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CNN Live Today

Paging Dr. Gupta: Getting Wrinkles Out

Aired May 02, 2002 - 11:28   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Growing old gracefully. The phrase is losing its meaning. These days, millions of Americans are doing whatever it takes to save face. And for many of those people, that means cosmetic surgery, and for that we are "Paging Dr. Gupta" today. Getting the wrinkles out is the focus of our segment. Last hour, we heard about the risk and rewards of getting those nips and tucks. This hour, we are going to take your e-mail and your questions, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with us once again.

Hard to believe how many people are doing this.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is huge. This is a really big topic. Certainly, we have been hearing a lot about it, with botox and things like that. Also, the "New York Times Magazine" is covering it this weekend.

KAGAN: We're ahead of "New York Times Magazine." We're cutting edge.

GUPTA: One of the interesting things I read in there as well, as you have plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery, a lot of people think of that as self-indulging, perhaps even vain, but some people say it's actually a social demand, it's something people are being forced to do to get ahead and things like that.

And who better to sort of point this to -- to give us a hand with this than Dr. Julius Few, a friend of mine from medical school. Here he is, a plastic surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

And Dr. Few, you are sort of listening in to this conversation about "The New York Times Magazine." Any thoughts on that?

DR. JULIUS FEW, PLASTIC SURGEON: Well, I think that our society today is becoming much more aware of the real benefit of actually looking better, means actually to some extent feeling better, and not just on a social level, but for a lot of my patients, it has profession am meaning as well.

I actually have a recent patient, a favorite, one of my favorite patients, who on his oh 40th birthday decided he wanted to have plastic surge to get rid of the bags under his eyes. He did it not just because of social reasons, because he was a very good looking man, but he did it mainly because he felt that it was hindering him from a professional standpoint, that people were wondering if he wasn't sleeping properly. One of his associates actually even said that he wondered if he was abusing alcohol or drugs, or something of that sort. I ended up doing surgery for him to correct the bags under his eyes, and actually shortly after he gave a big presentation, which resulted in a big promotion, and I think that's the result of an improved sense of self-esteem.

KAGAN: Good for him.

I want to get right to the e-mail, because we have lots of interest, not surprisingly.

First, doctor, for you the first e-mail is from Raquel in Miami. Here question is, "What are the possible side effects or complications after using botox or collagen injections to improve or minimize wrinkles?"

I think that the biggest risk certainly with using botox, which is something that will paralyze muscles, is that it will do something to a muscle that you really don't want it to effect, such as the ability to close your eyes...

KAGAN: Like no expression.

FEW: Which obviously would be a terrible problem, or certainly having a droopy or lazy eye, which can also happen after botox.

Using -- going to kind of your first question with collagen, collagen is very safe and effective. However, certainly a risk that can occur with collagen are things such as getting an allergic reaction to collagen, which can be a very significant problem, or that probably the biggest problem that I encounter is the fact it's a temporary effect. So patients will typically see that benefit for six months or so.

GUPTA: Got it. We have a bunch of questions here, Dr. Few, so I'm going to go ahead and the next one from Tabitha from Cincinnati. She thinks the segments are great. She's 28 years old and has a few lines under her own eyes now, a few lines. Should she wait to get a procedure, or should she nip it in the bud now, take care of it now, or would she be better off doing this, or wait a little bit.

FEW: Well, I don't think I can give you just a blanket answer for that question. I would say that each person is an individual. I have a young woman who just turned 31, who basically because of something that runs in her family, she has very, very prominent bags under her eyes, and as a result, she sought out and had plastic surgery to deal with that. So I think...

KAGAN: But overall, Dr. Few, is it better to do maintenance as you go, or kid of wait until you are sagging to your knees, just pick it all up at once?

FEW: I think that's well said. In general, I think that -- and I can't just say myself. I think in general, as plastic surgeons, we feel that it is better to do the least invasive thing to try to hold maintenance, and to wait until things kind of get significantly visible to try to address them with surgery.

