The word trend is probably the most overused word in media. A recent Orange County Register post included comments from a stylist in New York who decided that smaller breasts are making what he called a comeback. He referred to celebrities who appear in stylish clothes without cleavage and what appears to be small breast. According to the article others commented about women who are exchanging implants for smaller implants as well as those who just choose to cover up rather than bear all as they may have in the past. Either way, the truth is the actual breasts implant size is personal and women make the choice based on many different factors. Contrary to media hype, rarely do women make a decision on breast implant size based on a trend. Dr. Kim explains his patients the importance of the breast augmentation procedure and how the right breast implant size will not only determine patient satisfaction but also help patients to be satisfied with their selection long-term. Dr. Kim also explains to his patients that there is a chance they may need a breast lift combined with their breast augmentation. In this case, breast implant selection may be limited. Dr. Kim is committed to helping patients make the best breast implant decisions based on their individual needs and desires.

Just when it looked like we had avoided the flu epidemic the numbers of patients complaining of flulike symptoms seems to be on the rise. According to a recent article in the Orange County Register Dr. David Nuñez, family health medical director, said there’s still time to get vaccinated. “We certainly would remind folks the flu season does carry on through the winter and it’s never too late to think about the flu vaccine,” he said. Flu symptoms can be not just uncomfortable but also life-threatening. Dr. Kim reminds patients who are scheduled for cosmetic plastic surgery that it is imperative that they are in excellent health prior to surgery. Procedures including facelift, abdominoplasty, or breast augmentation can have extremely difficult recovery periods if patients contract the flu following their procedure. As you may imagine coughing and sneezing combined with fatigue can cause the patient to have a miserable experience while trying to heal from surgery. Patients should avoid public places where the chance of contracting the flu is increased. These include social settings that may include handshakes and other contact them make cause patients to get sick. Patient should be conscious of flu season two weeks prior to surgery and four weeks after surgery. It is possible to stay healthy by being proactive about health decisions.

Vitamins and dietary supplements have become a staple in modern medicine. While it is debatable the extents that they are effective in our overall health most medical experts agree that they do have some value. According to recent Los Angeles Times article Since 1994, those selling novel products have been required to provide federal regulators with evidence supporting a product’s reasonable expectation of safety. In a New England Journal of Medicine Perspective article published this week, Dr. Pieter Cohen, assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard University, makes the argument that the very vague standard is rarely enforced by the FDA. According to the article the FDA is stepping up standards for achieving consistent standards that can be documented and verified. The FDA basically wants to see evidence of historical use as well as evidence of testing that proves the supplements are in fact safe. Dr. Kim reminds his patients who are considering cosmetic surgery that when providing medical information concerning their history all supplements should be included in that information. This includes weight loss supplements as well as herbal supplements. Contrary to popular belief, some vitamins and herbal supplements are not safe to take prior to surgery. Dr. Kim provides a list to patients of medications including vitamins and supplements that should be avoided prior to surgery. Patients should also check with Dr. Kim prior to beginning vitamins and supplements following their surgery procedure. Patient should never assume that because they are only having injectable services or more popular procedures such as breast augmentation or liposuction that the vitamin and supplement information is not important. Every surgery and cosmetic procedure should the approach with seriousness and focus on patient safety.

In a progressive and large city like Los Angeles new and innovative approaches to medicine remain popular among patients. According to recent Los Angeles Times article series that reviewed different alternative medical procedures; as a whole people are very supportive of alternative medicine yet have a difficult time finding scientific supportive research. According to the article this is mostly because science remains unwilling to devote research money to study the effects of alternative medicine. NCCAM’s more than 3,000 research studies have provided answers to important questions about complementary health approaches to help consumers and medical professionals make informed decisions. For example, we now have good evidence from studies showing that practices such as yoga, massage, chiropractic and acupuncture can help people with chronic pain, often difficult to treat. Dr. Kim reminds patients that alternative therapy should still be approached with the caution of any other medical procedure. Patients who have had surgery including breast augmentation or liposuction often consider massage as a possible option to ease tension of the muscle and hopefully reduce pain. Dr. Kim cautions patients against this until he has cleared them and considered their healing progress. It is possible to negatively affect the results by allowing a massage provider to massage the body. While the damage is not likely to be serious, it could prolong your recovery if it is done too soon after surgery. Dr. Kim encourages communication and reminds patients to feel free bring questions to his attention as soon as they arise.

