Preparing for Your Abdominoplasty

Everyone knows just how hard it is to get rid of that belly fat that has been plaguing you throughout most of your life. It seems as if no matter what you try, nothing ever seems to work. You have tried countless diets and tons of exercises, only to end up sore and frustrated. If you are finally tired of running a race that seems to have no end, you should make abdominoplasty your next choice. You won't be disappointed that you did.
Abdominoplasty is a procedure that involves a plastic surgeon cutting away that stubborn bulge of fat. Excess skin that contributed to the bulge and rolls in your stomach area can be removed as well. There is no risk to your abdomen muscles. In fact, you will be able to see more tone and definition after the swelling has gone down from the procedure.
Getting prepared for this type of surgery will make your recovery much easier for you to handle. After the procedure, you may notice some discomfort, so it is import that you do some things in advance to prepare and minimize your discomforts.
Drink a lot of water. The cells in your body all need water in order to rejuvenate themselves. The better equipped your body is, the better you will be able to heal. Now is not the time for you to become dehydrated, this can make you ill or cause some serious complications with your abdominoplasty.
In the weeks leading up to your procedure, try to minimize your activities and put a halt to any strenuous activities for a while. Anything that requires you to do any heavy lifting or will wear you out should be something you ask your friends or family to help out with. You will never know how much you use your abdominal muscles until after your surgery, when you are not really able to use them. This can cause you to appreciate your body more while you are recovering from your tummy tuck.
Enlist the help of your friends or family to provide assistance to you while you are healing. You don't want to do anything that will cause complications with your body's healing process. The less you do, the better your results will be, and the less scarring, inflammation, and irritation you will have to deal with.
One common problem that many people seem to run into after their abdominoplasty is that they don't give themselves enough time to heal. They are in such a rush to show off their new body that they don't heed all of the doctor's orders.
Give yourself enough time to make a full recovery before you start back with your normal routine. This means that you will need the doctor's approval before you get back on track. If you do everything that you are supposed to do, you will be pleased that you can now show off your stomach.

Microtia Treatment: Looking At Surgical Options

Microtia treatment can take a number of forms, both surgical and otherwise. The condition being treated is somewhat rare-estimated to occur in one out of 10,000 births. It consists of a deformity in either or both ears which manifests as underdeveloped cartilage. In many cases, it is associated with other disorders, such as Treacher-Collins Syndrome. While it does not always cause hearing loss, that is a distinct possibility. Sometimes the deformity extends to the eardrum and the canal, which can cause issues with hearing. If your child has been diagnosed with the condition, here are some of the surgical options available to you.
Rib Graft
One of the most popular forms of microtia treatment, the rib graft includes taking cartilage from the ribs of the patient and using that as a replacement for the ear's natural cartilage. While invasive, the doctor should be skilled enough to reduce the risks considerably. This surgery can be intensive, however, and it often takes several stages to complete. The rib cartilage has to be harvested and molded and then sewn into a flap beneath the skull. From there, the surgeon must create the earlobe. Finally, the surgeon has to release is from the scalp skin, giving it that natural, pull-away appearance and perform a skin graft. The end result may not look like a perfect ear, but it will be a much closer approximation.
Medpor Surgery
Instead of using cartilage from the patient's ribs, the Medpor technique does the same thing using synthetic materials which can then be carved and molded to match the existing tissue. This material is made from polyethylene, a substance that has been used in various forms of reconstructive surgery for years, in addition to being utilized to treat microtia. The major benefits of choosing this operation is that it can be done in just a single stage and is, of course, much less invasive. The cons, of course, are that the material is not natural. Though even this is mitigated by eventual vascularization, which can allow the patient to feel sensations such as pain in the ear.
Non Surgical Options
There are non surgical options for anyone with microtia. The most obvious of which is, of course, the choice to do nothing. Some forms of the condition will not affect the hearing, in which case the choice is purely cosmetic. If your ears are merely underdeveloped and small, as opposed to markedly disfigured, this may be a viable option. Prosthetics are also an option that many people choose. These prosthetic ears can look extremely real. Talk to your doctor about choosing one of these options if you don't like the idea of surgery.

