When Dr Khanna, ICLS’s female plastic surgeon, got back from Calgary last month, we all couldn’t wait to look through the plethora of photos on her Iphone. We were so enamored with the fact that she got to hang out with the singers from the Three Tenors that we almost forgot what her trip was about in the first place. Dr. Khanna reminds us that her trip to Calgary was to attend an annual invitation only meeting for some of the top cosmetic surgeons from all over North America.

This year, the meeting added a breast implants section to the meeting (get your minds out of the gutter) and asked our very own Dr. Julie Khanna to chair. Dr. K explains that the event was an incredible opportunity to talk and learn about the newest surgical refinements; and furthermore to engage in discussions and debates with some of cosmetic surgery’s industry leaders. Deciding to have surgery such as breast augmentation is a momentous decision, and our top doctors truly go the extra mile (literally in this case) to ensure that they engage in these types of forums to deliver the best plastic surgery outcomes.

There are numerous annoyances in the winter. Having to bundle up before going outside, shoveling the driveway after massive snowstorms and our very favourite pet peeve; dry, chapped lips! Luckily, preventing chapped lips is easy peasy according to Dr. Sapra, ICLS’ resident dermatologist.

1. Protect the lips with an effective lip balm. We recommend Ceralip above all others. Ceralip is a lipid repairing lip cream that is fragrance free and paraben free. It helps to reconstitute dry and chapped lips. You’ll find this little magic tube in most of the purses of our ICLS crew!
2. Second, it is important to stay hydrated by drinking lots of water throughout the day. This will help to keep lips soft and supple.
3. Lastly, whatever you do, don’t pick at or continuously lick your lips. This makes things so much worse.

I thought sharing a picture of Roxanne at our Annual Ski Weekend would surely put us all in the mood to protect our puckers!

I think it is safe to say that a clear and even complexion is something all of us desire. At our cosmetic surgery clinic we know that one of the major hindrances and most common problems is pigmentation and melasma. Pigmentation is typically brown spots on the skin that are either age spots or freckles. Melasma on the other hand tends to be a whole different kind of monster.

Melasma is often hormonally caused and can be worsened by the sun, or may even come out during or after pregnancy (often called a pregnancy mask). So why is melasma so difficult to treat? It is most often unaffected or worsened by lasers like IPL because it just causes the pigment to be trapped closer to the surface of the skin. That is why Dermamelan is one of the best and only options to treatment melasma. We love recommending the Dermamelan. So many patients are embarrassed by their condition, especially when it appears in large patches or on the upper lip.

From years of being in the sun, Ashleigh had developed a combination of melasma in addition to LOTS of freckles! Because of this, Dr. Sapra, our dermatologist decided that she would get the most benefit from a Dermamelan treatment. Because Ashleigh has just had the treatment done, we have included some before and afters to tide you over.

So how does it work…first, a chemical peel is applied to the face. Then the Dermamelan mask, a thick coloured cream is applied. You’re then sent home and the mask can be washed off after 8–12 hours. Patients can expect mild to significant peeling around day 2 which can continue for up to a week. (We highly recommend postponing any first dates during this time) Two weeks later the mask will be re–applied to target any areas that are left behind. Overall, Dermamelan is a treatment that effectively softens or completely eliminates pigmentation thereby helping to reveal the luminosity and even tone of the skin.

Because Ashleigh has just had her treatment done, we have included some other before and afters to tide you over.

Cheryl is Dr. Khanna’s coordinator at our cosmetic surgery practice. While it’s hard to miss her platinum blond hair, it’s also hard to miss her gorgeous skin. When we asked her for her staff pick she was thrilled to oblige. Cheryl is the poster girl for all of the products at ICLS. She loves the SkinTx Gentle Cleanser, Vivier’s Platine line of creams and the Colorescience Let Me Be Clear Powder.

When we pushed her to narrow it down to a favourite however, she said that she would absolutely have to choose SkinCeuticals Serum 10. As Dr Sapra, our dermatologist explains, Serum 10 is ideal for individuals with either oily, acne prone or sensitive skin. You have to put it on so fast because it just absorbs so quickly. The serum is applied to the face prior to the application of any creams or makeup and essentially works to neutralize free radicals, defends against environmental damage, and helps prevent and treat premature signs of aging. A true triple threat!

We recently sat down with Brenda. We like to think of Brenda as Dr. Khanna’s sassy right hand man! She is quick witted, but also delivers the most personal patient care after surgery. She is with her patients in the days, months and even years after their surgery making sure that every single need is met. So of course, she was our go-to person to find out what she thinks the most common misconceptions are about surgery.

