The Evolution of Carrot Top

TMZ.com has a post on the Evolution of Carrot Top, the comedian with the frizzy red hair. He's undergone quite a few changes over the years, not the least of which is an excessively arched brow possibly due to a combination of Botox and a Browlift. His face looks extremely smooth as well, and may be the result of laser treatments or chemical peels.
No matter what he has done, one thing doesn't change: My delight that his extremely annoying 1-800 Call ATT commercials are no longer on the air.

Photo and story credit: tmz.com

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

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Which Presidential Candidate Most Matches Your Views?

Every so often there is an interesting non-plastic surgery website that I like to pass on to readers. This is a good one.
Selectsmart.com has a questionaire that matches you up with whichever presidential candidate most matches your views. There are 26 questions in all (takes 5 minutes, tops), and it allows you to place certain emphasis on issues which are most important to you (Iraq War, Health Care, Reefer, etc.). Try it and let me know if you are surprised at your results!

FYI: My top two matches were Rudy Giuliani (62%) and Hillary Clinton (61%), so I'm still undecided! Not surprising, since I am somewhat of a 'moderate.'

Link to site: click here.

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

Quick Hits

1. A 32 year old Toronto woman dies after having liposuction performed by a family physician/cosmetic surgeon. This is an unfortunate reminder that there are too many non-plastic surgeons who are performing plastic surgery without informing their patients of their lack of training and credentials. A cosmetic surgeon is not the same as a plastic surgeon. Click here for the article. Click here for my website page on how to choose a plastic surgeon.

2. Heidi Montag confirms that she's had a breast augmentation and rhinoplasty. Really? I didn't notice. Click here.

3. The Australian navy spent over $1.1 million for aesthetic plastic surgery (tummy tucks, breast augmentation, etc.) on its service personnel. I've heard stories about this with the U.S. military too, but have no concrete information on it. On a not-quite-so-related note, did you know that Medicare pays for penile implants for old men with erectile dysfunction? We have people living on the streets and children going without proper health care, and our tax dollars pay for this? Sigh. Click here.

Photo credit: prphotos.com

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

The Formula for Perfect Breasts?

A British cosmetic surgeon has announced that he has developed a 'formula' for determining what he believes are the perfect breasts. He spent hours pouring over topless models to develop his theories. In his opinion, the celebrity with the most perfect breasts is Caprice, and the one with the worst breasts is Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice). According to the Daily Mail:

Mr Mallucci said: "These findings allowed me to form a template around which to plan a breast augmentation, and set a standard of aesthetics.
Obviously personal interpretation and expression has to be accounted for, but this has allowed me to develop a template that I have been using successfully for some time. The key aesthetic elements are nipple position and the proportion between the upper and lower halves of the breast, he said.
The ideal is a 45 to 55 per cent proportion - that is the nipple sits not at the half-way mark down the breast, but at about 45 per cent from the top..."

Mr. Malluci is not the first plastic surgeon who has attempted to simplify beauty into a mathematical formula. Dr. Steve Hoefflin is a plastic surgeon who developed a very complex mathematical equation for facial beauty, which he described in his book "The Beautiful Face." In it, he uses the 'angles' and 'highlights' of a face to develop a numerical score of beauty. It's extremely complicated, but definitely interesting.

Here's my take: I don't like the idea of distilling everything down to mathematics. While it seems that everything nowadays can be explained by math (such as why music sounds melodic), I believe that beauty is not something that needs to be completely explained in this way. When performing plastic surgery, I do use some of these mathematical formulas to help determine what will give my patient the best result, but there is definitely an element of 'using my eye' to it as well. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. (And I'm sure that David Beckham likes his wife's breasts!)

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

Barry Manilow's Plastic Surgery

Barry Manilow recently performed for the Today show. Wow, has he had some work done! According to the National Enquirer (Aug 6, 2007), he underwent a facelift in 1995, another facelift with upper and lower blepharoplasty in 2003, and an additional facelift in 2006, as well as regular Botox injections.

