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Your Face Loves Being Pampered with AquaGold

AquaGold

woman portrait with fresh green exotic tropical leaves No matter if you’re in Calgary or Columbia, we could all use a little help with our facial skin.

Whether sun damage, stress, environmental factors, or simply the decline of collagen that comes with aging, our facial skin shows our age sooner than we’d like. Fine lines and wrinkles, areas of volume loss, pigmentation problems — they all add up.

In our JECT Medical Aesthetics area of Dr. Frank’s practice, we use the AquaGold facial to improve these facial skin problems. AquaGold combines microneedling with mesotherapy to create thousands of microscopic channels in the skin and then to deliver a personalized cocktail of Botox & HA filler through those channels directly into the dermis.

The result is impressive improvement in your facial skin. Your skin will love our AquaGold facials.

How does AquaGold work?

AquaGold’s secret is a handpiece with a tip made up of 20 gold-plated microneedles. Each of these needles is about the width of a human hair. They are made of steel for strength and then are coated with 24-karat gold for easy penetration into the skin. For every AquaGold treatment at Dr. Frank’s we use a new tip, ensuring the needles are sterile and free from any impurities.

The AquaGold handpiece is moved across the skin surface and the needles move up and down. They reach a depth of 600 microns, which is the ideal depth for insertion of the various ingredients that will fortify the skin. This depth penetrates the epidermis (the skin’s outer layer) and enters the dermis (the skin’s second layer). The needles provide microneedling, while at the same time introducing vitamins, peptides, stem cells, and other beneficial ingredients.

What does an AquaGold facial treat?

Our AquaGold facials improve the skin across the treatment areas. Specifically, they improve facial issues such as:

  • Fine lines and wrinkles
  • Acne scarring
  • Decreased skin elasticity
  • Areas of uneven skin texture
  • Areas of volume loss
  • Age spots and pigmentation problems

How many AquaGold treatments will I need?

These can be stand-alone treatments, especially before a big event. But we recommend having an AquaGold facial every three months or so to provide your skin with an ongoing boost in collagen production. This helps keep up with the decline in collagen that comes with the aging process.

Your facial skin wants an AquaGold facial at JECT Aesthetics in Dr. Frank’s! Call us at (403) 245-1228 to schedule your AquaGold session.

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Breast Revision Surgery

Breast Revision Surgery

sexy young woman model in sexy dressDr. Frank has many new patients come see him seeking a revision procedure for their breast augmentation. There are various reasons why a patient may seek revision surgery. Here are the main issues to be addressed with these procedures.

Capsular contracture

When an implant is placed into the body, there is a reaction, as you would assume. This reaction is called the “capsule” and it is made up of calcified cells and scar tissue. If this capsule becomes very thick and causes the implant to shift or the breast to feel very firm, or if there is pain from the constricting scar tissue, this is called capsular contracture. If the capsule is very calcified, Dr. Frank will remove it along with the implant. If it isn’t, he usually will leave it in place. If there is a rupture of a silicone implant, the capsule may contain silicone shell fragments, silicone gel, and inflammatory cells that all need to be removed prior to placing new implants. This is especially the case with silicone implants older than 15 years.

Changing the implant size

Sometimes a patient comes to Dr. Frank unhappy with her choice of implant size. The first thing he advises is to wait one full year before opting to make a change. This allows for any swelling to fully subside and for the implants to settle. If the patient still wants to change her implant size, Dr. Frank will enter through the original incision on each breast. If a larger implant is desired, he will increase the size of the pocket, the space in the breast to hold the implant. If the patient seeks smaller implants, he will reduce the size of the pocket with sutures to fit the smaller implants. In cases of reduction, a breast lift may be done in conjunction with the implant revision to remove any sagging tissue and possibly relocate the nipples.

Implant position

Sometimes a less experienced surgeon will place the implant pockets either too far away or too close together and the patient is not happy with the placement. In these cases, Dr. Frank will use scar tissue from the capsule and will reconstruct new pockets for the implants in better positions.

Implant rippling

Implant rippling is usually only a problem that occurs with saline implants. It happens when the implants are placed atop the chest muscle, and they show rippling or even the edges of the implants can be felt. In these cases, Dr. Frank enters through the original incision and replaces the implants with better muscle coverage. This may involve switching implant types and/or placing them in new breast pockets.

Implant removal

When a patient decides she no longer wants to have her implants, they are removed through the same incisions. Dr. Frank will also remove the capsule if it is calcified and thick. In most cases, a breast lift will be recommended because the skin has stretched with the implant size. A lift will remove this excess skin and breast tissue and bring the smaller breasts back up higher on the chest.

