Contents

Body by Thermage

Revolutionary facial treatment moves to the body.

A Letter from Dr Hodgkinson

The Doctor is in!

“Can Body Sculpting give me the figure I want?”

Drooping Breasts: What You Can Do About Them

Dr Darryl Hodgkinson explains the different lift procedures

Restylane now offers another rejuvenating product for doctors only – SubQ

Operation Restore Hope gets valuable help from SmileTrain

Also, training Filipino Surgeons and Anaesthetists

Body by Thermage

Revolutionary facial treatment moves to the body.

After five years, Thermage has now introduced new treatments off the face to improve wrinkly skin and stretch marks around the abdomen, arms and legs.

Thermage, which uses a radio frequency passed into the deep tissues, creates a tightening of the tissues and improvement of the quality of the skin. In the last year, we have treated over 100 patients with Thermage, mainly for the neck and jowl area and for the most part in the age group 35 to 45, males and females. All patients have noticed an improvement in the quality of their skin. Most patients have noticed a tightening. Although Thermage is not a facelift, it offers a non-surgical improvement to the texture and tone of the facial skin.

Thermage was developed over seven years ago and with over 1,000 doctors world-wide now using the machine, “Thermage to the Body” has been introduced with good results. After using Thermage to treat the face, I am sure we can improve some very difficult areas that would before have been left with unsatisfactory scarring.

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“The demand for Thermage has been great”, says Dr. Hodgkinson, “as the Australian public is aware of what is available worldwide and have been looking for effective and safe rejuvenating techniques that have little or no ‘down-time’.”

There is a world-wide trend to utilize state of the art technology to offer an alternative to surgical techniques. Surgical techniques will not be completely displaced; however there are groups of patients who will be satisfied with the lesser procedure that offers an improvement but with less down time. We are happy to provide this new service.

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A Letter from
Dr Hodgkinson

Body Contour surgery

Another widely discussed topic in Rio was body contour surgery. The Brazilians, in particular, have carried out great work in very advanced body contour surgery.
The world-wide obesity problem and gastric banding procedures has put body contour surgery on the agenda and with the greater call for this type of surgery, I was pleased to be able to share updates on the management of these patients with my colleagues from around the world.

Facial surgery

I personally am most interested in the management of the facial surgery that is necessary for patients who have had gastric banding as they will have lost the elasticity of their skin and this can unfortunately lead to a very prematurely aged look.
Both at the intimate (33 international faculty members and 300 attendees) intensive three day postgraduate course in Venice and in Rio, I felt enthusiastic about the advances in our industry and the honest sharing of techniques and results which will not only serve to make us all better surgeons but allow our industry to work to world standards and our patients to benefit from this knowledge.

Sincerely yours,

Dr Darryl J. Hodgkinson
M.B. MS. (Hons) F.R.C.S.(C) F.A.C.S.

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Venice and Rio 2006

I have much to report having been on the faculty and presenting at two major international meetings in the last two months: Venice, Italy in June and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August.

The meeting in Rio was the largest meeting of cosmetic plastic surgeons ever held anywhere with approximately 2,100 surgeons from around the world. I was delighted to be one of six surgeons chosen to demonstrate live surgery for this congress assisted by my surgical assistant of 15 years Sr. Sue Slater.

The procedure I was chosen to demonstrate was breast augmentation and the patient was a lovely young female surgeon who was delighted with her result. It was an extremely gratifying experience for me to be able share this procedure with thousands of my colleagues.

I also spoke to the assembly about Body Dysmorphic Disorder, a topic I will be writing an editorial on for Cosmetic Surgery Times in the coming months.

Facial Threads

One topic of discussion which I would like to share with you from Rio was facial suspension threads – like the highly talked-about “aptos threads”.

It has taken me quite a while to feel comfortable about threads but at this point, after having dealt with them for some years now without enthusiasm, I am now convinced that the new dissolvable threads can give gratifying results in certain patients who are good candidates in lifting their cheeks and neck.

Threads can now also be used effectively for long term facelift patients to restore or refresh their original post-operative result.

As in all areas of surgery, there is rapid technological improvement and the threads themselves have improved and are likely to improve in the next few months. I will be using these newer threads in my practice when a patient is a good candidate and for areas in which their efficacy is tried and proven.

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Dr Hodgkinson and Dr Tavakoli answer your questions

Q: “Can Body Sculpting give me the figure I want?”

Dr Tavakoli answers:

In Australian culture, more so than ever, looking good is becoming synonymous with being healthy. Our national obsession is towards lean looking bodies. But it is a well-known fact that no amount of dieting or exercise can remove fat from certain “difficult “ areas of the body.
Body sculpting refers to the making of changes to improve a woman’s figure both by removing unwanted fatty deposits through liposculpture of the body – for example, from the waist, hips and legs – as well as augmenting areas which would benefit aesthetically from reshaping, such as the breasts.
The surgeon’s expertise is vital, for liposculpture and breast augmentation or a breast lift require skill and artistic vision for a better shape.

