Is social media leading to more plastic surgery?
Shape
That profile picture — these days, it's every new "friend's" first impression of you. With more than 400 million people utilizing social media, it's become the primary way to meet and connect with people. But when you put that picture up on Facebook for the entire world to see, are you prepared for their response? "Social media sites center around photos," says New York-based plastic surgeon Dr. Matthew Schulman. "Everyone wants to see how their high school girlfriend or boyfriend looks now and no one wants to be perceived as ugly or old." Some say this insecurity is prompting some people to go under the knife, simply so they can project a better image in cyberspace.More

Mark your calendar
AAFPRS
Mark your calendar for the following upcoming AAFPRS meetings:

• Fall Meeting — Washington, D.C., Sept. 5-8
• Advances in Rhinoplasty — Chicago, May 8-11

Baby boomers put their necks on the line
The Philadelphia Inquirer
In her best-selling book "I Feel Bad About My Neck," the late author Nora Ephron wrote, "I can't stand people who say that "it's great to be old, great to be at the point where you understand what really matters in life." What can they be thinking? Don't they have necks?"More

University of Pittsburgh department to help advance next generation of plastic surgeons
Tribune-Review
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine stepped up training of next-generation plastic surgeons by starting a Department of Plastic Surgery, as top surgeons screen candidates for Pittsburgh's first face transplant. Dr. J. Peter Rubin, the department's inaugural chairman, said the university's decision reflects the growth of plastic surgery as an independent discipline and "the prominent role that the University of Pittsburgh has played in advancing the frontiers of this specialty."More

Canadian hospital set to be a facial transplant center
The Globe and Mail
A precisely skilled Dr. Dan Alam performs face transplant surgery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, largest hospital, carefully cutting — at times sawing and hammering — as he tries to peel more and more skin away. It's gruesome stuff. But the group of Nova Scotia surgeons in this chilly operating theater, surrounding the superstar plastic surgeon from Ohio, are fascinated as they watch the doctor's hands at work. He is pulling the face off a cadaver and he is teaching these surgeons the technique and nuances of transplanting a human face. He is part of the first head and neck transplant course in the world.More

Direct primary closure feasible for lower lip reconstruction
HealthDay News via Doctors Lounge
Direct primary closure without undermining is a reliable method of reconstructing vermilionectomy defects of the lower lip, according to research published online June 18 in the British Journal of Dermatology. Dr. Rupert B.M. Barry and colleagues from the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, U.K., described a case series of 17 patients who underwent vermilionectomy repair by direct closure without undermining. Postoperative cosmetic, functional and sensory results were presented for the modified technique.More

Kris Jenner's fiasco: Food allergy or lip filler?
The Orange County Register
Some plastic surgeons say it's unlikely that Kris Jenner had a bad reaction to food when her top lip blew up in a recent episode of "Keeping up with the Kardashians." While food was cited as a possible culprit on the show, the doctors suspect lip injections gone awry.More

Factors that contribute to nose job prices
Zimbio
Rhinoplasty is the most common plastic surgery procedures to shape the nose. However, there is a greater cost involved for the patients, which should prompt you to know about the costs in details before having the services of the surgeon. Rhinoplasty surgery costs remain on the higher side due to many factors.More

More men are getting plastic surgery
WMAR-TV
According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, male plastic surgery procedures are on the rise in the United States. The latest study shows nearly 800,000 procedures are for men. Liposuction, rhinoplasty and eyelid surgery were the most common procedures. People ages 35 to 64 account for 71 percent of all cosmetic in the U.S., and 9 percent of cosmetic procedures in the U.S. were performed in men, representing a 121 percent increase since 1997.More

Facebook, Skype give cosmetic surgery industry a lift
Betabeat
One day in 2008, while using the popular video chat service Skype, Tina Consorti had an uncomfortable realization. She didn't like how she looked on the little Web screen. Her chin was sagging a bit, and shadowy wrinkles were forming like rings on a tree stump around her neck. It actually wasn't so bad in the mirror, but on Skype and other social media services, the flaws seemed amplified.More

Plastic surgery questions: Expected costs of basic procedures
Sleek Gossip
Curious about the price tags for popular plastic surgery procedures? Expect some hefty costs, depending on the procedure you choose. From hosting group Botox parties to scheduling collagen injections on your lunch hour, never before has it been so easy and so socially acceptable to be a little nipped and tucked. Plastic surgery, it seems, has finally broken the boundaries of a subject once considered publicly "taboo." Even though plastic surgery has exploded in its exposure, access and acceptance, it is still just that — surgery. And it can definitely carry a hefty price tag in matters of the mind, body and wallet.More