With plastic surgery procedures becoming more commonplace and the number of plastic surgeons providing such services increasing, it has become necessary to be aware of the qualifications and credentials of one’s surgeon before agreeing to go under the knife. Clients today, are no longer agreeable to going along with whatever the surgeon suggests and the increase in educational material and information available has made clients more knowledgeable about procedures and techniques.

As a result of the same knowledge, clients are now more careful about who they choose as their surgeon. Having access to public information and their doctor’s credentials gives clients an upper hand and helps them make a more informed decision.

Dr. Sanjay Grover, who is a board-certified plastic surgeon and a Diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, agrees that this trend is for the clients’ benefit and feels that in plastic surgery procedures, clients should try and seek out Board Certified surgeons and enlist their help. This makes a lot of difference in their techniques especially when it comes to delicate procedures such as facial rejuvenation.

Procedures such as Rhinoplasty, if done incorrectly, or if not done with adequate precision, can dramatically change the way one looks and can remove traces of ethnicity and genetics, which one might like to preserve. It is important to realize that a Board Certified surgeon may be one’s best bet to get the perfect nose job done while retaining the natural look of one’s face and features.

Board Certified surgeons are required to practice safe, ethical, efficacious plastic surgery techniques by maintaining high standards for education and examination. Certified surgeons have been tested and examined on their knowledge and techniques and require keeping their standards of care high in order to maintain their certification.

A woman in China plans to undergo extensive plastic surgery to look like screen star Jessica Alba — and hopefully win back the affections of her boyfriend.

The woman, who would give her name only as Xiaoqing, ended an 18-month relationship with her lover because he was obsessed with Alba, and frequently hinted that he wished she looked more like the actress — reportedly even giving her a blonde wig to wear. According to published reports, the boyfriend talked about Alba all the time, kept her image on his mobile phone, and adorned the walls of his apartment with numerous photos of the Fantastic Four star.

Xiaoqing reportedly left her boyfriend at the beginning of the year, but now wants to have cosmetic surgery to look like Alba in hopes of reconciling with him.

Doctors at the Shanghai Time Plastic Surgery Hospital have agreed to help her fulfill her wish, offering their services for free to demonstrate their skills in the area of plastic surgery. Members of the surgical staff noted that Xiaoqing would need multiple procedures to change the appearance of her eyes and nose so that they would resemble Alba’s, including rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, and an eyebrow lift. Most of the procedures would be irreversible, and according to a Reuters report, the hospital director spoke with Xiaoqing personally, advising her to think seriously about recreating her identity.

Still, the young woman, who works at an Internet firm in Shanghai, appears resolute.

“As a member of the younger generation in this country, I have a choice to decide what I want in life,” she told reporters. “I have never been able to let him go. If in the end he still does not accept me after I undergo the plastic surgeries, I will give up. I will then choose to let go, start afresh and live life by myself.”

Plastic surgery is not uncommon in China, with many men and women undergoing cosmetic procedures to boost marriage and employment prospects. Rather than being seen as a sign of insecurity, many view plastic surgery as a status symbol and an act of empowerment — including Xiaoqing.

“I’m not only doing it for my ex-boyfriend but for myself,” she told UK paper The Daily Mail. “I am a psychologically weak person. I want to do something to challenge myself and build a strong personality through it.”

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After much speculation Howard Stern confirmed on his radio show Monday that Fox is interested in hiring the Sirius shock jock to replace Simon Cowell on American Idol. Stern, who is known for his for his sharp tongue and merciless humor, would seem to be a perfect fit to take the place of Cowell, who has gained a following as the judge that everyone loves to hate, and is set to leave the show at the end of this season.

Stern insisted during his radio talk show that he is the right man for the job.

“If I do say so myself, I can’t imagine anyone else but me replacing [Cowell],” Stern said. “I mean, I don’t know. How else are they going to make that show work? Who knows how to broadcast and who knows how to be interesting? And who’s not afraid to speak their mind?”

Stern’s five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius expires at the end of the year making it the perfect opportunity for him to change paths and take over as the fourth Idol judge. But, will moving from radio to television make the media mogul more image conscious?

Though Stern is known for his voice and not his looks, he confessed to having a nose job to shave down the bump on his nose, as well as liposuction to get rid of his double chin, in 2006. But, he’s hardly as vain as Cowell, who is not only famous for flaunting his pecs in too-tight tees, but has also admitted to being fan of Botox.

“To me, Botox is no more unusual than toothpaste,” Cowell told People magazine. “It works, you do it once a year – who cares?”

In fact, Cowell is so much in support of the wrinkle relaxer that he reportedly counseled celebrity chef and fellow bad-boy Brit Gordon Ramsay to get Botox injections in his chin.

Whether the curmugeonly Cowell has any beauty advice for Stern remains to be seen, as Idol fans eagerly await the news of who will fill the shoes of reality TV’s most notorious critic.

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Innovations in surgery may eliminate unnecessary nose jobs for some patients.

A report in the January/February issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery indicates that the method of attaching a durable polymer called polydioxanone to septum cartilage makes it easier for surgeons to perform a septoplasty.

The septoplasty is an operation that straightens out a deviated septum. But in years past, this has been a tricky procedure, since attempted surgeries tend to weaken the cartilage in the inner nose. Surgeons have had to resort to fixing only the septum cartilage that is visible. Even then, trying to strengthen these regions with splints often failed, resulting in cosmetic or functional problems in the nose on a long-term basis. The more primitive forms of septum surgery didn’t maintain their visual results, and some patients re-developed their breathing problems.

