Watch first two segments of their story on 20 / 20 ABC News.

The top cosmetic surgical procedures among specific racial groups include facelift surgery for patients of Asian descent, liposuction for patients of African descent and abdominoplasty for Hispanic patients.

“Feeling better about yourself and making improvements to your looks is thankfully not limited to a specific race or culture,” comments AACS President Mark Berman MD.

Interestingly, more than 30 percent of the respondents said they when seeking a procedure, they would seek out a cosmetic surgeon of the same racial group as themselves, although many believed this would be a difficult task.

Most cosmetic surgeons are aware of the special considerations for patients of varying racial groups.  For most procedures, ethnic characteristics are not a significant factor to consider.  However, in procedures like rhinoplasty (nose reshaping) or eyelid surgery, the surgeon may need to take these characteristics into account.  Most patients want to improve their appearance but few want to erase the distinct markers or traits that signify membership within a certain group.

Related Links

• What is Asian Eyelid Surgery?
• Preserving uniqueness of features in Rhinoplasty
• American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery

“Because the economy is bad, these women who are used to getting these treatments will now get them whatever way then can,” says Dr Shino Bay Aguilera to reporters for msnbc.  Other doctors quoted for the story agree and say they now collect payment before they administer an outpatient, non-surgical procedure.

How do Botox bandits pull it off?  They either write a fraudulent check or simply waltz out the door.  The woman in south Florida who was profiled in the story left her purse on the front desk as a diversion, making the staff believe she was walking to a nearby ATM and would return to get the purse.  Of course, she never did and now likely faces criminal charges.

Dr. Samir Pancholi, a cosmetic surgeon in Las Vegas, says this has happened in his office on 3 different ocassions: “The first time, it was a woman in her 50s who came in and got treatment, then said, ‘My purse is in the car, I’ll go grab it and be right back.’ Then she was gone.”

Read the article and see the video on msnbc.com

Jeffrey Frentzen, editor of Plastic Surgery Practice, asked 3 experts about their beginnings in the body contouring cosmetic surgery.  Participants included Dr. Cuzalina of Tulsa Surgical Arts, Greensburg cosmetic surgeon Michael Kluska and plastic surgeon Dr. Steven R. Cohen of San Diego.

The question posed for this episode was, “How did you become interested in body contouring and what were the first tools you used when working in this area?”

Dr. Cuzalina said the following:

Two years into my practice I met a doctor in Oklahoma who was doing 14 gastric bypass surgeries a week.  We became friends and he’d seen some of my other work on tummy tucks so he began referring me patients.  All of a sudden, I was inundated with all these patients who had open gastric bypass surgery.  At that time with the vertical scar down the middle of their belly, the common solution was to do the inverted T tummy tuck, what’s known as the “fleur-de-lis.”  It worked very well, and it [the surgery scar) was ok because you already had a vertical scar so you can get some really nice tightening around the abdomen.  You end up doing a lot of surgery because they all need not only their belly, but their breasts, arms, thighs and everything done.

Listen to the podcast to catch the rest of the series and hear responses for the other surgeons who participated.  Click here to read more about body contouring surgery in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The report explores a dilemma such as this:  Do we judge a person on his or her personality, character, or competence in the workplace?  Or do we allow a sort of beauty-bias to affect our judgment?  Writers for Newsweek uncover many examples of the latter and theorize about their causes and consequences.

“Looking good is no longer something we can ignore or dismiss as frivolous or vain,” argues reporter Jessica Bennet.  Questions of fairness aside, the statistics support her argument:

• “A good-looking man will make some $250,000 more than his least-attractive counterpart, according to economist Daniel Hamermesh.”
• “Fifty-seven percent of hiring managers told Newsweek that qualified but unattractive candidates are likely to have a harder time landing a job.”
• “More than half of those hiring managers advised spending as much time and money on “making sure they look attractive” as on perfecting a résumé.”

More surprising statistics are cited throughout the report, but what’s more interesting are the biological and psychological explanations for the beauty advantage.  Is our bias an appreciation of the Platonic ideal form?  Are we unconsciously surrounding ourselves with attractive people in order to produce healthy offspring?  It’s unlikely that a single answer can satisfy our curiosity on this topic.

For many people in our generation, it comes down to an individual choice: how far will you go in your pursuit of beauty?  In the continuum of choices you can make to change your appearance, it’s not always clear where to draw the line.  Many people are quite satisfied with little more than a stylish wardrobe or haircut, but not every person begins their pursuit with the same beauty advantage.

