Holidays come early for Dr. Brueck's Cosmetic Surgery patients

If you are short of cash (more than 70% of people interested in cosmetic procedures need some sort of financing), Dr. Brueck MD now has arranged with Advance Care to provide liberal financing for patients who qualify. 

It's safe, easy and terms are so liberal, you may qualify for an interest-free period of 6 months or 14 months. To learn more, and see if you qualify for financing, visit http://advancecarecard.com/ online. Decisions are fast so you can schedule that pre-holiday surgery in quick order.

It smells like..Alzheimers

It appears that researchers at the University of Florida have picked up the scent of early Alzheimers Disease.
Alzheimer’s  is very hard to diagnose in its early stages.  Researchers at our very own University of Florida studied 94 patients, 18 of whom were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  

They took a teaspoon full of peanut butter and measured how far from each nostril – one at a time – it was before the subject in the test could smell it.  

Alzheimer’s patients had a much more difficult time smelling the peanut butter, and more so with their LEFT nostril versus their right.  

A decreased sensation of smell is one hallmark of patients with Alzheimer’s and usually the LEFT side of the brain is affected first.  Interesting to say the least.  More studies are now being done.

Even though our focus at Beauty-by-Brueck is on cosmetic surgery in Southwest Florida, we also have a compelling interest in all things related to health.

Never, ever, allow unlicensed silicone injections

[Excerpted  from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) Smart Beauty)

 Florida man arrested for performing non-licensed silicone injections

A Florida man was arrested last week for allegedly injecting people with silicone without a medical license, First Coast News reported. The silicone injections were administered in the buttocks, a common illegal practice used to enhance the body's curves. 

Police officials told the news source that the Orlando resident performed an estimated six silicone buttocks injections per day, collecting up to $1,200 for each procedure. 

The alleged perpetrator was found in a hotel room in Plantation, Fla. with 15 bottles of silicone liquid, 47 bottles of lidocaine, syringes, gloves and super glue, according to the news source. He also had about $18,000  in cash hidden in a suitcase.

Illegal silicone injections are a prevalent concern as cases continue to increase throughout the U.S. According to a previous report from The Los Angeles Times, there have been more than a dozen investigations into deaths related to illegal buttocks injections. The news source stated that eight people have been convicted of administering these injections without a license.

Buttock augmentation has also become increasingly popular throughout the years. Americans spent more than $26 million on the procedure in 2012, according to the news outlet. When done legally by a licensed physician, the procedure reshapes the buttocks with the patient's own tissue - known as an autologous fat transfer - or with implants. Silicone injections are typically unsafe and performed by non-board-certified plastic surgeons. 

If you are considering a butt lift and you are in Southwest Florida, see Dr. Brueck MD in Fort Myers, Cape Coral or Punta Gorda for a consultation and discussion of the procedure and the results you seek. No beauty goal and no bargain price is worth your life.

PS: If cash is a problem, you may qualify for CareCredit.

Cosmetic surgery study raises eyebrows

Some facial surgeries make you look younger and others make you look more attractive

October 17, 2013

Operations that change the size and shape of your nose, chin, cheeks and jawline can increase your attractiveness, according to Southwest Florida board certified cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Robert Brueck MD F.A.C.S.

A recent study of plastic surgery patients and their results raised a lot of eyebrows due to some unexpected results. Pre-op and post-op photos of patients (37 women and 12 men) who had facial rejuvenation surgeries such as facelifts, brow lifts and eyelid cosmetic surgery were evaluated by independent reviewers. The study found that plastic surgery made people look about three years younger but did not have a significant effect on how "attractive" they appeared to be.

Michael Yaremchuk, M.D., Chief of Craniofacial Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, discussed the study results with colleagues from the American Society for Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) and put the study in context to explain the results. They turn out to less surprising when the facts are considered:

• The study, published in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, included only one plastic surgeon's surgeries, which may not reflect plastic surgery results in general.
• It doesn't include any pictures of the surgical results.
• Most patients in the study had eyelid surgery (upper and lower lid blepharoplasty and browlifts), which can make eyes look round and hollow from the removal of too much fat and skin, which can appear to be be aging. In addition, young women actually have low brows, which may elevate with age. So it's no surprise that this surgery did not make people look younger.

Even more significant, according to the Yaremchuk, brow lifts, eye lifts and face lifts are designed to bring ones appearance to where it was years before. If ones face was considered attractive before the "lift," it will, at best, return the face to that appearance. If the face was considered unattractive before, it will return to a younger version of that "unattractive" face.

Attractiveness for a face is a result of the balance of facial features (nose, chin, cheeks and jawline). Cosmetic surgeries that change the size and shape of these features can make ones face more attractive. The primary determinant of facial appearance is the facial skeleton. Procedures with the most significant impact on facial appearance are those that manipulate the skeleton: rhinoplasty (alters the nasal bones) and cheek bone, chin and jaw implants.

So, it makes perfect sense that face lifts, brow lifts and eyelid surgeries can help you appear younger, but you should not expect them to change your level of attractiveness. If you're happy with your underlying facial structure and want to look younger, a face lift can achieve that goal. It's true, however, that "younger" is often perceived as more "attractive".