The healthcare industry is known to be stressful for those who dedicate their lives to taking care of others. Nurses are among health professionals who a recent study shows suffer negative health effects in disproportionate numbers. A recent ABC news story that found 55% of all nurses were overweight or obese. According to the news story “nurses cited job stress and the effect on sleep of long, irregular work hours as the cause. Health care professionals are often involved in providing advice or care to patients that relates to things that aren’t totally under control in their own lives. It’s not uniform for health care professionals to eat well or avoid tobacco, said Dr. David Katz, the director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center. Obesity and smoking are of course an issue, however, appearance is also important. It stands to reason that if nurses are avoiding their health they are probably not taking very good care of their appearance. Dr. Kim helps patients understand that taking care of your appearance especially for those who work extended hours is critical to maintaining high self-esteem. This could include injectables which have little to no downtime, breast augmentation which helps many women achieve better contour, or even a facelift. Whichever procedure patients choose Dr. Kim is conscious of what the duties of a nurse include and will help the patient return to work without missing an inordinate amount of time. Nurses need to know that investing in their appearance does not mean that they do not care about other people. Their investment in plastic surgery will most likely make them a better, less stressed, and more concerned nurse.

When it comes to our waistline there are many reasons and excuses we have for the increase in its size. Most of us would agree it’s not something that we desire. According to a recent ABC news story your personality has a lot to do with whether or not you gain weight. According to the story, with Super Bowl Sunday quickly approaching there will be people who will feel forced to eat food that is placed in front of them. Needless to say, people who feel that way are likely to regret it later. If you sense that another person wants you to eat, you’ll be more likely to eat more, said Julie Exline, a psychologist at Case Western Reserve University and lead author of the study published today in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. If we look back later and feel like we’ve given into social pressure, we often regret those choices. We have known for quite some time that people tend to eat more in groups. The news story does not elaborate on the types of groups. From our perspective ,in Beverly Hills, California it would seem that women who are health conscious and slim would be less likely to overeat in a group of their peers who are like-minded and of similar weight. This of course, could lead to other issues such as eating disorders, including binge eating. For the healthiest diet people should be conscious of what they are eating, and why they’re eating it. Dr. Kim explains to his patients that as we age even if we are good about diet and exercise there can become a point in our lives where our bodies respond differently to the foods that we eat. Also, for many people their metabolism slows down and that too can add weight. Dr. Kim consults with patients who are disgusted by what appear to be fat pockets that appear mostly on their outer thighs and upper abdomen. These cause a thickness which appears as though the patient has gained weight. Dr. Kim explains that this can be treated very effectively with liposuction. As an expert who also has natural artistic abilities, Dr. Kim is able to sculpt the area using liposuction to create a much more toned and fit appearance. This is a very popular procedure for Dr. Kim and his results are unmatched for patients through diet and exercise. Call Dr. Kim’s office today to determine if you are a candidate for the liposuction procedure.

