Interview with Dr. Assassa from Ilena

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What an very interesting interview with Dr. Sam

Assassa.

I've headed a breast implant support group for over 10

years, and I had these few comments. My response in

green.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=59468

Q: Can non-invasive surgery achieve the same results

as with the traditional methods, for example in breast

enhancement?

A: When it comes to breast enhancement, the technique

has changed so much. They used to have a big scar

under the breast, in the armpit or areola. Now they

insert the implant through the belly button.

I was curious if Dr. Assassa knew that the FDA

strongly does not recommend this procedure.

There is a certain limitation with minimally invasive

surgery as compared to the traditional plastic

surgery, but there is a way around. The bottom line we

would like to create is " The results you want with no

scarring. "

Is this true? We all know that almost no women have

only one breast implant surgery ... the younger the

woman ... the more potenti' al surgeries. Are all the

future explants and 're-do's' going to be thru the

naval too?

Also, if the PS breaks the saline implant or it is

already broken and being replaced, is there not a

danger of infection from any microbial matter that

might have grown in the saline?

Q: And what do you think about silicone, is it safe?

A: There have been so many problems with silicone

because of the body reaction to it. It's a foreign

body, and when you have a foreign body in your body,

your body tries to encapsulate to limit the spread of

that foreign body.

When they started doing the implants the texture was

great, but there have been so many problems with

leakage of the silicone, with or without perforation.

Sometimes the implant breaks, and sometimes because of

the silicone particles are so fine they actually seep

out slowly through the capsule and cause a big

problem.

I think so far from what we've seen we shouldn't be

using silicone implants because of the possible

serious complications.

Bravo to you!

Saline implants, however, are also enclosed in a

silicone polymer. We see many of the same problems

with our saline implanted women ... and sometimes even

sooner, than with silicone gel.

One last comment ... I believe one of the reasons for

the huge increases in Plastic Surgery for women and

men is that 'advertising pays.' There is hardly a

magazine or TV show that doesn't have positive images

of plastic surgery repeated and repeated.

You are very brave for your stance on silicone.

Thank you.

Ilena Rosenthal

Director, Humantics Foundation

www.BreastImplantAwareness.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam Assassa: Cosmetic Surgery is Better Than

Psychological Treatment

Cosmetic surgery is booming and that is just the

beginning, Dr. Assassa believes. Photo by Yuliana

Nikolova (Sofia News Agency)

| buy photo |

Exclusive Interview: 20 February 2006, Monday.

Since 1995, Dr. Sam Assassa has been exclusively

practicing aesthetic medicine in Beverly Hills,

California. He is an associate member of the American

College of Physicians, a member of the American

Mesotherapy Association and the American Academy of

Anti-Aging Medicine as well as serves on the advisory

committee of the American Aesthetic Medicine

Association. He is also a member of the American

Society of Aesthetics and Mesotherapy (ASAM) and

lectures on aesthetic techniques at ASAM's conferences

worldwide. Dr. Assassa is board certified in internal

medicine and received his medical degree, with honors,

in 1980, then held a series of internships and

residencies in Chicago at Loyola University-affiliated

hospitals, and in Cleveland at Case Western

University-affiliated hospitals.

Dr. Assassa was in Bulgaria for a course led by the

country's ace Dr. Nikolay Serdev.

Sam Assassa talked with SNA Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Petya Bondokova.

Q: Where does non-invasive surgery stand at the

moment?

A: First of all, medicine is always developing, and

that's what's nice about it. The more you learn, the

more you like it. In aesthetic medicine in particular

things are developing so fast. Even the same

techniques that we used a year ago have actually

improved. It's just because you always look to improve

your technique to improve the results.

Why am I here? We're here with Dr. Serdev, he's very

well known for his technique and sutures. The beauty

about his skills is that he thinks in three

dimensions. It's very hard to see things in thee

dimensions. That's his forte.

Q: Could there be any risks to non-invasive aesthetics

surgery that have not been studied well?

A: When you do a procedure in non-invasive, or let's

call it minimally invasive surgery, you have to

understand what you're doing. Know your enemy,

understand what the problem is, analyze it and try to

find a solution. That's how you come up with ideas for

new techniques and procedures.

I think we're still in the beginning, and there are so

many things you could do without doing what we call

the open-style surgery, without the exposure, without

big scarring. The recovery is much, much shorter. Can

you afford being off work just because you want to

make your face more beautiful? Nobody wants to do

that. We are in a society where you are expected to

look at your best, yet they want you to be functional.

When you do an open surgery there is a social

isolation. It's the time for you to recover. And the

more you minimize that, the more it becomes attractive

to people. As long as you are able to deliver a

hundred percent close to the results you would have

with open surgery.

Q: Do you think that sometimes people are going too

far in their desire to look better?

A: There is about 5% of the population that become

really obsessed. They start with one procedure and end

up with 50, 60, 70 procedures...But the majority want

to defeat aging, or need to adjust body proportions. I

think it's worth the effort to go though that.

Q: Are there still any American celebrities untouched

by aesthetic surgery?

People are looking at the package, not looking at them

as singers or actors/ actresses. That puts a lot of

pressure on the professional artists, but is also

making people compare themselves to them and use them

as models.

The cosmetic surgery is booming - and is the

beginning.

Q: What people are mostly influenced by that tendency?

A: Actually it's turning to even younger, and younger,

and younger population. In the past patients were

doing it because of aging. Now it's not a matter of

age, it's about looking perfect. It's psychological

healing. If you know your body is perfect you feel

confident. If you apply for a job, the beauty could

replace a good resume (laughs). It's a tool that makes

you successful in this life, as long as you combine it

with a brain. If you have beauty, brain and talent -

you are, let's say, a star.

Q: Are you talking juts about the USA, or globally?

A: I think it's worldwide. Maybe the pace is not as

fast, but even in the Third World countries people

start making their favourite star their model.

Very few of those people go to a surgeon and say " I

want to look like her. " Mostly, it's just the social

pressure, and the peer pressure.

Q: Did you get more vain because of your profession?

A: I want to give you an example. If I was promoting

hair transplant, you come to me as a patient and I'm

totally bald, you would think " If he didn't do it for

himself how is he going to do it for me? " You need to

be aesthetically acceptable to provide those services.

It doesn't make you vain - is part of the job

requirement.

Q: Has that changed the way you look at women?

A: Definitely. When you look at people you look at

them to see what are their features that bring the

beauty out. The most important is the beauty triangle.

The eyes, cheekbones and the lips and chin. If your

eyes are small, or the upper, middle and the third

part of the face are disproportional, if they are not

equal it will be looking not as beautiful as if they

really matched.

Q: What is the biggest satisfaction you get from this

job?

A: The most rewarding part of cosmetic surgery is the

reward you get from changing the patient's life.

My background is not in aesthetic surgery. I used to

save lives in " real " medicine. I didn't have as much

" thank you " as I have now.

Some of the patients think you're second to God - I

didn't have that when I was saving lives. Sometimes

when you save somebody's life as the " real " doctor

they might say " thank you, " they might just say " It is

his job. " Here it is different. You remove some

wrinkles and it's like " Wow! He is my hero! "

You make people feel good about themselves. That's

much better than spending thousands and thousands of

dollars on a psychiatrist. Remove a little wrinkle and

have their skin improved and that will make them a

different person. That really outmatches any

psychological treatment (laughs). There is nothing

better to improve low self-esteem than improving their

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