The skin about the depressed site will be found to be more or less firmly adherent, necessitating subcutaneous dissection before an injection for correction can be undertaken.
In this case the cold mixture of vaselin and paraffin is indicated, since the softer products will hardly suffice to elevate the tense skin. If the former surgical operation has been done some time previous to the required injection the parts may at one or two sittings be restored to a fairly normal contour, depending entirely upon the amount of ungiving scar tissue at the site. If the parts are tender and not reduced to normal, the injections should be made frequently, about ten days apart, injecting a small mass across and through the subcutaneous scar attachment at each sitting.
The reactions following such injections help to tease the scar away from the bony tissue, but should not be sufficient to cause extensive inflammation.
The same mode of post-operative treatment as has been given with pro-auricular corrections should be followed.
SPECIFIC TECHNIQUE FOR THE CORRECTION OF DEFORMITIES ABOUT THE SHOULDERS
Deficiencies about the base of the neck and the shoulders are very commonly found in women. These defects are usually bilateral, except in rare cases. The much-desired contour is readily restored by the subcutaneous-injection method, and since the technic for one part is the same as for the whole there is no need to dilate specifically upon the treatment of each part.
The author advocates the injection of cold sterile white vaselin only, for the restoration of the contour about the neck, anterior and posterior shoulder, and the mammæ, except in the unilateral correction of a flattening of the breast following amputation for the removal of neoplasms, when the mixture of white vaselin and paraffin should be used, owing to the tenseness of the skin following the excision of a large part of the integument covering the diseased gland.
In the restoration of the contour about the neck and shoulders it is well for the surgeon to familiarize himself thoroughly with the superficial veins of the parts, since the vessels here are larger, and the introduction of foreign matter into them is liable to lead to serious and even fatal results.
The injections should never be made until the operator has assured himself of the fact that a vessel has not been entered into, and then only should a small quantity of the mass—i. e., about two or three drams—be injected at one point.
The easiest mode of introducing the needle is to pinch up the skin between the fingers of one hand, introducing the needle into the fold thus raised. As the mass is injected the skin should be raised by aid of the needle, so as to allow all the immediate room possible for its reception.