Xanthelasma are white plaques or spots that develop around the eyes.

The treatment involves surgical removal which can be done here in the clinic on a walk-in, walk-out basis, and this is something we can do with our see and treat service when you can have your xanthelasma removed on the same day as your consultation.

Xanthelasma are cholesterol deposits and so it is important that you have your cholesterol checked as they could indicate high levels of cholesterol which may predispose to heart disease.

It is possible to have a xanthelasma with a normal cholesterol level, but it is worth getting this checked out with your GP.

Removal of any skin lesions will leave scars, but because of the position of xanthelasma which are normally around the eye, scars in this area heal so well that they can be difficult to see.

There are natural lines and creases around the eyelids which are formed by the eyelids opening and closing, and as plastic surgeons we aim to hide our scars in these natural lines, so that once they have settled they blend in with the facial features and are almost invisible even when you look closely.

Feel free to leave a comment below, give us a call on 0121-454 3680 or drop us an e-mail.

How to reduce enlarged earring holes

There is very much a fashion for gauging (stretching) or tribal piercing, which involves having your ear pierced and then having the hole gradually increased in diameter so that you can put bigger and bigger earrings in.
The problem with the fashion is that as you increase the diameter of your earring hole there is only one way you can go.
You can either choose to keep it at the same diameter or increase the diameter.
If you decided that you no longer liked the look of it or if you need to get a job or start a career where having an enlarged earring hole is not welcome, then you might start to regret things.
If you start to put progressively smaller earrings in, they will just start to fall out and the skin of your ear lobe will not shrink back.

But don’t panic,

because it is relatively simple to fix the problem.
Earlobe Repair is something we can do here in the clinic under a local anaesthetic on a walk-in, walk-out basis, and in fact, we can see and treat you on the same day as your consultation in our fully equipped minor operating suite that we have here on site.
The procedure takes about 45 minutes and can transform the look of any ear lobe no matter how large the enlarged earring hole has been stretched to.
It will leave a scar which will be slightly red to start with, but this tends to fade quite nicely and so the hope is that it will be difficult to see in the future.

If you wanted to go and get your ear re-pierced then this is perfectly possible, although we advise that you pierce it slightly off the scar because the scar will be weaker than the normal ear lobe skin.
For more details or to book a free consultation please contact us by phone or e-mail and we would like to see if we can help you.

Ear lobe reduction for enlarged earring holes is one of the specialties here at the clinic

and it can be quite transformational the difference that can be made in just a short and relatively simply operation.
So drop us a line and we would be more than happy to see if we can help.
And you can read more about Earlobe Repair here

Have you looked in to tattoo removal but don’t know where to turn?
Do  you have a tattoo that you no longer like? Or Regret? Have you tried laser but it just doesn’t seem to be working? Well we might be able to help.

If laser fails, we may be able to help

We perform tattoo removal by excision.  This is were a plastic surgeon  surgically removes your tattoo and it can be completely gone in as little as one session.
It involves removing the tattoo by cutting it out of the skin.
There is a couple of things that are important when considering whether your tattoo is appropriate for excision, the first is the size of the tattoo and the second is the location of the tattoo. If you want to find out more about this and whether your tattoo is suitable for excision watch Jonathan’s video:

To see further examples of our work and testimonials from patients check out our tattoo removal by excision page.
If you would like to know if your tattoo is suitable for removal by excision, then you can send us a photograph and we will let you know what would be involved and how much it would cost.
You can email us at [email protected] or you can call us on 0121 454 3680.

