Rejuvalife Vitality Institute
Beverly Hills CA

Beat the High Cost of Traditional Liposuction

Liposuction has quickly become one of the most common procedures for fat removal and body sculpting, but the typical costs can make it too expensive for most to consider as a reasonable option. According the the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, the national average surgeon fee for liposuction in 2010 averaged $2,884. As you can see from the following chart from liposuction.com, the costs of traditional liposuction can be astronomical, even on the lower end of the price range.

A large part of the cost associated with traditional liposuction comes from the use of general anesthesia and the use of surgery. There can be additional costs for the use of surgical suites, supplies, testing, medication, and post-procedure treatments.

By cutting out the use of surgery and general anesthesia, Rejuvalife is able to offer the most affordable prices for our Advanced Liposuction procedures, including Liposculpture, Smartlipo™ and BodyJet™.  No matter what area on your body you choose, you will pay as little as $995 per area with our special deals.  With financing options available, patients can pay as little as $95 per month for their procedure.

The price isn’t the only difference between advanced and traditional liposuction. Our advanced, minimally-invasive, non-surgical procedures use only local anesthetic, and produce incredible results that are visible nearly instantly, without the risks, discomfort, or downtime associated with traditional liposuction and general anesthesia. There are no stitches, no unsightly scars, less bruising, and less swelling. Patients walk in and walk out just before and immediately after their procedures, and can resume their normal routine as soon as the next day.

If you would like to learn more about your advanced liposuction options, please visit our website or call (310)276-4494.

The Dangers of Silicone Breast Implants

Think twice about going under the knife! A recent report by the US Food and Drug Administration warned women with silicone breast implants that they most likely will not last forever, and may need to be removed or replaced within a decade of implantation. The study reported that about 20 percent of women with silicone implants for breast augmentation will develop problems that require removal. In addition, about half of breast cancer patients who had implants for reconstruction will develop problems requiring removal. Problems that can develop include hardening, rupturing, asymmetry, wrinkling, scarring, pain and infections, any of which can require additional surgery to fix. Research has shown similar risk associated with the alternative saline implants, which about half of implant patients choose over silicone.

Most breasts with silicone gel implants will become harder over time, a condition known as capsular contracture. Just as the tissue around a splinter gets harder, the body’s natural response to foreign objects is to encapsulate it until it is removed. If left untreated, capsular contracture in the breast can result in pain and disfigurement.

The most serious risk of silicone implants is the risk of rupturing. Edward Melmed, a surgeon who has performed thousands of silicone implant procedures, commented on the risks in a recent LA Times article. “In the last 14 years, I have removed implants from almost 1,000 women. I have found roughly 50% of their implants have ruptured within 10 years, and more than 70% have ruptured within 15 years. We are still not sure of all the places where the micro-droplets of silicone end up, though I have found it in lymph nodes.”

Another danger to implant patients is an increase in risk of developing an extremely rare type of lymphoma in the breast, called anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. The cancer normally occurs in only 3 in 100 million women, but the FDA has identified 60 cases in 10 million implant patients. Although the overall risk of developing the cancer is incredibly small, the dramatic increase in incidence among implant patients raises some major red flags.

With a growing body of information about the dangers of silicone implants, women need to strongly consider if the aesthetic benefits are really worth the risk. Recently, a new (and much less expensive) option has emerged for women seeking breast augmentation who don’t want to go under the knife, or deal with all the long term risks associated with silicone or saline implants. Natural Breast Augmentation involves harvesting the body’s own fat cells, which are then injected into the breast to increase volume. Because the procedure uses the body’s own material, there is no risk of capsular contracture that occurs with foreign implants. This procedure can be enhanced with use of the body’s own stem cells. Stem cells help to grow new blood vessels to nourish the fat, release natural anti-inflammatory agents to aid healing, and generate growth factors to tighten and rejuvenate breast skin. Natural Breast Augmentation is gaining attention as an effective way to increase breast size up to two cups, while minimizing risk, discomfort and downtime. Click here if you would like to learn more information about Natural Breast Augmentation.

The Risks of Mid-Section Fat (Besides the Muffintop)

Let’s be honest. Most of us would love to lose an extra inch or two around our midsections. How nice it would be to fit into those jeans from college without having to suck in, or show off a slim, sexy body at the beach. But there may be an even more compelling reason to get rid of that stubborn belly fat once and for all. Research is now showing that fat specifically around the midsection or waist is a major risk factor for Type II Diabetes, Heart Disease, Hypertension, Stroke, some forms of cancer, and even Dementia. We all know that obesity can dramatically increases risk factors for these diseases and more, but excess belly fat may also be a warning sign for mildly overweight people, or even people of an otherwise healthy physique and appropriate weight.

