Health: Scalpel News.(Hyaluronic acid for wrinkle treatment)(breast implants surveys)(Botox, Wrinkle Relax and StriVectin-SD comparative analysis study)

Wrinkle Soothing

Hyaluronic acid, contained in the temporary wrinkle fillers Hylaform and Restylane, can be quite painful when injected -- but adding anesthetic to the formula has been presumed to weaken its effect. Many patients require an initial nerve-blocking shot. But a new, not-yet-available hyaluronic-acid formula (which the distributor, Ortho Neutrogena, is calling CTA, for "cosmetic tissue augmentation") incorpo- rates anesthetic with no apparent loss of potency, says Steven Fagien, a plastic surgeon in Boca Raton, Florida, who is participating in a clinical trial. FDA clearance can be sought once the trial is complete in May 2005.

Implant Happiness

The majority of women who get breast implants -- 88 percent of them -- are satisfied with the results. That's one finding from two recent surveys of 5,000 women. Posted online at implantinfo.com, the polls were designed by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, and an independent research firm found the results to be valid. Although silicone-gel implants were rated more natural-feeling, saline implants, which were associated with fewer revision surgeries, got higher satisfaction scores. For the 13 percent of patients who have revision surgery, says Chicago plastic surgeon Laurie Casas, the main reasons are to improve implants' position (38 percent), increase size (34 percent), correct hardening of tissue (28 percent), or replace a known or possible rupture (15 percent). The data showed no link between implants and rates of connective-tissue disease.

Better Than Botox?

A study of three creams that promise to ...