Scoop on breasts: A plastic surgeon busts the myths review

Dr. Ted ‘The Boobinator’ Eisenberg and his wife Joyce have clearly identified and targeted their market with the multi award-winning handbook, The Scoop On Breasts. Packaged in an accessibly colourful, confident and sexy format, this publication sits a million miles away from the often dry, off-putting tomes written on breast enhancement surgery and gathering dust on your medical bookshelf. Small, rectangular and undeniably easy to flick through, it’s the literary equivalent of a website, in that the text is fashioned in short, easily digestible chunks, littered by nearly 200 eye-catching illustrations and photographs. It comes as no surprise that there is indeed a site to accompany the book.

Although Dr. Eisenberg is just one of the many plastic surgeons recently climbing on the bandwagon to write about their craft, he’s clearly a bit different to all the rest, having enjoyed a brief career as a stand-up comedian and being an inductee in the International Knife Throwers Hall Of Fame. He’s earned his ‘Boobinator’ nickname from holding the Guinness World Record for the most breast augmentation surgeries performed in a lifetime – over 5,000 and counting. His upfront and often comical style resonates well within The Scoop On Breasts, while his writer wife provides dozens of fascinating ‘titbits’ to even out the scope and produce a gloriously comprehensible, well-rounded book.

There are clearly few questions and concerns the authors haven’t come across in their respective careers and research, and they are all tackled here in a refreshingly no-nonsense, personable style. There are sections on breast implants and lifts, sizing, cost, surgery, recovery and potential problems, including questions as diverse as:

• I’m on a diet. Should I wait to get a breast reduction?
• Can you take the extra fat from my butt and put it in my breasts?
• Can I keep my piercings in during surgery?
• Can I have surgery if I have a cold?
• How much pain will I have?
• When should I go shopping for new bras?
• Am I crazy? I think I hear my implants sloshing around.
• What will happen to my breasts when I turn 65?

Unfortunately, as with many books of this style, The Scoop On Breasts is an American publication, so not all medical references will accurately reflect surgery and care in the UK. However it’s still an excellent read and will certainly answer many questions the prospective patient has lurking at the back of her mind but is perhaps too shy to ask her doctor.