According to Dr. Cuzalina, complications like this are uncommon but often problematic.

Any infection in a breast implant is unwanted by both patient and surgeon.  They are fortunately very rare (just less than 3 in 1000 patients), but a breast implant infection is difficult to deal with when they do occur and almost always require implant removal.  Having massive implants just complicates the problem further due to the excess skin after removal.

Certain infections such as methocillin resistant staph (MRSA) are becoming more common in today’s society and require more aggressive treatment.  Patients should let their surgeon know if redness or unusual pain occurs along with fever combined with a general feeling of extreme malaise during the first few weeks following breast augmentation.

In an interview with her local television station, Ms. Hershey expressed regret for choosing extremely large breast implants and suggested that reaching her goal of having the world’s largest breasts wasn’t actually satisfying.  Demonstrating her daily routine on video, it’s clear that she’s a very dedicated and strong-willed woman.

“Sheyla takes her craft seriously,” says the model’s official website.  After 32 surgical procedures on her breast, lips and buttocks, she seems very comfortable going under the knife and talking about it publicly.

Fox News has a series of video interviews with Sheyla Hershey and you can read regular updates about her status on her website, sheylahershey.net

The last two years have seen a decrease in the use of collagen-based dermal fillers—and it shows in the announcements by two leading makers, Allergan and Johnson & Johnson, that they will no longer produce their respective collagen products (the human-derived CosmoDerm and CosmoPlast, the bovine Zyderm and Zyplast for Allergan; the porcine Evolence for Johnson & Johnson). For more than two decades, collagen has been the preferred filler for many cosmetic surgeons. Considering the origins of donor tissue, it is understandable that questions could arise. Plus, collagen-based fillers require skin allergy testing and are relatively short-lived compared to the next generation of fillers.

As in many markets, money drives the evolution of new products, and dermal fillers are no exception. The popularity of non-animal hyaluronic acid (HA) dermal fillers (known as replacement fillers because they replace lost volume) and PLLA and PMMA fillers (known as stimulatory fillers because they stimulate collagen and fibroblast production) has been strong in the recent past. Radiesse, Juvéderm, Perlane, Restylane, and Sculptra currently dominate the US market. Dermatologists report HA, PMMA, and PLLA fillers as being more versatile, longer-lasting, bulkier, and better for deep-volume filling than collagen.

But what about fine and thin line use, such as for foreheads or smokers lines around the mouth? Collagen was usually considered better for those applications. But Restylane Fine Lines is one HA product that makers hope to take over what used to be collagen territory.

What will the world of dermal fillers look like in the future?  Change is certainly underway. Although fillers that indirectly stimulate fibroblast production are holding sway, direct injection of fibroblasts with Human Dermal Fibroblasts (HDFs) may be a trend. UK dermatologists are currently testing Valveta, a filler derived from the foreskins of male babies that is reputed to repopulate skin with healthy young cells and be long-lasting, if not permanent.

You may remember last year’s campaign led by Brooke Shields.  This year, the campaign is led by lifestyle designer Kathy Ireland, professional ballroom dancer Chelsie Hightower and style guide Bobbie Thomas.

“With approximately 1.5 million bottles sold since launching the product a little more than a year ago, LATISSE is giving back by helping the Make-A-Wish Foundation grant the wishes of children. Through the campaign, we will double each individual’s donation, with a maximum donation of $250,000, through October 31,” said Robert Grant, President of Allergan Medical, a division of Allergan, Inc.

Read more about purchasing Latisse in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Dr. Cuzalina says this:

Over the last five years, when the change happened from open gastric bypass surgery to laparoscopic bypass, I [began] doing very few inverted T tummy tucks and a lot more butt lifts.  So I tend to do the tummy tuck first and the butt lift later, combined with a thigh lift.  But I really don’t like the idea of a circumferential body lift because they are two opposing forces.  It got popular [because] everybody likes to talk about a body lift or belt lipectomy, but when you pull down on the stomach and up on the buttocks, you’re flexing the patient two different directions and can’t get them as tight as you would like.

That’s the one thing that has really changed significantly over the last five years for me.  I’ve stopped doing as many inverted T tummy tucks and I’ve stopped doing as many belt lipectomies. I think I give the patient a much better result if I just do their breast and tummy initially, combined together.  Then later on in a separate stage do their butt lift and possibly thigh lifting.

Dr. Michael Kluska, a cosmetic surgeon in Pittsburgh, and Steven Cohen MD of California are also featured on the podcast discussing this topic.

Listen to it