Cosmetic surgery is an expensive procedure. They have now become popular even among those who can’t really afford it. These popular elective surgeries are no doubt very expensive. A simple Botox procedure may cost upwards of $300. You can expect to pay thousands of dollars to get what you want. Some of the major surgeries may cost anything above $10,000.

Cosmetic surgery is expensive in the United States. The same surgeries may cost you anywhere from 30% to 70% less in South American, European or Asian countries. With a little research you can easily locate high quality services which will not cost you the earth.

Traveling to another country to have a cosmetic surgery may actually turn out to be cheaper, plus you get to travel to another country.

Here is a general idea of what cosmetic surgery cost in the United States. The cost may differ marginally from clinic to clinic depending on their policies. They are more or less in this range across the country, though New York may prove to be about 50% or so higher.

Arm lift $4500- $6000
Blue peel $ 200 and above per area
Breast augmentation $6000 – $9000 (silicone)
Breast augmentation $5000-$6000 (saline)
Breast lift $4500-$6000

Cheek or chin implants$3500-$5000
Collagen injections $500 -$1250
Deep chemical peel $3000-$5500
Dermabrasion $2500-$4500

Eyelid tuck $3500-$5500 (lower and upper)
Face lift $6500-$10000
Brow lift $3000-$5500
Laser hair removal $2000-$5000

Lip augmentation $500-$2000
Liposuction $2000-$7000
Rhinoplasty (nose job) $5000-$6500
Lip liner $200-$1200

Peels $60-$3000
Pectoral implants $7000-$8500

This is not a comprehensive list nor does it claim to give the exact prices. It is only an indication of the prevailing cosmetic surgery prices in United States.

These are an indication for the surgery costs only. You will also need to pay for the post operative care and may be even for post operative complications. Sometimes these expensive procedures may not give you the desired results and then you may have to go in for corrective surgery too.

However, I really think that the weight loss surgery path of losing weight has become far too fashionable, with people undergoing surgery for no reason, other than their desire to lose weight fast, and have a shortcut. Weight loss really comes down to one factor, and that is how many calories in versus how many you burn. Yes, different foods and food types do metabolize differently, but essentially, even without changing your diet nutritionally, you can lose weight through trimming down portions, and adding a little activity to your daily routine.

In the quest for shortcuts, people do a lot of stupid things, and I think going under the knife to lose weight is the sort of thing that should be reserved as a last resort. I’m not at all in favor of the pop culture trendiness of bariatric surgery. Like I said, if you’re in a situation where your health is in serious risk by not losing weigh and getting it lost today, then that is where gastric bypass surgery is something that you should consider.

I remember a friend of mine telling me, there is no such thing as a minor surgery. What he was saying was that no matter how fast the surgery is usually performed, and whether or not it is an outpatient treatment, no matter what the standard recovery time is, surgery is always serious. This has always stuck with me, especially considering the fact that the vast majority of deaths or other complications on the surgery table occur, not as a result of the surgical procedure itself, but as a result of the anesthesia inducing complications. That was really the biggest concern I had when I had my umbilical hernia repair surgery. I was terrified to go under. I trusted Dr. Trajtenberg to know what he was doing, but I was scared of the anesthesia wild card.

That is why when I see something like Full Bar being promoted by a guy who does bariatric surgery for a living, it makes me stop. Here’s a guy that immediately makes me think, “wait a minute. If people use this then they will be less inclined to take a surgical route.” In other words, whether it is a marketing mind trick or not, it makes me have an immediate level of trust for what he has to say, because it appeals to my bias that surgery is serious, and not the sort of thing to undertake because it’s fashionable, trendy, or easy.

So, what is the deal with Full Bar?

Full bar was created by Dr. Michael A. Snyder, MD, FACS. His website is a little odd, so I didn’t realize at first that you can find the nutritional information by selecting the link for available flavors of the bar. But, with a little clicking around, I was able to find that there are currently about 6 varieties.

