Summer time is here, and many young women in Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Torrance and other cities in the South Bay and Orange County are inquiring about Breast Augmentation surgery so they can look good for the summer. A common question is how long will it take to recover, and until their breasts look good in a bathing suit. Dr. Amy Bandy specializes in Breast Augmentation surgery and Breast Revision surgery, and she believes that most women will be healed enough to enjoy the summer in a bikini in as little as one week.
Women looking to enhance their breasts often turn to breast augmentation, also known as Augmentation Mammoplasty or breast enhancement surgery, for a number of reasons. The size, shape and symmetry of a woman’s breast can alter her image of her sexuality and her outward appearance. As a woman begins to go through puberty, the breasts develop and continue to grow and shape for several years, sometimes as long as up to age 20. Additionally, the breast will change shape and size during her lifetime due to weight gain and loss, pregnancy and breast feeding. The female breast has a “job” to do, that is to nourish her offspring. The amount of visible breast tissue does not necessarily limit a woman’s ability to breast feed because the hormonal stimulation during pregnancy and delivery will allow the breasts to produce milk despite their size. However, this is not the only “function” of the breast, at least from a social point of view. The female breast also has the function of making a woman “feel feminine”.
Breast Augmentation in Orange County
Many women presenting for breast augmentation do so because they feel that the size or shape of their breast prevents them from feeling feminine about their body. Some women have nearly no breast tissue, and on the other hand, some women have a good deal of breast tissue, but the shape or symmetry may make them feel un-attractive. Whatever the reason, breast enhancement surgery provides women with a chance to have more control over her feminine appeal and self image.
Orange County Otoplasty Specialist
Ear Enhancement Surgery- Dr. Amy Bandy Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
Surgery to correct protruding ears may be considered either reconstructive or cosmetic. To determine this, we must consider the function of the external ear. There are two main purposes of the external ear. The first is to help direct sound waves to the external auditory canal, thereby improving our ability to hear. Another important function of a highly visible body part such as the ear is to fall into the normal range of appearance. Ears that protrude straight out from the head do so because of abnormalities in the development of the cartilage of the ear. Such irregularities often attract unwanted attention, and children can often suffer criticism from their peers and be made the center of attention of cruel jokes and name-calling. Although some people overcome denigrating remarks and attitudes, there are more people who fade quickly into the background and hide from the attention. The degree of the deformity can range from mild to severe. The deciding factor on when a child warrants reconstructive surgery to correct their ears, is when their protruding ears are the first things that people notice when they initially meet the child.
Our awareness of body image regarding our facial features is usually evident by the age of five. This is exactly when children are starting school and making new friends and establishing how they fit into the world around them. If children begin name-calling, this can negatively affect the important self-image that the child is building of himself. The ear has completed 85 percent of its growth by the age of three. There is very little growth of the ear after age 10. Correction of the protruding ear is generally carried out from age 4 onward, depending on when the patient presents for surgery. More adults are opting to correct protruding ears for cosmetic reasons and the results can be quite gratifying, allowing for more of a variety of hairstyles than they previously felt comfortable with.
There are a number of factors in the development of the ear cartilage that affect the shape of the ear. In the majority of cases, there is a combination of too much cartilage in the central “bowl” area called the concha, combined with a lack of natural folds that develop in the area called the antihelix. There are other deformities of the ear that range from complete absence of the external ear to “cupping”or constricted ears. These are deformities that are addressed differently than the protruding ear. There are a variety of surgical techniques that address the protruding ear, and the appropriate procedure will depend on the degree of excess cartilage, the failure of antihelical folding and which of these two problems dominates the defect.
