Dr. Dana's blog

In south florida, there are hundreds of practitioners offering Botox® injections at prices that range from $99 to $450 per area. If you want the best deal, you may be tempted to jump at the $99 price, but before you decide least expensive is best, you need to know what you’re getting for your money.

Because there are so many places out there offering Botox®, it’s important to know how experienced your injector is. Some are fresh out of a video webinar and inject a patient every few weeks, while some have years of training and daily experience. The actual injection of Botox® is not difficult. Knowing where to put it so your eyebrows don’t droop and you can still open your eyelids all the way is where proper training and experience come in.

Breast Reconstruction Surgery: There are many reasons why women choose to undergo Breast reconstruction Surgery.  One of the most common is reconstruction after a Mastectomy, but other reasons include breast trauma, tuberous breast deformity, or lack of breast development. These procedures can assist women in feeling whole again, and the biggest benefit is the fact that these surgeries can result in real-looking breasts. Another positive aspect of this surgery is the fact that it allows women the chance to conquer their cancer. Whether to have breast reconstruction is a personal decision that needs to be made by each, individual woman.

I am a medical biller for dermatology and plastic surgery practices.  Throughout my experience I have noticed many patients do not know medical insurance will cover the excision of non-malignant (non-cancerous, benign) skin tumors and lesions.  These include nevi, moles, birthmarks and other skin defects. In billing thousands of these types of procedures I have never seen it denied by major medical insurance companies.

Why is it continuously covered?  Because they are considered high risk for becoming cancerous over time.  For this reason, having them removed is considered preventative and medically necessary.   Even lesions that are obviously benign can be removed and covered by insurance if there is any redness, itching, tenderness, or irritation. The best part is that you can have it removed by a plastic surgeon. 

About one out of every eight women will develop some form of breast cancer within their lifetime. In 2010 approximately 207,000 cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed, with another 54,000 non-invasive cases diagnosed.  Although breast reconstruction is an optional process after mastectomy, with over 2.5 women who have beat this disease, more and more women are choosing to have breast reconstruction as a part of breast cancer treatment. In fact, over 93,000 breast reconstruction procedures were performed in 2010, an increase of almost 20% from the year before .  In fact, breast reconstruction has been seen as being so critical to a woman’s recovery that in 1988, the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA) was passed. This law actually requires all insurance companies who offer mastectomy coverage to also provide for reconstructive surgery, including any adjustments to the opposite breast to get symmetry.