Word: plastics
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...more calls than we know what to do with," says Elizabeth Weil. "The phone has been ringing off the hook. Betty Ford has really started something." Weil, the receptionist at a Beverly Hills plastic surgery clinic, is not alone. Across the nation last week, surgeons' offices were under siege by callers who had seen the results of a notable example of cosmetic surgery, evident in before-and-after pictures of the former First Lady in their Sunday newspapers...
...result, movie stars, TV personalities, politicians and jet-setters have been joined in the plastic surgery wards and clinics by secretaries, assembly-line workers, housewives and business executives anxious to fit into a youth-oriented society. Says Dr. Laurence LeWinn of New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center: "If we were in China, people would want to have wrinkles put in so that they could be revered citizens. Here we have the wrinkles removed...
Though most plastic surgery is performed on women, more and more men are seeking treatment, primarily facelifts, eyelifts or hair transplants. According to Dr. Richard Ellenbogen of Los Angeles, many men become receptive to the idea while accompanying their wives to appointments with plastic surgeons...
...Betty Ford's fee was about $3,200), eyelid surgery runs around $1,500. The cost is generally not covered by medical insurance (though it is tax deductible). Then too some risk is involved; some faces are changed for the worse. Warns Dr. Peter McKinney, a Chicago plastic surgeon: "If you buy a bum toaster, you can take it back. You can't take your face back...
Even the successful facelifts sometimes fall far short of the expectations of patients who want to look like Robert Redford or Sophia Loren. Says Dr. Lawrence Robbins of Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach: "We can't change what they are. Plastic surgeons are not gods." Still, for those like Betty Ford who feel the need for outer rejuvenation, aesthetic surgery can be a godsend...