Tribute to MH 17 ...... May your souls rest in Peace.

It is definitely a sad Ramadhan for Malaysians. The ending of the football World Cup series marked the start of the Zionist bombing and massacre of Gaza. Many children and women died overnight whilst the whole world was focused on the semi-finals. It is definitely horrific news. Religion aside, which part of humanity allows such mass homicide is beyond understanding. In the midst of all the protests towards the violence in Gaza, Malaysians were shocked by yet another news.

We lost another plane. MH 17 was traveling from Amsterdam heading back to Kuala Lumpur was shot down in Ukraine skies and there were no survivors. Everyone was flabbergasted. Everyone was shocked. I guess the whole nation seemed to have been silenced by disbelief. That was only a few days ago. 17/7/2014 marked the lost of our plane with 293 passengers and crew. May God keep the souls in a better place. The major question now is why?

There were many theories. The Ukraine government says that it was their rebels, some say it was the Russians, some say Ukraine government. Some believe that some other countries were behind it. It is still an on-going investigation. Our Prime Minister looked so miserable. I could not imagine how I would feel or what I would do if I was in his shoes. He deported our people to help investigate and bring back the bodies. 2 planes in one year is highly stressful. The only thing we can go as a nation is to stick together. No point pointing fingers and blaming each other. It is a time of grief, but we also need to get to the bottom of this. Emotions aside, we have to be as professional as possible in handling this situation as there are many parties involved, and perhaps nation ties may be severed if any wrong remarks are made. Mr Prime Minister, keep your head straight, chin up. Remember that God will not befall on to you something you could not handle. Pray for guidance and Insya Allah if you are true to your people and is sincere to lead, God will help you, regardless.

To the families who have lost their loved ones, my condolences to all of you. My sister's friends were on that plane and my dad knew a family who were related to some of his closest friends. The thought of 100 AIDs researchers, scientist and motivators lost in the flight is a major pang to the scientific and medical community. Dr Lange was one of the most active activist for AIDS, who was also the pioneer and former president for the International Aids Society. His untimely death is a great loss to the AIDS community. Some even believe they had the cure for AIDS on that plane. So many people were affected by this tragedy. 

We lost another good pilot and another good crew. Its just too sad and at the same time scary. Air travel now seems to be so dangerous with all these unanticipated disasters happening. I salute the air crew who still continue working despite 2 tragedies in a year. For a lot of people, air travel has become a source of anxiety. Still, emotion aside, let's look at the facts. With 2 tragedies a year means that Malaysia Airlines and our government has to fork out millions to overcome the disaster and reimburse the families. MAS will be in a fragile state as the money deficit increases. With the lost of confidence of the airline due to these disasters, it will cause the revenue to plummet down more. Other airlines will benefit, and there may come a point where MAS will be taken over by another party. But remember, MAS belongs to the people. It is a nation asset. Losing MAS is a tragedy and as Malaysians we should not let this happen. We should be strong together, MAS needs the nation support, and we should support our local airline. Perhaps reorganisation of the Company for a more efficient performance during this stressful time is needed to survive. As Malaysians, we should do our part to support them. MAS hospitality has always been the best so far. They carry our image as Malaysia.

My prayers are to the souls that were lost in the flight and to the families who have to bear the lost. May God give them peace, and God give you strength. Let's pray the bodies can be brought back as soon as possible for a proper burial. Let's hope we are able to find out the true story behind the incident and those responsible are brought to justice. It is a sad time for all Malaysians, yet we must stand together and be strong. Despite our differences, we must unite as a whole nation. I think all of us feel it, the need to be united. Somehow rather with all the events occurring in this short span of time makes us feel like we are being attack by some unnamed force. Let's hope I'm just being paranoid.

Eid is just around the corner. Usually by now the radio will start blaring the Eid songs of fun, laughter and going back to the home town. We are still in mourning. Let's pray for the best together. Hopefully Gaza will also be able to celebrate Eid in peace. 

