(StatePoint) Everyone has heard about a cosmetic procedure that left a patient unsatisfied or worse. But don’t let those anecdotes scare you. There are plenty of qualified, talented doctors available for every procedure.

From custom prosthetics to minimally invasive surgery, innovations in medical devices are leading to some astonishing advances. One example: an artificial heart that uses plastic tubes instead of heart valves to move blood in and out of two plastic ventricles. Implanted in more than 1,000 patients, this plastic heart has extended lives by more than 270 years. And now U.S. regulators are reviewing an accompanying mobile power supply carried in a backpack, so suitable patients could leave the hospital and live at home.

A man posing as a plastic surgeon was sentenced to six months in prison last Friday.

Following a felony complaint in April, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman charged unlicensed physicians Carlos Arango and William Ordonez along with licensed doctor Marlon Castillo for allegedly performing cosmetic surgeries on women without general anesthesia and leaving them permanently disfigured as a result, the attorney general said. Ordonez is still at large.

Your skin changes as you get older. Many factors influence this change, including sun exposure, genetics, age, and your choice of skin care.

Your skin changes as you get older. Many factors influence this change, including sun exposure, genetics, age, and your choice of skin care.

   “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Joseph Kesselring’s macabre but often hilarious take on murder, dysfunctional family life and loneliness among the elderly, complete with frequent swipes at theater critics and members of law enforcement, is, some 70 years after its original marathon Broadway run, surprisingly lively, at least as evidenced by the current rendering by Theatre A La Carte, running weekends through May 21.

   Under the energetic direction of Tom Williams (who also filled a pivotal role at the last minute) most of the cast seems to be perennially moving at high speed, including, at times, the supposedly fragile maiden aunties at the heart of the goings-on.

When you look good, you feel good and that’s something Velvet Laser Effects has been doing for it’s clients since it opened in November 2009 — helping them to look as good on the outside as they feel on the inside.

Even though it’s been 10 years since her son was killed, Jacqueline Hall continues to visit his grave every week. Joan Truman-Smith can still barely talk about the crime without crying for her daughter, and Benjamin Nazario remains bitter over his brother’s death.

A child’s privacy

Undaunted by the plethora of community theater groups vying for audiences in Queens, a new band of actors in Woodhaven is adding its name to the hat.

Kariza Chan’s beauty secrets of healthy eating, moderate exercise and using an old-fashioned face cream must be working. She recently was named winner of Harper’s Bazaars’ Fabulous at Every Age contest for women in their 40s.

Offering hope to constituents enduring the developing recession but warning that tax hikes may lie ahead, City Councilman and Senator-elect Joseph Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) said Monday, “These tough times don’t last forever — we get through them. We’re New Yorkers, we can get through anything. But we only get through these tough times by working together.”

1996

Queens College can add another name to its list of famous and successful alumni and faculty: that of Victoria Pitts-Taylor.

Physician’s Choice SurgiCenter, an outpatient surgical facility in Howard Beach, is a a new alternative to crowded emergency rooms and chaotic hospital parking lots.

The St. John’s University gunman, who terrorized the Jamaica Estates campus on Sept. 26, will be going to a psychiatric facility rather than jail.

Ko Plastic Surgery has been offering superior surgical and nonsurgical techniques to enhance the beauty of its customers since opening in January.

Our vision depends on images being focused accurately by the natural lens within our eyes. With age this lens becomes cloudy and leads to images becoming dull and less sharp. Cataract surgery has the goal of replacing the “cloudy” lens with a clear artificial lens made of a plastic material.

There are more people in their golden years than ever before. And their challenge now is to make their longer lifespans a more rewarding adventure. That being said, let’s look at some of the ways by which folks can turn their golden years into a time of glowing good health and all that comes with it.

The New Century Mini-Mall, one of many on Main Street, blends into the downtown business scene with its focus on clothing and electronics. But this one has a special place in history as the scene of one of the most gruesome Queens crimes of the 21st century—the Wendy’s massacre.

Citing a series of quality of life and safety offenses, the city is considering revoking a variance which could put a major Ridgewood lumber and hardware store out of business.

The whining sound of the drill. The sting of the needle. The mere thought of the scalpel. Oh, the pain. Will it ever be possible to relax during a visit to the dentist?

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced on Tuesday that a 50-year-old Whitestone house painter has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the near fatal hammer attack on his estranged wife inside their Queens home.

The son of a United Nations worker from Woodhaven who was injured in the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad said his mother is eager to get back to doing humanitarian work.