6 Strangest Plastic Surgeries

Six-Pack Surgery

The technique, called abdominal etching, is a kind of precision liposuction. The doc sucks out the fat that's standing between the patient and, if everything goes well, the six-pack. The suction six-pack costs between $4,000 and $7,000 and is only suitable for certain patients.

The procedure takes an hour or two. But pain can persist for days afterward. Swelling can last for weeks or even months. (The after picture was taken a little over a year after the surgery.) And there can be complications, such as infection and bleeding.

Facelifts for Dogs

Is Fido in need of a face-lift? Go see Edgado Brito, who is advancing the practice of pet plastic surgery in a land with a worldwide reputation for making people beautiful by any means. Brazilians have long been known for their penchant for cosmetic surgery, and Brito has been adapting those techniques for use on animals. "Plastic surgery is good for dogs!" said Brito, 45, a Doberman breeder who has worked as a veterinarian for 20 years. He can make protruding ears droop and uses Metacril to straighten bent ears. He uses Botox to fix inverted eyelashes. He has even tightened the mammillae of a couple of female dogs, whose owners wanted to show them after they had given birth. Simple surgeries usually cost from about $100 to $200. In Brazil, the United States and Europe, pet plastic surgery is increasingly in demand, despite objections from animal rights activists and some dog breeders.

Pointy Ears

New York plastic surgoen Dr. Lajos Nagy created a surgical procedure to make human ears pointed, like a mythological creature. "Ears becoming pointed as a result of plastic surgery not only enhance the attractiveness of the face, but also improve the experience of listening to music." says his website. Dr. Nagy is planning to introduce the method in Hungary.

Tongue bifurcation

Tongue bifurcation involves splitting the tongue with a laser to create a snake-like fork. One may argue that this is not any more deforming than rhinoplasty to reshape the nose or silicone breast implants to reshape the chest. But it does not conform to routine notions of aethestics for most people.

Growing Horns

It is now possible to change the shape of almost any part of your body, with implants that are placed just beneath the surface of the skin. Surgical metals are inserted under the subcutaneous tissues, usually by non-medical personel. Risks of a procedure like this include movement of the implant, severe infection, and nerve damage. Is it worth going through all this to look like a character from Krull?

Revirgination: Hymen Surgery

Through a surgical procedure called hymenorraphy, health care providers recreate the hymen by piecing together its remnants. Surgery can also include inserting a gelatin capsule filled with a blood-like substance that will burst during intercourse, simulating bleeding. If there is not enough hymen left, or if the woman was born without one, part of the vaginal wall is used to recreate this thin tissue. The procedure, considered relatively simple, is performed on an outpatient basis. In some countries, women will be seen several weeks after the procedure to follow up on any resulting physical effects and emotional issues. Hymenorraphy is generally illegal in countries where cultural traditions place great emphasis on the bride's virginity before marriage. The procedure, however, is still performed illegally, and at a high cost. When it's done illegally, standards of cleanliness, training, and the reputation of the health care provider are additional things to worry about. Some women may also have to worry about securing up to U.S. $2000.00 for the procedure (though it can often cost much less, even as low as U.S. $100.00, in some parts of the world.)

10 Cocaine and other Drug Products of the Past

Cocaine, morphine, and even heroin were seen as miracle cures when they were first discovered. Substances prohibited today were legally available in the past, so until the late 1800, manufacturers proudly proclaimed that their products contained such drugs. Today we present you ten of this incredible old ads.


Cocaine toothache drops (c. 1885) were popular for children.
Not only would the medicine numb the pain, but it could also put the user in a "better" mood.


Bayer heroin bottle. From 1898 to 1910 heroin was marketed as a non-addictive morphine substitute and cough medicine for children!


Metcalf's Coca Wine was one of a large number of cocaine-containing wines available on the market.
All claimed medicinal effects, although they were undoubtedly consumed for their "recreational" value as well.


Vin Mariani (c. 1865) was the leading Coca Wine of its time.
Pope Leo XIII purportedly carried a hipflask of Vin Mariani with him, and awarded a Vatican gold medal to its creator, Angelo Mariani.


This coca wine was made by the Maltine Manufacturing Company (New York). The dosage indicated on the back of the bottle reads: "A wine glass full with, or immediately after, meals. Children in proportion."

Cocaine-containing throat lozenges (c. 1900) were "indispensable for singers, teachers, and orators." In addition to quieting a sore throat, these lozenges undoubtedly provided the "pick-me-up" to keep these professionals performing at their peak.


Paperweight advertisement for C.F. Boehringer & Soehne (Mannheim, Germany), "largest makers in the world of quinine and cocaine." This chemical manufacturer was proud of its leading position in the world's cocaine market.


