Question :

Aurora Clinics have been recommended as specialists in the field of breast enlargement surgery.

My breast augmentation surgery was carried out in London in December last year. Upon first inspection, I had a feeling that my left implant was not going to descend and it never did. After six months, I had revision surgery to manually drop the implant. I am now a few weeks post op and very unhappy with the results – my once symmetrical nipples now look very uneven and the entire breast seems to be sitting too low.

I feel that the surgeon created the pocket too low, but he is reluctant to admit this. I have lost all my faith in him now and am very keen to seek a second opinion, with the possibility of having further surgery in the future to correct this.

I will not go back to my original surgeon and would be grateful if you would agree to see me in the future or provide some advice. Thank you and best wishes.

Answer :

We are sorry that you are not happy with the appearance of your breasts following breast enlargement surgery.

Your initial surgery appears to have resulted in the muscle holding the implant in a unnaturally high position.

At the operation your surgeon may have released the muscle which would have resulted in the implant becoming lower. In your case, it sounds as though, it has descended too far and is sitting at a lower level than the other side. This would cause asymmetry in your nipple position.

Generally it is possible to correct this by stitching the fold to a similar level of the other side which will create more symmetry.

It would be advisable to schedule a consultation to discuss the best way forward for you in more detail.

If you would like to book a consultation you can do so by calling 08003285743.

We look forward to meeting you should you wish to book a consultation.

Best Wishes,

The Aurora Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery Team

Question :

Dear Aurora Clinics,

I have a deep furrow between my eyebrows and would be interested to find the best treatment for this.

Answer :

The best way to erase a deep line between your brows is with a non-surgical treatment of injections to relax the muscles that cause frown lines.

These muscles are called the corrugator muscles. They move outwards and upwards from the area between the brows, located above the nose and known as the glabella.

By weakening these muscles, we can limit the ability to frown. Very deep lines will not disappear immediately. However, three treatments over the course of a year will ensure that they disappear completely.

The other option for treating these lines is with dermal filler injections. Although, these are normally performed after the initial muscle relaxing injection has weakened the muscles.

We hope this information has been useful.

Best Wishes,

The Aurora Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery Team

Nonetheless, they make for interesting reading so we thought you might like a summary of the findings and how they relate to us here at Aurora Clinics:

UK Cosmetic Surgery Last Year:

• Despite the ongoing recession, not one single cosmetic surgery procedure decreased in popularity in 2011!
• In fact, there was a 6% average increase in numbers of all cosmetic surgery procedures combined throughout the year.
• The biggest increasing procedure was the Male Tummy Tuck which increased by a whopping 15%!
• Breast enlargement surgery still remained the most popular cosmetic surgery procedure, followed by Blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery).
• For men, the most popular procedure of 2011 was the nose job or rhinoplasty.

 Do These Statistics Match Aurora Clinics?

At Aurora Clinics, we would agree that Breast Surgery procedures (particularly breast enlargement) are our most popular surgical treatments. Having a number of top Breast Surgery specialist Plastic Surgeons and because we never used PIP implants, we hope that the PIP implants scandal will not affect the fantastic Aurora Clinics reputation for breast surgery. To the contrary, we have been doing our utmost to help all the ladies with PIPs that we possibly can through cost price removal and replacement, whilst still maintaining our usual high standards of breast surgery for new breast enlargement patients.

The rise in male Tummy Tuck and other procedures like Gynecomastia (man boobs) is interesting. As Clinical Director and Surgeon Mr. Adrian Richards observes, “these are not all men who are overweight with beer bellies: many of them are fit and healthy individuals who are simply looking to shape up”. Whilst men had been catching up with women in the facial cosmetic stakes for a while – as the popularity of male rhinoplasty shows – 2011 was the year that men really seemed to begin to care a lot about their figures.

Other top procedures at Aurora Clinics are, as ever, our specialities like Inverted Nipple Correction and Mini Facelifts – treatments which not all cosmetic surgery centres specialise in.

For more information on cosmetic surgery in general or any of the treatments mentioned in this article, please contact Aurora Clinics on 0800 328 5743 or info@aurora-clinics.co.uk . To read more about the BAAPS official statistics 2011, please visit this link.

Could you please explain what is meant by the breast surgery term ‘double bubble’?

I had my breast surgery done with the Transform Group. When I had my consultation I was told that everything was fine and that having breast implants placed under the muscle would mean that there would be no excess skin. However, in aftercare my surgeon told me that my muscle was too high for implants to be placed underneath which would result in ‘double bubble’; an effect that I would not like.

If he had informed me of this prior to surgery, we could have discussed the possibility of inserting them over the muscle. Do you think I stand a fighting chance of having them re-done free of charge as I was not told the correct information?

