Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon at Work
With the onset of summer and toasty temperatures – especially on the U.S. Eastern Coast – some patients have found an unexpected blessing while receiving plastic surgery procedures. The operating room can be much cooler than expected. In fact, sometimes, it can be downright cold!
Here, Doctors Face and body (Robert Kotler, M.D. and Stuart Linder, M.D., respectively) tell what patients can expect, how they can cope with the chill and why the operating theater is cold in the first place.
Dr. Linder is an eminent board-certified Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who specializes in breast augmentation, breast revision surgery, and tummy tucks along with male and female breast reductions.
Dr. Kotler is an exclusive head and neck surgeon, performing rhinoplasty, revision rhinoplasty, face lifts and ear pinning, a procedure technically known as Otoplasty.
Dr. Face (Dr. Kotler): Forty years ago it was just the opposite – operating rooms were steamy. Air conditioning was not always installed in hospitals and other medical facilities.
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Dr. Body (Dr. Linder): Sounds like you were sweating it – literally!
Dr. Face: Sometimes, right onto the patient.
Dr. Body: I’m thankful for the A.C. being cranked up during surgery because being wrapped up in several layers of surgical work garb plus, the big, bright surgical lamps makes it hot enough.
Dr. Face: Sure, but the medical benefits are worth it. Fewer infections as the temperature drops, for instance. And I don’t know about you but I tend to get sleepy when it gets too warm. I’ve heard other surgeons say the same thing. They agree we all work better when it’s cool.
Dr. Body: It can be a different experience for patients, though. Almost everybody who has ever been to a doctor is wary of cold instruments being placed on warm bodies. Cold patients in the O.R. or the receiving areas, just after an operation do have some options, though.
Dr. Face: Like the Bair Blanket?
Dr. Body: One of the many things we do for patients after surgery is cover them with a special blanket into which warmer air is blowing. Some other blankets are being held in little warning ovens.
Dr. Face: A seeming lifesaver for cosmetic plastic surgery patients who are quickly chilled. They can also request that any irrigation or intravenous fluids be warmed before being injected into their bodies. So if you’re cold in the O.R., speak up! Cosmetic plastic surgeons and staff understand and are ready to help.
Dr. Body: Talking about heat reminds me of the new basketball team that may make Miami its home base. I understand they are going to call the team “Humidity” so that it will have some real meaning when Miami basketball fans say, “It’s not the Heat that’s so bad, it’s the Humidity.”
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Look at some breast revision before and after pictures.
