Scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center reported that they found a technique that helps reduce migraine attacks from up to three episodes a week down to one every couple of months.

Botox is used to pinpoint particular muscles in the forehead, back of head or temples which often triggers for migraines when they irritate, trap nerves or compress. Botox freezes the muscle so they no longer compress or irritate the nerve preventing the migraine or lessening its intense.

The procedure is hit and miss. The surgeon will inject Botox into one muscle at a time and leave the patient for a couple of days to see if it had any effect. If the Botox had an effect the surgeon knows that he had targeted the right muscle. But if the patient keeps having migraines the surgeon knows that he had targeted the wrong muscle and will inject Botox into another different muscle.

Source: www.cosmeticsurgerybible.com/2007/news/botox-helps-in-the-fight-against-migraines/

The best solution for patients aged 45 and older to get a facelift is by means of a surgery as it is the natural procedure to be followed so as to achieve the desired results when the patient has a remarkable degree of facial agying.

According to ASPS (American Society of Plastic Surgeons) statistics, facelift is the second most popular surgical procedure for people over 45 years old.

Statistics show that almost 102,000 individuals aged 40 and older had a face lift in 2006.

As Brahaman Guyuron, MD, ASPS Member Surgeon and study co-author remarks, “Whether injectable fillers, surgery or a combination of both, the procedure selected should fit and meet the needs of the patient. With the youngest boomer turning 42 and the oldest turning 60 this year, the demand for surgical procedures that produce results without the tell-tale signs of having had a facelift are going to continue to increase.

The oficial medical journal of the ASPS shows a new facelift technique that gives patients a different option, as follows:

The authors placed the facelift incision, in a specific angle, within the side burn and temple areas (place above the ear in tradicional techniques). The scar, hidden within the hair, allows hair to grow back through it; therefore, women can pull their hair back without exposing a scar and men to grow sideburns without the discomfort of showing missing hair. This procedure allows a better repositioning of tissue, reducing the risk of the “wind blown”, overdone look.

ASPS is the largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons. It has more than 6,000 members and is a leading authority on cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery.

http://www.plasticsurgery.org

George Clooney admitted that he had his eyes done on the Oprah pre-Oscars special.

Blepharoplasty is an eyelid surgery that corrects the problems and removes puffiness and bags under the eyes that make you look worn and tired.

If you have droopy eyelids why not try Blepharoplasty?

An article pubished by “The News Observer”, May 23, 2007, tells about the personal experience of an individual who felt sick while in Bumrungrad. He was taken to “Bumrungrad International” hospital where he was taken care of by nurses and doctors. After doctors gave him an array of medication for his pain and a program for his recovery, he went to the cashier and, to his surprise, paid less than US$ 100 for the admittance to the emergency room, a consultation, a room and bags of medications.

Americans know they can obtain less-costly health care abroad and travel to Mexico for small surgeries or Canada for prescription drugs. But now recognize foreing hospitals can deliver not only low-cost but high-quality medical tourism even for serious health problems.

Insurers still worry about quality control and liability risk at foreign hospitals but smaller employers and individual Americans without insurance are looking at overseas care as an alternative for expensive treatments, even for complex procedures like heart

surgery and those excluded from coverage in USA. Already, more than 150,000 people travel to other countries for health care each year.

Some insurance companies now offer plans that reimburse some overseas care in India and Mexico.

Travel companies are starting to bring Americans to foreign hospitals and sometimes combine treatment with a short vacation or recovery period, like an African safari or a recovery weekend at a Thai beach.

Source: www.newsobserver.com/105/story/576010.html

India´s tourism office has convinced the government to launch a medical tourist visa which will allow visitors to stay in India for one year and it can be extended to three if the purpose of the trip involves a surgery or any other medical procedure.

“Medical Tourism is one of the most lucrative industry as it is anticipated to attract tourists from world over especially the UK, South Africa, Canada and Malaysia and is expected to grow into $ 1.5 billion industry by 2010.” said Raja Rani Health Alliance´s Abhiject Patil, as reported by The Financial Express on May 4, 2007.