So certainly with a 28-year-old with very fine wrinkles, no, I would not do an eyelid procedure for them. I would recommend a use of something such as retinae or the like to try to help the skin.

KAGAN: Next question is really good, because so often when we talk about plastic surgery, you see pictures of only white people, and of course there are a lot of other people out there interested in different features.

FEW: Very much so.

GUPTA: Yes, right. And we actually saw a little bit about the cool laser already. This question, is it good for African-Americans? The question form Mike in North Carolina. What's the next best thing for clearing up dark skin and also for the fat deposits under the eyes? I think all of these directed toward African-Americans with dark pigmented people.

FEW: Sure. Laser is very effective, especially with the newer lasers now that are out on the market to treat people with darker skin. It doesn't mean there is an absolute license to use it without discretion. There is people who have darker skin who will go the other way. Their skin will become bleached, it will become white as a result, or it will become much darker than what they actually originally started with or came to you for.

So I think that laser has still significant risk associated with it. For African Americans, which I'm fortunate to see quite a few of, in general, kind of the name of the process there is to try to place incisions, i.e. scars, in such a way as to minimize their visibility. For the eyelid as a good example, you can actually make incisions inside the eyelid.

KAGAN: That sounds fun.

FEW: So there are a number of ways to try get around that.

KAGAN: All right, and we have time for one more question, and that's from Christine in Dallas. And she is interested in something that effects a lot of us, and that is acne, and acne scars. What can be done to eliminate those scars? She's interested in collagen injections, but are they the newest and greatest process? And if not, then Dr. Few, then what?

FEW: Well, I think that acne scars can be a difficult problem to deal with, probably the one of the oldest, and I still think is probably one of the most effective ways to dell with acne scarring is using dermabrasion, or sanding down of the skin. Collagen is effective. However, the downside potentially for collagen is that its effect may be temporary, so you may have to repeat that treatment. Probably something that offers a long-term potential for benefit is using things such as fat injection.

KAGAN: Dr. Few, your debut here on CNN has been an overwhelming success. We have so many e-mail questions. We will have you stick around just a little bit so we can bring you back later in the hour. Is that OK?

FEW: That would be Fine.

KAGAN: OK, the Dr. Few debut.

(INTERRUPTED BY NEWS)

KAGAN: Our few remaining minutes we wanted to get in a few more of your e-mails on plastic surgery.

Let's bring back Dr. Julius Few, from Las Vegas, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta answering your questions, mainly on the face.

GUPTA: That's right.

And we've been hearing a lot about young women getting plastic surgery, but here is a question, the first question, from a 50-year- old male. Dr. Few, he wants to get some advice about eyelid surgery and tightening up the face, and also wants to know about the price of such procedure. As we mentioned before, not generally covered by insurance. Dr. Few?

FEW: Right, the general cost varies between about $2,500 to $5,000. And that's a going price for typically two to four lids.

KAGAN: Let's move on to Jennifer, from -- two to four lids? Oh, the lower lids.

FEW: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: Here is Jennifer, from Atlanta. She wants the best remedy for a facial scar left from a burn. Help!

FEW: Probably the best way it treat a facial scar from a burn is using a balloon that is placed under the skin to stretch out the normal skin to replace the burned skin.

KAGAN: But that means for a while you have to run around with a balloon under your face?

FEW: Unfortunately, yes. Certainly, for a lesser burn scar, you can use things to resurface or kind of smooth out the skin. But the most effective is using the balloon under the skin to replace that scar.

GUPTA: And our next question, Dr. Few, has do with your observational skills as a plastic surgeon. The question is, "When someone generally looks at a person, what do they see first: the eyes, forehead, or cheeks, when all of them are showing general sort of signs of aging?"

FEW: I would say that, without question, it's the eyes and the cheek that people look at first. That is kind of the most problematic area with aging. KAGAN: Interesting. Dr. Few, thank you so much. It was a Few debut.

FEW: Thank you.

KAGAN: We are going to have you back next week. We are going to extend past the face and talk about plastic surgery for the body.

Sanjay, thank you to you as well.

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