Greetings! I hope your week is going well thus far. In my last blog, I mentioned a new focus I have on health and wellness. The new Facebook and Instagram pages for drwilliamswellness are up and going. My goal is to tie plastic surgery concerns with health and wellness, since "we are what we eat" and beauty starts from within. With regard to plastic surgery, I am seeing more and more patients requesting cosmetic surgery following weight loss, namely to address the resultant excess skin. Some patients achieved their weight loss through the help of medications like Ozempic and Mounjaro, and others following bariatric surgery (ie, gastric bypass surgery). Others were able to lose weight through diet modification and exercise. Surgeries being requested include abdominoplasty or tummy tuck procedures, arm and thigh lifts, breast lifts (with or without implants or fat grafting), and facelift surgery. All of the above can be quite extensive surgeries. Some of the procedures can be combined in one sitting, though oftentimes, for the health and well-being of the patient, the operations are staged. While patients generally feel much better following the weight loss, the resultant loose and sagging skin can often leave the patients frustrated and self-conscious.
Since the surgeries can be lengthy with lengthy incisions, it is crucial for patients to maximize their nutrition both before and after surgery to maximize healing. Maximizing nutrition means achieving ideal levels of vitamins and protein needed to heal. This can be tricky since many patients, following large weight loss are actually not optimized from a nutritional standpoint, especially because their absorption of nutrients can be compromised. There is a test called a pre-albumin level which can help gauge a patient's protein stores. We sometimes order this test before surgery as part of medical clearance in patients we suspect are having protein issues. If patients are having a hard time reaching these ideal protein levels through their dietary intake, supplements can be used. Examples of protein supplements that I personally like are Juven and the protein powder products by Arbonne. Juven was a regular part of my husband's daily diet regimen when he was battling ALS since it's a muscle-wasting disease. I also like the products by Vital Proteins, which you may have seen at Whole Foods or on Amazon. As a little science refresher, the Juven and protein powder products contain "protein," whereas the Vital Proteins are "peptides"; amino acids make up peptides, and chains of peptides make proteins. For your convenience, there are links to these items on the website so you don't have to waste time searching, and for the Arbonne, the link is to a friend who happens to rep the Arbonne line, and she's gotten me hooked on some of their products!
Vitamins and supplements are also crucial for health and well-being. For instance, as I have said many times before, Turmeric is great for anti-inflammation. Vitamins are also essential for wound healing, vitamins A, B, and zinc. Zinc and Vitamin C are also important for the immune system, and you may remember how these vitamins were touted during the height of the Covid crisis! The antioxidant properties of Vitamin C are the reason it's contained in our Vitamin C skin serum, which is one of the most popular products in our line!
Now that February is wrapping up, we have St. Patrick's Day and March Madness to look forward to, and before you know it, the warm, sunny weather will be back. There's still time for the skin reparative laser skin treatments before boating and beach season returns! I am loving the results of my last laser treatment and I hope you enjoyed the photos! I can't sign off without a link to a music video. I had really wanted to see U2 in the Sphere in Vegas. The reviews have been amazing. Since the concert series ends this weekend, it looks like this ship has sailed, and while it's not "as good as the real thing," I hope you enjoy this video!
'Til next time,
Heidi Williams
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