Without making a conscious decision to avoid food that we know is bad for us it is really hard not to develop bad eating habits. a recent article in Psychology Today focused on small business owners who seem to have a real struggle erasing the bad eating habits from their daily lives. According to the article many small business owners eat on the job and rarely quantify just how much they have eaten in any given day. Needless to say, this can add pounds to the hips quicker than we can recognize. The article gave some good tips on how to avoid falling into this unsavory habit. One tip was to eat a good healthy breakfast. This will help curb cravings for something sweet in the morning meetings. Another good tip is to keep your own stash for afternoon munching. This will help to avoid the vending machines and also control your portions as well as content. For those who have overindulged and start to notice slight increases in weight, this is the best time to address the problem. When diet and exercise have not yielded good results Dr. Kim recommends that patients consider liposuction. While liposuction is not a weight loss procedure, it can help to rid the body of specific areas of fat and improve contour. As a true artist, Dr. Kim is able to sculpt the body and create a much more aesthetically pleasing shape for the patient. For many patients this goes a long way and helping them to maintain their best appearance.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you’re aware that Demi Moore was recently hospitalized due to what her publicist say was exhaustion. Subsequently according to her publicist she is receiving medical help for her overall health. Most news articles referenced her marriage to Ashton Kutcher ending and causing much of her emotional pain. The overriding inference is that Demi Moore does not like the concept of growing older. More specifically she does not like the look that comes with growing older or the inevitable mortality that comes with it. If most of us are honest we don’t like it either. The difference is that Ms. Moore has to face it in the public eye. Nowhere is this obsession with youth more evident than where we are in Beverly Hills. There is a very distinct difference between youthfulness and being young. Being young is something that is out of our control, it is based on chronological age and no one can change that. On the other hand, youthfulness is totally within our control. We can act, think, feel, and yes look young. Plastic surgery embraces the idea of looking younger and better than you would without it. Dr. David Kim empathizes with his patients and their desire to maintain our most youthful and attractive appearance at every stage of their lives. Offering patients options that include both noninvasive procedures including Botox and fillers as well as surgical procedures like facelift, and laser surgery allows patients the tools to achieve the looks that they desire. Most patients understand that plastic surgery is an enhancement for what is on the outside. A healthy mind and body are also an essential part of maintaining your best most youthful appearance.

The pursuit of happiness is an American right and so many of us seem to be pursuing it vigorously. As we age it seems as though the energy we once had is no longer present and happiness at different times in our lives seems to elude us. According to a recent article in Psychology Today most adults don’t give themselves a bedtime. One suggestion: Give yourself a bedtime. Even if you don’t actually go to bed on time, at the very least, you should know that you’re staying up past your bedtime. Just the realization that it’s an hour past your bedtime might help you nudge yourself into bed. Most adults should get 7-8 hours of sleep each night, so do the math. if you are not happy and do not have enough energy in may equal up to lack of sleep. It is difficult to find an adult who was working and actually gets the 7 to 8 hours of recommend sleep every night. Dr. Kim explains to patients were scheduled for cosmetic plastic surgery that preparation for the procedure will give them not only a better cosmetic plastic surgery experience but also better healing. The two weeks prior to cosmetic surgery are very important. Patients are advised to stop any medications that may interfere with surgery. Patients are given a detailed preoperative appointment that includes written instructions. These instructions reiterate the importance of a good night sleep. Patients who are having procedures including facelift, rhinoplasty or other facial procedures should be prepared with elevated pillows for sleeping. Some patients sleep this way a couple of days prior to the procedure so that they will be used to the position once they have surgery. Patient should never underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep.

The benefits of exercise can never be underestimated when it comes to health and wellness. A recent Los Angeles Times article highlighted the benefits of exercise even for those who are cancer survivors. According to the article breast cancer patients who exercised showed improvements in body mass index, weight and blood sugar control, and had better lower limb strength. They also had less fatigue and depression and had an improved quality of life. For those with other types of cancer, improvements were seen in BMI and body weight, oxygen consumption and hand-grip strength (fitness measures), as well as depression and quality of life. It is promising not only to see survivors from cancer but also to know that the quality of life can be something people newly diagnosed can look forward to. Dr. Kim advises his breast augmentation, breast lift, and breast reduction patients to be diligent concerning their breast health. Patients who are diagnosed early with breast cancer greatly increase their chances of survival. It is advised the women follow the American Cancer Society’s recommendation which includes monthly breast self exam as well as yearly mammograms after 40 years of age. Patients who have a strong family history should consult their primary care physician to determine the best form of early detection for their specific situation. Dr. Kim is committed to helping his patients not only enjoy the results of cosmetic surgery but also their quality of life.