New Book, 'The Beverly Hills Shape,' Offers Insider Tips on Plastic Surgery

Beverly Hills, California (PRWEB) June 7, 2007 -- Stuart Linder, M.D., is the ultimate insider in Beverly Hills, the world capital of rejuvenation surgery. To help you find the best possible surgeon, he asks you to take his new book, The Beverly Hills Shape: The Truth about Plastic Surgery to any plastic or cosmetic surgeon you may visit.

"The book also provides worksheets that give you the best and most on-point questions to ask if you are considering plastic surgery," says Dr. Linder, who often appears as an expert plastic surgery spokesman on numerous television shows like The Learning Channel and Discovery Health and many others.

Breast Augmentation

Using the worksheets, the reader is lead, step by step, through the questions Dr. Linder himself would ask if he were sitting with you in a pre-surgery consultation. Worksheets are available for screening doctors, breast augmentation, liposuction and body contouring.

Plastic Surgeon

Thanks to television, magazines and Web sites, almost everybody knows to look for a plastic surgeon who is "board-certified." But some certifications -- like "board-certified laser surgeon" -- mean nothing. Some physicians take a weekend course on a procedure and then perform it on patients.
"The on-target question is: 'Are you board-certified in plastic surgery?'" says Dr. Linder. "A board-certified plastic surgeon will have a minimum of 13 years training and, sometimes, 15 or 16."

One of the reasons Dr. Linder -- who is board certified in plastic surgery -- wrote the book is because he performs many breast augmentation revisions and enjoys the challenges of creating happy patients when a woman has chosen to undergo breast implant revision.

Cosmetic Plastic Surgery

"Once you decide to have cosmetic plastic surgery, your body and self image will be greatly improved," says Dr. Linder. "But unless you take the steps to find a qualified plastic surgeon, you may be left with irreparable and disastrous results."
                                                           
The book prompts the patient to ask about the doctor's specialties, how many times weekly he or she performs them, the number of years in practices and malpractice lawsuits, if any, and outcomes. Dr. Linder also recommends asking key questions about the doctor's surgical approach, the location of his before-and-after pictures, and important questions about anesthesia and the anesthesiologist, along with queries about where the operation will take place and its level of certification. The book even contains human body outlines on which your potential surgeon marks the locations of incisions.

Tummy Tuck

Dr. Linder's book concentrates on the major, and more invasive operations, such as the procedures of the breast, including augmentation, revision, reduction and lift. He also discusses abdominoplasty (the "tummy tuck",) liposuction, and body contouring after massive weight loss. The book offers a chapter on safely combining several, or more, plastic surgery procedures.

"In some plastic surgery offices, some 'truths' are never mentioned," says Dr. Linder. "For instance, if a woman has a breast augmentation, it is quite likely she will have at least one more operation during her life."

Other truths (and a chapter) include information about scars and scarring. For instance, a breast reduction leaves long scars on the breast -- which can be hidden under a bra -- and slowly fade over time, but they are scars, nonetheless. The ultimate truth about scars? "No plastic surgeon can guarantee the final appearance of a scar," says Dr. Linder. "In nature, scarring is unpredictable."

Body Sculpting

The Beverly Hills Shape debunks the 10 biggest myths about breast augmentation and cautions against being misled by advertising that offers lowball prices for plastic surgery. Enlightening chapters outline the usual and expected changes in a woman's body from the teen years to middle age along with information on how breastfeeding and pregnancy affect the body. Other highly informative chapters explain body sculpting for men, and what patients can do after massive weight loss, thanks to new bariatric procedures that can cause a person to lose 100 to 300 or more pounds.

"The most basic truth is: patients must know the pros, cons and possible risks and complications to decide if the benefits of plastic surgery outweigh the risks," says Dr. Linder. "The more knowledge the patient acquires, the more likely she or he will have a great result from surgery. Undergoing cosmetic plastic surgery may be one of the most important decisions you'll make, and having it done correctly the first time will only increase your satisfaction."

The book is available at Amazon.com and Borders.com

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