While breast augmentation is a life-changing procedure, the results may not be what the patient had hoped for. Of course, expectations need to be realistic. But this is another reason to opt for a board-certified surgeon with extensive experience, such as Dr. Frank, to perform the surgery. Do your research beforehand and the odds are you’ll be happy with your results.

Are you interested in breast augmentation, or do you have questions about a procedure performed elsewhere? Call Dr. Frank at (403) 245-1228 to schedule a consultation.

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Give Your Skin Some Love in 2022

AquaGold, Medical Aesthetics

beauty portrait of a laughing beautiful half naked woman applying face cream Coming into a New Year after another forgettable calendar of COVID, your skin deserves some love. Give it AquaGold.

Huh?

We know, that kind of sounds like the latest Marvel superhero or something. But AquaGold actually combines microneedling with a form of mesotherapy to rejuvenate the skin. We offer it in JECT Medical Aesthetics at Dr. Frank’s.

What is AquaGold?

If you’re reading Dr. Frank’s blog, you probably know about microneedling. The concept is to create hundreds of microscopic punctures into the epidermis layer of the skin, down into the skin’s second layer, the dermis. These punctures are so small they heal within just a few hours, but they trigger a wound response in the body. This response is to remodel existing collagen in the area, and to initiate the production of new collagen to send to “heal” the perceived wounds. This improves skin tone, texture, and firmness.

Mesotherapy has been used in Europe for weight loss. Traditional mesotherapy involves multiple injection below the dermis into the mesoderm, the layer below the dermis where the body’s connective tissues can be found. AquaGold doesn’t seek fat reduction, but it injects active ingredients such as plant extracts, enzymes, peptides, and vitamins deep into the skin with the goal of tightening and rejuvenating the skin.

How does AquaGold work?

AquaGold’s secret is a handpiece with a tip made up of 20 gold-plated needles. Each of these needles is about the width of a human hair. For a AquaGold treatment at JECT Medical Aesthetics we use a new tip for each patient, ensuring the needles are sterile and free from any reactions.

The AquaGold handpiece is moved across the skin surface and the needles move up and down. They reach a depth of 600 microns, which is the ideal depth for insertion of the various ingredients that will fortify the skin. The needles provide microneedling, while at the same time introducing vitamins, peptides, stem cells, and other beneficial ingredients.

Give your skin something to glow about in 2022 with an AquaGold treatment in JECT Medical Aesthetics at Dr. Frank’s Call us at (403) 245-1228 to schedule your session with one of our advance nurse injectors.

Give Your Skin Some Love in 2022 Read More »

Don’t Take the 11s to Your Holiday Party

Botox

Beauty woman healthy skin fresh clean beautiful faceWith the beauty of Calgary and the surrounding mountains, whether we’re out hiking at Cascade Mountain, skiing at Nakiska Ski Area, or at a million other locales for outdoor fun, we get our fair share of sun. That means we’re also doing lots of squinting. Over time crow’s feet show up at the outside of the eyes and those irritating frown lines (colloquially known as the 11s) form between our eyebrows. You can throw in lines on your forehead.

All of those form due to hundreds of thousands of expressions we make over our lifetime. Eventually, as our skin thins and our collagen declines, wrinkles start to form on the surface skin above these muscle contractions.

But you don’t have to bring your crow’s feet or forehead lines to your social events this holiday season. Botox can erase them! Come see us at JECT Medical Aesthetics in Dr. Frank’s practice, and let’s get you ready for those parties with a Botox session.

What is Botox?

Botox is made primarily from the botulinum toxin type A, the same bacteria that are known to cause botulism. What you may not know is that the botulinum toxin type A also occurs throughout the natural world, commonly found on plants, in soil, water, and the intestinal tracts of animals.

All of that sounds kind of scary, but it’s not. Way back in the late 1940s, scientists studying the botulinum toxin found that when it was injected in very minute doses into a muscle it temporarily stopped that muscle from contracting. Botox came out of that research.

How does it work?

Botox’s secret is that it blocks the acetylcholine in the muscle from doing its job. Acetylcholine is the nerve messenger that communicates between the muscle and the brain. Botox blocks these messages, so the brain never receives them. When the message was to contract a muscle that creates crow’s feet or frown lines, but the brain never receives it, the muscle stays at rest. No contraction. That means no wrinkle on the surface skin, either.

That’s how Botox does its wrinkle-erasing magic on the upper third of the face.

Time is now

If you want to erase your crow’s feet for the holidays, now’s the time to call us at Dr. Frank’s. That’s because it takes about four days for Botox to fully take effect. Come in now and you’ll be ready for that office party or dinner with the in-laws. Call to schedule your Botox session at (403) 245-1228.