Your help and advice is greatly appreciated.

Answer :
Generally ‘double bubble’ occurs when breast implants are placed under the muscle. This position is higher than the nipples which lie slightly lower so it can give the appearance of a bulge in the upper part of the breast and a further bulge in the lower part known as ‘double bubble’.

It is possible to correct this by freeing up the muscle or placing implants in front of the muscle. If the breast implants are in front, the muscle will not be holding them and there will be no ‘double bubble ’effect.

We think that you should definitely return to the surgeon who originally operated on you to seek advice as to what can be done to rectify this.

For more information on ‘double bubble’ please visit the breast enlargement section of our website. Here you can watch one of our surgeons correcting a ‘double bubble’ effect.

We wish you the best of luck with your consultation.

Best Wishes,

The Aurora Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery Team

As we all know, one of the things you really can’t avoid in this life is Gravity. Unless you fancy a sneaky trip to Space, it’s a sure fact that What Goes Up is Coming Back Down. Or – in aesthetic terms – what starts off perky, ends up a little saggy.

In the case of Face Shape, gravity works its magic here as anywhere by pulling all areas downwards.

 Where Does Gravity Affect?

This is most obviously manifest by:

•  lowering of the eyebrows
• heaviness of the upper eyelids
• excess skin in the lower eyelids
• sinking of the apples of the cheeks
• formation of jowls
• excess skin in the neck region

 Whilst these typical signs of aging tend to fill people with dread, each can be treated.

1st Steps for Treating Gravity of the Face

As an initial course of action, a lifetime of healthy vitamin-rich diet, plenty of exercise, using sun protection (whilst avoiding harsh weather exposure in general), moisturiser and serum usage and avoiding smoking or alcohol will certainly stand you in good stead for holding off gravity in the face for longer.

Unfortunately, however, even with the best will in the world nobody can prevent the aging process forever.

Non-Surgical Treatments for Gravity of the Face

At this point, the first step is often non-surgical procedures of which there are a whole host specially suited to each of the problems listed above:

•  lowering of the eyebrows – Muscle Relaxing injections can help relax the Active muscle that causes the brow to drop
• sinking of the apples of the cheeks – Dermal Fillers can be used to plump out cheek volume
• Aged and damaged skin – Genuine Dermaroller Therapy

Surgical Treatments for Gravity of the Face

However, depending on your age and how advanced the affects of gravity already are on your face, you may find that you need a consultation with a specialist surgeon regarding surgical procedures as non-surgical treatments cannot deal with large amounts of excess skin or heaviness, particularly in the upper eyelid region or jowls (although advances in non-surgical treatments like the Nefertiti Neck Lift may be of interest to you!) 

• Low brow position – brow lift surgery
• Heavy upper Eyelids – Upper blepharoplasty are removing the excess fold on the upper eyelid.
• Lower eyelid – Lower blepharoplasty tightening up of the skin of the lower eyelid and removing puffiness.
• Jaws and Necklift – Face and Necklift procedures.

 Whichever route you decide to take, gravity may be an inevitable fact of life but it is not one that you need to take “lying down”: if you want to do something about the affects of gravity in your face, you can achieve extremely successful results through both non-surgical and surgical procedures for reversing the inevitable effects gravity takes in our face.

Contact Aurora Clinics for more information on 0800 328 5743 / info@aurora-clinics.co.uk

Spotlight on: Genuine Dermaroller Therapy™ by Aurora Clinics Expert Ruth Atkins (Registered General Nurse & Aesthetic Practitioner)

Ruth recently joined the team at Aurora Clinics after developing her non-surgical career. She is an experienced Registered General Nurse certified in performing dermal fillers, wrinkle relaxing treatments and Genuine Dermaroller Therapy™.  Ruth enjoys making a positive difference in the lives of her patients.  She is passionate about aesthetics and has a keen eye for detail. 

Ruth says: “ Dermaroller is a treatment that I really feel passionate about. It’s suitable for almost everyone and an excellent treatment for so many skin problems:

• acne scarring
• fine lines
• wrinkles
• sun damage
• pigmentation
• stretch marks.

Dermaroller can be used on the face, décolletage, hands and body.

Having had the procedure myself, I was amazed that after only one treatment not only had my skin improved in texture and appearance but my chicken pox scars had disappeared too!

It’s quick and straight-forward with minimal downtime. After applying local anaesthetic cream, the face is rollered with medical micro needles in order to stimulate collagen development and natural skin regeneration.  

The results speak for themselves: after all, Dermaroller is fast becoming the celebrities’ treatment of choice!  Please do remember, though, that Dermaroller should only ever be performed by trained medical practitioners at authorised clinics.”

