Breast implants top list of most common plastic surgeries

Breast augmentations are the most common form of plastic surgery in America, plastic surgeons say.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the number of women who are getting breast implants has increased from last year.

In 2011, 307,180 women nationwide underwent a breast augmentation procedure while 296, 203 women had the same surgery in 2010.

Loyola University Health System plastic surgeons have also revealed similar trends in their practice.

“I have certainly seen an increase in elective cosmetic procedures in my practice. This is a sign the economy may be improving and people may have more disposable income to spend on cosmetic enhancements,” said Victor Cimino, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon at LUHS.

Other cosmetic surgery procedures that topped the list included: nose reshaping (243,772); liposuction (204,702); eyelid surgery (196,286); and face lifts (119,026).

The top five minimally invasive procedures were: Botulinum Toxin A (5,670,788); soft-tissue fillers (1,891,158); chemical peels (1,110,464); laser-hair removal (1,078,612); and microdermabrasion (900,439).

The least popular procedures nationwide were: pectoral implants (317), calf augmentation (405) and buttock implants (1,149).

“The top surgical procedures that we do at Loyola mirror the national statistics,” Dr. Cimino said.

“However, we opt to use various peels and lasers to rejuvenate the skin over other minimally invasive procedures such as microdermabrasion,” he added. Credit:santabanta.com

The woman who lied about having cancer and used friends' donation to pay for breast implants

Authorities say a Texas woman lied about having breast cancer, watched as friends raised $10,000 as a benefit for her, and then spent it to have her breasts enlarged. At least two dozen people donated to help Trista Joy Lathern get treatment for breast cancer. The Texas woman held fundraisers, sent out fliers and received donations from family, friends, co-workers and strangers. All those who donated were told she had breast cancer and no health insurance. They were told the 24-year-old mother of two needed live-saving surgery. Instead, the money went towards breast enlargement surgery in a sad attempt to save her failing marriage.

Lathern also shaved her head to look like a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy. Her husband, William Lathern, has now filed for an annulment of the marriage. She has been charged with theft by deception, and also re-arrested on a two-year-old warrant for theft by check. (Link)

The man who got himself a boob job… on his tattoo

For a man to have a boob job is unusual enough - let alone to have the silicone implants not in the chest, but in the leg. But Lane Jensen's figure is now looking a little more voluptuous in an odd place after one of the most unusual operations ever. Lane, a devotee of body art already, had a tattoo of a buxom lady on his shin. But for some reason, he decided this was not quite expressive enough - so he had silicone implanted to make the etching stand out in all the right places.

Canadian Lane, editor of a body art and tattoo magazine, even sat up to watch most of the operation carried out in Edmonton, Alberta. Brian Decker, owner of the firm Pure Body Arts, carried out the strange surgery which lasted just 45 minutes - and left Lane feeling nothing more than "a small bruise", but delighted with his new breasts.(Link)

Russian beauty’s silicone breasts burst during transatlantic flight

A 45-year-old Russian woman found herself in need of medical treatment when her F-cup implants burst on an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Los Angeles. Irena D's (as her name has been reported by the Russian press) ailment was not immediately obvious to doctors when she collapsed at LA airport but after a thorough examination they were soon abreast of the situation. Irena D has since had the implants removed and has been warned of the potential health consequences of further breast augmentation.(Link)

The woman who survived a car crash because her breasts implants acted as airbags

A Bulgarian woman driver escaped relatively unscathed from a head-on pile-up with another vehicle when her 40DD breast implants absorbed most of the impact. Elena Marinova, 24, of Sofia, pranged her motor in the northern city of Ruse. The two cars were crumpled past recognition in the crash but the woman's silicone breasts acted as airbags and saved her life. Sadly there were two casualties in the crash - her enhanced breasts. The force of the impact burst the implants, leaving her somewhat deflated.

A police expert explained: "[The implants] worked just like airbags - protecting the victim's ribs and vital organs from damage." He did, however, add: "They are not as safe as the real thing because they exploded, which airbags are not supposed to do."  (Link)

The plastic surgeon who published naked pictures of his patients who didn't pay the bill

A German plastic surgeon hunting women who never paid for their operations has produced what may be the greatest 'wanted' poster in history. He's published pictures of their enhanced breasts. He hopes that publicizing the pictures of the breasts will help police track down the women, who absconded from the clinic where the surgery took place without paying.

One of the women - who gave her name as 'Tanja' - asked to go out to get some 'fresh air' after the £5,400 (€8,000) was completed. She never came back. Michael Koenig, the Cologne surgeon after the women, said: 'The women registered under fake names. After the operations, which lasted about an hour, they just ran away,' he reported.  (Link)

The blond celebrity who became a TV sensation by smashing things with her silicone breasts

Busty Heart certainly brings a new meaning to the phrase ‘cracking melons'! With each bafflingly big boob weighing in at a whopping nine kilos, the 47-year-old, real name Susan Sykes, could probably knock out Mike Tyson. She appeared on Spanish TV show 'Donde estas Corazon?' to prove that the large fruits were no match for her large breasts.

After demonstrating on live TV the damage that her knockers can do to Coke cans and melons, you'd have to be a brave man to rub her up the wrong way. And as if that wasn't enough, a shocked nation watched in awe as Busty Heart appeared on ‘America's Got Talent'. Even jury star David Hasselhoff, who's seen his fair share of big breasts, was impressed. She'll also have won some admirers in Japan as she displayed the amazing karate skills of her 95 JJs. It's a skill that Busty has been carefully training since the 80s, when she first realized TV viewers across the globe loved watch her busting melons.  (Link)

The shooting victim who survived because her size D implant stopped the bullet

A Los Angeles shooting victim's breast implant may have saved her life by slowing the bullet before it reached her heart. Lydia Carranza was working at the Simi Valley dental office when her co-worker, the gunman's wife, was shot and killed.

Carranza was just a few feet away. “She's just one lucky woman,” Dr. Ashkan Ghavami said. “I saw the CT scan. The bullet fragments were millimeters from her heart and her vital organs. Had she not had the implant, she might not be alive today”.

An LAPD firearms instructor told the Times it's possible the implant interrupted the velocity of the bullet. “I don't want to say a boob job is the equivalent of a bulletproof vest,” Scott Reitz said. “So don't go getting breast enhancements as a means to deflect a possible incoming bullet.”  (Link | Via)

The politician who raffled off breast implants to raise campaign funds

Gustavo Rojas, a candidate for Venezuela's National Assembly, is short of cash for his election campaign. So he plans to raffle off a set of breast implants to raise money. Cosmetic surgery, especially breast enlargement, is widespread in image-conscious Venezuela, whose beauty queens have won numerous international pageant titles.

Even a recession has not diminished Venezuelans' appetite for cosmetic surgery with many people taking out loans for the surgery. Mr Rojas, of the opposition First Justice party, said that he was not too worried about the medical details of his offer. “The raffle is a financing mechanism, nothing else,” he told the newspaper. “It's the doctor who will do the operation, not me.”  (Link | Via)

The woman who had her dead husband's ashes sewn into her breast implants

A widow has had her dead husband's ashes sewn into her breast implants - so he can stay close to her heart. Sandi Canesco, 26, of Sydney, Australia, took the bizarre step after husband Dustin died in a road accident.

"It dawned on me that if I carried Dustin's cremated remains in my breast implants, I'd never really have to part with him at all," the paper quoted Canesco as saying, under the headline "Dust to bust."  (Link)