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What is Capsular Contracture?

Breast Augmentation

When our patients from Calgary and the surrounding areas are considering and researching breast augmentation with Dr. Frank, they will come across a term they probably have not heard before — capsular contracture. It is the most common complication after having breast augmentation, so in the last blog before a glorious Calgary summer, let’s get into just what this is and what happens. 

What is capsular contracture? 

The human body has one characteristic that is uniform for every person. If an artificial item, such as an artificial knee or a pacemaker, is placed under the skin, the body responds by surrounding the item with scar tissue. This is known as a tissue capsule. 

That’s what happens when breast implants are placed; the body builds fibrous scar tissue around it, the tissue capsule. This is because the body recognizes the implants as foreign objects. 

In most cases, the tissue capsule is soft or slightly firm (still not noticeable) and this helps keep the implants in place. But in some women, the scar tissue formation goes a little haywire and the tissue capsule becomes hard and dense. As it constricts it squeezes the implant. This is capsular contracture, and it can cause chronic pain and distortion in the shape of the breast. 

Signs of capsular contracture 

As the body continues to build scar tissue around the implant and the tissue capsule begins to squeeze the implant, you will have increasing firmness or tightness in the affected breast. This can evolve into chronic pain, restricted range of motion, and/or changes in the position and shape of the breast. 

Capsular contracture can start to appear as early as a few months after implants are placed or years later. There isn’t a set timeframe. 

How is capsular contracture addressed? 

In most cases, Dr. Frank will perform a capsulectomy for patients who are dealing with capsular contracture. During this procedure, he will enter through the original incisions and he will remove the existing implant along with the surrounding tissue capsule. He will then replace the implant back into the same pocket.  

If you’re feeling tightness in your chest and wonder if you could have capsular contracture, please give Dr. Frank a call at (403) 245-1228 to set up an appointment.

What is Capsular Contracture? Read More »

Bigger or Just Higher?

Breast Lift

One of the more unfortunate parts of aging is the effect gravity has on seemingly all of our tissues. Women’s breasts don’t get a reprieve. Unfortunately, sagging in the breasts is also accentuated by pregnancy, breastfeeding, and changes in weight. What were once firm breasts that sat high on the chest are now drooping and in some cases the nipples can even be pointed downward.

When this happens, a woman wonders what happened to her former, higher breasts. The answer is that they are not gone for good, as a breast lift with Dr. Frank can return the breasts to a higher, younger profile.

Three ways for younger-looking breasts

There are three ways to surgically return the breasts to their younger-looking profile. If a woman wants only a modest elevation of her breasts and wants larger breasts, breast augmentation may be the answer. The nipples will appear higher, and the upper part of the breasts will be fuller. Plus, in augmentation, scars are virtually invisible if they are placed around the areolae.

But when a woman likes the size of her breasts, yet wants to eliminate sagging, the excess skin needs to be removed. This is a breast lift. This procedure creates more extensive scarring. Dr. Frank uses two incision methods, depending on the amount of lift needed.

  • In a lollipop method, the incision circles the areola and extends downward to the breast crease. This type of lift will elevate the breasts about 2 inches or less.
  • If a greater amount of elevation is needed, the incision will follow the lollipop method, plus will extend horizontally along the breast crease in both directions. This is called an anchor incision and it allows the largest amount of skin removal.

Combining the two

Sometimes, a woman wants to have a lift, but would also like to replace volume that has been lost due to breastfeeding and aging. Doing implants and a lift at the same time is risky, it’s something we don’t do here. It can often result in over-correction. The best plan is usually to do the implant first, let that settle for at least 6 months to a year, and then assess the need for a lift.

Recovery

Recovery from augmentation and/or a lift, will require 1-2 weeks before the person returns to work or regular activities. With augmentation, where the implants were placed beneath the chest muscle, the patient will feel as if their muscle is straining for about one week. Light exercise such as walking can resume in 1 week, but strenuous activity and lifting need to wait at least 4-6 weeks. Wearing your surgical bra and then transitioning to a support bra 24 hours a day is critical during your recovery to keep stress off of your incisions.

Interested in returning your breasts to their former, higher position? Or do you want to eliminate some sagging by adding volume through augmentation? Or do you want both? Sounds like a consultation with Dr. Frank is in order. Call us at our Calgary office, (403) 245-1228, to set up your appointment.

Bigger or Just Higher? Read More »

Removing Breast Implants

Breast Augmentation

While breast augmentation continues to be a very popular procedure in Canada, with over 20,000 patients opting to increase their breast size with implants, more women are also opting to have their implants removed.

