Gina’s Blog: To Lift or Not to Lift
July 22nd, 2009
To lift or not to lift… that is the question. I need to make the decision about doing just a reduction or doing a reduction and lift on the left breast and lift only on the right breast. I have been a serious athlete for quite sometime and needless to say, that has taken a toll on the state of my breasts. All of the running, jumping, being squashed underneath someone while doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, not to mention the fact that I’m almost 40 yrs old and all these things combined are not conducive to perky breasts.
So, with all of these factors going against me, the decision has been tough. Dr. Bashioum gave me information about my choices and he is supportive of whatever I choose to do. Now I have to look at several factors while figuring this out:
1) Children- We have none now, but I might want one. Having a baby after the surgery is done would call for a re-do of the procedure and that requires more money and more recovery time.
2) Recovery on one or both sides- Having never done this procedure before, I don’t know if that would make a difference. I’m thinking it might be good to have a functional side but again, I have nothing to compare it to, so who knows?
3) Scarring- The scarring for a simple reduction is a lot less noticeable than the scarring for a lift. I am very hyper about my body (obviously!) and I’m not sure how I’d feel about looking at those scars day after day. I’m afraid I would find it unattractive/unappealing.
4) Loss of sensitivity in the nipples- That’s a big deal to me. I lost some sensitivity in my left nipple after liposuction and, not to get too personal, but that’s important to me when I’m being intimate with my husband. I don’t know if having perkier looking breasts by doing a lift is worth forfeiting my pleasure. I don’t think it’s a fair trade-off.
As much as I would like to have rounder, higher breasts, I think what’s most important to me is the symmetry of them. Writing has helped me sort out my options. After finishing this blog entry, I guess I’ve made my decision. It seems pretty clear in now, don’t you think? I’m only going to do the reduction on the left side. Stay tuned…
Office Notes: Botox
July 21st, 2009
Today I will be injecting Botox ®. Comments I hear frequently are, “My last Botox ® did not last as long as I would like. The Botox ® did not work as well as I had hoped.” Patients with these complaints usually had their last injections elsewhere. Often times, the injectionist is a non-physician and sometimes an individual with little or no medical training.
Botox ® is packaged in 100 unit bottles. This “unit” measurement is determined through a physiologic assay. The Botox ® package insert recommends 20 units for the frown lines. When the full 20 units is used in this one area, the results are consistent and should last for the full 3 to 6 months. It has become common practice in salons, med-spas and some physicians offices to inject less than 20 units of Botox ® into the frown lines. Injecting less saves money. Reducing the dosage leads to decreased effectiveness and decreased longevity. Patients return for “touch up” injections to get the result they desire.
My advice for the increased likelihood of a obtaining a professional and lasting result, is to consider having the full dosage recommended by the manufacturer (20 units for the frown lines) and consider having your Botox ® done by a physician.
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