For more information about any of the treatments mentioned in this article, please contact us on 01844 214 362 or info@aurora-clinics.co.uk . Alternatively, Book a Free Consultation with Ruth at Aurora Clinics, Princes Risborough, to get started straight away!

I would like to have nipple reduction surgery but am afraid that I will be left with no feeling in this area and the scars will be too obvious. Could you please advise.

Answer :
In answer to your question, there are two areas to the nipple; the nipple itself and the brown area around it called the areola. Both can be reduced but a different technique is used for each.

In nipple reduction surgery, the nipple decreases in both diameter and height. Absorbable stitches are used, which cause very little scarring and the surgery is performed under local anaesthetic.

With aerola reduction, the outer circumference of the aerola is removed to make it smaller, there will be some scarring around the nipple but absorbable stitches are used and the operation can be performed under local anaesthetic.

We wish you well should you decide to go ahead with this procedure.

Best Wishes,

The Aurora Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery Team

You’ve seen our many PIP implants videos; you’ve read our PIP blogs; maybe you’ve already even been for your PIP Implants initial consultation? But if you are considering implant removal and replacement (especially of such highly controversial and anxiety-causing implants as PIPs) you probably don’t just want to hear from us that Aurora Clinics are experts in this field?

So Aurora have collated a selection of our recent Reviews sent to us via email, on our Twitter and Facebook accounts and comments on our Blog. These testimonials are by patients considering PIP implant removal and replacement, those who have already had it at Aurora Clinics and some other industry experts who value our services! We hope it’s helpful

• “I’d like to give my thanks to Aurora Clinics for helping so many of us and for caring when we’ve been left high and dry by both the clinics responsible and by the government. I very much look forward to my consultation appointment with yourselves and am making the trip from Swansea because we think it’s worth it to go with a company you feel you can trust after having been through all this.” – Kate T
• “Thank you for clarifying the situation regarding PIP implants. Your custom care and follow up is second to none – Susan P
• “The entire team were amazing…the quality of care is fantastic. I doubt you’d get better anywhere else” – Cherry J
• “I feel much safer…and I’m actually happier with these results.” – Abbie W
•  “That’s what we’ve come to expect from Aurora Clinic – always there 2 help – good on you!” – Good Surgeon Guide
• “love the new ones Mr Richards has done for me, perfect ” – Leanne P (Implant Replacement, not PIP)
• “Having used Aurora Clinics and fortunate to have Mr Richards as my surgeon it is very reassuring to know that I made an informed choice based on the quality of information, consultation and service and not price.” – Louise B
• “I’m hoping to have PIP replacement surgery with Aurora very soon (I’ve booked my consultation) so was just browsing the site and the more you read on there and more videos you watch the more your respect for the company grows.” – Kate T
• “Is it Mr Richards you’re seeing? …You’re in very safe hands” – Cherry J
• “Fantastic stuff – women with PIP implants need much more support than they are getting from the Powers Above” – Kevin Timms (Garden House Solicitors)

If you are considering PIP implant removal and replacement surgery and would like more information about Aurora Clinics’ support / our cost-price offer, please contact us on 0800 328 5743 or info@aurora-clinics.co.uk. At the moment, you can secure your PIP implant removal and replacement surgery NOW with a fully-refundable £200 deposit. Your free consultation will then be scheduled prior to your procedure.  

So here’s a re-cap on the New Year’s Resolutions that it’s actually worth making (you know, the ones that you shouldn’t give up on after the first month)*.

3 New Years Resolutions That Will Help Your Cosmetic Surgery:

1. Quit smoking – both smoking and being overweight puts patients at higher risk for wound healing problems after cosmetic surgery procedures.
2. Get your Body Mass Index down to an optimal, stable level (ideally below 30) – Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck) procedures particularly benefit from weight being at a sustainable level prior to surgery. So, too, do Breast Augmentation and Uplift (Mastopexy) procedures where your surgeon’s good work can be undone if you dramatically change weight after surgery.
3. Improve your skincare regime – whilst facelifts, botox and dermal filler treatments can do wonders for your facial appearance, prolonged youthful beauty in the face comes from the glow of great skin condition. The best skin regime for stimulating collagen (the factor which makes us look younger and healthier), repairing and regenerating involves layering a serum and a moisturiser, packed with Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Niacinamide. We highly recommend the Flavo C range (stocked in our Aurora Clinics branches).

Although cosmetic surgery can make dramatic improvements to you, physically and emotionally, it is not a “miracle cure” alone: there are often other contributing factors in your lifestyle that will effect the outcomes of your surgery, the results achieved and how long they may last.

So isn’t it great news that some of the things you can do to help this are typical New Years resolutions, anyway!  

It really is in your best interest to begin the New Year on a healthy note if considering 2012 surgery.