THE CONSULTATION
During your initial consultation with Dr. Bandy, your specific requests and desires are discussed and an individual examination is performed to determine the appropriate surgical procedure to be performed. Dr. Bandy will make recommendations and discuss your individual procedure and expected outcome in detail. This is your chance to ask questions, and verify if the procedure is right for you or your child.
otoplasty Orange CountyTHE OPERATION
Most otoplasties are performed on an outpatient basis, coming to the surgical facility the day of surgery and returning home the same day. Young children will require a general anesthetic and some older patients may prefer this as well. The incision for the surgery is generally hidden behind the ear or in the folds of the ear. The procedure is aimed at recontouring the cartilage to the normal configuration and this is attained by removing excess cartilage in some cases, and by placing permanent buried suture to fold the ear framework in other cases. It may be necessary to wear an elastic headband for a period of time after the procedure to allow healing. As with any surgical procedure, there are possible complications, and although rare, these will be discussed with you in detail at the time of your initial consultation. To arrange for a personal consultation with Dr. Bandy, call the office at (310) 214-8400.
Breast Reduction Specialist Newport Beach
Surgical reduction of the breast is a common plastic surgical operation. The operation has as its goal, a reduction in the size and weight of the breast to alleviate back pain, neck pain and shoulder grooving from bra marks. Patients who undergo this procedure are among the happiest patients undergoing Plastic Surgery.
Patients who have large breasts suffer from a variety of complaints. The weight of the breasts cause problems such as those mentioned above, and this is accentuated when the breast position is lower than normal. The position of the weight causes the bra to dig into the shoulders and cause neck and back pain. The pull of gravity is transferred to the neck and shoulder muscles causing spasm.
Women often become self-conscious about the size of their breasts and may suffer from unwanted attention. In addition, breast size can interfere with the ability to exercise because of pain or interference of the breasts with arm motion. Women may experience this despite the best support bras available.
This operation is performed to relieve the woman’s symptoms, and in addition, the women is quite pleased with their new breast appearance, as this procedure lifts the breasts to a higher, more youthful position on the chest wall. The majority of insurance policies will cover medically indicated breast reduction.
DIAGNOSIS AND PLANNING
During your first office visit, Dr. Bandy will examine you and determine whether you might benefit from this operation. During the examination, your general health will be discussed and measurements of the breast may be taken. You will be questioned regarding any history of breast disease, and a mammogram may be recommended prior to surgery. These measures are taken to ensure that you are in good health and will have a safe surgery. Discussion with Dr. Bandy about how much breast tissue will be removed and information regarding the risks and possible complications of the procedure will help you better understand the process. Your photos may be taken at this time, as most insurance companies require submission of photos to authorize the surgery.
THE OPERATION
Just before your operation, Dr. Bandy will mark the breasts with a felt tip marker for surgical reference.
There are several techniques for breast reduction and Dr. Bandy will discuss them with you prior to surgery. Most patients come in the day of surgery, are admitted to the hospital and after the operation stay overnight and go home the following morning, or may even choose to go home the same day after a short recovery, if medically appropriate and there is a reliable adult at home to assist in your care. On some occasions, a patient may experience nausea from the anesthesia and require an additional day in the hospital until they are able to tolerate liquids.
This information is to provide you with the basic information on Breast Reduction Surgery. If you are contemplating having this procedure, you should schedule a consultation with Dr. Amy Bandy and discuss your specific wishes and concerns, and she will be able to give you more detailed information and talk specifically to you about the procedure as it relates to you in particular. Please feel free to call us to set up your consultation at (310) 214-8400.
Beautiful Body by Dr. Amy Bandy
If you have been wanting to improve the look of your body so that you can be ready for the summer in time to wear a bikini, NOW is the time to do something about it! Dont wait until the weather starts heating up, if you have your surgery now, you have the time to recover, heal, AND start exercising to be in you best shape when summer arrives. Whether you will benefit from breast implants, a breast lift, liposuction or tummy tuck, now is the time to schedule your consultation with Dr. Amy T. Bandy, and find out what results you can achieve. Call us today to schedule your consultation. Look your best for summer!
