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Thread veins and varicose veins: medical or aesthetic?

I was recently attending a national aesthetics conference when I got talking to a very well-known opinion leader in the aesthetics world. During the conversation, I was astounded to be asked: “What do you think now that NICE has agreed...

Is point of care ultrasonography just an inscrutable snowstorm or is it here to stay?

To non-radiologists ultrasound may always look like a snowstorm . . . so unless you are the one holding the scanner and moving it over the patient with some idea of their history, it is difficult to know what you...

Oral minoxidil: innovations in hair loss

Causes With a wide range of causes, it’s often the uncertainty of why hair loss has happened which leaves people feeling that there isn’t a route out of the problem. On average we shed between 50-100 hairs a day and...

The safety of performing elective dermatological procedures under local anaesthetic during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, guidance advised postponement of elective procedures except for time-critical local anaesthetic (LA) procedures [1-3]; our NHS Trust therefore continued with LA skin malignancy surgery. All patients having possible skin cancer lesions removed...

Emerging from 2020 – positive stories from the world of aesthetics

2020 was the year of shifting our mindset, pivoting our business and our priorities, whilst quickly adapting and responding to change, uncertainty and negativity. For some, this past year brought extraordinary hardship and suffering and for others, unexpected, but welcome...

Safety and risks of local anaesthesia and regional blocks in plastic surgery

The current COVID-19 pandemic has introduced unprecedented risks associated with intubation and general anaesthesia with the potential transmission of a novel and potentially fatal airborne disease. Local anaesthesia, when used appropriately, can provide safe and effective analgesia without the risks...

Continuing personal development

“It is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in...

Reconstruction of complex wounds in the trunk and pelvis (part 2)

In this second part of this two-part article we begin by looking at component separation which is a technique of reconfiguring anatomical layers to allow intrinsic reconstruction of the integrity of the anterior abdominal wall. We then move into the...

The patient journey in DIEP flap breast reconstruction

In the UK approximately 40,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. About 40% of these need, or choose, to undergo mastectomy, where all of the breast tissue is removed. Currently around a third of these patients choose to...