The "New Rules" of Fitness

Everyone knows what Fitness means right? Fitness is being Cut aka being Defined, aka Getting in Shape aka Getting Shredded aka Getting Jacked aka Getting Ripped (not in a drunken sense).
Fitness
Fitness, as something that we must strive for physically to improve our aesthetic appearance, and by virtue our internal functions and overall health, is a relatively recent concept. Here in the United States, circa the 17th-19th centuries, our country was an agricultural nation, with the vast majority of its residents involved in farming. Most everyone worked hard on the farms, and thus most everyone was in shape or fit in some way or another.
The relatively recent societal technological innovations have served to make us a society where convenience and expedience is the norm; the rapid rise and advances of technology have also led to an explosion of population migrations from the agricultural heart lands to our cities, transforming them and leading to a consequent rise much of what we know of today including concentration of wealth and humanity in centralized hubs of wealth and industry and in effect, office jobs where we sit around all day staring at a computer monitor (and smartphone/tablet screens). This has lead to more and more of our citizens becoming much less fit, due in large part to the sedentary nature of our jobs and our home lives.
Thus, we now have a majority of our citizenry that is out of shape and not at all fit by any person's definition. As a result of this, a need for an industry to meet the needs of our out of shape and overweight citizens was created and continues to adapt and flourish. This is of course out of necessity - our population is aging, our children are increasingly out of shape, and their parents are obese.
Today, when we see someone who is in shape or fit, we marvel at them, mainly because they are more the exception than the rule. As you can see, the idea that everyone starts off fit and in shape, as would have been the case at least a century ago, is contrary to the norm that is today.
Old Rules of Fitness
Our old "modern" rules of fitness would have you simply eat less and exercise to achieve a semblance of fitness, or at least a modicum of weight loss. The mantra would be to eat 3-5 meals per day, workout at least 1-2 hours per day, performing 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions at some sort of weight for single muscle groups. Very formulaic, generic, and inefficient. The old rules were not bad - they just were too generalized and accomplished only the basics. They were decent guidelines to form a foundational understanding of exercise and offered a simple glimpse as to the work it takes to achieve a certain standard of fitness. Not a bad start - That was then.
The New Rules of Fitness
Welcome to the new rules of fitness, where there is a focus on achieving maximum results as efficiently as possible. There is much less focus on "general standards" for sets and repetitions and a greater focus on intensity and duration, as well as the incorporation of multiple dynamic modes of exercise such as plyometrics, yoga, pilates, resistance training, dancing, and other aerobic and anaerobic modes which can be used and blended to promote maximum muscular recruitment in effect causing more energy to be utilized in a more compact time frame. This is a much more effective and efficient way of getting things done. Indeed we are in a golden age of invention and achievement as it pertains to creation and adaption of exercise systems for fitness. Everyone who is embracing this movement should be applauded.
Today is an era where P90x, Insanity, and other similar type of fitness approaches are being attempted and embraced on a large scale. Why is this? There really isn't only one simple reason - it is because they are dynamic, fun, and most importantly these methods produce results - and not just simply standard results, timely, efficient results.
As exercise evolves, changes, and becomes adapted by practitioners and participants alike, the practice and promotion of nutrition as a partner with fitness will adapt to meet the needs of athletes and participants. Of course biologically nutrition won't change one bit, a calorie will still be a calorie, etc., however the ideas and principles of when someone should eat in relation to exercise, how much should they eat, and how often throughout the course of the day, will become variables of understanding and concepts of teaching that everyone will start to consider and incorporate as they start to embrace these higher intensity bouts with more frequency. Practitioners and participants alike will HAVE to incorporate both aspects since they are two sides of the same coin - you cannot be considered fit if you solely rely on exercise or nutrition, one in absence or to the exclusion of the other, to get you to your ideal aesthetic and internal goal since it is imperative for optimal results to understand and incorporate both. As activity increase, the need for (quality) nutrition/energy spikes as well, especially post activity/exercise.
Here's to the new rules of fitness and those practitioners and participants that have embraced them, and to those that will embrace them in the near future.

