There has been much ado about gummy bears lately – even blogger Perez Hilton is talking about them.

Obviously, we are not really talking about the sweet and colorful candy loved by kids and adults alike. We are talking about very cohesive silicone gel-filled breast implants and an endearing, clever and catchy nickname coined by Los Angeles plastic surgeon Grant Stevens, MD, back in 2004.

So why are they making headlines in 2012?

In early March, the FDA announced that it had given its formal and much-coveted nod to a new breast implant. The approval of Sientra’s Silimed line meant many things to many people. For starters, allowing  a third company to market breast implants, of any type, in the US ostensibly broke up the duopoly held by Allergen and Mentor for so long. Doctors now have more choices, and as a result so do patients.

That’s the back story. Soon after the approval, a flurry of media reports suggested that these newly approved Sientra implants were in fact gummies.

And the term that grant Stevens coined in 2004 finally went viral. The company was somewhat mum on what was approved, and many an intrepid reporter tried to scratch beneath the shell and figure out if these are in fact the very “gummy bear” implants that women have been waiting for with baited breath – the ones with the look and feel of traditional silicome breast implants (which are cohesive, just not as cohesive) that won’t leak if they should rupture.

Were they? Are they?

A huge debate erupted over what was and was not a “gummy bear” implant.

Plastic Surgery Practice sets the record straight. Gummy bear implants is a nickname. It is not a brand name, and it does not refer to one specific product. It’s a term coined by Stevens to refer to a new generation of breast implants that were are more viscous and “form-stable” than their predecessors.

Bottom line, if Stevens says it is a gummy bear, it is in fact a gummy bear.

“There is no implant made of candy,” he tells Plastic Surgery Practice. “A gummy bear is  a breast implant which is composed of highly cohesive silicone gel or silicone that has higher cohesively than existing silicone implants.”

The true test? If you cut it will it bleed? Just like the fruity gummy candy, highly cohesive silicone gel implants can be cut in half without any oozing.

The new Sientra implants are more cohesive than the currently approved Allergan and Mentor implants. Both Allergan and Mentor do have "gummy bear breast implants" pending FDA review and approval. Allergan's 410, Mentor's CPG, respectively.

The end (or is it just the beginning).

By Denise Mann

It’s been said (and read) that toes are the new nose, and recent media reports hyping an uptick in toe jobs seem to back this up.

Women want to look sexy in their high heels or strappy sandals. In fact, toe jobs have been dubbed "Loub" jobs after shoe designer Christian Louboutin and his signature high heels.

The UK’s Daily Mail recently reported that inquiries from women requesting dermal filler injections into the toe pads, heels and the balls of their feet jumped 21% over the past year.

Soft-tissue fillers can cushion the blow of high heels, and the increase in foot plastic surgery does dovetail nicely with the rise of the of the 6-inch heel.

But that’s not all that women seem to be doing in the name of foot beautification. Some are having their toes lengthened, clipped, or removed. Others are opting to have their feet narrowed. Others still are signing up for foot and toe liposuction or fat grafting to their feet.

The original article went viral, but is this a real trend or just media-driven hype?

Plastic Surgery Practice spoke to the podiatrist who put aesthetic foot surgery on the map, Suzanne Levine, DPM of the Institute Beaute in New York City, to get a handle on what is really going on out there.

“There is an increase of interest in the foot,” she says. Levine trains doctors interested in aesthetic foot surgery, and has definitely noticed a growing number who want to get in on this trend.

So what do women want for their feet and why? It is about form and function, she says.

“A lot of women want pillows for their heels to help then wear high heels.” Infrared therapy can also tighten the skin and get rid of swelling so ladies can look and feel better in heels. She also uses lasers to wipe out toe nail fungus.

It’s not just about cosmetics, she says. Most people also want to make sure their feet don’t hurt too. “It’s about pain-free feet with a glamour tinge.”

Her motto? “Treat the feet the way you would your face. We need our feet, and most of us don’t think about them until they hurt.”

Levine considers herself a moderate when it comes to the treatments she will and won’t offer. “I won’t go to the extremes of removing toes or liposuction to the foot,” she says. But if someone has Morton’s toe, arthroplasty can reduce pain, and allows women to wear heels.

First, Do No Harm

Not everyone is on-board with cosmetic foot surgery. The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society states that it is risky business. Foot complications including permanent nerve damage, infection, bleeding, scarring, and chronic pain when walking may occur. According to this group, “Cosmetic foot surgery should not be considered in any circumstances, and the Society does not condone its practice.”

[Photo: Wikipedia]

By Joyce Sunila

Video testimonials are terrific marketing tools. They’re the kind of third-party endorsements that boost your reputation and build trust as people explore your website.

So why not use them in your e-newsletters, too?

Let’s say you’re writing a newsletter article about a new development in eye rejuvenation. It can’t hurt to wind up the discussion with a link to a testimonial video. Watching a patient enthuse about how her life changed after the eye surgery can turn a mildly curious prospect into a woman on a mission.

The Numbers Affirm Videos’ Value

Videos’ persuasiveness is borne out by statistics. A recent study of marketing professionals showed that:

• 76 percent believe video increased click-through rates.
• 72 percent believe customers are more likely to convert after watching a video in email.
• 88 percent reported a positive impact from implementing video in their email campaigns.

Make Sure You Link Back to Your Website

Make sure that the clickable link behind the video thumbnail points back to an optimized landing page on your website, not to a page on YouTube or Vimeo. This is important because:

• Possession. Your website is “in your loop.” YouTube and Vimeo are out of your loop. They tempt your readers to explore countless other videos and distract them.

• Tracking. On your website, you can track your audience’s behavior using Google Analytics. This is not possible on other pages.

If your eye rejuvenation video is on a page with other testimonials, have your webmaster create a separate page for it, just for this purpose. Make sure to include your contact information and a call to action.
And make sure readers can navigate quickly back to your e-newsletter after they’ve watched the video.

Google loves video. Have your webmaster optimize a dozen or so video landing pages for search purposes. You’ll drive all of your competition to page 2.

There are companies out there charging $1,000 a month to set up video landing pages and to keep them optimized. You can do it in-house with your webmaster’s help.

Joyce Sunila is the president of Practice Helpers, providing e-newsletters, blogs and social media services to aesthetic practices. You can contact Joyce at joyce@practicehelpers.com or visit the Practice Helpers website at www.practicehelpers.com