This week's conference of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons is expected to hear evidence from a surgeon and psychologist that four out of ten people who use Botox have a compulsion to do so repetitively, prompting fears that it is addictive.

Its estimated that more than 100,000 people a year have Botox injection treatment, making it a growing and very lucrative trend ; typically the results wear off after 4 months, ensuring that a repeat treatment is needed.

You can check out what we think about Botox by going to our website. We'd love to hear your views

A Florida plastic surgeon has found that patients can leave much quicker and return to their normal activities IF they have vibration before the liposuction and massage afterwards.

The surgeon, Dr kenrick Spence hit on the SculptEase™ method while injecting his liposuction patients with the various fluids that makes liposuction easier. He tried different ways to distract them from the sting of infusion by needle and applied topical pain killers, which are spread on the skin, but the substances did not last.

One day, he noticed if he placed the vibrating cannula on top of the skin where the needle was inserted, the patient reported feeling no discomfort. As time went on, Dr. Spence observed the patients were barely distracted from their iPods or magazines (like Cosmetic Surgery Answers) when vibrations accompanied injections.

After two years of observation and refining the process, Dr. Spence confirmed vibration caused the infusion segment to go much faster. He also found when patients have less discomfort and anxiety, they recover faster, with less bruising and swelling. Consequently, Dr. Spence claims to have reduced the average operation time from two hours to one hour and 15 minutes.

The procedure is very popular with foreign tourists, and evidently us English.

Its not April Fools is it ?

The BBC today carries a story about a fish (yes I did say fish) that has undergone cosmetic surgery in Scotland. Evidently the fish was deemed "ugly" and had a procedure to remove a lump from is eye.

Though there's no word as to why the fish chose Scotland to have the operation.

Go here for the story.

The latest trend in the world capital of cosmetic surgery, the US of A, is "minmally invasive" surgery. Sounds like "getting a little bit pregnant" ?

Well maybe, but “no-knife” procedures are now the fastest growing segment of the booming scene in U.S. cosmetic surgery. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS), 76 percent of the 8.2 million cosmetic procedures done in 2003 (the most recent year for which the organization has statistics) were low budget procedures done in a doctor’s office in one hour, or less, appointments.

“The motto for cosmetic surgery in the near future will be ‘Less is more,’” says Ronald L. Moy, M.D., associate clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Patients in their 20s, 30s and 40s are opting for less invasive, ‘mini’ or ‘lunch time’ procedures to avoid major facelifts later on in life.”

I'm just nipping out for lunch..

Close on Cindy Crawford's revelations that her looks owe much to Botox, comes Beyonce's declaration that she's be tempted to undergo surgery later in life. She says, "I'm a bit young to be thinking about that yet. Maybe in years and years. I would so never say never."

Theres hope for us all. And yes, this picture is gratuitous.

Meanwhile, former Corrie (ahem) "heartthrob" Lynne Perrie who played Ivy Tilsley, has left just £9,000 in her will, according to the Daily Record. Much of her fortune is estimated to have been spent (perfectly reasonably) on alcohol, gambling, and plastic surgery.

And no, I've not got any pictures of her.

We get some great press releases here at Cosmetic Surgery Answers, but we thought we’d share this one with you. It comes from a company in the US called Neuro-VISION, Inc, who claim to have invented a way of getting people to reduce the amount they eat via a hypnosis – on your TV.

We’re getting the program in for review in the next few months, so we’ll let you know how it goes, but in the meantime, enjoy the (priceless) summary of one of the testers..

"Most of the images are designed to reprogram your eating habits and they do have a profound effect. I found myself pushing away a half finished dinner and refusing my favorite chocolate, cream-filled bun. This may not sound that impressive but for me it was a life-altering experience."

And they say irony is dead.

Colombia's current obsession with cosmetic enhancement is brought into sharp relief with a piece from today's Sunday Times.

According to the paper, more and more young office workers, who earn an average of £120 a month, are paying £800 for breast augmentation. Five years ago 30,000 Colombians had implants; this year more than 100,000 procedures are expected to be carried out.

And a surgeon in Bogota estimated that around one out of six women has sought breast augmentation - a higher rate than Beverley Hills. It seems that singer Shakira (pictured) is one of the few NOT to want to go under the knife.

I read an interesting piece in the journal of the American plastic surgeons association which suggests that women are more sensitive to pain than men.

Evidently, women have more nerve receptors than men, which makes them more susceptible to pain when going under the knife.

Tell that to my wife.

According to The Guardian, the top five surgery countries are USA, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and er... Spain.

Evidently they have a higher proportion of surgeons to people in Spain than they do lawyers in the US.

Hard to believe I know.