Now that the New Year is quickly approaching, it is time to consider how to achieve that flat tummy that you have been working so hard to obtain, but still seems to be so elusive! Dr. Amy T. Bandy specializes in body contouring through either liposculpture or tummy tuck to help you achieve your best tummy. During consultation, Dr. Amy T. Bandy will examine you and discuss with you what your ideal goals are. Depending on the quality of the elasticity of your skin, Dr. Bandy may determine that liposuction or liposculpting will be your best option to attain your goals. But if you have severe strech marks, or loose hanging skin, then abdominoplasty, or tummy tuck, may be recommended by Dr. Amy Bandy to give you your flattest, tightest results. A full tummy tuck will tighten the skin of the entire abdomen, whereas a mini-tummy tuck will tighten the lower abdominal skin. Show off those abdominal muscles that you have worked so hard to achieve, but are still hiding behind the excess skin or fatty layer that you have! Dr. Amy Bandy can help you get the New You for the New Year!
Rhinoplasty, or nose beautification surgery, can be performed to change the appearance of the nose, either alone or at the same time as functional nose surgery. Funtional nose surgery is performed to correct breathing problems, such as a deviated septum or turbinate enlargement or nasal polyps. When deciding what changes you want cosmetically for your nose, it is important to keep in mind that the nose should be proportional to your other facial features to obtain your best results. During consultation, Dr. Amy T. Bandy will photograph your nose on various views. She will then discuss with you the changes that you would like to make to determine what final result you are looking for. Dr. Bandy will then computer image your photo to view with you to see if the changes she has made visually give you the result that you desire to achieve. Remember, the nose is the center of your face, and you want the best results that you can get, and this is what Dr. Amy Bandy strives to deliver; a natural look with beautiful results!
NEWPORT BEACH PLASTIC SURGEON: DR. AMY T. BANDY
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Dr. Amy T. Bandy Prides herself in being considered one of the Premier Plastic Surgeons in Newport Beach, California. Dr. Bandy enjoys educating her clients on what to expect with Plastic Surgery.
Because most people are not familiar with the normal course of healing after Plastic surgery or other medical situations, they tend to panic when anything seems “not normal” to them. This means anything that they don’t normally experience in their lives on a daily basis. For example, patients do not consider swelling, bruising, redness, and discomfort normal. Following surgery, surgeons and medical personnel DO consider swelling, bruising, redness, and discomfort normal since it is an expected part of healing.
Using good common sense will tell you that if an area has recently been operated upon, it is going to go through a healing process. Having surgery is not like going to the beauty salon for a haircut. Healing occurs in the human body by a process called inflammation. Inflammation consists of four components, which in Latin are: rubor, calor, and dolor.
1. Rubor means redness. For proper healing, blood vessels dilate and carry extra blood to the area that had surgery. This causes redness in the area.
2. Tumor means swelling. An area that has had surgery is expected to swell. This is a normal part of the inflammatory process by which we heal.
3. Calor refers to heat (like calories). This means that an area that has recently had surgery is expected to be warmer than it normally is until healed.
4. Dolor means pain. An area that recently had surgery is expected to cause discomfort. This is a normal warning system that makes an area tender to touch so that you will not disturb it while it is healing. This is a protective kind of pain.
Following surgery, most of the instructions that we give are designed to protect your blood vessels. This is to prevent postoperative bleeding. Excess straining, lifting, bending, working out at the health club, etc., will cause your blood vessels to dilate and may cause bleeding or excess swelling. At the time of the surgery, many blood vessels are divided and then sealed with an electrocautery. They do not heal together strongly, however, for approximately two weeks following surgery. If you do something strenuous you may “blow out” a healing blood vessel and cause bleeding underneath the skin which is referred to as a hematoma. If this occurs, it might require going back to surgery to repair the damage which would start the healing from the beginning. For this reason, it is sensible to limit your athletic activities for the full two-week period.
The right and left sides of the body do not heal the same. One side always swells more, hurts more, gets more numbness, or exhibits some difference over the healing period; this is normal and temporary. Example: if both eyelids have surgery, one eyelid always swells more, one side feels more numb, one side is stiffer, one side moves better than the other, etc. This may make them look quite different. These differences occur in the two sides of the face, two breasts, two hips, in the feet, or even the two sides of the same nose.
