View From ASPS: Plastic Surgeons Like It Hot

By Denise Mann
WebMD Guest Blogger

Oct. 29, 2009 (Seattle) -- Botox breast lifts, cleavage rejuvenation, fat injections in your butts, and breast and penis enlargement surgery.

No, this is not a rundown of hot topics discussed by the ladies of The View, it’s a mere snippet of the equally edgy -- and at times, bawdy -- subjects broached by leading plastic surgeons at the aptly titled topics “hot topics” session of the annual meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) in Seattle.

And just like on The View, very little was off limits for this esteemed panel. Mark P. Solomon, MD, a Philadelphia-based plastic surgeon wowed the crowd by discussing a surgery that can add width and length to a man’s penis. Seeing is believing. And if before-and-after pictures can be believed, it really works. I kid you not.

And that was just the tip of the hot topics. Overall, there was less talk, and more action at this year’s ASPS meeting as new treatments moved to the breast and body. I’m talking about fat-melting injections with Lipodissolve -- a once controversial therapy that involves injecting a cocktail of chemicals into muffin tops, saddle bags, love handles, or other trouble spots to dissolve fat cells.

Several years back, V. Leroy Young, MD, a plastic surgeon in St. Louis known as a savvy clinical trialist and scion of surgical safety, began investigating this therapy. He was a skeptic at the time, but now Young is a believer. While the final results are not tallied, Lipodissolve may actually melt away fat.

What’s more, plastic surgeons have been talking about taking fat from thighs, butts, and other areas where it is plentiful and injecting it into the breast for cosmetic reasons for years. Some say it has merits, while detractors fear that it may mar mammograms, be mistaken for early breast cancer or even worse, cause cancer. But these fears are being dismissed by studies, and fat injections to the breast may be here to stay.

Plastic surgery is not all about nipping, tucking, and sucking or zapping away fat. There is another side to plastic surgery and plastic surgeons. The reconstructive side of the biz may not garner as many tabloid headlines as the sexy, celebrity-driven procedures like fat injections to the breast or cleavage rejuvenation, but reconstructive plastic surgery holds the power to save and changes lives every day.

This year’s meeting showed all of us how. An injured Iraqi citizen, a port wine stain patient, a breast reconstruction patient, and a patient who had skin cancer on her nose received the Patients of Courage: Triumph Over Adversity awards. Listening to these award winners tell their stories and talk about the doctors who treated them will forever change how you think about plastic surgery and plastic surgeons.