Dr. Frank performs breast implant removal surgery at his Calgary practice.

Concern about lymphoma

When Health Canada announced a ban on a certain type of textured implant manufactured by Allergan, the Biocell implant, that’s when many women started to consider having their implants removed. This wasn’t necessarily only women who had these Biocell implants.

These Biocell textured implants have been linked to a very rare form of cancer: anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. In the announcement, Health Canada called the cancer “breast implant-associated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma” (BIA-ALCL).

The occurrences of this lymphoma are exceedingly low — of the 40 million women who have had implants only between 300 to 500 have been diagnosed with genuine cases of anaplastic large cell lymphoma — but the news has brought implant removal to the forefront of the public consciousness.

Numbers

It’s hard to get precise numbers from Canada, but we can use the United States as an example of this trend toward removing implants. In the U.S., 313,735 women had breast augmentation in 2018.

In contrast, in 2008, the ASPS reported that 20,967 women had their breast implants removed. A decade later, that number had risen to over 29,000. That is still a small number versus having implants placed, but it is growing.

In 2019, ASPS reported the number of removal procedures was now at 33,764. That was still dwarfed by the 299,715 U.S. women opting for augmentation, but it has now crossed the line of being over 10 percent.

What will my breasts look like after I remove my breast implants?

After implants are removed, your breasts will not look the same as before you had implants placed. The weight and size of the implants stretches the tissue and causes changes in the rib area.

The appearance of your breasts will depend to a large degree if you’ve had a breast lift when your implants are removed. A breast lift has the goal of returning the breasts to a higher position on the chest. It removes excess sagging skin and repositions tissue as needed. The nipple/areola complex is usually moved to a higher position, as well.

With a breast lift, your breasts will be smaller, but they will not be sagging and overly flattened. That can be the result if the implants are removed without a breast lift.

If you have questions about breast implants, please call Dr. Frank at (403) 245-1228.

Removing Breast Implants Read More »

Men, Now Is a Good Time to Address Your Enlarged Breasts

Male Breast Reduction

Other than changing into our hockey pads for our beer league games, a Calgary winter doesn’t feature many situations where you need to take your shirt off around anyone other than your spouse or partner.

Phew. If you’re saddled with enlarged male breasts, you’re likely self-conscious about removing your shirt when around others. And that can make you turn down invitations, such as river rafting, that you would otherwise jump at the opportunity.

That’s no way to go through life.

Fortunately, Dr. Frank can help by performing male breast reduction surgery at his Calgary practice.

What is gynecomastia?

True gynecomastia is triggered by a decrease in the amount of the hormone testosterone compared with estrogen. This causes an increase in the amount of breast gland tissue in both teenage boys and men. Gynecomastia can affect one or both breasts or it can affect them unevenly.

This breast enlargement isn’t a serious health issue, but it can be embarrassing for a man. It can make a man avoid scenarios where he would be required to take his shirt off.

Gynecomastia can go away on its own, and it typically does in adolescents at the conclusion of puberty. This can also happen with adults if the changes in aging have created variations in testosterone levels. But in adults, the condition is often combined with some fatty tissue and glandular enlargement, so it may not fully resolve.

How is breast reduction done?

If the patient’s enlarged breasts are mainly the result of fatty tissue, Dr. Frank may be able to perform limited liposuction to remove this tissue, but if the patient has the rubbery mass of true gynecomastia liposuction won’t be sufficient.

In these cases, surgery is necessary. To avoid obvious scarring, Dr. Frank usually will make incisions around the areolae. He will then remove the glandular tissue, along with excess skin and fat. Liposuction may be included if the patient has an abundance of fat in the breasts in addition to the glandular tissue. The procedure usually lasts around 1-2 hours.

When can I get back to my normal activities after this surgery?

You can walk the day of your surgery with Dr. Frank. You can drive after a week. Most male breast reduction patients can return to work in 1-2 weeks. If you have strenuous work that involves your chest, this will need to be delayed. You’ll know when you’re ready to return to that kind of labor and to strenuous exercise. Pure chest exercises, such as lifting weights, will need to wait for probably about 6-8 weeks. Dr. Frank will discuss timelines with you during your consultation.

Are you embarrassed by your enlarged breasts? It’s probably not something you simply have to live with. Call Dr. Frank at (403) 245-1228 to schedule a consultation.

Men, Now Is a Good Time to Address Your Enlarged Breasts Read More »

About the Recall of Biocell Textured Implants

Breast Augmentation

As if the past year of the coronavirus haven’t made us all anxious enough, if you’ve also been considering breast augmentation you may have heard some other news that made you anxious. Health Canada and the U.S.’s FDA recalled a certain type of breast implant, and you’re now wondering what’s up with that.