After the surgery, you have been instructed to telephone my office when you have questions that require explanation. Questions like “When can I take a shower?” Or, “Do I remove my bra to take a shower?” are certainly IMPORTANT, but they do not represent EMERGENCY questions. Important questions are to be directed to my office during standard office hours, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. We are available to respond to EMERGENCY calls 24 hours a day. Emergency calls will include things like:
1. Excessive bleeding.
2. Sudden painful swelling of one operated area with associated bruising (this does not mean slight swelling and bruising, this means what it says, sudden excessive painful swelling).
3. Fainting or loss of consciousness.
4. Excessive vomiting which is not controlled by medication.
5. Skin rash which covers a large portion of the body (not an occasional red bump).
During the time of healing, when the normal inflammatory processes and swelling distort the tissues, it is virtually impossible for you to determine what you final result will be. Do not be impatient. When you see the swelling and distortion of the tissues, please understand that this is NORMAL during early healing (at least two weeks). It is also temporary. For instance, when cheek implants or chin implants are placed, there is a considerable swelling around them during the early weeks following surgery. This does not mean the implants are two large, or that they are
malpositioned. It means that your body is healing normally and has swelling around the implants. How long will the swelling last? It varies form one patient to another, but may persist in the cheekbone areas or chin areas for a month or two. Not two days – not five days – but a month or two.
BREAST IMPLANTS, which are placed behind the muscle, may require three months or more before the muscle stretches out and allows the breast to shape itself the way it finally will be. Actually, it requires three to twelve months before the final shape is achieved. It is impossible for you to tell the exact size and shape that your breast will be or the size of the breast implants, which are used during the first few weeks after surgery. This is due to tightness of the pectoral muscle, tightness of the skin and breast tissue over the implant (which makes them look smaller) and swelling (which makes them look larger) than the final result will be. The implant which was used is the one agreed upon at you preoperative consultation, and will give the result which you selected by looking at photographs. During early healing, however, your breast may appear larger than you think you selected, or smaller than you think you selected, depending on you own tissues. Please give them time to heal normally before panicking. All of these things will be discussed at your regular postoperative appointments, and do not require a phone call in the middle of the night or over the weekend. Actually, it requires three to twelve months before the final shape is achieved. Not three days, not ten days, anywhere from three months to a year.
NASAL SURGERY the lower one third of the nose requires approximately 12 months to lose all of the swelling which occurs following surgery. Patients find this very hard to understand, and while the nose will show marked improvement within two to three weeks following surgery, the nose will not refine itself or lose all of its swelling for at least one year. Mark the date on your calendar. Not two weeks, two months – one year.
EYELID swelling normally goes down pretty fast, and eyelids often look good within a week or two. They are not healed in a short time, however the eyelids normally feel stiff for at least six to twelve weeks following surgery, especially when you attempt to look up.
Following FACELIFT surgery, there is a numbness of the cheeks and around the ears from six weeks to one year, This numbness gradually goes away, but is part of the normal healing process. Minor lumps may be felt beneath the skin, and the face and neck may feel stiff for six to twelve weeks.
You are not expected to know everything about how you will heal after surgery; however you are expected to use good common sense.
I hope that this explanation helps explain what you can anticipate following your surgery. Please follow your instructions, but use your own common sense as well to help us help you heal the way we both want.
Have you wanted whiter teeth without the hassle of trays or the sensitivity from harsh chemicals? We now offer “Liquid Smile”, a professional whitening agent that is painted on to each individual tooth just before bedtime. In as little as 2-3 days, many people can already see a difference in their smile! Call us for information on how you too can achieve a “winter white” smile for the holidays!
Breast Lift Surgery Newport Beach
To achieve the best breast shape often requires lifting the breasts to a youthful position. With weight loss, pregnancy, breast feeding and the aging process, gravity continually affects the position of the breasts. The skin becomes loose, and the underlying breast tissue descends to a lower position on the chest wall. Breast lift, or mastopexy, is performed to tighten the skin and lift the breasts higher to give a tighter more youthful shape. There are several types of mastopexy incisions to accomplish this result, and the amount of loose skin and how low the nipples are positioned on the breast will determine which lift procedure will ultimately result in the best end result for each person.
Dr. Amy Bandy