This bottle of Stickney and Poor's paregoric (mixture of opium and alcohol) was distributed much like the spices for which the company is better known. Doses for infants, children, and adults are given on the bottle. At 46% alcohol, this product is 92 proof which is pretty potent in itself.


This ad is for Glyco-Heroin manufactured by Martin H. Smith Company (New York). Heroin was widely used not only as an analgesic but also as a remedy for asthma, coughs, and pneumonia. Mixing heroin with glycerin (and often adding sugar or spices) made the bitter-tasting opiate more palatable for oral consumption.


This National Vaporizer Vapor-OL (opium) Treatment no. 6 for asthma may have provided a unique method of essentially "smoking" opium. The volatile liquid was placed in a pan that was heated by a small kerosene lamp (see below). Other substances were also used in these early (c. 1890) vaporizers, but this mixture probably ensured plenty of visitors for the spasmodically affected.

7 Most Bizarre Folk Remedies

Peruvian Cure for Impotence: Frog Juice

They call it 'The Peruvian Viagra' and they say it's great for you if you have a low sex drive. It's the best aphrodisiac. 'Extracto de rana' (Frog juice) is in very high demand at local markets of Lima, Peru.

It's also heals stuff like asthma, bronchitis, sluggishness, but who cares about those. As long as it gives you a good boner. The main aphrodisiac effect probably comes from one of it's ingredients called Maca, which is a South-American plant known for it's erotic powers.



You go to the market stall and you pick your frogs from a tank. The vendor takes them out and bangs them against the table to kill them. Then she peels the skin off them and she fills the blender with hot white bean broth, some honey, raw aloe vera and a generous portion of maca. Then she adds your plucked frogs and she turns the blender on. And voila, a delicious warm glass of frog juice.

Old Cure for throat inflammations: Dog Dung

"Album graecum" is the dung of dogs or hyenas that has become white through exposure to air. It is used in dressing leather, and was formerly used as a medicinal drug, often mixed with honey, to cleanse and deterge, chiefly in inflammations of the throat. Externally, it was used as a plaster, spread on skin to close and heal wounds.

Czech Cure for Aging: Beer Bath

In the town of Chodova Plana, Czech Republic, is located the world's first "beer health center", where they offer a soothing hot bath containing healing mineral water and a dark bathing beer. This "curative therapy" claims to have rejuvenating effects. There is also a bathside bar so you can sip beer while soaking in it.

Old Chinese Cure for Stomach aches: Monkey's GallBladder

The monkey's gallBladder was a common folk medicine in China often used for a wide range of disorders including eye diseases, stomach complaints and even a child's tantrums. Many ancient cultures used monkey blood for increasing the strength and stamina. It was also believed to have anti-aging effects. Over the centuries, people of various cultures have experimented with monkey blood and meat for anti-aging effects. Some even went to the extent of transplanting monkey gonads. In some of the places in Indonesia even until now, monkey brains are consumed as health remedies, impotency cures or as gourmet treats.

Ancient Egyptian Cure for Eye Infections: Bat's Blood

Ancient Egyptians had a high incidence of eye infections and resultant blindness because of their near-constant exposure to sun, sand, and sandstorms. In order to combat the blindness suffered by so many people, Egyptian doctors applied the blood of bats to their blind patients' eyes. Since bats were thought to have excellent night vision, it was assumed that this treatment would transfer that quality to people who put it in their eyes or injected it in their ears.

Old British Cure for Malaria: Spider's Webs

Back when ague, a form of malaria, ran rampant through many parts of the world, various treatments were used to control the disease. One of the strangest was consuming tablets of compressed spider's webs. The supposed medicinal qualities of spider's webs have apparently been lost to history. Some variations of this treatment involved eating the actual spider - sometimes while it was alive.

South African Cure for AIDS: Having Sex with a Virgin

Surveys suggest that up to a third of South Africans believe in an ancient and bizarre "cure" for AIDS. This "cure" involves having sex with a virgin in the belief that it will cleanse the body of venereal diseases like AIDS. This myth made South Africa the world's highest incidence of rape, taking the problem to the most despicable crime: an alarming high rate of child rape.

The Human Body: a dissection

From the tiniest veins, arteries and nerves to serial cross-sections of the spinal cord, these incredibly detailed dissections show and label most every part of the human body.

The collection is the product of a 17-year collaboration between David L. Bassett, a School of Medicine alumnus and faculty member known for his elegant dissections and love for the human body, and William Gruber, the photographer who invented the View-Master stereoscopic viewing device.

The partnership between the two resulted in the production of the Stereoscopic Atlas of Human Anatomy, which began in 1948, but was not not completed until 1962. It consisted of 221 View-Master reels with 1,554 color stereo views of dissections of every body region. Each stereo view was accompanied by a black-and-white, labeled drawing and explanatory text.

