August 18, 2011

Clothing Maker is No Slouch

How a retired salesman with a bad back funded a "corrective apparel" company during the downturn.

Bill Schultz was a successful orthopedic surgery equipment salesman when his lower back starting giving out -- the result of years of poor posture, he says. Looking to avoid surgery, the 50-year-old Californian searched for alternatives and stumbled upon a posture-correcting shirt that immediately relieved his pain. Shultz bought the idea and launched Alignmed, a Santa Ana-based "corrective apparel" maker. That was five years ago. Since then, Schultz has poured more than $2 million of his own money to fund the company's R&D and clinical trials -- and another $400,000 for patent protections. Now, Schultz says it's time to bring his high-tech clothing to the market. "Every year was a loss and the entire investment could have been lost. That's the chance you take," says Schultz.

August 1, 2011

Plastic Surgery 2.0: What's promising in non-surgical face and body fixes

There's an arsenal of new non-surgical fixes, procedures and treatments that can help someone regain some lost contours and refine skin texture, with minimal downtime and less expense than traditional plastic surgery.

Dr. Alexander Rivkin is a Yale-trained cosmetic surgeon based in Los Angeles. His practice is focused exclusively on non surgical aesthetic treatments and he regularly trains other doctors on injectables and other skin rejuvenating methods.

Dr. Rivkin is also Monsters and Critics go-to expert for all questions pertaining to facial plastic surgery and has commented on major news stories involving celebrity face-work as well as sharing his expert opinion on various procedures.

At his offices inside Westside Aesthetics, Dr. Rivkin and his staff employ a variety of the latest nonsurgical cosmetic procedures.

Monsters and Critics asked Dr. Rivkin about some of the latest procedures available.