Dedicated to the highest standards of treatment and staffed by leading plastic surgeons and dermatologists, the Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery Private Clinic offers our clients a wide range of procedures.

These procedures – for both men and women - range from facial cosmetic surgery to liposculpture, various contouring procedures and breast surgery, and can be performed either under local anaesthesia, or with conscious sedation, as requested. Many of them can be carried out as same-day case procedures.

The most popular, and one of the earliest procedures done among men and women who consider surgical rejuvenation of the face, is eyelid surgery. A blepharoplasty removes excessive skin from the upper eyelids; it frequently also includes the lower lids, removing bagginess. In addition, fine wrinkles can be improved with laser skin resurfacing by utilising an Erbium: YAG laser.

Facelift surgery can be isolated, or more extensive, depending on the areas displaying the greatest signs of ageing. For instance, lifting the neck requires an incision in front of, as well as behind, the ears. Often patients combine their facelift procedures with eyelid surgery, liposuction below the chin, or laser treatment of wrinkle lines on the lips. Other facial procedures include the correction of over-prominent ears and aesthetic surgery of the nose.

Botox® and filling techniques for lip augmentation and deep crease lines can be performed as well, using note Products such as Restylane®, Perlane® and New-Fill®. These products with the exception of Botox are not available in the USA

Most facial cosmetic surgery is carried out under local anaesthesia, as requested or recommended. Conscious sedation, administered by an anaesthetist, is available at the clinic, as are general anaesthetics for patients who opt for procedures that are performed at the private hospital adjoining the clinic.

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Thanks to advances and refinements in technology, liposuction has become a safe procedure in the hands of qualified plastic surgeons. Safety during liposuction procedures is enhanced by well-equipped theatres, well-trained nursing staff and mandatory sterile conditions.

Areas of the body that respond best to liposculture to enhance their appearance are the outer, inner and front parts of the thighs, the inner sides of the knees, the buttocks, upper and lower abdominal walls (the tummy area) and the arms. Liposuction of other parts of the body, such as the neck, face, calves and ankles, should be discussed with the surgeon.

Liposuction performed under local anaesthesia ensures effective interaction between the patient and surgeon, providing better results, reducing costs and eliminating the need for hospitalisation. However, a specialist anaesthetist can administer conscious sedation solutions intravenously; this method of sedation is designed to eliminate a patient’s awareness of undergoing the procedure, while allowing him or her to leave the clinic soon after the procedure has been completed.

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The clinic’s state-of-the-art non-surgical division specialises in skin-rejuvenation techniques that include various peeling procedures, performed by a registered dermatologist and an aesthetician.

The following therapy modalities exist to rejuvenate sun-damaged or ageing skin:

• Effective sun protection on a daily basis
  
  
• Topical Tretinoin, in the form of either Renova Rtmark (SA Skincare) or Retacnyl (Galderma) - the ONLY topical therapies that have been approved for the treatment of sun-damaged skin.
  
  
• A chemical peel, which entails the application of one or more chemical exfoliating agents to the skin, resulting in the destruction of portions of the epidermis and/or dermis, followed by the regeneration of new epidermal and dermal tissues. The different therapeutic agents are classified in terms their ability to produce superficial, medium, or deep peeling.
  
  
• Laser therapy, using Erbium or CO2 (carbon dioxide) lasers that have been proven to be effective in skin rejuvenation treatment.
  
  
• Microdermabrasion is an exciting, new addition to the methods available for reversing photo-ageing of the skin. Using state-of-the-art, USA FDA-approved Pepita Crystal equipment, this abrasion technique is a controlled, closed method of exfoliating skin layer by layer. The treatment utilises microparticles of aluminium oxide, vacuum-drawn through a tube in a controlled fashion, with almost no downtime. Microdermabrasion is currently used to treat mild to moderate photo damage, unsightly pigmentation, lentigines and dermal roughness.
  
  
• Microdermabrasion also allows the far more effective penetration of topical products and is consequently often used in combination with skin-rejuvenating products; the technique can be very effective in combination with bleaching creams for the treatment of melasma, or unsightly pigmentation, and can also safely be used on thin skin, like the neck, hands and forearms.
  
  
• The clinic also offers laser hair removal, by means of the LPIR Alecandrite laser, which has proven to be very popular.
  

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The clinic, as with the majority of South Africa’s top Plastic Surgeons prefers to use textured, silicon gel-filled prostheses. Incisions are made in the submammary folds and the prostheses are then positioned posterior to the breast tissue, on the pectoralis muscles. After the procedure, the patient can still examine her breasts for lumps and breastfeeding is also still possible. Patients need to exercise care and caution for the first two weeks following surgery, but after that they can resume their normal, full range of physical activities.

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Naturally, patients also have the option of having procedures carried out under full, general anaesthesia at the adjoining private hospital, but conscious sedation offers advantages that should be seriously considered. It induces a state of mild, pleasant sedation that lies between full consciousness and deep anaesthesia, and eliminates anxiety, hastens the passage of time during lengthy procedures and provides complete amnesia for unpleasant episodes.

In addition to sedation itself, conscious sedation also provides analgesia (pain relief) during the short periods in which it is required. This analgesia is extremely short acting and, because it is tailored to match the duration of any painful stimulus, it largely eliminates the conventional side effects of general anaesthesia, such as respiration depression.

Conscious sedation has a twofold purpose: it not only turns what otherwise might have been a stressful event into a relevantly pleasant one, but also allows procedures that may otherwise have required full, general anaesthesia in a hospital setting to be performed on a day-patient basis in a day-clinic theatre instead.

Conscious sedation is suitable for virtually all procedures that fall into the category of cosmetic surgery.

The safety precautions are the same as those for general anaesthesia and at the state-of-the-art Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery Private Clinic conscious sedation is administered by specialist anaesthetists. All the drugs required for resuscitation are at hand throughout any procedure, along with the apparatus needed for intubations, ventilation and defibrillation. Similarly, the patient’s condition is monitored to general- anaesthetic standards, with constant readings of blood pressure, ECG and pulse oximetry.

The advantages over traditional, general anaesthesia offered by conscious sedation include:

• No hungover feeling after procedures;
  
  
• Pain relief on a par with general anaesthesia, both during and after procedures;
  
  
• Huge cost-saving in terms of theatre time, anaesthetic drugs and gasses, hospitalisation and recovery times;
  
  
• Improved surgical results in some procedures, as a result of a reduction in bleeding resulting from post-operative coughing;
  
  
• The transformation of potentially stressful events into relatively pleasant experiences;
  
  
• A faster return to normal, day-to-day activities.
  

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The Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery Private Clinic is on a par with any equivalent facility in the major cities of the world. Stocked with the latest, state-of-the art equipment, it is staffed by highly skilled and experienced plastic surgeons, dermatologists, nurses and anaesthetists, all of who are registered with their particular professional associations.

That, in itself, is reassuring for those considering plastic surgery or skin rejuvenation.

But the clinic also places a strong emphasis on pre- and post-operative counselling, leading patients through the treatment of their choice step by step before, during and after the procedure.

The Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery Private Clinic is a medical facility that provides the highest possible standards of care, while ensuring that patients lives are rejuvenated with professional, very affordable plastic surgery.

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