October 23, 2009

Plastic Surgery Can Often Gauge The Economy, Says Dr. Nikolov

Plastic surgery is on a huge surge in American culture where more than $10 billion was expended on it in 2008, a figure expected to quadruple by 2015.

The old saying "youth is wasted on the young" rings with a high shrill these days. The advent of modern technology and the Internet has gone the fastest period of modernization ever to the business environment. Looking savvy and vibrant often means the difference between becoming employed or staying employed. One must have experience and a youthful fresh appearance to stay competitive whether in the executive suite or in the general workforce.

During these challenging times, plastic surgery–what was once considered a luxury of the rich and famous–has become a necessity. That is the prime reason that plastic surgeons are seeing a resurgence of patient activity.

Since Beverly Hills is the acknowledged "world leader" in plastic surgery, we asked Bedford Drive practitioner Dr. Nicholas Nikolov, who performs leadingedge aesthetic and reconstructive procedures on a broad spectrum of people of all ages, for his observations on today’s trends.

• More patients are having facelifts at a much younger age and are not letting themselves go to the point where the transformation is greater and more noticeably dramatic; therefore, keeping the surgery more inconspicuous.

• They are turning to less invasive procedures such as endoscopic or shorter scar techniques to freshen the face and keep a more continuous youthful look.

• Moderate sized breasts are more popular now for breast augmentations and reductions, because they do not look "over done," allowing the patient to appear slimmer and more elegant in clothing and bathing suits. (Dr. Nikolov also notices that when the economy is buoyant, breast implant choices tend to be larger. When the economy is deflated the breast implant choices are for smaller breasts as did the popularity of shorter and longer length skirts which signaled the economic swings of the country.)

• Liposuction techniques have improved greatly in the last several years, allowing plastic surgeons to remove fat more effectively while also limiting the amount of skin laxity afterward. Newer technologies give far more "sculpting and contouring" options to the patient to enable faster healing while providing better detailed results overall.

• Many patients opt for the "Nick- Tuck" which is a stay-awake facelift procedure. (It was perfected by Dr. Nikolov for patients who won’t or should not go under general anesthesia for personal or medical reasons without compromising the outcome.) Dr. Nikolov is a diplomat of the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery. He is currently on staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, St. John's Health Center and Olympia Medical Center. His website is: www.drnikolov. com.