Studies have shown that excess midsection fat is strongly associated with greater resistance to insulin.  In insulin resistant people, muscle, fat and liver cells do not use the insulin effectively, so the pancreas tries to compensate by producing more insulin. If the pancreas cannot keep up with the body’s need for insulin, excess levels of glucose will build up, leading to Diabetes. Insulin resistant people also have excessively high levels of insulin in their bloodstream, which leads to inflammation. Inflammation itself has recently gained attention as a direct cause of a staggering number of diseases and health conditions.

The obvious contributor to excess stomach fat is poor lifestyle choices. A diet consisting of high fat, high sugar, processed and otherwise nutritionally lacking food, combined with a lack of exercise, and excessive drinking will all help you pack on those pounds.

Research is supporting the idea that greater life stress may be the other major contributor to excess stomach fat. In particular, chronic stress that is associated with hopelessness, helplessness, or a feeling of defeat is associated with excess production of the stress hormone cortisol. When you have chronically high cortisol levels, the body craves carbohydrates and fats, and the extra calories tend to head right for the midsection. A recent study has also show that lean women in particular may be more prone to develop stomach fat in response to stress.

Another major factor for retaining midsection fat is change in hormonal balance, due to aging or as a result of other conditions. For women, changes in estrogen levels have a particularly strong impact on retaining stomach fat. As estrogen levels change with age, fat goes to the abdominals instead of to the hips and thighs, where it was previously needed for reproductive support.

Rejuvalife is here to help support the total health and wellbeing of our patients, and assist them in acheiving their health, weight loss and aesthetic goals. We offer comprehensive fitness and nutrition programs to promote overall healthy lifestyle, as well as medically supervised weight loss programs. Rejuvalife is on the cutting edge of non-surgical advanced liposuction procedures, to remove excess body fat in the abdominals and other problem areas directly. We also offer Hormone Replacement Therapy to return your hormonal levels to their optimal concentration and fight the effects of aging.

Scientists Discover How to Differentiate Stem Cells with No Cancer Risk

Although still in its early phases, stem cell research is producing some of the most promising advances in modern medicine, and the potential it may have for disease treatment in the future is simply astonishing. Research indicates that stem cells may be integral in treating a wide variety of diseases and medical conditions, including stroke, brain injuries, learning defects, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries, arthritis, baldness, blindness and deafness, myocardial infarction, muscular dystrophy, diabetes, and several types of cancer.

A new breakthrough in understanding how stem cells differentiate may be one of the most significant contributions toward advancing this field in years. Scientists believed that stem cell differentiation was controlled by multiple, highly specific and complex chemical systems, each capable of producing only a limited variety of cells. The results of a new study say otherwise.  A research team from the Genome Institute of Singapore, in collaboration with the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, discovered that the type of cell that a stem cell will eventually turn into is actually controlled by a single communication system. Using this system, called the Nodal/Activin pathway, scientists will be able to control the eventual type of tissue the stem cells will develop into, simply by adjusting the cell’s chemical environment.

Prior to this discovery, controlling stem cell differentiation often involved direct genetic modification of the cell, which came with a significant risk of the cell becoming cancerous. The new method will eliminate this risk, marking a major victory in advancing research in this field.

Dr. Kian Leong Lee, who led the study, says this finding “paves the way for advanced studies in cell regeneration and tissue repair, which could ultimately lead to its use in personalized medicine, where stem cells from the same patient could be manipulated to make other types of cells that are genetically matched to the donor.”

In addition to its potential applications for disease treatments, stem cells are now being recognized for their benefits in aiding cosmetic procedures. At Rejuvalife Vitality Institute, Dr. Berger uses a patient’s own fat-derived stem cells in fat transfer procedures to promote the viability and longevity of fat grafts. Since this process uses the body’s own materials, it also completely eliminates the risk of allergic reaction. Click here to learn more about how Rejuvalife uses a patient’s own cells to perform these remarkable procedures.

Want that beach body? Learn About Lipo

If you’ve been considering liposuction, you’ll be pleased to know that with today’s technology there are minimally invasive non-surgical options that won’t interrupt your lifestyle.