• Cranberry almond
• Cocoa chip
• Caramel apple crisp
• Peanut butter crunch
• Fresh berry bliss
• Zesty lemon lime

Most of the bars come in at about 160 calories per bar. Fresh berry bliss, and zesty lemon lime come in a little lower at 150 calories each, and the peanut butter crunch is a little higher with 180 calories. But they all pretty much fit the same range in terms of caloric intake. It’s a reasonable calorie count for a bar. Some cereal bars weigh in with considerably more calories per serving.

Out of curiosity, I decided to look at the nutritional information of my wife’s Kashi™ TLC™ all natural fruit and grain bars. The one I looked at was the Dark Chocolate Coconut flavor. They have a serving size of 1.1 oz. (32g) and contain 120 calories each. 30 calories from fat, for 3.5g of fat. 21g total carbohydrates, and 4g fiber. They have 50mg sodium, and 4g of protein.

By contrast, the Fullbar Cocoa Chip flavor has a serving size of 45g (about 40% larger). It has 170 calories, 25 from fat for 3g of fat. Fullbar has 31g total carbohydrate, with 4g fiber. They have 105mg sodium, and 5g protein.

So, comparing Kashi to Fullbar, you can see that they are about the same nutritionally, especially if you were to account for the 40% larger portion of the Fullbar. The ingredients of the two are somewhat similar as well. Being a mostly grain based bar.

The main issue that I have with Full Bar is the instructions:

Simply eat FullBar with an 8-ounce glass of water 30 minutes before your 2 biggest meals of the day. For added fullness and flavor, drink Aquafull with your FullBar. By meal time, you’ll eat less and your hunger will be completely satisfied.

The fact is that if you were to develop the habit of eating 45g (the Fullbar serving size) of any reasonably healthy food with 8 ounces of water half an hour before your 2 biggest meals of the day, you would be inclined to eat less during those meals, and in a quantity significant enough that the combination of the premeal snack combined with the meal should ultimately lower your daily calorie count.

This is a minor quibble, but it’s important, to me, to point out that the main benefit of following the fullbar regimen as an alternative to weight loss surgery is that it creates an eating habit change. It causes you to eat 5 times a day, as opposed to 3, and in smaller quantities. It is no secret that this is one of the main dietary recommendations for healthy weight loss programs is to eat more often, and in smaller portions.

There is no magic formula to full bar. It’s simply a moderately healthy snack that you eat before your meal to reduce the available room in your stomach for your meal. That is the similarity to gastric bypass surgery. While bariatric surgery reduces the size of your stomach, Fullbar and a glass of water fills up your stomach. Both reduce the volume available in your stomach for meals, but full bar does it non-surgically.

In all, I have a fairly positive opinion of FullBar. It seems to be a fairly healthy snack. It also seems like it would be a tasty snack, that I would enjoy whether trying to lose weight or not. I would eat them just to have a good, healthy snack that is enjoyable to eat. It’s also a much preferred alternative to butchering your insides to force a change in eating habits. Full bar works because, if you follow the regimen, you are making precisely the dietary habit changes that lead to weight loss. I’d buy them.

What is an Umbilical Hernia

An umbilical hernia is where a portion of the abdominal lining. or even one of the internal organs, protrudes through the area around the belly button. They are caused by a hole or weakness in the abdominal wall. It turns out that umbilical hernias are most common for infants, but they can also affect adults, such as in my case. Perhaps as many as 1 in 6 infants have umbilical hernias. In infants the bulge from the hernia may be visible all the time, or it may only show during times of strain, such as when crying or straining to make a bowel movement. The strain pushes the contents of the abdomen through the hole in the abdominal wall, causing the bulge to enlarge.

In adults, the same would be true where it might be visible all the time, or it might only show during times of strain. In my case, it was always visible, but during strenuous activity, the bulge would enlarge. Finally, it got to a point where it ripped open wider, and I felt the need to see a doctor about it. In some cases, the hernia can expand to the point where the intestines or internal organs can actually protrude through the abdominal wall, and circulation to these vital organs can be cut off. I didn’t want to take the chance that this could happen to me, since it was clear that the hernia was most definitely in the process of expanding.

