Dr. Brian Slywka

Attended our annual ASPS meeting in Orlando ... as well as earning CME credits, is important to me to keep up to date on the aesthetic surgeries that I perform. Marge is my office manager and as a registered guest, was able to attend some of my educational sessions, and of course the exhibit hall, which always has new products on display ... and for purchase. The convention center is huge and well designed; easily walkable from our hotel. Opening reception at Epcot in Disney World. Orlando hot and humid ... rain a bit every afternoon.

Our BLS(Basic Life Support) or CPR training for our entire office staff including Dr. Henjyoji and Dr. Corwin. Our trainer from "Training Solutions" instructs and we practice on medical mannequins ... adult, child and infant. Our office AED is demonstrated. A quiz by our trainer before receiving our CPR certificates. Our RN and Anesthetist staff also have ACLS(Advanced Cardiac Life Support) certification.

Completed another demanding inspection by an outside physician to get our AAAAF renewed for my office and surgical suite. Hours of preparation done my staff .... they are the best!!

IS AGE RELEVANT TO A SUCCESSFUL AESTHETIC SURGERY??? Although I continue to see both young and older patients, I do see a more aging clientele as I have matured physically; and previous patients have also matured and surgeries that I have performed on them ... breast augmentations, rhinoplasties, liposuctions .... are now replaced with breast lifts, implant exchanges(they don't last forever), facelifts, blepharoplasties(eyelids) ... is it still safe to operate on a...n aging population?? As individuals who want to extend their healthy years, they will adopt healthy habits as diet, non-smoking, frequent exercise and maintain a social support system. Their goal is to live a quality life through their 70's, 80's and maybe 90's. Most want to look good and feel good about themselves. I see patients whose biological age does not fit their chronological age. A healthy 70 year old vs an obese 40 year old with medical issues .... whom would I be more comfortable performing and elective procedure on?? My practice does have guidelines before being approved for a surgery ... pregnancy test ages 10 through 52; everyone tested for HIV and Hepatitis C; an EKG after age 50; physician clearance after age 70; cardiologist clearance with history of heart disease; everyone a CBC, PT and PTT. A red flag for me is a history of blood clots and being on blood thinner medication. I am more prone to decline performing an elective procedure with these findings. And I do realize that although complication rates are generally comparable with younger patients in most procedures, healing and recovery times are often longer in the older patients. See more

As a follow up to the ending of my post last week where I mentioned health and being physically fit. Besides our local gym,I do play hockey once a week and some of my fellow skaters are so buff that one cannot feel a little envious. However, I feel that I am still competitive and play hard. The reason that I am stating this is that I want to recommend a book .... it is called "Younger Next Year" by Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge, M.D. ...... subtitled " A Guide to Li...ving Like 50 Until You're 80 and Beyond" .......some of their recommendations are hard to maintain but you gotta love their basic rules .... "exercise 6 days a week for the rest of your life; quit eating crap; connect and commit" Also, there is a same titled book for women, but subtitled "Live Like you're 50 ...Strong, Fit, Sexy .. Until You're 80 and Beyond" ..... this is one of Marge's favorite reads. See more

Occasionally, I will be asked by patients "you are not going to retire soon, are you?"; and my answer always is "no". Why .... because I still have the passion for my profession, and have steady hands, and have a great staff and continue to do good work .... and in some areas my results have become better and more predictable. In my field of aesthetic surgery, I believe that my experience cannot be under estimated, and my goal is to produce a better you. As an aesth...etic surgeon I do have the responsibility to keep up with new developments ... but with the knowledge that "new" is not always "better" where marketing of procedures and devices sometimes precedes thorough investigation of their benefits and risks. We are living longer ... and personally, staying physically fit and maintaining good health is important for my surgical practice. See more

Advertising and me ... I do feel it is important to inform about my surgical practice. In the past it was with yellow pages. Now I have a long standing ad in the locally produced "805 Living", and a website (drslywka.com) and a Dr. Brian Slywka Facebook page. I have recently revamped my website with our long time webmasters, Jean and Ron Finley. We know that about 80% of internet users use their smartphone to search the web and I now have a mobile friendly website ...... check it by googling drslywka.com

From my "Plastic Surgery News" published by the American Society of Plastic Surgery .... stats on cosmetic procedures performed in 2015 showing nearly 16 million total with 1.7 million surgical (breast augmentation, liposuction and rhinoplasty the top three) and 14.2 million minimally invasive (botox, soft tissue fillers and chemical peels the top three). In my personal practice the top five surgical procedures that I perform are facelifts, breast augmentation, breast lifts, eyelid surgery and tummy tucks.

Had a great time in Boston attending our annual meeting and enjoying the sights and food and people. Again, my goal is to keep informed of new techniques and maintain the current standard of care in the procedures that I do. Facelifts are now a large part of my practice, and more surgeons appear to be doing the less invasive surgery which I have performed for years. Also, I would say that the majority of speakers that I heard, use a fat transfer of a patients fat, usually from the abdomen, to add volume to the aging face. However, care in the amount and placement area is needed ..... sometimes less is better. Also, interesting presentations on eyelids, breast, trunk and non-surgical fillers.

Received a notification from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery regarding a potential contamination of breast implants, manufactured by Silimed in Brazil, has been discovered in Europe. There are three major distributors of breast implant in the USA, and only one of the three is made in the USA , and that company is MENTOR. I have used Mentor breast implants for over 20 years.

A long overdue posting regarding my thoughts on my surgery practice ..... There is a general trend In the public for a less invasive change in their facial appearance, as seen with the vast number of botox and filler procedures. And it is known that these are injected by many different medical specialties. In my office, Sue Ann Ferraro RN, BSN, Nurse Practioner, is our injector. I will do these myself, but trained as a surgeon, I prefer to do actual surgical improvements. ...But in keeping with the desired change for less downtime in my patients, I now perform a less invasive face lift, a "short scar facelift" with less incisions, less operating time and a quicker recovery; also less expensive. I still must do my classic more invasive lift in patients with significant looseness of facial and neck tissues. Both of these employ the same vertical tightening and upward restoring procedure that I have done over the last ten years. See more

Staff Christmas party yesterday at Grill in the Alley in Westlake ... missing a few, great oldies but goodies(Ann is the youngster) ..... L to R .... Marge, Judy, Sue Ann, Kathleen, Ann, Peggy and Cindy.

"Turn Back the Clock" special offer with Sue Ann Ferraro RN, NP, MSN .......... Thursday, November 4 at 9 am - 2 pm Our office is offering the new VI Peel for $200, regular price $300. This peel will renew and refresh your face, neck and upper chest. The result is a healthy vibrant glow; very little down time with typical peeling completed by day five. ....... for more information and a free consultation, call 805-497-1105 ..... friends welcome