Since Dr. Frank has performed countless breast augmentation procedures for our patients from Calgary and surrounding areas, let’s use this blog to fill you in on what’s behind the recall. It’s worth mentioning also, that Dr. Frank has never offered or used textured implants in any of his procedures.

What is BIA-ALCL?

The first step came in March 2017 when the FDA first announced it had found evidence of a link between textured breast implants and a very rare form of cancer: anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. In the announcement, the FDA called the cancer “breast implant-associated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma” (BIA-ALCL).

Then in May 2019, Health Canada suspended the sale of Allergan Biocell breast implants. In July, the FDA followed suit with a ban. It made a voluntary recall request to Allergan for all of its Biocell textured implants.

What the FDA said

Health Canada and the FDA requested that Allergan recall all Biocell textured breast implants and tissue expanders due to risk of breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system. Based on the currently available information, analysis demonstrated that the risk of BIA-ALCL with Allergan Biocell textured implants is approximately 6 times the risk of BIA-ALCL with textured implants from other manufacturers. That’s why Health Canada and the FDA instructed Allergan to stop distribution.

The ban applies only to this specific type of textured implant, Biocell. The same associations have not been found with other types of textured implants. It appears the lymphoma develops in the scar tissue that forms around the Biocell textured implants.

There is no recommendation for women to remove these implants, as the number of cases is exceedingly low. Still, women who have received Allergan Biocell macro-textured implants should be on the lookout for any signs such as swelling, lumps, and pain in the breast.

What is ALCL?

ALCL is a very rare cancer that can develop in any part of the body, most commonly the lymph nodes and skin. Research suggests that BIA-ALCL is usually found near the breast implant within the surrounding scar tissue, not in the breast itself. The lifetime risk for developing BIA-ALCL from a Biocell implant is estimated to be from one in 4,000 to one in 30,000.

How is BIA-ALCL treated?

This is still a very low risk. Plus, when BIA-ALCL is caught early it is usually curable. Treatment involved surgical removal of the implants and the scar tissue capsule.

Do you have questions about breast implants? Please call Dr. Frank’s office at (403) 245-1228 to schedule a consultation and he can fill you in.

About the Recall of Biocell Textured Implants Read More »

Large Natural Breasts Can Be a Pain

Breast Reduction Surgery

Although liposuction passed breast augmentation as the most popular cosmetic surgery in Canada in 2019, breast augmentation surgery isn’t far behind. That’s why it’s hard for some people to understand why a woman would opt to have Dr. Frank surgically reduce the size of her breasts, usually by two or more cup sizes with breast reduction.

The reality is — overly large natural breasts can be a real pain. Not to be trite, but we mean that both literally and figuratively.

As we come to the end of the oddest year of all, let’s get into these reduction surgeries with Dr. Frank. Maybe 2021 is the right time to move forward with this procedure.

Who could benefit from breast reduction?

Having overly large breasts, a condition clinically known as hypermastia, can be a burden both physically and psychologically. While women tire of the undue attention their breasts can attract, there are also many physical problems caused by overly large breasts. When patients come to Dr. Frank for help, these are the common health issues that often accompany a woman’s decision to have reduction surgery:

  • Spine problems
  • Neck pain
  • Back pain
  • Tingling hands
  • Balance problems
  • Headaches and migraines

Those are the physical issues caused by the weight of large natural breasts. An unfortunate side issue is that large breasts can make a woman pull back from areas of her life socially. She’ll often avoid sports and most types of exercise because her breasts are a hindrance to participation. They can come into play as a distraction in social and professional environments. Who needs that?

Dr. Frank only performs cosmetic breast reduction. This is due to the potential for complications involved with reducing overly large natural breasts that are creating more serious health issues that require intervention.

What results can I expect from breast reduction surgery?

It’s ironic in a way, but our breast reduction patients are so thrilled with the outcomes of these procedure. They’ve typically been saddled with the burden of their overly large natural breasts their entire life from puberty on. Rather than the sagging, outsized breasts that were out of proportion with her figure, now the breasts are proportional and in line with the rest of the figure. Gone is the sagging skin and oversized nipple/areola complexes. After breast reduction, the patient’s breasts are higher on the chest, firm, and look great. Yes, there are incision scars, but these will fade with time. Plus, patients feel the scars are worth it just to be rid of their large, heavy, sagging breasts.

Have you resolved to finally reduce your overly large natural breasts for the New Year? Please give Dr. Frank a call at (403) 245-1228 to set up a consultation.

Large Natural Breasts Can Be a Pain Read More »

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