Liposuction is one of the most popular cosmetic procedures for removing fat and has been used for decades.   Beverly Hills’ Dr. Berger’s advanced awake liposuction techniques have replaced harsh and outdated methods. Dr. Berger has pioneered many of today’s fat loss and body contouring techniques and technologies that he uses, instead of the old, aggressive traditional methods. With newer liposuction technologies such as Liposculpture, Smartlipo™ and BodyJet™, you can get the results you want without the risks of cutting, general anesthesia and IVs associated with traditional liposuction.

Advantages to the patient

• Dr. Berger uses only minimally invasive non-surgical techniques
• Your Procedure is done while awake, so no general anesthesia is necessary
• Little or no pain during procedure
• Results are noticed almost immediately
• We never use general anesthesia, No IV’s, No Cutting
• Your recovery is faster & easier with little to no downtime
• There are no unsightly scars, no stitches, minimal bruising
• Refined techniques & expertise result in greater skin tightening for all ages
• Combination treatments are more comprehensive & achieve optimum results
• Advanced methods replace old aggressive, traditional lipo surgery
• Gentle techniques & excellent skills achieve permanent, superior results!
• Our patients walk-in for treatment & they walk-out after treatment

Advanced Liposuction options:

• Liposculpture is a minimally invasive procedure which uses local tumescent anesthesia to permanently remove body fat with suction. Liposculpture is less traumatic on the body than traditional liposuction because there is no general anesthesia or IV sedation used. Learn more
• Smartlipo™ Laser Lipo is a breakthrough body sculpting technique in Los Angeles which uses laser energy to melt fat and tighten the skin. Smartlipo™ is particularly effective in treating small areas such as the jawline, neck, chin, knees, bra fat, and more. It is also ideal used in combination with Liposculpture or BodyJet for added skin tightening and for correcting contour irregularities, which can occur after liposuction surgeries. Learn more
• BodyJet™ Liposuction uses water to gently loosen and remove fat cells. The gentle method and precision instruments allow for remarkably accurate results with far less recovery time and bruising than any other liposuction method used in Beverly Hills today. Learn more
• Fat Transfer is a procedure which can correct skin defects and other depressions on the face and body. Fat is removed from an area where there is excess, such as the abdomen, and then used to naturally plump up other areas like the hands, face, calves, buttocks or other areas. Learn more
• Fatdissolve is a an injection lipolysis method for reducing or eliminating smaller localised fat deposits. This innovative treatment for dissolving small deposits of fat involve no significant downtime, and is non-invasive without the side effects that are commonly associated with liposuction. Learn more

If you live in the Los Angeles or Beverly Hills area and would like to explore your options for body contouring or schedule complimentary consultation you can contact Rejuvalife Vitality Institute at 310-276-4494 or Click Here.

Fat Transfer – it’s hot!

Whether placed in the face, hands, the buttocks or used instead of implants for breast augmentation, transferring your own fat from places you don’t want it, to places you do want it, our “state-of the-art” technologies and methods get you the results you are looking for at Rejuvalife.

Fat transfer, often called fat transplantation, fat injecting or microlipoinjection, has fabulous application for smoothing and repairing aging hands, plumping facial wrinkles and lifting saggy cheeks, creating more curvaceous buttocks, and enlarging breasts.

Though it’s new to many, fat transfer is actually quite old. In 1893, German doctor Franz Neuber took a small bit of upper-arm fat to rebuild the face of a patient who had a pit in her cheek, and in 1895 the first breast augmentation was performed by Dr. Karl Czerny with fat from the patient’s lower back. We’re already performing the latest fat transfer procedures using the Body Jet , which gets the best fat from the patient, is fast and has minimal downtime.

Think about it—would you prefer your own fat—a substance from your body that your body will not reject—to rejuvenate your face, breasts, buttocks and hands or artificially-produced substitutes? Of course, the answer is an easy one.

As far back as 1998, Dr. Robert Alexander, a faculty member of the Department of Surgery, University of Texas Health Science Center, in San Antonio, TX conducted a fat transfer study that was quite encouraging. In his trial, 70 women from 21-45 years of age had fat transfer to their breasts. Although there were concerns that patients might develop microcalcification (tiny specks of mineral deposits), only 3% of the women developed them—no more than with any other breast augmentation procedure.  The most recent studies continue to show fat as a viable alternative to implants and dermal fillers.

