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CNN Live Today
Interview with Dr. Julius Few, Plastic Surgeon
Aired May 08, 2002 - 11:29 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: All right. From face lifts to liposuction and tummy tucks, the fight against Mother Nature is on. But are those quick fix surgeries worth the money and the risk?
That's the focus of our encore "Paging Dr. Gupta" segment.
Last hour, we went under the knife to learn more about plastic surgery, and now we are going to hear from you. And if you're with us, you saw Dr. Sanjay Gupta as he -- he didn't go under the knife. He went under the computer.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. I wasn't brave enough to go under the knife.
KAGAN: Let's put those pictures up at the plastic surgeons office. They said, well, if you're thinking about it -- what did they do to you here? That's just with the computer.
GUPTA: Yes, this is just the computer, but it's sort of remarkable actually. A few things...
KAGAN: Come on, tell us what they said. They said you had a slightly bulbous nose.
GUPTA: Yes, they did comment on my nose, which was a little bit of a shocker for me, quite honestly.
But they lifted my eyebrows a little bit here, that's something that gives a little bit more of a youthful appearance. They gave me a nose job, rhinoplasty, all external, as you can see. Some of the changes in the nose, turned it up a little bit...
KAGAN: And then did a chin implant too.
GUPTA: A chin implant as well. All pretty subtle. The chin implant, incidentally, if you have a large nose, may make your nose appear smaller.
KAGAN: Yes, there's that.
I think Sharon Merrill (ph) speaks for all of us. She wrote this e-mail in. This is going to be the first e-mail. And Sharon wrote, "Please, Dr. Gupta, do not take what that lady said about your appearance to heart. We've always commented about how handsome you are."
GUPTA: Thank you, Sharon. Yes, very nice. I appreciate that.
KAGAN: So the vote is in. You are not going to do any of those procedures.
GUPTA: No, I'm not going to do it. But the interesting thing, you know, some of my personal observations from the plastic surgery office, subtlety is key. No dramatic changes. That's not what they were recommending here.
And, in fact, they made a point of saying tell us what you're sort of looking for. They didn't come out and say to me, OK, your nose, your eyebrows, your chin. Subtlety. No dramatic changes.
And Dr. Few, our plastic surgeon with us today, I asked him to comment a little bit about that subtlety.
Dr. Few, good morning. Welcome.
DR. JULIUS FEW, PLASTIC SURGEON: Good morning.
GUPTA: Subtlety is a big key with regards to plastic surgery. What's a typical patient visit like for you when you see somebody?
FEW: I think you're absolutely right. Really, the most important thing is to look at enhancing somebody's appearance without taking away truly important personal traits and to really do that with the least risk possible.
My most routine consult really emphasizes those points, and often patients, if they're concerned about anything, they're concerned about surgery making them look artificial.
KAGAN: Dr. Few, good morning. Daryn here. We're going to be starting off the e-mail for you, and our first one comes from, let's see, Susan in New York.
She is interested in getting liposuction on her thighs, "but the fat is rather lumpy (cellulite). I've ready conflicting reports on the ability of liposuction to help. How can I find the best information"?
Does the liposuction make you smaller, or smoother as well?
FEW: It often can do both, but can tend to sculpture as well as remove or reduce the amount of fat in a given area. The problem that she's describing can be a difficult one to completely take care of, but I would recommend that she look at the official web site for the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, which is www.surgery.org.
KAGAN: How much do they run, thigh jobs?
FEW: It varies greatly, but it can be as little as $2,500 or as much as $10,000 or more. GUPTA: We've got a bunch of questions, Dr. Few. I'm going to go ahead and go straight to our next one. It's from Scott in San Antonio. Quick question. "What is the frequency of nerve damage as a result of facial cosmetic surgery"?
These procedures are not without risk, right Dr. Few?
FEW: You're absolutely. Fortunately, significant nerve damage happens very infrequently, especially in experienced hands.
I would say that the reported kind of risk is somewhere around one or two percent.
KAGAN: This is a question about following up one surgery with another in terms of gastric bypass, if someone has gone through and done that, and is now looking to get rid of the excess skin that comes after a large amount of weight loss. This question coming from Sharon.
She wants to know, how long do you wait after you've had gastric bypass to have, I guess it would be a tummy tuck?
FEW: Right. Right. That's becoming a much, much more common problem that patient's are coming to seek improvement on.
KAGAN: How long do you wait though?
FEW: Typically, we like to wait around 9 months to a year, average.
KAGAN: To make sure that their weight loss is complete?
FEW: Exactly. And that it's stable.
GUPTA: All right. We have another question coming in from Alabama, I think. Mr. Sykes (ph) wants to know if anything can be done for a flat butt. Not something that we hear too much about, but certainly an important question as well -- Dr. Few.
KAGAN: That's a good problem to have.
FEW: There are several series that talk about actually moving fat from one part of your body to the buttock region to enhance the appearance, and actually that's been shown to be very effective.
KAGAN: OK. You know, we giggle, but I'm sure you hear all sorts of things about people, and what each of us wants to change about our appearance.
Dr. Julius Few, it's been a pleasure to have you with us these last few weeks.
FEW: Likewise. And I would definitely have to say both of you do not need to go anywhere near a plastic surgeons office.
KAGAN: That's very much appreciated advice. Dr. Julius Few, joining us from Chicago today?
GUPTA: In Chicago. Right.
KAGAN: He didn't make it back to Vegas. That's good news indeed.
And, Sanjay, thank you, too, for your expertise.
GUPTA: Thank you.
KAGAN: And like Sharon said, none of those procedures.
GUPTA: All right. I'll keep that in mind.
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