The Time to Detox is Now

Where's the salt? Oh, it's hidden in your food. If you're not careful, it could be overflowing out of every bite of salt water-injected leftover turkey—probably a fact many wouldn't realize unless they were studying the fine print of the packaging with reading glasses.

It's a fact. Americans eat too much sodium and are suffering from a high-blood pressure epidemic. The problem is that sodium is laced into pre-packaged and processed foods. That means if you over-indulged, at say Thanksgiving dinner with all that green bean casserole and stuffing, you likely reached your daily sodium allotment in one sitting.

Salt is a known skin aggravator, causing inflammation and swelling, so to get you back on tract after a salty dinner, try detoxing your body. That doesn't mean starving, it means sipping a cup of mint tea after your meal. Herbal peppermint contains no caffeine, and its essential oils increase energy flow to the digestive organs, allowing them to rid your body of excess sodium and function better.

Mint tea has also been shown to help settle stomachs, ease heartburn, relieve nausea, and help perk up your complexion. The skin is an eliminative organ, so if your body isn't properly digesting your food by expelling it through the colon (detoxing), many experts believe it can manifest in the pores as blemishes.

Try drinking three cups of mint tea each day to help flush out impurities. Look for all-natural tea, sans fragrance and flavoring, for the best results.

How Yoga Boosts Beauty

You probably know that yoga is good for improving your flexibility, muscle tone and stress levels, but did you know it also benefits the look and health of your skin? Here's one compelling reason to incorporate a few sessions into your exercise routine, whether you do a few poses at home every day or take a class at the gym.

If you're trying to detox by eliminating processed foods, cutting out alcohol or simply adding more fresh fruits and veggies into your diet with the goal of clear and brighter skin, then it's important to know how it works. If you have toxins in your system, chances are, many of them are stored in your skin unless they have been eliminated by your internal organs.

When exposed to toxins, particularly the environmental kind, your skin becomes more vulnerable to the effects of free radicals, a main culprit in premature aging. Your skin detoxifies itself through perspiration, and, in fact, your skin's sweat glands can perform as much detoxification as your liver.

Yoga helps this process because it improves your blood circulation...and makes you sweat. Through improved blood circulation and sweat, you're aiding the effects of any nutritional detoxing you may be doing.

Poses that incorporate sitting twists or forward bends are particularly helpful in engaging the internal organs, as well. Be sure to drink lots of water to replenish yourself and flush out those toxins.

By Shellie Terry Benson

Foundation for Women's Cancer

This year marks the first year Dr. Hochstein’s office became a proud sponsor of the Foundation for Women’s Cancer. The Foundation for Women’s Cancer provides information on the leading types of cancer including gynecologic cancers, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer and cervical cancer. About 22,430 women in the United States will be told they have ovarian each year. In May of 2011 our Business Manager, Michelle Heavens, was one of the 22k that was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. This unforeseen tragedy has made the staff and Dr. Hochstein want to make all of our female patients aware of the importance of getting tested each year.

Early Signs of Ovarian Cancer

Symptoms of ovarian cancer are not specific to the disease, and they often mimic those of many other more-common conditions, including digestive and bladder problems.

When ovarian cancer symptoms are present, they tend to be persistent and worsen with time.

Signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer may include:
•Abdominal pressure, fullness, swelling or bloating
•Pelvic discomfort or pain
•Persistent indigestion, gas or nausea
•Changes in bowel habits, such as constipation
•Changes in bladder habits, including a frequent need to urinate
•Loss of appetite or quickly feeling full
•Increased abdominal girth or clothes fitting tighter around your waist
•A persistent lack of energy
•Low back pain

When to see a doctor

Make an appointment with your doctor if you have any signs or symptoms that worry you.

If you have a family history of ovarian cancer or breast cancer, talk to your doctor about your risk of ovarian cancer. In some cases, your doctor may refer you to a genetic counselor to discuss testing for certain gene mutations that increase your risk of breast and ovarian cancers.

Botched Plastic Surgery Revisions!

There are a lot of helpful articles out there on how to pick a good plastic surgeon but few patients seems ask the right questions! I work for one of the top plastic surgeons in the country and I find that a lot of patients do not really look into a doctor's background before having surgery! Often times it still comes down to price. And with the way the economy is going this is getting a little scary!! There are unfortunately a lot of doctors willing to do just about anything to make money! The thing patients fail to understand is once you have one bad surgery it can be a downward slide. The patient may even find themselves in the position where the doctor that performed the botched surgery will not fix it without you paying for a whole other surgery again and if you seek out another doctor he will most likely ask for way more due to the fact that you have now become a revision. The one thing that patients never seem to ask before surgery is "what is your revision policy." If I were a patient I would get it writing no matter what. Here at Dr. Hochstein's office we have one that states that in the event of a revision that requires general anesthesia the patient will pay for the OR and anesthesia costs and that's it. All doctor’s costs will be waived. If it is done under local, all costs will be waived.

