Dr. Jean Loftus is a double board-certified plastic
surgeon and is a national authority on plastic surgery. She has
appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and The Today Show, as a vocal advocate
of safety, conscientiousness, and honesty in plastic surgery.
Her book, The
Smart Woman's Guide to Plastic Surgery, is
the #1 best-selling book in the country on plastic surgery. This
book is available online at
amazon.com,
bn.com and
borders.com.
Dr.
Loftus has offices in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. Visit
her website at
www.infoplasticsurgery.com. To schedule a consultation,
you may contact her offices at (513) 793-4000 or (859) 426-5000.
Dr. Loftus just loves getting questions and posting answers. To
submit your question, please follow the link at the bottom of
this page. Even if you just want to send her a comment, she'd
love to hear from you.
Q:
I am a 41 year-old physically fit African-American
female who is interested in liposuction of my abdomen and flaks.
Should I be concerned about keloids or other problems because
of my background?
Dr.
Loftus Answers: Keloids (for those of you who don't know)
are large unsightly scars that grow beyond the bounds of the original
scar. They often appear as tumor-like growths on the skin. Once
they occur, they can be very difficult to eradicate. They are
more common in African-Americans (especially earlobes, chest,
and abdomen), but they may also occur on Caucasians. If you have
previously had surgery without keloiding, you will be less likely
to develop keloids following liposuction than someone else who
has formed keloids. If you have never had surgery, you are still
at increased risk of Keloids compared to Caucasians because of
your race. Yet, if you consider all African Americans who have
had liposuction, those who do not develop keloids far outnumber
those who do, so odds are on your side. This is still no guarantee.
If you do decide to have liposuction, voice your concerns to your
plastic surgeon, who will hopefully want to monitor you closely
for keloids following surgery. At the first sign of keloid development,
your surgeon may choose to inject steroids. As for other concerns
due to your race, you should expect that in general, your scars
may be more visible than those of Caucasians. This is true even
if you do not develop keloids, and is due to disparity between
the color of the scar and that of the surrounding skin, which
can be greater in African Americans than in Caucasians. I wish
you the best and hope that if you do proceed with surgery that
you have a successful and keloid-free outcome!
Curious
about what others have asked? Want more valuable
information on Plastic Surgery? Go to the
Question of the Week Archives!
Discuss
this article with others right now at
The Salon!
|
100%
Safe & Secure
