November 17th, 2011 Posted in Charity | 1 Comment »
Dr. Kaufman
Hi everyone. I just got back from a ten day surgery trip to Batangays, Philippines. The trip was organized by Medical Missions for Children and our group consisted of great doctors and medical professionals from around the U.S. It’s a great organization. We went with two surgeons, two anesthesiologists, and three nurses. We also had the help of a volunteer who helped do all the “little” things to make the trip successful.
The trip was great. We did procedures on about 20 children, mostly cleft lip and cleft palates. A good portion of the children had no access to medical care. In the United States, these deformities are completely addressed by the time a child is one year old. Most of these children ranged from 1 year old to 7 years… I even repaired a few women in their 30’s.
I really enjoy the Philippines every time I go. The people are wonderful and these procedures change the childrens’ lives. It’s medicine in its purest form… during the entire trip, I didn’t fill out a single form. The patients came. We evaluated them and recommended a procedure. The procedure was performed, and the children were returned to their parents, with the hope and promise of a better life.
Finally, as someone who loves food, the food is fantastic. I literally gained seven pounds in 10 days. Fresh mangos, feeding every two hours (our hosts were incredibly gracious), and perhaps a few San Miguels as well…
Here are some pictures from the trip:
Author: Dr. David Kaufman
November 1st, 2011 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Dr. Kaufman
A survey by Suneva Medical was recently published and it showed that people are changing the way they make decisions about buying plastic surgery procedures. The economic downturn hasn’t slowed down the plastic surgery industry, but it has made people more careful about what they buy.
The survey asked 160 medical practices about patient behavior and the results showed that patients are trending toward buying procedures that last a long time. It’s not surprising that people are being safer with their money given the condition of the economy, but it’s clear that plastic surgery is very important to people because they are not willing to give it up no matter how shaky things are. People are willing to pay big bucks so long as they get bang for that buck.
In general, practices surveyed said that patients were more concerned with the outcome of their procedure than the price. We think Sacramento plastic surgery patients have the same sensibility. Quality is so important when it comes to surgery because it’s modifying your body, one of the only products guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Author: Dr. David Kaufman
October 24th, 2011 Posted in General Plastic Surgery | No Comments »
Dr. Kaufman
…are all wonderful. And that’s why they’re bad for you. Almost nothing that’s good for you is fun. We all know that. In moderation, a person can get away with all three of the aforementioned vices. The problem is that they’re all habit-forming to some degree. And according to changemyface.com, all three will make you very unattractive.
As you can see in this series of images, this woman’s face has been run through several filters simulating 10 years of smoking, 10 years of drinking and 10 years of junk-food, respectively. They aren’t true after pictures, obviously, but the software simulates how a person’s appearance might be changed by certain habits over time. And as you can see in the final image, one which simulates a ten year passage of clean living, she’s looking pretty good. It even looks like she got a tan. Maybe she went on vacation or something.
With cosmetic surgery, we improve the way people look and restore youth, but how good someone looks after their surgery depends on how good they looked before surgery. Please pardon the crude metaphor, but it’s not possible to paint a masterpiece on a bent canvas. Treat your body right, and we can keep you looking good with plastic surgery through every decade of your life.
Author: Dr. David Kaufman
October 8th, 2011 Posted in General Plastic Surgery | 1 Comment »
Dr. Kaufman
Celebrities, and actors in particular, are always taking stands against things. Whether it’s Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon taking it to The Man or Jack Black pushing for marijuana legalization, many actors try to use their fame to stop things they perceive as evil. Perhaps they’re just using their fame to give the faceless masses a much needed voice, or more likely they’ve found themselves with too much time on their hands and they’re run out of things to buy. The real question is: why the hell are we taking advice from people whose only talent is being good at pretending?
This brings us to the topic of the week: the British Anti-Cosmetic Surgery League, also known as Kate Winslet, Rachel Wiesz and Emma Thompson. In their defense, this is the one instance where the cause actually matches the profession. Don’t let Philip Seymour Hoffman or Steve Buscemi fool you – being an actor is all about looking good in front of the camera so the audience knows you’re awesome and then going on TV and sharing your poorly-constructed arguments against whatever. (Matt Damon is the exception to this, as he has proved he can be thoughtful and well-spoken while promoting humanitarian efforts such as Water.org. Everyone else: get back to entertaining us.)
So these three incredibly good-looking actresses are telling everyone not to get cosmetic surgery. That’s like a diabetic calling for an end to soft drinks or Shaq telling people that being short isn’t that bad. What do you know about it? Maybe if it was Clint Howard telling us all to just be ourselves it might have a little more credibility, but when three women who have lived their entire lives looking like female protagonists from Disney movies say it, I’m not moved. Cosmetic surgery improves lives, despite what anyone says to the contrary.
Author: Dr. David Kaufman
September 30th, 2011 Posted in General Plastic Surgery | 3 Comments »
Dr. Kaufman
We all love Tiffany’s. There is something about that little blue box that stirs emotions like nothing else. It’s because that box signifies quality. It means you’re getting the very best. It’s special. On the other hand, there’s Walmart, a brand that does outstanding business based on offering the lowest possible prices, presumably to customers unconcerned with quality. (We’ve all seen those “People of Walmart” emails.) We all make choices every day about the quality of the products we buy – sometimes we want the very best and sometimes we’ll settle for less. Unfortunately, discount services has reached into medicine, plastic surgery in particular, and patients are paying for it with their suffering.
What’s scary is that there is very little regulation of doctors. Anyone with an M.D. behind their name (or D.O., for that matter), can call themselves a plastic surgeon, whether they know how to do plastic surgery or not. Any doctor can mail away to get a “board certification” and poof! the Aesthetic Institute of Dr. Don’t-know-what-the-hell-I’m-
doing is born. There’s little oversight or regulation for surgery performed in office-based practices and it doesn’t look like that will change soon.
A recent outpouring of injured patients has brought this issue to the attention of local and national media outlets across the country. USA Today recently ran a front page story about deaths in Florida caused by a pretend plastic surgeon. And closer to home, Channel 10 aired a two-part series about local physicians who have little training but are honing their plastic surgery skills on unwitting patients. The series is as enlightening as it is scary. At no time like the present has the old adage been more true: Buyer Beware.
Please view these reports here: Channel 10 report.
You have choices. If you are considering work on your face or body, do your homework. Meet with one or more physicians – not just patient coordinators. There’s a big difference between different boards, so make sure your doctor is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Your future outlook depends on it!
Author: Dr. David Kaufman