By the way, the clinic will still receive appointments till Saturday. I'll be celebrating in KL again, so we'll be open on Wednesday for patients by appointment only. Do call us at 014-2233268 or email to faceworksclinic@gmail.com for appointments. 

Fasting Month 2014

'Its raining its pouring, the old man is snoring, he went to bed and bumped his head, and couldn't get up in the morning.' It finally rained after a few hot days of haze and sun. My head was throbbing so bad this morning, I predicted heavy rain. And my prediction of rain was correct. Its funny how my head hurts with the change of weather. I use to call it my barometer. 

Fasting month is a peaceful month. Muslims are commanded to fast during this period from fajar till the setting of the sun. There are so many restrictions in fasting, and breaking fast is perhaps the most joyful event of the day. It also helps bring together people as in Malaysia, the culture is to have breaking fast events where friends and family gather. With the football season on board, even sahur (meal prior to fasting) becomes a gathering, where friends and family gather to watch the world cup whilst enjoying sahur together. A lot of my patients ask me about medications you can use during fasting and I've gathered some info for the benefit of my readers.

Treatments That Are Allowed During Fasting

1. Eye drops, ear drops and ear washes as long as it doesn't pass the ear drum.

2. Sublingual GTN (Nitroglycerin) pills or other sublingual drugs that are palced under the tongue and     not swallowed to reduce angina, etc.

3. Dental works such as tooth extraction, filling, polishing as long as you do not swallow anything 

    during the procedure.

4. All forms of injections i.e. intradermal, intramuscular or IV as long as it is not nutritional.

5. Blood donation or transfer or blood taking.

6. Local application of medications in form of cream, plaster, bandage, patch etc on skin.

7. Intravascular catheter insertion for examination e.g. angiography.

8. Laparoscopic examination of the abdominal cavity via the abdominal wall.

9. Gargling water as long as it does not involve any swallowing.

10. Taking biopsy of liver or other organs for examination.

11. Dialysis treatment for kidney patients whether hemodialysis or pertoneal dialysis.

12. Local anaesthesia or partial anaesthesia with sprays or injections.

13. Usage of haemorrhoids medication to reinsert the haemorrhoids into its place without involving 

       internal cavities.

Treatments that can cancel fasting

1. Usage of inhalers for asthma or Chronic Lung diseases.

2. Using pessaries or medicine into the vagina inclusive of wash, vaginascopes, or digital 

    examination.

3. Insertion of any catheters, or urethroscope into the urinary tract, barium studies or wash for both 

    male and female.

4. Use of enemas, suppository tubes, medication protoscpe or digital examination into the anus or 

    rectum for examination.

5. Endoscopic procedures of such as ERCP, gastroscopes, etc to examine the gastrointestinal     

    system.

6. General anaesthesia.

(Source Ustaz Asmadi Mohamad Naim / Buku Panduan Pesakit JAKIM)

I hope this helps clear some of the doubts. Happy fasting peeps. :)

Ramadhan promo......

Salam Ramadhan peeps.... a picture tells a thousand words. Sharing this for the benefit of my patients. Don't miss the exciting promotion.

For more information Call us at 014-2233268 or email to faceworksclinic@gmail.com

Thermage - To do or not to do?

Doing freelance without an office has really made my life go upside down trying to keep up with the stuff I have to do. Recently I have just been appointed as a consultant and module writer for a Basic Aesthetic Course for supporting staff under Open University Malaysia. Its a tedious job, but I feel honoured to be given the chance to contribute to the younger generation. So on and off, I see some of my aesthetic patients in Gleneagles. Its not really the Shangri-La, but for the time being, it will do to keep the service running. Perhaps the coolest thing there is my Consultant owns a Thermage that he barely uses, so he's allowed me to use it instead. Yay.

So what is Thermage?