When you compare his 'before' photo (1978) with the photo taken just a week ago, you can see that his brows and eyelids look very similar. His cheeks, however, are quite a bit fuller now, possibly signifying overdone fat grafting, cheek implants, or both. His skin is unnaturally taut for a 61 year old man, a sign of the previously mentioned facelifts with possible chemical peels or laser treatments.

While it's nice to hear that his voice sounds as pristine as ever, I'd like to see a bit more natural aging to his face. I believe that facial plastic surgery can create a very natural appearance when the goal is to take 10-20 years off someone. When we start to go after 25, 30, or even 40 years then people start looking fake. Maybe he should dedicate his song, "I Can't Smile Without You," to his plastic surgeon (no, not me).

Photo credit: pr photos.com

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

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Man wakes up during his own autopsy

An interesting, non-plastic surgery story: A Venezuelan man woke up in a morgue after a car wreck in extreme pain-- during his own autopsy. According to Reuters.com:

Carlos Camejo, 33, was declared dead after a highway accident and taken to the morgue, where examiners began an autopsy only to realize something was amiss when he started bleeding. They quickly sought to stitch up the incision on his face.
“I woke up because the pain was unbearable,” Camejo said, according to a report on Friday in leading local newspaper El Universal.

I'm just a plastic surgeon, but whenever I declared someone dead (as a general surgery resident) I would usually check to make sure they weren't breathing and had no pulse. Just a thought.

Thanks to Kevin MD medical blog for the story.

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

Breast Augmentation News Story on Fox 2 Detroit

I was recently featured on a the local Fox affiliate here in Detroit in a segment about the rising popularity of silicone gel implants. They follow one of my patients through her breast augmentation surgery with Memory Gel implants. Check it out here if you have a minute and are interested.

Thanks to Lila Lazarus and Sean Lee of Fox 2 Detroit for the nice story!

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

Megan Fox - Rhinoplasty?

Has Transformers actor Megan Fox had a rhinoplasty? Based on these photos from MakeMeHeal.com, it looks like it. She looks great. It appears natural and lets the other attractive features of her face stand out (her eyes, cheeks, and lips). That's my definition of a good rhinoplasty.

For a more in depth analysis, visit MakeMeHeal.com

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

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The World's Largest Breasts and Silly String Implants

Every so often I get an email from a reader with photos of a woman with horribly large breasts. One reader recently sent me a link to Body Philosophy's The World's Largest Breasts article, which can be found here. (Proceed with caution)Most of these women have been implanted with 'string implants,' which are composed of polyprolene strings that apparently expand the longer they are in the breast. They are not currently approved by the FDA, but for a short time were used here in the States for breast augmentation. They often enlarged the breasts to insane sizes, making Pam Anderson look like...well... me. I have never seen these implants nor anyone with them, and hope they are never used again. Plastic surgeons should always remember we are doctors first and plastic surgeons second. We should never to perform a procedure where the risks outweigh the benefits.

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

Courtney Love - Lip Surgery?

Courtney Love continues to be in the news regarding plastic surgery. She was recently photographed at a London club looking like she has a new scar along her bottom lip. She recently stated (link) that she was planning on getting the plastic surgery she had performed on her lips corrected, and it seems she has. It's quite possible at one time she had a permanent lip implant placed (such as Gortex), causing her lip to look large, stiff, and unnatural. Usually it can be removed with a small incision at the corner of the mouth, but at times it may be necessary to completely fillet the lip open. This may be what has happened to her. The scars usually heal pretty well, but I still am not a fan of lip implants. I'd rather use an injectable like Restylane or Juvederm.

Most patients would let it heal for a couple weeks before going out to a bar though! Maybe she figured the alcohol in her drinks would help prevent it from getting infected...

