costs and the
emotional impact.
'Not Reversible
Options'
"Your teen is still
growing and these
are not reversible
options, or gifts
you can easily
return to
Tiffany's," said Dr.
James Wells, past
president of the
American Society of
Plastic Surgeons and
the California
Society of Plastic
Surgeons.
Supporters say
plastic surgery
builds self-esteem
at a perfect time in
the patient's lives
-- just as they're
going off to college
or starting
something new.
for complete article
go to:
http://www.pe.com/localnews/sbcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_D_
gradgift13.3ea84e1.html#
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