Thermage is a machine created for skin tightening. Using radiofrequency technology, it generates a controlled heat at the end of the tip to allow equal heating of the dermis. Studies have shown that controlled thermal injury to the skin leads to collagen remodelling subsequently which takes between 4-12 weeks depending on extent of stimulation. Thermage technology has been around for more than a decade with constant improvements to the machine. So far it is still one of the best technologies for skin tightening that is able to deliver results with just 1 treatment. Other radiofrequency devices usually require 4 or more treatments for similar effects. I have been studying this technology since I started Starhill and it has been impressive.

Areas of treatment

The Thermage was initially created for face tightening with focus on to the eye area to delay need for eye lid surgery. As we age, the skin becomes lax and starts to droop. Some physicians use botox to keep the lid up, but even botox requires a good skin elasticity to allow the effect to occur. Thermage made its name as the first non-surgical device to give eye lid tightening. And the results are pretty much impressive.

Other indications would be face tightening, jaw line definition, neck and body. But as all other aesthetic procedures, results will vary based on individual and also the doctor who conducts the treatment. 

Pain Concerns

Yes, I admit many people claim Thermage is painful. Personally, I would give it a rating of 9/10 for pain for the older generations. The newer ones i.e. the CPT with built in vibrator functions drops the pain score to around 7/10 without any topical anaesthesia. Although some may argue that topical anaesthesia is a placebo effect, all my patients admit it is less painful on areas with local and areas without. I can also offer some Ultracet prior to the procedure to make it more comfortable. Other factors influencing pain is the steadiness of the hand doing the procedure, the speed and the area that is being done. In a well trained practitioner, the pain felt is negligible and confined to perhaps at most 1 hour after the procedure.

Downtime

The coolest thing about this treatment, there is no social downtime. Yeah, there maybe some redness up to 1 hour after the procedure, or maybe slight oedema swelling the next day, but its still concealable and does not look so obvious. 

The Cost

Well this is the real pincher. The cost for 1 treatment properly done at 900 shots is between RM 10- RM 12K locally. Yes, I said it, it costs a bomb. But the justification for this is that you only need 1 treatment done properly and the results will last you between 6 months to 2 years, depending on the severity of your problem. But look at it this way, 1 treatment for 10K spread over 12 months, it's only RM 833 spent a month compared to other tightening treatments for example Gentle-YAG (Yes, you can use this machine for tightening) RM 1200 per session X 4 weekly during the initial stage, then monthly X 3 and then probably repeat after 6 months (RM 9600 over 8 visits per annum) or other medical tightening devices whose selling price is usually approximately RM 800/session but you will need around 10-16 sessions to get close to the tightening effects of thermage. When you add up the transport and time costs, sometimes it could be more. And let's not even mention the beauty salon grade RFs - Yes, they look nice immediately but you will not have any lasting effects because of the Joules limitation on their machines. In order to start the collagen remodelling cascade, the dermis and up to 20mm into the subcutaneous tissue needs to be heated up to the range of 42-55 degrees. 

What to Expect?

Initially you will see instant tightening of the skin due to dehydration of the cells from the heat and you may appear a little bit flushed. The results may be good or average on the first day with subsequently there may be mild oedema lasting up to 3 days. After 2 weeks you will start to notice improvement in skin texture. The pores start to appear smaller and many say they feel the skin softer. The initial tightening effect will start after the first month with the best results seen after 3 months, so be sure to keep a photo to compare. Sometimes, the changes appear subtle, sometimes very marked. Depending on your initial skin condition, if your skin is still supple, effects can last up to 2 years. If you are very sagged, lax or you are targeting shaping a fleshy face, you may need to repeat every 6 months to achieve the desired results.

Results?

Here are the few results obtain from a good treatment.

Pretty amazing results huh? For more information or to enquire treatments, contact us via email at faceworksclinic@gmail.com or call us at 014-2233268. Please be reminded that we are no longer in Starhill so please contact us before dropping by. Thermage is available in Gleneagles for a limited time only so do contact us early to avoid disappointments.