One of the areas we have had a lot of growth in here at The Staiano Clinic is in mole excision. I think one of the reasons is that we are able to offer a ‘See and Treat’ service which not many clinics are able to. We have our own state of the art operating suite here on site and so should you decide to have your mole excised on the same day as your consultation, then we can go straight to the operating suite and remove it for you.
The other reason that I think we are so popular when it comes to mole excision is that all of the Surgeons here at The Staiano Clinic are fully trained Plastic Surgeons. When it comes to mole excision there is a very wide range of Doctors who offer this procedure right from General Surgeons or ENT Surgeons through to GPs or Dermatologists who may not have any surgical training at all. So why choose a Plastic Surgeon for your mole excision?
When it comes to getting a good scar, there are several factors to consider. Plastic Surgeons are trained to respect the tissues and are known for their delicate instruments and meticulous techniques. If ever there is a complex wound to close in sensitive areas such as the face, around the eyes or lips, in situations where tissues are fragile or friable such as in the elderly or young children, and in cases where there has been extensive tissue loss or damage such as in explosive injuries or major trauma, the Plastic Surgeon is called in to put things together again.
We spend time thinking about what sort of sutures we are going to use to close the wound and what techniques would give the best cosmetic result with the maximum strength. Priorities are different for other surgeons and you may have seen a classical laparotomy scar which is classically a straight line on the abdomen with dots on either side. This is because General Surgeons, when they are performing a laparotomy, have a priority to treat some intra-abdominal pathology in the quickest, most efficient and safest way. They are not focusing on the cosmetic outcome of the skin scar, and if I was having a laparotomy I would not want them to be too concerned about the cosmetic outcome because it is usually performed for a serious condition. Most Surgeons when they are performing operations open and close the skin as a means to an end which is to perform their core surgical procedure, but in plastic surgery often the core surgical procedure is the opening and closing of the skin. We only operate on soft tissues and are trained to contour the body or remove tumours and therefore the training revolves around excision and closure. Because we are all trained as reconstructive surgeons we are very aware of the need to completely remove the tumour in the most effective way to allow us to close and reconstruct the defect with a minimum amount of morbidity. We will often be called in to reconstruct a defect after another surgeon has removed a cancer; and in these circumstances, the surgeon who is performing the excision is solely focused on getting a clear margin for tumour clearance and they do not have to think about the reconstruction because they know the Plastic Surgeon will come in and be able to handle any defect that they find.
We are in a unique position as Plastic Surgeons of being able to remove tumours and reconstruct them afterwards and so we can find that balance between making sure we get the lesion out completely, but at the same time minimising the damage to neighbouring structures and giving the best cosmetic outcome.
Plastic Surgeons are able to deal with skin lesions of any size and any type. We treat benign skin lesions, warts, skin tags, xanthelasma’s (cholesterol deposits around the eyes), we treat skin cancers (BCC, SCC and melanoma) of all shapes and sizes and in all locations. For this reason, when it comes to simple moles and cysts there is nothing that can phase us and if something was to crop up it is very unlikely that we will not have seen it before and know how to handle it. It is perfectly reasonable for GPs and Dermatologists and other Doctors to be removing moles and cysts and they can get good outcomes too, especially if they have spent some time with Plastic Surgeons learning some of our techniques. So, if you do have a lesion that you would like to have removed, whether it is because you are worried about it, or whether because it is unsightly, or it might be that it catches on your clothes, or bleeds, or is a nuisance; you can come for a free consultation with one of our Plastic Surgeons and if you did want to have it removed on the day then we could take you straight to the minor operating suite so that you could be rid of it forever within the hour.
For more information of what to look out for in a mole, you can download our guide here, and if you want to arrange a free, no obligation consultation then please call or email us.
If you are not sure whether your mole or lesion is suitable for excision then you can always send us a photograph and you will get an opinion from one of our Surgeons as well as a detailed quote of what it would cost to have it removed. All surgery is performed under a fixed price package which means there is an all-inclusive fee which covers the after-care and all dressings as well as any follow-up appointments.
Furthermore, our Director Jonathan Staiano does a live Q&A every Tuesday evening at 7pm so feel free to join in by going to our Facebook page and asking questions live, or email Laura your questions beforehand.
We would love to hear from you.

A question I get asked a lot is: What is histology?

Histology is when we analyse parts of the body by putting them under the microscope.
It is performed by a specialist type of doctor called a histopathologist and is often done in a laboratory which may not be located in the hospital. Samples are often sent away for analysis and usually take days or weeks to be processed.
Histology allows an accurate diagnosis to be made of the type of tissue and perhaps most importantly, whether it is cancerous or not and if it is cancerous, whether the cancer has been completely removed.
You see, when we are doing surgery and we remove parts of the body, there is always the question as to whether we send it away for histology or not.
For instance, if I am doing a tummy tuck there is no need to send the skin and fat away for histology because there is very little chance of there being anything abnormal about it.
However, when doing a breast reduction we routinely send the tissue away for histology because the risk of breast cancer in the general population is very high.
For minor procedures such as removal of moles, cysts or skin tags, we need to decide whether we send the lesion away for histology or not.
Obviously if there are any concerns about the mole such as a change in size, shape or, colour or any bleeding or itching, then there is no question that it should be sent away for histology.
Often patients have moles, cysts or skin tags which are simply a nuisance and have always been present and they are not concerned they might be cancerous but they just want them removed for cosmetic or functional reasons.
In these situations, they may not always need to be sent away for histology.
Certainly, if it is a brown mole it is usually good practice to send these for histology, even if they look totally fine because it is always good to have a record of this.
However, if it is a simple skin tag or an cyst then histology is not necessarily essential.
There are some types of moles which you can tell by looking at are nothing to worry about.
These are things like seborrheic keratoses which are brown flat warty lesions which have a stuck-on appearance and appear later in life.

Seborrhoeic Keratosis on shoulder shown at 1 week post removal at The Staiano Clinic

Or intradermal naevi which are raised, sometimes brown, sometimes fleshy moles which can have dark hairs growing from them. They appear in areas of friction such as at the back of the neck and they can also appear on the face and they can be troublesome in men as they catch when they shave.

This is an Intradermal Naevus beside the nose shown at 6 weeks after removal at The Staiano Clinic

If it is possible to say with certainty that a mole is nothing to worry about, then it does not need to be sent for histology but this is only something we can do after discussion, which is why we offer free consultations for mole assessments.
Sometimes patients send us photographs of their lesions (you can email them to us here) and we can give them an idea prior to attending the clinic what will be involved in removing it.

If you come in for a see and treat procedure then it is always worthwhile to send us a photo or have a discussion with us beforehand to avoid any surprises when you arrive.

If you have any moles or lesions that are troublesome, I would always encourage you to get them checked out.

We offer a free consultation with one of our surgeons if you are simply looking for assurance and if you want the lesion removed on the day of consultation then we can accommodate this too in our state of the art minor operating theatre.
Contact us on: 0121 454 3680, email us or like our Facebook page as our director, Jonathan Staiano has a Q&A every Tuesday night at 7pm where he can answer your questions live.
If you are worried about your mole, then you can download our guide with what to look out for below: