I did write about this topic, albeit tangentially, in this silly article when Kylie Jenner was rumored to be pregnant with her first child!

Botox in pregnancy

While no doctor will encourage you to get botox injections for cosmetic reasons while pregnant, it doesn’t mean you can’t or you shouldn’t. Simply put, there isn’t a large randomized controlled study comparing women getting botox while pregnant vs women not getting botox while pregnant.

Yes, a large study of this type would answer the question of whether botox was safe in pregnancy. But it will never happen. For obvious reasons, no one would conduct or fund a study that could potentially affect a baby. So we’re left to extrapolate from this retrospective study (studying patients after the fact), animal studies or personal stories of patients that have gotten botox during pregnancy.

As a plastic surgeon, I have injected patients with BOTOX® or XEOMIN® when they didn’t realize they were pregnant. And the patient and their baby turned out fine. So while there’s no evidence of a problem in being injected with these products while pregnant, it’s impossible to say they’re safe beyond a doubt. But there’s no evidence of birth defects associated with cosmetic botox injections that exceeds the risk in the general population. It’s a calculated risk similar to the risks we take walking across the street, not wearing a mask outside or speeding on the highway.

Botox while breastfeeding

This one is a little easier. Based on the LactMed database that evaluates medications and their presence in breast milk or their affect on the child, the evidence is quite clear:

“No data exist on the medical use of onabotulinumtoxinA [BOTOX®] during breastfeeding. However, it is not detectable systemically after intramuscular use, thus excretion into breast milk is considered unlikely. Breastfeeding appears to protect infants against botulism.”

In other words, botox isn’t detectable in breast milk. To further drive home the point, even in a patient that became ill after ingesting botulinum from tainted food (not cosmetic botox injections), she didn’t pass the toxin along to her fetus. So even if it’s present in high concentrations systemically during an active infection and still doesn’t reach the breast milk, then it’s even less likely to reach breast milk when present in lower concentrations associated with cosmetic, localized injections.

As an aside, botulism from tainted food is the same reason you don’t feed honey to a baby before the age of one because of the presence of the botulinum bacteria. After age one, children are better equipped to ward off the infection.

There you have it. The data. And now you can make an informed decision based on that.

Click here to check pricing from Dr. Kaplan!

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Jonathan Kaplan for BuildMyHealth.

The post Botox, Xeomin or Jeuveau during pregnancy and breast feeding first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

Here’s the list you’ve been waiting for! Five myths that many believe about breast augmentation, fed by bad info on the internet. The post below will help you wade through that information so you can make a better decision for yourself.

1. After I have a breast aug, I can no longer breastfeed

Not true! Regardless of what incision is used, even the incision around the areola, breast augmentation does not affect breast feeding. Keep in mind that not all women can breast feed in the first place. So if you can’t breast feed before a breast augmentation, you obviously wouldn’t be able to afterwards.

Many people describe the incision around the areola as “going through the nipple.” This also isn’t true (bonus myth debunked)! The incision is never made within the nipple so you don’t have to worry about breast feeding issues just because of breast augmentation.

2. I need to have the implants replaced after 10 years

This is based on this statement from the FDA. While 20% of breast augmentation patients do have issues with their breasts after 10 years (capsular contracture, leak, ptosis), that also means 80% of patients are fine. So you don’t have to get them replaced after 10 years. It’s only if you have a problem.

3. I will lose feeling in my nipples and surrounding areas

Again, the “incision through the nipple” is actually along the edge of the surrounding areola. While you may have a little numbness along the incision itself temporarily, you don’t lose feeling in the nipple.

Losing nipple sensation can occur if the entire nipple and areola must be removed but this only happens during very large breast reductions, not augmentations. This can also occur with certain types of breast reconstruction after cancer. So these myths can be true in completely different situations but not breast augmentation.

4. My breasts will look and feel fake

They don’t have to. If you get round implants, the upper portion of the breast can look fuller which is not natural. But if you don’t get huge implants, you can still look very natural. Shaped implants also help with providing a more natural shape. Lastly, with the newer generation silicone implants, they feel more natural, look more natural, not hard and fake, like older implants.

5. Recovery is painful and will need drains

With a straightforward breast augmentation, your breast augmentation procedure should not require drains. They may be used in revision breast augmentation procedures or breast reductions. Again, many myths come about when readers conflate issues with one type of operation with another.

The only thing we haven’t covered is cost. So to check pricing for breast augmentation from Dr. Kaplan, click here.

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Jonathan Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post 5 myths of breast augmentation first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.