January 10, 2006
Does anyone want to be a guinea pig?
Just before year’s end, we re-ran a July issue of The Three Tomatoes about the thread lift procedure, also called the “lunch time facelift”. Yes,
we admit we were a little lazy and didn’t want to interrupt our holiday by writing
a “new” email, but we also wanted the article top of mind so we could bring you
this follow up. As you know, The Three Tomatoes are all for any relatively easy and painless process or product that will make
us look younger, but we did raise a lot of questions about this seemingly too
good to be true procedure. Turns out the venerable New York Times (or should we say formerly venerable) did too. And hard as this is to believe,
The New York Times has a lot more resources than we do, so allow us to source them and bring you
this update.
First of all, the procedure, which is now the fastest growing cosmetic procedure
in the U.S., has only been performed here since September of 2004 . 1400 doctors
have taken “courses” in the procedure and have now performed over 8,000 lifts.
Now listen to this part. In addition to plastic surgeons other doctors who perform
thread lifts include: ophthalmologists, obstetricians and family practice physicians!
And no, obstetricians are not a Three Tomato typo. According to a poll conducted in April with 900 board certified plastic
surgeons, 198 had tried the procedure and 60% said they had experienced complications.
Not the kind of odds we want! In an effort to be balanced, the article reported
on one horror story and one satisfied customer. The horror story was a woman
who paid $5,000 to a dermatologist for her thread lift and was left with visible
treads that look like “railroad” tracks on her forehead and down her cheeks.
She has now scheduled another appointment to have them removed at a cost of $3,000!
Another plastic surgeon said he had seen several cases where the sutures have
slid down patients’ foreheads and bunched themselves into knuckles in the eyelids.
Yuck! On the flip side, things went well for the second woman featured in the
article who went to a NYC plastic surgeon and was quite pleased with the results
as were we with the photos. The Today Show had the woman who had hers done on the show, return about three months later,
and while she was still pleased, in our humble opinion the results were no where
near as dramatic as they were the day after the procedure. Apparently, the
swelling involved helps the face look better temporarily. And while the best
thread lifts can last for up to five years, some last as little as weeks. In
some cases a cough and a sneeze are all it takes to break the threads. The New York Times article also quoted Dr. Thomas Romo III, director of facial plastic and reconstructive
surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan as saying “I’m not going to practice
this on my patients like guinea pigs to see if it works.” Thank you Dr.Romo.
The Three Tomatoes have no intention of being guinea pigs. And who the heck would have an obstetrician
perform the thread lift? The same people who get Botox from their dentists?
You can’t make this stuff up.
Threading we do love
The Three Tomatoes have become big fans of eyebrow threading, an Indian and Middle Eastern depilatory technique that removes hair and shapes
your eyebrows by catching it up in a tightly wound, double-coiled string. We
were a bit skeptical at first, and are still amazed at how they do this, but we
love the results. It’s a much more natural look, takes only about five minutes
and is definitely less painful than tweezing and about on par with waxing. We
think it lasts longer too. You’ll find eyebrow threading being offered in salons
all over New York City and beyond. But as with any eyebrow shaping, let the
technician know how you like your brows. We’ve learned that the hard way, having
exited salons on more than one occasion with eyebrows that have practically been
waxed off.
Well that’s it for this week. Chow.
Copyright© 2006. The Three Tomatoes. All rights reserved
|
You know you're a tomato if...you secretly buy the supermarket celebrity tabloids, but “claim” you only read
them while standing in line. We confess. We can’t help ourselves for wanting
to know the latest Brad, Angelina saga. And we know we should be better people,
but it’s kind of good to know that even Jen can get dumped and that Jerry Hall
has cellulite and Goldie Hawn’s knees are sagging.
***********************************
Should be up on our web site www.thethreetomatoes.com within the next day or so. Follow along as we share the ups and downs (hopefully
the later) of our weight loss resolution.
*******************
Our favorite tomato resolution
Thanks to all of you who shared your resolutions with us. This one from “Warrior
Princess” of NYC, was our favorite. She wrote, “It may sound oh-so-very Nancy
Reagan - "Just say no" to people who over request; bread on the table; office
chocolate (brought in because no one wants it at home); Paris, Brad, Jen, Angelina
et al; work out clothes and Ugg boots as day wear (as if anyone over 12 looks
good in those duds); and the big one: turning 50 in secret. Not going to happen.”
****************************
Tomatoes want to know
Last week’s question , “Does anyone know of a great product for minimizing dark circles under the eyes?”,
produced no answers but prompted several other tomatoes to write that they had the same
question. So we did a little bit of homework, and uncovered a product being
touted in the ”editorial” pages of some of the fashion magazines. The product
is called Hylexin that supposedly minimizes dark circles and puffiness. It
costs $95 a tube and you can buy it online at www.hylexin.com. If anyone tries it, please let us know what you think.
This week’s question is “Short of plastic surgery, what can I do for a wrinkled neck?” Well dermotologists will tell you to make sure you treat your neck like
your face, with creams and exfoliating products. And most plastic surgeons will
tell you that at a certain point, only surgery will do. But if anyone knows
of an alternative, (besides the Thread Lift of course), let us know. Our turkey
necks will love you.
*******************************
Would you consider getting a thread lift face lift?
******************************
53% of you voted that you wished Dick Clark had stayed home this year.
********************************
Help us grow our list. If you enjoy The Three Tomatoes, tell your friends. It's free, a chance to learn something new and trivial,
and you might get an occasional chuckle too. Click on send to a friend at the
top of this email, or send them to www.thethreetomatoes.com.
******************************
|