1. Misconception #1 – Cosmetic surgery will make you appear unnatural. We like to say that Joan Rivers is the exception, not the rule. When you see people who have an unnatural appearance, of course it stands out! However, the mark of the best cosmetic plastic surgeons is the fact that you won’t actually notice their work. In the world of celebrities, many of these gorgeous women have had cosmetic surgery, but no one can tell. It’s almost like they have defied aging (but we know better *wink*). Here at ICLS, the goal of all cosmetic procedures is to highlight a person’s natural beauty. As one of our patients’ Vicki jokes in our most recent video (http://www.icls.ca/videos/patients-journey.htm)
   “A lot of people say to me, have you lost weight? And I have not lost any weight! Except for these pockets of bagged fat under my eyes!”
2. Misconception #2 – Plastic Surgery of the body is exclusively for the young. We blame reality television and shows like Nip/Tuck for the preponderance of this misconception. Cosmetic surgery of the body is meant for patients who are healthy and who wish to reshape a particular area of the body, whether it be the tummy, legs, arms or breasts.
3. Misconception #3 – Plastic Surgery can turn you in to a carbon copy of an idolized celebrity. We all have different body and facial frameworks, skin tones and textures. So the most important thing to remember, which Dr. Khanna continually expresses, is maintaining realistic expectations!

So as promised, Roxanne was our very own guinea pig for a technique we like to call the Mini Laser. It uses the Profractional laser to rejuvenate tired looking skin. Many patients in the range of 20-35 are looking for a solution that is stronger than a chemical peel, with minimal risks but most importantly, MINIMAL DOWNTIME! Let’s think of this as the Intro course to laser treatment.

So what did we do? We found the most sensitive skin on the face of the earth (*cough* Roxanne *cough*) and performed the Mini Laser treatment. While we are employing the same lasers we use for even the most aged skin and acne scarring, we apply much lower settings to improve textural concerns, sun damage, fine wrinkles and to give patients that oh so satisfying “oh my gosh, your skin looks amazing! What did you do?”

So we wanted to see realistically how much downtime patients can expect to get from the Mini Laser. While we encourage patients to experience “Fresh Fridays,” by having the treatment on a Friday, be a little red over the weekend and then good as new by Monday; sadly we are not here on the weekends and Roxanne may not have appreciated me waking her up on Saturday and Sunday to take pictures! So instead, Roxanne had her treatment last Monday and you will see the pictures of her on…

Day 1 - Tuesday we see her without a stitch of makeup looking pink, but says she feels totally normal. She headed straight back to the makeup station after this picture so she was ready to work again.

Day 2 – Wednesday we see her looking almost back to normal without any makeup again!

Day 3 – Thursday we get to see her gorgeous after with no makeup on (except for a little mascara!)

When we asked Roxanne to share her experience she explains that prevention was one of the main reasons she decided to do the “Mini Laser.” Ensuring that her skin stands the test of time is extremely important to her. While she still has two more treatments to go in the series, she says her skin already feels baby soft, her pores appear smaller and it helped to get rid of some pigmentation that was bothering her. Glowing skin and no need for time off? We’re saying holla to the Mini Laser!

At our cosmetic surgery clinic, one of our favourite parts of the surgery process is seeing the patient back at their follow-up visits to celebrate their outcome! After coming so far in this journey together, there is nothing better than taking those ever important after pictures and sitting down to compare how truly far they’ve come. Being a female plastic surgeon, Dr. Khanna understands that as women we have very specific concerns, but are thrilled when our expectations are exceeded!

So just last week we were able to take celebrating to a whole new level when we sat down with Vicki for our final episode of “A Patient’s Journey.” Vicki has been kind enough to sit down with us during her consult, the day of her eyelid lift surgery and now 5 months after her procedure to discuss how the day went, what her recovery was like and how thrilled she is now with her final result.

We have had such amazing feedback from patients so far and we intend to offer our patients more of these first-hand experiences. Who better to share their experiences then real patients who have gone through the process with Dr. Khanna.

Last week we welcomed home some of our ICLS team, as they returned from a whirlwind trip to Brazil. Although they were only gone for three days, Dr. Sapra our dermatologist, Karen, Kelli and Abi fit in a lot of learning in just a short amount of time. While in Brazil, they visited two of the top doctors in San Paulo to learn a variety of new skills and techniques using many of the technologies and fillers we already know and love.