Photo and story credit: Daily mail

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

Britney Spears, MTV, and Her Tummy

There have been a lot of people commenting about Britney Spears and how she looked at the MTV Video Music Awards last Sunday. Dr. Rob Oliver at Plastic Surgery 101 has a balanced commentary from a plastic surgeon's perspective which is a nice read.
From my standpoint, I think she looked good for someone who's had two children. Sure, her performance was terrible (closer to Ashlee Simpson than Milli Vanilli), and she should have worn more clothing, but geez, are some people cruel. The New York Post's "Lard & Clear Loser" headline is exaggerated at best. Hopefully her new album will silence her critics, but I doubt it.

p.s. Nope, she didn't have a tummy tuck after all. I knew it!

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

Buzz Aldrin Has a Facelift

Buzz Aldrin has admitted to having a facelift in a recent issue of Time magazine. When asked why he decided to get a facelift at the age of 77, he answered:


It's kind of funny, but I've been exposed to a lot of G-forces as a fighter pilot and in space. That caused a sagging jowl that needed some attention.


I'm not sure about the exact date of the surgery, but the photo here is from July 10, 2007. I guess it would be before his facelift.


I believe you can never be too old for plastic surgery, just too unhealthy. I'd rather operate on a healthy, non-smoking 77 year old than an unhealthy 55 year old.

Photo credit: prphotos.com

Story credit: Time.com

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

Osama bin Makeover

Raincoaster.com has a funny post on the recent Osama video. They think that Osama bin Rhinoplasty'd, Osama bin Browplucked, and Osama bin Restylaned. How funny! What about Osama bin Grecian Formula'd, Osama bin Contour Thread Lifted, and Osama bin G-shotted?

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

Dayna Devon - Tummy Tuck

Dayna Devon, host of Extra, has a brief video diary of her recent modified tummy tuck performed by her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Brent Moelleken. Yes, even Hollywood's rich, famous, and beautiful have problems with loose skin after pregnancies.

While I won't comment on Dr. Moelleken operating on his wife (many plastic surgeons do operate on their spouses), I don't think I would perform any surgery on my wife except maybe removal of a mole.
Frankly, I don't have any desire to see her insides.
Plus, as a physician, I was taught not to medically treat family members. What if that family member had a complication? That could create a lot of guilt, bad feelings, or possibly even ruin a relationship. Even worse, imagine the guilt one would have if that family member died or was permanently crippled. I do think all physicians need to consider these possibilities prior to medically treating a loved one. I'd rather have one of my colleagues do it (as long as they do it exactly the way I tell them to...)

Link to video: click here.

To view a video of a tummy tuck I performed for Fox News, click here.

Thanks for reading.
Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

What 'American' accent do you have?

This has nothing to do with plastic surgery but is a little fun diversion. I've always been told that I have a 'Michigan' accent, which to me seems like no accent at all. Sure, I call 'soda' 'pop' and may sound a little more nasally than the next guy, but I never thought I actually had an accent. Below is a quiz which determines just what type of 'American' accent you have. This is how it pegged me:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Philadelphia
The South
The West
The Inland North
Boston
North Central
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Thanks to my cousins John and Eunice for the tip. (Congrats on the upcoming baby!)

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

Matt Dillon Rhinoplasty

Good Plastic Surgery.com and Cityrag.com have displayed these photos of Matt Dillon's supposed rhinoplasty. Looks like a nice job to me.
One thing I learned during my time in Beverly Hills is that a very large number of Hollywood stars have had their noses done. This is probably the most common plastic surgery among celebrities, with the possible exception of liposuction. Most noses look pretty darn good (Ashlee Simpson), a few have been ill advised (Jennifer Grey), and some are downright hideous (Courtney Love).

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.:

Richard Gere on his Plastic Surgery

According to starpulse.com, Richard Gere recently said:

"I'm 57, how much longer can I be a sex symbol? If people think I still look good, well, that's because I have a lot of plastic surgery."

Yeah, I do think he was joking. Must be that Zen tranquility has done him well. I thought he was great in Chicago.

Photo credit: prphotos.com

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Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.: