Plastic Surgery- The new "Vampire Face Lift"

This is the blog of Dr. Robert J Brueck MD FACS, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in Fort Myers.

I recently was asked about the new " Vampire Face lift".

I guess it was on TV shows and other news outlets. I must confess my TV watching is limited and it usually comes down to sports and news programs- sorry Oprah, sorry Rachel Ray. I did some investigating.

Apparently a " Vampire " face lift involves drawing of a patients blood, spinning it down and removing the layer containing platelets and other key growth nutrients. These are then injected back into the patients face under their skin.

This is nothing new since I have been doing this for some time now. We take the patients PRP (protein rich plasma) mix it with fat and stem cells and some times a little growth factor and use this to help augment parts of a patients face that have lost soft tissue bulk. Sometimes I'll make the consistency more liquid and inject under a patients forehead to help rejuvenate from the inside out.

The final question - Does it work?

I think that, the take of the fat grafts is improved and enhanced by combining all of their elements into a " youth restoring cocktail." This would be PRP, fat and stem cells with a touch of growth hormone.

Does injecting simply PRP with a small number of fat stem cells make a difference? The answer simply is I don't know. There are many people doubting this as the new fountain of youth.

There have been no clinical trials to whether this is true or not.

The marketing hype is tremendous. But as interest grows, more studies will be done to answer some of the lingering questions.

If you have questions call me (239)-939-5233 or email me at
rjbrueck@abodyandface.com

Another testimonial for Fort Myers Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Robert Brueck MD

Practicing plastic surgery in Fort Myers, FL brings me many satisfactions. From time to time, a patient heightens that satisfaction by writing me a thank you note. This one struck me as particularly heartfelt because of the patient's background. I hope you agree. (The original printed letter has been transcribed here as written.)

~~~~~~~

"Dear Dr. Brueck and Staff:

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I had a mastectomy in 2009 and was very adamant about not getting reconstructed and using a prosthetic. I did that for a year and a half and was getting tired of not having myself back. I did some soul searching and decided to interview a few Plastic Surgeons. I went on line and did a search and found Dr. Brueck. My husband and I had a consultation with him and immediately knew he was the one. From the minute we walked in his office from his staff to Dr. Brueck couldn't have made my decision any easier. I had reconstruction and a nipple done on my left side and an augmentation done on my right side do to a lumpectomy I had eleven years ago. I feel WONDERFUL and the reconstruction/augmentation looks BEAUTIFUL. Dr. Brueck is blessed with magic hands and a great personality.

Dr. Brueck and his staff made a very difficult sensitive situation easier tio handle. THANK-YOU!" - TC

Periodically, Dr. Robert J. Brueck, Fort Myers plastic surgeon, blogs messages here. This time, it's a letter from a patient that is particularly moving.

Dear Dr. Brueck,

At 63 years of age, I had one of the worst "turkey necks" I have ever seen on anyone and you performed the miracle of taking 8-10 years off my sagging, aging, sun damaged lower face and neck and its only been a week since the surgery! I have spent the last year researching and looking for a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon with considerable experience and after I met with you in your office I knew you were *the one*, although I didn't let on at the time. You and your staff made me feel completely at ease and after the surgery, I never even got sick from the anaesthetic, for which I would like to thank Judy.

People ask me if I used "Lifestyle Lift" I guess because they do so much advertising, but after doing some investigating I discovered they only have about a 35% success rate.....definitely not good enough for the only face I'll ever have! Thanks again Dr. Brueck. - MKG

Note: Patient comments about other procedures do not represent Dr. Brueck's opinion.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD

Medical Tourism - Buyer Beware

Have you ever noticed how things fall in place. Just last week I had one of my patients call me with a proposal or offer. She wanted "several" plastic surgery procedures performed. She was researching and come across a medical tourism agency that would fly her to Columbia, put her up in a hotel, have the surgery, all of the fees and meals paid for only $12,000.00. She wanted a face/necklift, breast augmentation, and several areas of liposuction. This is something I would not do in one stage, the surgery is too lengthy to be done as an outpatient and go home. This is my belief. Patient safety has been and always will be my number one priority. So she is willing to go to a country she's never visited, a doctor she's never met or researched, a hospital or clinic she has no clue about and potentially risk her health and safety in her quest for a more appealing image. Dr Robert J Brueck M.D. FACS, a Fort Myers Board Ceritified Plastic Surgeon frequntly blogs about matters of health and beauty.

Why is this important? Just after I talked to my patient and told her I could not match their prices I came across a brief article about medical tourism. It is growing and becoming more problematic. It is so risky. In their article they discussed a Swedish lady Erin who was 31 years old and seeking a breast augmentation. Through the Internet she researched medical tourism agencies and responded to one that arranged for her to have it done in Poland. The hospital where it was performed was an old dilapidated hospital that was totally different than the one depicted in the website ad. Due to inferior anesthesia routine and post op recovery care regimen she suffered severe brain damage. It took 7 hours to transfer her to an ICU unit across the street! It has now been 6 months since her tragic encounter and now she is in a nursing home and in a totally vegetative state FOREVER! Her life ruined - her family lost and grieving.

There is NO regulation of medical tourism agencies and the strict standards adhered to by clinics, doctors, and hospitals in the United States don't exist for the most part in foreign countries. In the end it comes down to one thing... MONEY! So I ask you how much is your life worth to risk it under suspect circumstances to save a few dollars? Only you can answer this.

EXCERCISE-NEW BRAIN FOOD

Dr. Robert J Brueck, MD, Fort Myers plastic surgeon, blogs here and informs on matters of plasti surgery at Beauty-by-Brueck.com

Get Smart

The list is endless for foods to eat or puzzles to solve to help restore normal brain function.

We hear playing chess or bridge can slow cerebral aging or dys function.

Now we have evidence that aerobic exercise can have a positive effect in slowing down the aging of our brain. A person who performs moderate aerobic exercise for a year can lessen shrinkage of our hippocampus by 1-2 years.

What is the hippocampus? This is the part of our brain that is the memory center.

So not only will you be thinner, you now will be smart.

MRSA

MRSA seems to dominate certain conversations.

It's on the nightly news-health talk journals-discussed among friends who have relatives in the hospital. MRSA is Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus. This is a very violent infection that many people acquire while being patients in a hospital.

It is estimated over 19,000 people a year die from staph infections. Over 1/2 million people are placed in hospitals each year to treat MRSA infections.

As the organism becomes more virulent it can infect otherwise normal healthy people.

This problem is not limited to our country but is an international global health issue. Researchers have been pouring over various compounds to find the answer to this vexing problem. After studying, get this... over 29,000 compounds they found one and labeled it.

RNPA1000 was effective against the main strain of MRSA. The studies were conducted on mice, 1/2 the treated mice survived while ALL untreated mice died.

One problem so far concerning RNPA1000; it is toxic to humans.

The work continues but for a moment think about researching over 29,000 compounds and still no answer. This in part explains why developing drugs to bring to market is a long, slow and a very expensive process.

Visit Dr. Robert J. Brueck,s website to view his before and after pictures of his Fort Myers plastic surgery patients at www.beauty-by-Brueck.com