Members of the ICLS team have travelled all over the globe from Hong Kong, Spain, London, British Columbia, Mexico, Czech Republic and many more, just to learn about the national trends in cosmetic surgery, new techniques, as well as to visit the top facilities and doctors from around the world. In order to be the best we maintain that we need to visit and learn from the best. Learning is lifelong; and in a world where technology changes every day, we will continue to travel in order to deliver the best care to all of our patients.

So back to Brazil. On this trip, Dr. Sapra and the nurses learned about the newest, safest and most effective methods for rejuvenating the hands. Hands tend to be a neglected area of the body, but also tend to give away our age. So with a combination of laser and injectable therapy, the tone, texture and look of the hands can be quickly and effectively improved! Stay tuned for a list of procedures that are part of our “Fresh Fridays.” It includes treatments that give great and lasting results without the associated downtime. We recommend having your treatment done on Friday and then you are back to work without a care in the world by Monday.

While on the beaches of Ipanema, we also adopted a tad bit of body envy. We learned that when it comes to Brazilian woman, there are no stereotypes. Brazilian woman truly ARE absolutely gorgeous! We observed that while a beautiful bust was extremely important, it seemed that breast augmentation was much more about maintaining proportions, with implants remaining extremely natural in appearance. This absolutely reflects many of the beliefs of our very own female plastic surgeon Dr. Julie Khanna, since she takes scientific measurements to ensure that her recommendation for breast implant sizing maintains the most natural and idealistic proportions.

So with no further ado, here are some of our amazing photos from this most recent trip:

For anyone that knows him, it is abundantly clear that Dr. Sapra, our resident dermatologist, can never be accused of being lazy. Dr. Sapra is now the co-editor of the brand new journal The Chronicle of Cosmetic Medicine and Surgery and have just been graced by the first issue. The journal is a distinctive publication that is written specifically for the medical community involved in cosmetic surgery and medicine. The journal seeks to “offer information on clinical developments and practical therapeutics, to stimulate discussion of the broader issues in aesthetic medicine and to encourage the best practices.”

The journal was born as a collaboration between the publishers of The Chronicle of Skin and Allergy and the organizers of the annual Cosmetic Update educational conference. In the words of Dr. Sapra: “We are proud to provide the first Canadian journal for physicians practicing aesthetic medicine and we look forward to working with you to create a vehicle for the exchange of experiences and information. It’s my privilege, along with my colleague Dr. Nowell Solish to serve as co-editor of the chronicle.”

We’ll be writing posts about the highlights from the journal throughout the year so stay tuned for our future post on breast augmentation, written by our very own female plastic surgeon Dr Khanna.

There are many times throughout the year when ICLS is left without our resident Dermatologist and Plastic Surgeon. Whether Dr. Khanna, our female plastic surgeon is leading a meeting in Calgary (she was there last week) or Dr. Sapra is travelling abroad to learn about the latest and greatest procedures, we are often left without our amazing docs! In fact, some of our team are in Brazil as we speak, but not to fear, we will be blogging all about this when they return!

When they’re away also happens to be the only time our staff could possibly have treatments done themselves. It is just way too busy on a daily basis, but believe me, it is so much easier to talk about a procedure when you are speaking from experience and have actually had it done!

During this past Christmas break, Anna and Jan were interested in trying some of our Non Surgical Fat Removal treatments. So Anna had her first Liposonix treatment, which uses ultrasound to destroy excess fat cells. It works great for patients who would like to address their full abdomen and sometimes even their sides. Jan also was able to have a Zeltiq Coolsculpting treatment, which uses cold to destroy excess fat cells. It is best suited for pockets of fat on the abdomen, love handles, back fat, arms and thighs.

Jan will just require the one treatment and like many patients, we have split Anna’s treatment into two sessions to make it extremely comfortable. We asked Anna what her first treatment was like and she said, “it was a total breeze. I had maybe two pinchy spots around my hips, but other than that it was easy.”

When talking to the ladies about their experiences, I realized that they were able to offer me a plethora of information and advice about aspects of the treatments that I would have never even thought to ask…objective achieved! They gave me a detailed description of the sensations experienced, how to sit comfortably, how to entertain yourself and what to realistically expect after treatment. I am interested in having a fat removal procedure myself and although I know all about the procedure, I was struck by how reassuring speaking to Anna and Jan was. Knowing that they have gone through the process themselves and were qualified to be brutally honest about their experience, put a lot of my fears at bay. If you are considering a procedure and want to speak to someone who has gone through the procedure themselves feel free to ask we can definitely find someone for you to speak with!