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After Body Sculpting by Dr Tavakoli.

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Drooping Breasts: What You Can Do About Them

Dr Darryl Hodgkinson explains the different lift procedures

Common problems for women seeking breast surgery at the Cosmetic and Restorative Surgery Clinic are sagging of the breast tissue with the nipple areolar complex pointing down, and loss of tone to the breasts, so they are patulous and lack projection. Drooping breasts are also associated with excessive breast tissue.

If the breast glandular tissue is inadequate, then an implant alone may solve the problem, lifting and filling the deflated breast tissue. The nipple areolar complex can be “lifted” (or pushed up) usually about 2 cm by an implant alone.

The Mastopexy procedure

With a normal amount of breast tissue (B or C cup) and sagging breasts, the Mastopexy procedure involves sliding the nipple areolar complex up to its normal height and reducing the amount of skin “brassiere”. There will be incisions around the nipple to lift it to its new position, and in some cases depending how much extra and stretched skin there is, there may be scars underneath the breast and vertically under the nipple.

This sagging particularly occurs after breastfeeding, where the breasts have been enlarged by the lactation, then shrink and the skin, often with stretch marks, fails to contract to its original position.

Breast Reduction procedure

Droopy breasts associated with very large amounts of breast tissue, i.e. greater than a DD cup, are repaired using the breast reduction procedure. The main problem is that the ligaments (Cooper’s ligaments) become so stretched, they cannot support the heavy weight of the breast tissue; hence the nipple areolar complex starts to point downwards and become large. Most patients request a C cup and converting an E, DD to a C Cup involves removing some breast tissue, re-shaping the breast tissue and lifting the nipple areolar complex on a “pedicle” of breast, nerve and blood vessels.

Some scars inevitable

All lifting procedures have scars and patients must understand that these are more than in a normal breast implant procedure. The final result depends on the quality of the patients’ scar tissues. Poor healing by a patient results in poor scars and hence, dissatisfaction. Smokers are poor healers and must absolutely stop smoking for at least one month prior to surgery.

All lifting procedures are carried out as outpatient operations in our fully licensed accredited day surgery facility, the Double Bay Day Surgery. Some patients may be eligible for a Medicare Rebate or Private Insurance Cover.

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Restylane now offers another rejuvenating product for doctors only – SubQ

New Restylane SubQ has been recently launched in Australia with the first training session for six doctors from Australia and New Zealand taking place at our clinic here in Double Bay.

Dr. Hodgkinson is now able to offer SubQ in conjuction with other facial rejuvenating injections and surgical procedures, and Sister Melissa Bell is always on hand to assist with Q-Med’s other products including Restylane for wrinkles, folds and lip enhancement, Restylane Touch for superficial fine lines and Restylane Perlane for deeper folds, lips enhancement and more definition and volume.

Need for SubQ

While Restylane was the one product line which created a tissue tailored concept to address each area of the dermis, there was still a need for a product for patients who wanted a non-permanent treatment to create a more defined facial contour, especially in the cheek or chin area.

SubQ uses the same NASHA (non-animal stabilized hyaluronic acid) technology to deliver a non-allergenic, stabile, non-permanent product which has been now used in over a million treatments worldwide.

SubQ employs larger gel particles which are delivered deeper into the tissues to create volume in the face for patients who have lost facial fatty tissue and want a more youthful appearance, and for patients with minor asymmetries or who lack volume in their facial contours.

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Operation Restore Hope gets valuable help from SmileTrain

Operation Restore Hope has achieved a remarkable milestone in obtaining endorsement and financial aid from Smile Train, a Bill Gates endorsed international charity.

This charity supports like foundations as ourselves which provide surgical treatment of indigenous children in third world countries who suffer from cleft lip and palate.

Operation Restore Hope is now nearly 15 years old and treats approximately 150 children per year in three different centres. We have met the strict criteria to win endorsement and financial support from this international foundation and are most grateful that we have been chosen as Australia’s first Smile Train recipient.

Training Filipino Surgeons

On an equally positive note, we have been involved in the training of Filipino Surgeons and Anaesthetists and they are carrying on the good work of Operation Restore Hope. Whilst we are not in the country performing the majority of surgery, they are working with our patients, performing highly skilled surgery under our endorsement and providing excellent after care of our patients.

"Smile" Newsletter

If you do not receive Operation Restore Hope’s newsletter ‘Smile’ and would like to be on our mailing list please call us with your details on 02 9362 7480 or email us at:
orh@operationrestorehope.org

With so many children to heal, we need your help now more than ever.