So, Happy New Year from all here at Aurora Clinics: Let’s make it a beautiful one…but, above all, a healthy one!

*For New Years’ resolutions you should let fall by the wayside, think: never eating chocolate again, being a Size 0 by March or Marrying Prince Harry. Sorry, ladies – it aint gonna happen.

Aurora Clinics & PIP Implants

Making another television appearance regarding the current PIP implants controversy, renowned surgeon Mr Adrian Richards of Aurora Clinics appeared on last night’s ITV feature documentary – The Silicone Scandal.

The show, presented by reporter Chris Choi, highlighted the fear and confusion caused to women worldwide by recent revelations that PIP (Poly Implant Prothese) brand implants contain sub-standard industrial grade silicone and may have an unusually high rupture rate. These implants (removed from the market in 2010) were placed in approximately 300,000 women from 65 different countries.

Aurora Clinics never used PIPs; our surgeons always questioned the cheap price and quality of the implants. In the ITV programme, Mr Richards is seen performing one of many implant removal and replacement operations Aurora Clinics are now providing for a PIP implant patient unable to get the help she required from her original breast surgery provider.

Who Is To Blame For PIP Implants?

Hers is a commonplace story across the UK and one which is attracting much media attention. The issue of “who is to blame?” in this PIP implants controversy is causing the biggest scandal of all. The founder of PIP implants, Jean-Claude Mas, who instigated the use of the industrial grade silicone has long since fled France and cannot be traced for prosecution, leaving behind him ‘the biggest fraud case of a medical product on this scale’ that most surgeons have ever seen. We still do not know exactly what chemicals are in the PIP silicone so all sorts of wild theories continue to surface, causing more anxiety for the ladies involved.

Meanwhile, whilst most European countries have funded routine precautionary removal of PIP implants, the UK have not followed suit. Our MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) are adamant that there is no need to do so because there is not enough evidence to support a direct link between PIP implants and severe health problems. Questioned by Chris Choi, the Government Health Minister promised that the issue would be kept under constant surveillance but that “all we can do is deal with the information we have to date”.

The clinics who used PIP implants are coming under heavy criticism for using a cheaper product. They claim that PIPs weren’t the cheapest on the market: but as other surgeons have noted: ‘if well trained, reputable surgeons never used them and saw problems when removing them which made us question why they were so cheap’, why did these larger firms not do the same? Now they are in a genuine dilemma: if they were to remove every single PIP implant they put in for free (13,900 at the Harley Medical Group alone) they would go out of business. They argue that is senseless and wouldn’t help their patients anyway. Incensed campaigners argue the opposite – that it is morally better to go out of business having at least tried to do the right thing.

These clinics claim it is the fault of the MHRA for having regulated PIPs as safe in the first place, so it should be down to the Government to pick up the pieces on the NHS (obviously this comes at cost to the taxpayer so the general public are not very happy at this suggestion!) But the MHRA say they couldn’t have known because it was a case of fraud….so it all comes full circle…

Patients Need PIP Situation Sorting!

In all this finger-pointing, the real victims are the women left with PIP implants in. Whether PIP implants pose an immediate health risk or only if they rupture, these ladies have now been made irrevocably anxious by all the scary talk of cancer and ill-health symptoms in the news. After having to listen to the constant media hype and TV shows about ‘scandals’, they now live feeling all the time that there is something inside their body which feels like ‘an alien inside’.

Those were the actual words used by Aurora patient Abbie Webb, interviewed alongside Mr Richards in the ITV ‘Silicone Scandal’ documentary. After Mr Richards performed her PIP implant removal and replacement surgery, he showed her the silicone that he had taken from her body: her PIP implant had actually ruptured. Abbie described the sheer relief at having the silicone out of her body as an “emotional experience”.

From patients like Abbie to celebrities like TOWIE’s Lauren Pope, all sorts of women with different backgrounds, reasons for having had breast implants in the first place and experiences with PIP implants are now feeling scared, confused and unsupported. Some larger cosmetic surgery groups like BMI, Spire, Nuffield and MYA have stepped up and offered to fund free implant removal and replacement for any women who had PIP implants with them. In other instances, it is being left to the smaller groups and clinics – like Aurora – to pick up the pieces even though they did not use PIPs themselves to begin with and provide support, advice and treatment for these ladies.

For more information about Aurora Clinics’ cost price PIP implant removal and replacement offer please call 0800 328 5743. We also offer free expert advice and support via telephone or on info@aurora-clinics.co.uk and have a designated PIP implant page with FAQ videos and PIP latest news at http://bit.ly/vufuUV .  Special thanks to Abbie Webb for allowing us to use her PIP implant removal and replacement footage in the ITV Silicone Scandal documentary – best of luck for the future Abbie!