The hernia contents are contained in a lining known as the hernia sac. This occurs at the site of the umbilicus, which we usually refer to as a belly button or navel. This is because the belly button is a place where there is a natural weakness of the abdominal wall, therefore it is common for umbilical hernias to occur. In children they are known to resolve themselves without requiring any abdominal hernia repair.

Most umbilical hernias don’t show any symptoms. Usually they will close by age 2. Doctors determine the size of the hernia by feeling the size of the abdominal muscle wall opening, not by looking at how much protrudes through the hole. Umbilical hernias are also much more common in premature infants, and African-Americans. They are more common in women than in men.Umbilical hernias also tend to run in families. I know my brother and my dad both had one, and they each underwent umbilical hernia operations as well.

Risk Factors and Causes of Abdominal Umbilical Hernia

The most common risk factors and causes of Umbilical hernia include:

A failure of the umbilical ring to close completely. This is the muscle that the umbilical blood vessels passed through while the baby was still in the womb.

Having an extensive period of time in labor during childbirth.

Fluid in the abdominal cavity.

Family history increases the likelihood of developing umbilical hernias.

In adults, obesity and/or multiple pregnancies increase the risk of developing an umbilical hernia.

Any abnormality of the urethra.

Symptoms of Umbilical Hernia

Symptoms of Umbilical hernia include:

A soft protrusion over the navel.

Nausea and/or vomiting.

Any new lump in the groin or other abdominal wall area.

Dizziness/weakness.

Redness or discoloration.

Fever.

Pain

Swelling or distension of the abdomen.

Umbilical Hernia Repair Surgery

Although with children, often no treatment is required to correct an umbilical surgery, hernia surgery might be required if the hernia does not self correct after the age of about 4 years. The best way to do surgical hernia repairs is to use a hernia patch or mesh. This hernia repair mesh is placed over the hole in the abdominal wall. This is exactly what I had done. Dr. George Trajtenberg M.D.,F.A.C.S. of Surgical Specialists P.C. performed my operation. Although, that information probably isn’t useful to anyone not in or near Southeastern Pennsylvania, I did want to give credit where it is due. And if you do live in the area, he’s one of the best, and as a patient myself, I recommend him.

The hernia surgery itself is an outpatient procedure. You show up and they prepare you for surgery. This included being given an IV cocktail of many different things, including pepcid to reduce nausea, benedryl, anesthesia, saline to prevent dehydration, and a few other things that I can’t recall. They shaved my belly and sterilized the area. Finally, I was ready for the hernia repair operation. They wheeled me into the operating room, and I was out a few seconds later.

When I woke up I was really feeling dehydrated, but the operation was over. It only took an hour or two for the actual surgery, and about half a day for the whole ordeal. It was tough, because as usual with surgery, I was not allowed to eat or drink for 12 hours before surgery. This is because most surgery related complication are a result of the anesthesia. The idea is to have as little in the system that might cause complications as possible.

Hernia Repair Recovery

The first few days I was in a lot of pain. There was really no way to ever be comfortable, but the closest I could get was to lie flat on my back. Even sitting upright was not possible. I had to eat standing up. It was also not possible to lay on my side, which is how I like to sleep. After about a week, I could sit for an hour or two at a time, and I would pace around for an hour at a time just to keep a level of activity, and to not go insane from being in bed all the time. I was given percoset 5mg for the pain. During this week I was restricted from working or driving at all.

I had a follow up appointment after one week, and was given antibiotics because the incision was getting infected. It was difficult to drive, and very uncomfortable, especially when making sudden stops, hard turns, or when riding over bumps. I returned to work doing paperwork for half days, and would come home exhausted, and go back to sleep until dinner. At the two week mark I had another follow up appointment, and things were looking normal, so I was told to come back in 3 weeks.

The third week, I returned to work full time, still just doing paperwork. I didn’t accomplish much beyond not needing to use more vacation time, and I would return home absolutely wiped out. I was pretty useless that week. But I slowly started to feel closer to normal.

Week 4 I was starting to be more mobile. I could handle a full day at work (still no lifting) a little better, and was getting better with driving and sitting up. I could finally roll on my side for short periods of time, but it hurt a little to do that, so my success in side sleeping was pretty limited.

