Even if you feel sorry for Mr. Clooney’s girlfriend – both as a man and a cosmetic surgeon I can understand him. There is hardly anything less erotic than bulging silicone breasts! It is therefore indeed time for patients all over the world – as could be read recently in Profil – to have the excesses of an exaggerated and no longer up-to-date aesthetic surgery put right! Unnatural-looking silicone breasts, lifted, over-tightened doll faces – from the point of view of doctors this could all soon be a thing of the past. An interdisciplinary beauty and rejuvenatory medical treatment, the “New Cosmetic Surgery” is currently being developed from the scalpel and tightening cosmetic surgery, where silicone, tightening and scalpels will be unnecessary in most cases!

Instead of liberal cuts with the scalpel, the “New Cosmetic Surgery” uses minimally invasive, gentle cosmetic operations under local anaesthetic; instead of silicone, stem cells won through microcannulation from the body’s own fat tissue, whereby, for example, permanent, natural-looking, silicone-free breast augmentation has long been possible as well as bio-identical hormones and growth factors!

If Mr. Clooney’s girlfriend had decided on a modest and completely natural-looking breast augmentation with stem cell enriched body fat, he is certain to have stayed with her. He would probably have asked himself why her breasts were larger and fuller without assuming that medical skills had lent a helping hand.

Heinrich, MD

Egypt has always fascinated me. I recently looked through an impressive report on excavations in ancient Tanis. It was here – which remained largely unnoticed – that the untouched tombs of the Pharaohs Psusennes and Shishak were discovered.

Here I also had the opportunity of looking at photos of several mummies from this later era of the New Kingdom. They all looked as if they had been treated extensively with plastic surgery, Botox and fillers: no wrinkles, rounded features, yet lifeless, pallid and old. At that time the faces of cadavers had begun to be treated with various “fillers” before being preserved with powdered natron, in order to achieve full, wrinkle-free cheeks despite dehydration.

I am often asked why I do not offer Botox even though there is no doubt that it is a very effective therapy against wrinkles. If a face is treated with Botox and fillers over a long period of time, tissue changes develop which give the face an eerie, lifeless appearance similar to a mummy. Botox does not just paralyse muscles, which smooths out wrinkles, but it also makes the skin thinner, paler and drier, which means that it looks older. It particularly causes the glands of the subcutaneous layers of the skin to atrophy (an effect used in the treatment of excessive sweating of hands or armpits).

Is there an alternative in the treatment of wrinkles? Yes, New Cosmetic Surgery can indeed offer something better: growth factors. These are particular tissue hormones that are introduced into the skin by means of a special form of mesotherapy; and of course the therapy with the body’s own stem cells, won through liposuction with microcannulas! Both therapies have the effect of rejuvenating the facial skin, making it tighter and reducing wrinkles.

In spite of this, can it still make sense to use Botox in plastic surgery? Yes, for example, if facial movements need to be reduced for several months following surgery to encourage perfect healing in the facial area.

Many women would like to have been princesses in Pharaoh Shishak’s court, but very few would like to look like a mummy during their lifetime if they have the choice. For this reason I am optimistic that the new, natural methods will become accepted and that the mummy look will soon be a thing of the past.

Heinrich, MD