By Michelle Heavens

America's Race Horses

Do something good today for your soul!! It only takes a minute and the horses need you for they can not speak for themselves. When you call tell them that you are calling about the National Commission to protect our Race Horsese!!!!

America's Race Horses Need Protection

Dear Michelle,

Every year, hundreds of race horses suffer career ending and even fatal injuries on race tracks across the country. The recent, high-profile deaths of Eight Belles and Barbaro put a spotlight on the high risk faced by these majestic animals, who are literally "run to death" in some cases. Take action to protect America's race horses.

Currently, only a handful of states ban the use of steroids in horse racing, but most states do not. Decisions regarding track surfaces, young horses racing while their bones are still developing, and other horse welfare concerns are made on a state-by-state basis, resulting in widely varying degrees of protection across our country.

Fortunately, Congress is considering the formation of a national commission to address these concerns and provide uniform regulation of the horse racing industry.

TAKE ACTION
Please make a brief, polite phone call to your U.S. Representative, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, at (202) 225-7931 to urge support for a national commission to protect our race horses.

When you call, you will likely speak to a staff member who will pass your message along to your legislator. Remember to be polite and professional, and leave your name and address so it is clear that you are a constituent. You can say:

"Hello, my name is [your name] and I am calling from [your city] to ask Representative Wasserman Schultz to support the formation of a national commission to oversee horse racing. Thank you."

After making your call, please send a follow-up email to Congress in support of national oversight of the horse racing industry. And don't forget to tell your friends and family how they can protect horses, too.

Thank you for all you do for animals.

Sincerely,

Mike Markarian
Executive Vice President
The Humane Society of the United States

Face Lift

When to do a face lift is a very hard decision to make for any woman. Choosing to do them younger even more. The age old question is : When do you decide to trade lose saggy skin for scars? Even though a really good doctor hides his scars well at best you will still have to deal with at least six months to a year with some form of evidence. Because of this, some women put off having face lifts until it is too late to have any chances of looking natural. Every year that goes by we lose more fat and elasticity and these are exact things that make a face look youthfull. We have all seen the wind blown look where a woman's face looks like it has been pulled too tight and her ears are wrapped around her head. This is not always the doctor's fault, not to say that a good doctor is not worth its weight in gold when it comes to face lifts, but the older and more worn out from aging, sun damage and smoking, the harder it is to achieve fantastic results. All these things cause skin to become like paper instead of the bouncy supple skin of a 20-30 year old woman.

If you read about the way we age, after 30 is when our skin cell rejuvenation starts to slow down. And although this is a fact most women can still get away with a quick trip to the dermatologist to get a little filler, botox or peels. All these things can usually hold you off until your forties or fifties. After your forties / fifties and for the very few lucky sixties, you will see a great disconnect between your friends and family. Some will still be looking quite fabulous and others look like they have been left out in the desert for years without any sunblock.

Some people are opting for string lifts, thread lift, weekend lifts and mini lifts where the surgeron is just either cutting the excess skin away and tacking it to the ears instead of a true face lift where the surgeon reinforces and redistributes your fat to give the face a more youthfull appearance. The dead give away of these quick fix face liftsis usually bad scarring because all the weight and tension that is put upon the ears resulting in the Mr. Potato Head Look; because the ears are being dragged down and the face was not properly done. A good surgeon spends hours re-attaching and redistributing the skin to your face.
The worst part is that these face lifts only last usually one to two years and cost approximately half the price of a full face lift. Now I know that all the women that thought about getting a face lift would love to think a thread lift is a perfect solution to having no scars but these lifts have been largely discredited by sucessfull prominent doctors due to the fact that you can't control how long each string will hold and how normal of an appearance is achievable. And then, when you finally decide that a full face lift is inevitable, the strings can be hard for your surgeon to remove. Over the years Dr. Hochstein has watched these trendy quick fixes come and go but still no one has come up with a better alternative. We are all waiting for the day when a face lift will not be needed due to stem cell rejuvenation.

So what is a girl to do when fillers and creams are no longer providing the youthfull appearance we desire to see when we look on the mirror? You either go to counceling and try to find acceptance from within or you go to counceling and go find a plastic surgeon (LOL) because you may indeed need both.

Michelle Heavens