Week 5 I started feeling mostly normal. There is still a little pain during any sort of strain. The umbilical area is healed pretty nicely, but there is definite scarring in the area, so my belly button and the surrounding area feels hard. I was able to lift 25-30 pounds, but I think I compensated by lifting with my back muscles instead of my abdominal muscles, so my back got very sore. I go back to Dr. Trajtenberg tomorrow, and I think at this point it’s just a matter of continuing to ease into a normal routine, and restrengthen my muscles all over again.

That’s my observations on hernia repair surgery. I would love to have your comments on it as well.

Cosmetic surgery can certainly cost a pretty penny, however. Perhaps you are considering a procedure yourself. If so, your among a growing number of people that are electing to improver their looks and self-image through cosmetic surgery.

There are many benefits to getting plastic surgery. Whether it’s right or not, people judge you by your appearance. Just by your looks, you are being classified into a mental category of success, intelligence, friendliness, and many others. Those wrinkles may cause an immediate judgment that you aren’t very friendly, even if you are. Being overweight may cause people to think you are dumb, or unambitious, even thought both inferences may be entirely false.

It’s been proven that looking good has a correlation to getting better jobs, being selected for that big promotion, and of course finding a mate. It’s no wonder that cosmetic surgery is in such high demand, considering all the benefits.

So, the big question is, how do you pay for the plastic surgery?

Of course you could just save up your money until you have enough to cover the expense, but it’s often easier to pay back a debt than it is to save. You have to pay a debt, but it can be easy to find excuses for not saving money. Most people will have the discipline to say, “no, I can’t get that right now because I need to pay my bills,” but can’t exercise the same discipline when no debt is owed.

Some surgeons will offer the ability to finance right through their office. Usually you will have to make a down payment, and then agree to make payments each month. The downside is that these are usually only short term financing, so the monthly payments can be pretty high. Surgeons aren’t bankers, and they want the bill paid in full much faster than a lending institution is willing to allow. The real deal here is that the plastic surgeon wants you business bad enough to sweeten the pot, but not enough to issue long term financing packages.

You could also use a credit card. This is only an option, of course, if you have the available line of credit to make the payment on your credit card. This is not one of the more favorable plastic surgery financing options, because it will tie up a great deal of your credit limit for a long time. Also, credit cards can have very high interest rates, meaning that over the long term, you may pay quite a bit more than the surgery itself actually cost.

Making minimum payments on your credit card can even result in having a higher remaining balance each month. Especially if your credit is high, the interest each may in fact be higher than the minimum payment. I got into big credit card trouble myself once, and this is exactly what happened. After a period of time of running this cycle, it got worse, I reached the credit limit, and got slapped with monthly penalties in addition to the hight interest.

You could also get a small unsecured loan from a bank or credit union. This will be an unsecured loan, meaning that there is no collateral offered for the loan. Unsecured loans tend to have a higher interest rate because they are seen as higher risk than secured loans, but you should still be able to find one with a reasonable interest rate. Especially if your credit is good.

If you’re a homeowner, you may really be in luck. This will allow you to consider options like taking out a line of credit loan. A line of credit acts like a checking account, except that the money in the account is based on what the bank has loaned you, rather than what you have deposited into it. These loans usually have pretty reasonable interest rates, because the bank issues your credit limit based on the value of your home compared to the amount you ow on it. This is called the debt to value ratio.

Refinancing your home may also be an option as a homeowner. This will really only work if you have paid enough of the principle off to balance out the amount you need to finance your plastic surgery. In a pinch, you could also draw a loan against your 401k. There may be penalties involved for this withdrawal, but the advantage is that it is your money, so the withdrawal penalty is really the only money you owe.

If cosmetic surgery is something that you really think you need to do in order to improve your quality of life, there is always a way to be able to finance cosmetic surgery. You will want to contact lenders and look into these options to find which is best for you. Unfortunately, I can’t just tell you what the best option is. Only you can determine that based on your income, credit rating, and what kind of payment term is comfortable for you.

What do you suggest is the best way to finance plastic surgery?

Thanks for visiting.