The biggest concerns about using fat instead of implants and fillers is the question of how much fat the body will “keep”, i.e., that will remain over time and not reabsorbed by the body. In Alexander’s study, approximately 60-75% of the transferred fat volumes were retained after the transfer. Considering that fat injections and transfers are permanent, compared with an implant that will eventually have to be replaced, and that most dermal fillers (Juvederm, Restylane, etc) used in the face and hands last a maximum of a year, this is a viable alternative!

In our practice, our new Body Jet Advanced-Lipo gives us the ability to use the Body Jet to harvest fat in near perfect condition for use in Fat Transfer procedures. For one, this kind of liposuction is safer, more precise and causes very little discomfort or downtime for our patients. It can be done in conjunction with other skin tightening treatments such as SmartLipo, although most of our patients find that their skin is left in excellent condition post-procedure with Body Jet alone. Also, we can use the extracted fat within minutes in a Fat Transfer treatment to restore volume to the face and/or hands, if desired.

Ask Dr. Berger – What is “Fat Transfer”?

I was explaining our new Body-Jet procedure to a patient last week, and how one of the great things about the Body-Jet Liposculpture procedure was the ability to use the Body-Jet to harvest fat in near perfect condition for use in Fat Transfer procedures. The patient asked me why she would need or want to transfer fat – GOOD QUESTION!  I’ve posted the answer I gave her as the subject of my latest video:

If you have any further questions on this, or any other procedure or topic, feel free to post them here, on our Facebook page, or give the office a call at 877-REJUVMD.

Thanks for reading,

Andre Berger, M.D.

The Body-Jet is Here!

I talked recently about the newest procedure at Rejuvalife, and now that I’ve been performing the procedure for a few weeks, I’m even more excited that it’s available, and even more so that it’s here at Rejuvalife. Its safer, and more precise, with very little discomfort or downtime for the patient. It can be done in conjunction with other skin tightening treatments such as SmartLipo, though the skin is left in excellent condition post-procedure with Body-Jet alone! Also, we can use the extracted fat within minutes in a Fat Transfer treatment to restore volume to the face and/or hands, in desired.

I talk about the benefits and advantages of Body-Jet over other liposculpture methods in the video below, and there are some amazing before and after photos, too.

Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions, please leave a comment on the blog or give us a call – 800-REJUVMD.

Andre Berger, M.D.

The Wave of the Future in Liposculpture

Body-Jet Water Assisted Lipo offers extraordinary results with less bruising, swelling and discomfort and requires minimal downtime!

I’m returning to the office this week after my extraordinary trip to China, (pictures coming soon!) and I’m very excited to get back to work because we’ve got an incredible, BRAND NEW liposculpture procedure available now at Rejuvalife, and I’m the very first physician in Beverly Hills to offer it. It’s called Body-Jet, and it’s the newest technology and highest standard liposculpture procedure in existence. It was recently launched in the U.S.  and it is sure to become very popular because of its many benefits over its predecessors.

Unlike traditional liposuction, where a tumescent solution is injected into the tissue during the procedure, the Body-Jet uses WATER which loosens the structure of the fat tissue so it can be removed. Water is continually added and almost immediately aspirated. This method, called Water Assisted Lipo (WAL) produces less swelling and bruising from the procedure, and requires only a local anesthetic, so it’s safer than methods that require full sedation. Consequently the recovery time is very minimal, and you will see results in hours, not days or weeks like other methods.

The instrument, or cannula, used in the Body-Jet procedure is much smaller than those used in other methods. This lets me truly sculpt the areas, offering remarkable results for the abdomen and thighs, but it also allows me to do the procedure on smaller, harder to handle areas, like the lower back, “bra bulge” area, and under the chin. (Some other methods can tackle those areas, too, but not to the same fine degree as with Body-Jet.)

One thing that truly sets Body-Jet apart, is its far superior fat harvesting capability.  What this means is that when I remove the fat during the liposculpture process, the fat removed is in near perfect condition for use in Fat Transfer procedures – where I inject fat into areas of the skin that have become depleted, such as the face or hands.  Previously, the fat harvested would have to undergo purification processes before it would be viable for Fat Transfer, but because of the water used in Body-Jet, all of those processes are not necessary.

If you’re interested in learning more about this new type of liposculpture, I’ll be posting before and after photos of my Body-Jet patients soon, and a video showing how quick and easy the procedure is, and how great you can look in just a few hours!

Thanks for reading,

Andre Berger, M.D.