The growing medical toursim will be one of the key sources bringing foreign exchange to the country and is one of the most important issues discussed at the internacional seminar “Maharashtra Vision” held on May 3, 2007.

Source: www.freepressreleases.co.uk/Press_Releases/Business/Medical_Tourism_to_Drive_the_Tourism_Industry_in_India_200705175112/

The excuse given by close friends of the actress was weight gain. But, for the record, there have been rumors that Courteney , aged 42, is too skinny to have such huge breasts without a cosmetic surgery.

Courteney Cox said that she believes that plastic surgery is good in moderation. “A lot of people are overdoing Botox, but I think everything in moderation is fine. If it looks natural and it makes you feel better, do it,”(Harper´s Bazaar, 2004). Subsequently, in a Marie Claire interview in 2006, Courteney repeated her stance, saying that she “believes in the judicious use of plastic surgery.”

Other cosmetic surgery rumors about Courteney includes lip augmentation.

Either way, Courteney Cox is a very good looking actress with talent to boot and any plastic surgery she had resulted in an enhancement of her natural beauty.

Source: www.makemeheal.com/news/?p=171

More than 3,000 individuals younger than 18 underwent liposuction in 2005.

According to a spokesman for one cosmetic surgery society, liposuction is not the solution to childhood obesity.
The American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) released a firm warning statement saying there is no evidence liposuction is safe or effective for children.

David Sarwer, Ph.D said: “Childhood obesity is one of our nation´s growing health problems, and there are a number of widely accepted treatments for children and adolescents who struggle with their weight -liposuction and abdominoplasty are not among them…”

ASAPS says liposuction should only be performed on patients whose bodies have reached full development . An even for adults, is not always the best option. Liposuction is best applied to reduce fat deposits in the abdomen, buttocks or thighs that are resistant to diet and exercise.
Source: www.cosmeticsurgerytimes.com/cosmeticsurgerytimes/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=412897x

As revealed by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAP) and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), fat grafting used in breast augmentation procedures is not recommended due to lack of safety and because the procedure can alter the accurate cancer detection by means of a self-examination, or mammography, ulltrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techiques.

Fat grafting or lipoinjection is a procedure by which fat cells are transferred from one area of the body to a different body area, generally used for enhancement of face or hands. There is poor clinical evidence that fat grafting is safer or better than saline or silicone implants. Moreover, fat grafting has a low survival rate of transferred cells (frequently absorbed by the body), and may occur development of cysts, calcification and tissue scarring as well as the already mentioned breast cancer detection.

“Even though fat grafting techniques have become more refined and breast cancer detection methods have become more sophisticated with time, creating a great deal of excitement about the potencial of fat grafting, we simple need more data befote we can recommend that this procedure be generally used to augment breasts”, said Roxanne Guy, MD, President of ASPS.

As there is little clinical evidence to confirm efficacy, ASAPS and ASPS do no recommend fat grafting for breast augmentation.

USA. Consul General Mary Jo Bernardo
Aragon hosted a meeting with members of the Philippine Health and Wellness and Medical Tourism Roadshow at the Philippine Consulate General on last 2nd May

The Medical Tourism Roadshow Delegation is componed by the heads of 9 top medical centres. The delegation visited leading healthcare facilities in California and New Mexico with the purpose of learning from the best practices of their counterparts in USA and promote the Philippines as medical tourism in
Asia.

The Philippine committee promoted the Phillippines as a health and wellness center with affordable medical tourism programmes.

Employers all over the world, and USA as top country, are looking for new alternatives that will help them to cut cost.
Costs for healthcare have been a hot topic for many years. National healthcare expenditures reached $2.2 trillion in 2006 as mentioned by the Blue Cross Blueshield Association. So, small employers are saving money by sending their employees overseas for less expensive medical procedures.
We are referring to health problems such as coronary artery bypasses, hip and knee replacements and spinal surgeries. These procedures cost 30%-80% less in foreign countries than in USA.
Medical tourism is a fast growing industry; experts say that by 2010 it will reach $40 billion

Brazil, India, Singapore, Costa Rica, Thailand and South Africa will encounter about 1million Americans seeking out top quality doctors and hospitals in 2007.

Source: http://www.weltax.com/2007/05/medical-tourism.html