Otoplasty: A Guide To Ear Reshaping Concerns

Otoplasty surgery is often implemented when an individual has problems with the shape of their ear. These problems could be as minor (surgically speaking) as prominent lobes or as major as malformed cartilage. Whatever the case, the surgery can make a big difference in not only the patient's appearance, but in their self esteem. This is especially true in younger patients. As adults, we forget how serious "sticking out" can be when it comes to getting teased in school. While it's easy to say, "Oh, it will build character," there are few studies that say being tormented in school produces a well balanced adult. Here are some things you should know about the procedure.
Weighing Factors
The results of otoplasty is based not only on the skill of the surgeon, but on weighing a number of factors prior to moving forward with surgery. Not everyone is a great candidate for the procedure. By taking the time to adequately determine who is and who isn't a good candidate, a doctor can vastly improve the success rate of their practice. Don't be angry if it is determined that you or your child isn't appropriate for a procedure. While it's your right to seek out a second opinion, you could be doing more harm than good by charging forward in spite of advice to the contrary. Some of the factors to consider include size and symmetry, pliability of the cartilage, age, and physical health.
Age
One concern at the forefront of many a parent's mind is how old their child should be when considering otoplasty. While social concerns dictate that any procedure be handled as soon as possible, this time is rarely before the age of five or six. This is because the ears will not reach their full maturity until that age. It makes little sense to make surgical adjustments to the ears before they have finished growing. Consider taking the child in for an initial consultation around this age and the plastic surgeon will be able to make a determination about whether or not it is appropriate to move forward with treatment.
Changing Your Look
One of the concerns people-especially adults-have when considering otoplasty is whether or not it will drastically alter their appearance. Everyone has seen people go in for a nose job and come out looking like an entirely different person. That's because the nose is a central feature. Making dramatic adjustments to its shape and size can have a significant effect on how we perceive that face. The ears aren't the same. While the problem will be addressed, you will still look like the same person after surgery.

Thrombocytopenia: Symptoms Of Low Blood Platelet Count

Do you suspect that you may be suffering from low blood platelet counts? If you do, you join millions of people across the globe affected by this very treatable problem.
The simple symptoms of thrombocytopenia (low platelets) start with visual cues such as excessive bruising, or bruising very easily. This is caused by blood "leaking" into the skin after trauma. There is no obvious time frame regarding the development of the symptoms of low platelets, and can appear suddenly or gradually become more apparent with time.
Obvious symptoms of the conditions present themselves in much more sever ways. If you bleed excessively after becoming injured, then you could very well have a low platelet count. Note that if you are on medication such as blood thinners and aspirin, then you may be more susceptible to the effects of having a low platelet count. If you suspect you suffer from the condition, then you should speak to your doctor about what the medication you are taking would have on you if you did indeed suffer from the condition.
Thrombocytopenia may also cause spots on the skin red or purple in colour, usually on the forearms or on the legs. This symptom generally presents itself on areas of the skin where there are lots of capillaries and where the skin is thin. These spots are a direct result of the fact that low platelet sufferers' blood clots at an impaired rate when injured. These spots are called petechiae.
This bleeding condition also causes easy bruising of the skin, and can present themselves seemingly on their own even without obvious trauma. Obviously, the more sever the trauma, the more severe the bruising. The medical name for this is bruising purpura, and can be purple, brown or red in colour.
More severe forms of thrombocytopenia may manifest themselves in much more affecting ways. Bleeding from the mouth or nose, or excessive bleeding after you've brushed your teeth may indicate that you have low amounts of platelets. For women, if your menstrual cycle's flow seems to be much heavier than normal than you should definitely look into treatments for the condition.
Often, the indication that a person suffers from low platelet counts is more prevalent when that person has had an operation. This is thought to be due to the more invasive nature of surgery and the large amount of healing required by the body. This extends into dental work and oral hygiene practices, where gums may bleed and seem to stop very slowly. If you present these symptoms you should get yourself checked out.
If you are seeing blood in your urine or stool then you could also be a sufferer, and before immediately jumping to the conclusion that you have low platelet amounts in your blood, get checked out by a doctor as these symptoms could point too much more sever medical conditions. If you suffer from immense headaches and are concerned that there may be something wrong with you, low platelets could be a contributing factor.
If you suspect or are experiencing any symptoms of thrombocytopenia mentioned in this article, get checked out by your doctor. As with any medical condition, low blood platelet counts should be treated wisely and as non invasively as possible, where possible.
Try seeking treatment through a modification of your diet, and do further reading on what exactly contributes to low blood platelet counts and how you can restore them to healthy levels safely and as naturally as possible.

If you suspect you are suffering from thrombocytopenia or low platelet counts, then you should get treatment as soon as you can. These treatments don't need to be medicinal though, and in fact you would benefit from keeping them as natural as possible.
Head on over to thrombocytopeniadiet.com for more information on changing your diet to rid yourself of low platelet counts, it's a simple change that could make a massive difference to your life!