A courtesy the Lane Medical Archives (thanks Drew!), today we present you some of the most impressive pictures of The Basset Collection. Meet the Human Body.


A deep dissection of the side of the head shows the many blood vessels (red arteries, blue veins) and nerves (graying white) in the facial region. The hole is the external ear canal. The temporal muscle, used for chewing, is the prominent fan shaped muscle on the side of skull, behind the mouth and above the jaw.


After the removal of an outer layer of bones around the jaw, the dissection shows blood vessels and sensory nerves to the lower teeth and chin.


The onion-like structure is an eye, seen from above with the bony roof of the eye socket removed. The profusion of blood vessels and the muscles that rotate the eye are visible.


A pelvis from a woman, right, is lighter and wider than that of a man, left. The wider angle of a woman's pubic bones at the base of the pelvis allows birthing of a baby.

Removal of the skin and the layer of tough tissue beneath it, the palmar fascia, reveals a complex arrangement of blood vessels and nerves in the hand and wrist.



This dissection of the kidneys was done after red latex was injected into the arteries and blue latex into the veins.


With all layers of the skin removed on the left side of the head and neck, the dissection displays the blood vessels and nerves of the scalp, almost all of which come from the periphery, not through the skull. Colored latex was injected into the blood vessels: red for arteries, blue for veins. The structures in the neck remain covered by a tough layer of tissue known as the cervical fascia.


Inside the vertebral column, cut in half vertically, is a channel for the spinal nerves. The brown material is the bones; the white material is the intervertral disks that sometimes "rupture," causing back pain. A horizontal split has been made on the left to show the connection of the sacrum, a triangular bone at the base of the spine, to the pelvis.


This view of the wrist joint features the two rows of four carpal bones each and shows how they are connected to the bones of the forearm and the fingers.


A dissection of the leg and the foot displays the long tendons connected to the toes, and the blood vessels and nerves to the top of the foot.


This dissection of the backbone was performed by Donald Stilwell, another Stanford professor, for the Bassett atlas. Note the profusion of arterial blood vessels nourishing the vertebral area of the neck and chest area. Also, at the top, the ends of the vertebral arteries, which pass into the skull to nourish the brain.


The mediastinum, a central chest compartment located between the lungs, houses the heart. Immediately to the right of the heart is the aorta, the largest artery of the body. To the right of the aorta are groups of blood vessels (one artery and two companion veins) that run between the ribs to distribute blood through the body. The phrenic nerve, which sends messages to the diaphragm to breath, is visible as it crosses the heart vertically.


Dissection of the meninges and brain in situ. On the right the calvaria and layers of the scalp are shown in relation to the dura. On the left the dura has been cut away to reveal the cerebral hemisphere and cerebellum covered with the arachnoid membrane. The confluence of the sinuses is shown.


The sclera and cornea have been cut away on the medial side of a right eye to display the anterior chamber, iris, ciliary body and outer surface of the choroid. Although none of the vessels has been injected, the branches of the superior and inferior medial vorticose veins are clearly visible. The long posterior ciliary artery was cut across in the resection of the sclera but its course can be traced nearly to the ciliary body.


On this dissection of the heart, the epicardium has been removed from all parts of the atria with the exception of the left auricle.


Dissection of lungs in situ. The lungs have been dissected from their medial surfaces and are reflected laterally for this image. Fragmentary portions of all of the chambers of the heart have been preserved. The great vessels have been kept intact, although the aorta and pulmonary trunk have been elevated to expose more posterior parts of the heart.


The cervical spinal cord. By removing the rear arches of the neck (cervical) vertebra and the fibrous covering (dura) over the spinal cord one sees the cervical spinal cord and its nerves. The blood vessels nourishing the cord and vertebral column and the origin of the cord from the brain are clearly shown.


Dissection of thorax from a posterior approach. Ribs and vertebral bodies have been resected bilaterally between the second and the ninth thoracic segments. The periosteum which covered the inner surfaces of the ribs have been preserved in most areas. The anterior longitudinal ligament, with remnants of the intervertebral discs attached, has also been retained in part. The lungs have been inflated and are visible through the intact costal pleura. The proximal parts of the III-VII spinal nerves have been positioned on the pleura in such a way that their dorsal and ventral roots, dorsal rami and communications with the sympathetic trunks are visible. These components are labeled for the left seventh thoracic nerve. The intercostal arteries and veins have been cut off in various ways.


The knee joint opened from the front shows the inner surface of the knee cap or patella within its large ligament which is folded downward and forward. The ear shaped cartilages lie on the surface of the joint floor formed by the tibia. Between the cartilages one sees the cut ends of the cruciate ligaments so often injured in athletics and frequently reconstructed surgically.


The Jawbone. The masseter muscle of mastication reflected back to expose the jawbone (mandible) and the related vessels, nerves and muscles.