But in 1996, a procedure was developed that seems to have satisfied doctors and patients both. Surgeons are now able to create strength in the septum by removing its cartilage and grafting it to small, durable plates of polydioxanone. From there, doctors re-implant the “new,” grafted cartilage back into the septum. Out of the 396 patients who underwent this procedure in 1996, 93.2 percent of them attained a straight nasal septum that sustained itself for up to 10 years later. No complications were reported on a short or long-term basis, and most of the patients observed improved breathing and nasal flow. To date, the study authors wrote, this procedure has produced largely successful surgical results.

“The use of polydioxanone plates during septal surgery facilitates external septoplasty, corrects several combined nasal deformities, such as post-traumatic and iatrogenic [medically induced] irregularities, and avoids postoperative saddle nose deformity without risk to the patient,” researchers noted.



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TLC reality darling Kat Von D of L.A. Ink loves to show off her ink. So many thought she’d be the last girl to succumb to a plastic surgery makeover. After all, being covered in ink isn’t exactly the Hollywood look Heidi Montag of The Hills was trying so hard to achieve when she got her 10 procedures last November.

However, recent pictures of 27-year-old Kat Von D indicate she may have indulged in some of the same procedures as Montag, including a brow lift and rhinoplasty. NewBeauty.com classifies the brow lift as atypical for her age since brow lifts are typically done to correct the affects of gravity and aging on the eyes: “Heidi’s board-certified plastic surgeon also performed several procedures that aren’t typical for 23-year-olds: a mini browlift, Botox, and fat injections in the nasolabial folds (as well as the lips and cheeks).”

Of course DListed.com was a little more blunt about Kat’s surgery, writing, “Kat’s eyebrows look like they fell in love with her hairline at first sight and are heading north to be with it.”

Kat Von D hasn’t commented on her new look.

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In the most recent issue of Marie Claire, Nicole Richie addresses the eating disorder rumors that have haunted her since her 2006 weight loss during the short-lived reality show The Simple Life with former BFF Paris Hilton.

“I felt it was a little unfair to say someone has an eating disorder when they don’t. It’s extremely insulting and irresponsible. An eating disorder is serious and it’s a disease,” she told the mag. “When I was heavier, everyone said I was too heavy. You can’t win in the public eye and I find it really hard.”

Richie was still on the reality show when The New York Post ran a blind item claiming a Hollywood starlet had gastric bypass to lose weight and then had it reversed to be able to put weight back on. Her reps told People it “wasn’t Nicole” and that “There are a ton of ‘Hollywood starlets.”

However, right after her weight loss in December 2006, Dr John Di Saia, a plastic surgeon and blogger at Truth in Plastic Surgery, called out Richie for having had new implants — perhaps to replace the cleavage she lost with her weight — and said the star was shopping a nose job.

Saia said the drastic changes pointed to body dysmorphic disorder: “At least one surgeon by reports considered her a poor risk and declined her surgery. There is talk about body dysmorphic disorder. She has had serious weight fluctuations.”

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Victoria Beckham has said she wants a girl because who else will the mother of three sons will all her shoes and bags to when the time comes? However, Beckham’s own womanhood comes first, a source told Closer magazine. “She looks incredible, but always seems to have more work planned. She’s always been incredibly body-conscious and she’s had small amounts of work done slowly so the change isn’t that noticeable.”

Beckham’s body issues came out around the release of her sexy mom-and-pop photo shoot for Armani Lingerie, for which she and husband David posed. A source close the couple told the UK Daily Express of the shoot, “[Victoria] adores the pics but she is extremely critical of her body and finds fault with everything. She says her stomach has been reworked with make-up and lighting and she is grateful for that.” How much of that was make up and photoshop is unclear, however, with another friend telling Closer, “Victoria has had laser treatment for her stretch marks plus the tummy tucks.”

Closer also reported the sum total of 35-year-old Beckham’s upkeep as over $200k currently, including two nose jobs, a brow lift, two tummy tucks, liposuction in the thighs, cosmetic dentistry, Botox and laser treatments for stretch marks.

“Because fashions change every season, she seems to think she needs a new nip or tuck so her clothes look good. David loves her with no make-up, wearing her glasses and a dressing gown. He tells her she doesn’t need more work,” the source added.

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After spending 10 hours under the knife to get 10 different plastic surgery procedures and saying she is “beyond obsessed” with plastic surgery and changing her look, Heidi Montag is changing her tune.

In an interview with Good Morning America, Montag says she doesn’t have a problem with her self-image and that her surgical improvements are just part of her job description. “I’m in a different industry and I have to do things that are going to make me happy at the end of the day,” she said on the show.

“I’m living in my skin, and I look in the mirror and it’s my career and my life, and you only have one. So, I want to take advantage of everything and be the best me, in and out, every way.” But her co-stars disagree.

In 2007, Celebrity-Gossip.net said revenge had motivated her to get a nose job and breast augmentation that took her from an A to C cup. Then in late 2009 she had the 10-procedure megasurgery performed without telling her family or co-stars. The list of improvements included breast revision, nose revision, botox, brow lift, cheek injections, butt augmentation, chin reduction, neck liposuction, ears pinned, and liposuction on waist, hips and thighs.

Hills alum Lo Bosworth says Montag’s behavior is not the norm. “I hope that girls don’t read the article, look at the decisions that Heidi made, and think that’s normal,” she told People.com.  “She was quoted as saying that every celebrity in Hollywood has these procedures done, every day… and that’s just not true. I would never want young girls to read that and think it’s the standard that they need to be measured by.”

Audrina Patridge, who previously told People she didn’t care what Montag did, agreed that her actions did send the wrong message to The Hills’ teen viewership. “I just hope that the girls who look up to us and watch us don’t look at what Heidi did as the only way to be successful and beautiful.”

But no matter what her co-stars say, the not-obsessed Heidi is determined to get more done, telling Extra she is happy with her current size, but wants to go still bigger for the most personal of reasons.  “I like the F. I actually want H for Heidi.”

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