2023 was an interesting year.

I figured it would be worthwhile to recap the articles I've written over the year in case anyone wants an easy way to jump in and read everything from start to finish. These blog pages are not something everyone bothers to read, but for those of you that do, I hope it offers a little more insight into the otherwise murky world of plastic surgery.

The blog is really just a way for me to explore some of the ideas in my own head at length, whilst also answering questions that are posed to me online or during consults.

Anyway, I've listed and linked the articles from the last 12 months below. Bit of light bed time reading if you fancy.

• Ratings and reviews in plastic surgery - A peek at the dubious ethics and issues associated with things like google reviews, when it comes to plastic surgery. Can you trust em? Of course not. But hey, I can't change the system and nor can you.
• What do young women need to know about breast reduction? We had a look at our data and we've noticed a significant trend toward younger women seeking breast reduction. This is the stuff I talk about during a consultation.
• The internal bra: buzzword, brilliance or bullshit? Bit of all three I reckon. Internal bra is one of the most over-used terms of 2023 on Instagram (based on my totally non scientific appraisal) and I reckon half the surgeons who claim to do it don't have a clue what it is. Pity their poor patients.
• Explant related harm is increasing - Well of course it is. Explant is a "growth" area in plastic surgery. Cue the opportunists lining up to have a crack, selling wild claims. Not to mention the surgeons who should know better, but due to their ideological opposition to the idea of things like BII, have chosen to treat explant with far less respect than they should.
• How do you know what size you'll be after a breast reduction? Good question. Answers are contained within!
• Drains...and why I don't use them - This seems to be a point of difference between me an many (most) other surgeons. I've never met a patient who wanted a drain. So here is an explanation of why you don't need them.
• Can fat graft totally reconstruct a breast? Short answer: not really. There is a bit more to it though. This one is for the ladies who have had a mastectomy and who are confused by what they read online.
• Aesthetic expectations after explant surgery. This is one of the more important articles I think from 2023. Really important topic for me, given the volume of explant surgery I do, and important also because I think aesthetics are too often an afterthought for many surgeons doing explant surgery (whether they mean to or not). I come back to some of these ideas again later in the year.
• Why do breast implants cause pain? What a bloody good question. Nearly every lady I see for explant has pain at least some of the time. But it is very hard to find any information online about this.
• Predictability in breast surgery: are breast implants more predictable than fat grafting? This is a direct response to some of the trash I see written online, typically by other surgeons. Both implants and fat transfer have pros and cons. Any lady considering breast enlargement needs to understand that the outcomes of these two procedures are completely different, and so your goals and expectations need to match the procedure you choose.
• Can explant surgery be done whilst breastfeeding? Short answer: I wouldn't if I were you.
• Breast implant revision and why 'downsizing' matters - Another one in direct response to some of the rubbish you see/read on Instagram. Surgeons jamming truly ginormous implants into ladies when doing revision surgery is just awful stuff. I mean, if you are silly enough to get 700cc breast implants, I wish you well, but unfortunately, it won't go well. Have fun with that.
• Galaflex (P4HB) mesh in the breast - what and why - This was a hot topic in the USA this year, and I expect that it will follow suit in Australia in 2024.
• BII and capsulectomy: distinct issues that deserve separate discussions - I come back to the topic of explant for the final article of 2023. Another one looking at the issues I see amongst plastic surgeons who hold some sort of ideological opposition to the concepts of explant surgery. Also, I explore some of my own thoughts about capsulectomy and why I think it is so important.

So there you have it. 2023 in review.

I'll kick off 2024 with a few shorter format articles looking at common questions and common google searches. No doubt I'll find myself sufficiently riled up to write some more long format articles, and as always, if you have any specific questions you'd like me to address, let me know.

Good luck for the year ahead.

See ya

ACL