Today I want to talk about several procedures that we also do, and some of these are related to massive weight loss or someone who’s had gastric bypass, but it doesn’t have to be that particular patient, and some of these procedures are brachioplasty where we remove redundant skin and fat from the upper arms in order to create a better contour. Other procedures that we do particularly for weight loss patients is lower body lift, medial thigh lift, and of course, abdominoplasty. Many times, with an extended incision, sometimes that can be a circumferential abdominoplasty with a lower body lift, but we do these procedures quite often. You know, weight loss patients particularly are a sub-specialty of plastic surgery, and many plastic surgeons don’t treat patients post weight loss, but that’s one of the things we do at Bluewater Plastic Surgery. So if you’re interested please give us a call and we’re happy to evaluate you and see what is the best timing to do this following your weight loss surgery.

Hi, it’s Dr. Stephen Clark. Today we’re going to talk about breast procedures. You know, there are several common procedures we do, and each week we’re going to talk about each one of those, including breast augmentation, breast lift breast reduction, gynecomastia for men who have excessive breast tissue. But today we’ll start with breast augmentation. You know breast augmentation is very popular, probably, if not the first, the second most popular plastic procedure performed based on the American Society of Plastic Surgery statistics. It’s very common, it’s very safe, it’s a very rewarding procedure. Patients really feel you change their body shape and really balance their body when you do that. But all plastic surgeons do Breast Aug, not that we’re all created equal, I mean, we are very, you know, obsessive about what we do. We’re very particular about what we do, and we use all the latest implants to create the best shape. We often use the gummy bear type gel implant. We like to put implants under the muscle for the benefit of mammograms, the benefit of reducing your risk of scarring around the implant in addition to you know, what I feel really makes a good augmentation is the more cover you can get over a breast to make it look like your own. I’m very specific about selecting implants for patients. I don’t think that bigger is better always, but we want to recreate their shape to look the most natural they do, and match their body type. I use sizers in the or prior to putting in my final implant just to make sure, and a sizer is the same exact template as the implant I’m putting in, but I do want to make sure that’s the best look for that particular patient, and fits the best. So I think when you’re picking a plastic surgeon you know you should interview, get the most information you can, ask the most questions you can, and see if this particular plastic surgeon is someone who you want them to take care of you and get the best result in a safe way.

Hello, it’s Dr. Stephen Clark. Today we want to talk about a problem that many men have called gynecomastia, and what that term means is excessive breast tissue in men. Many times that can be due to a developmental problem. The number one reason men have gynecomastia is usually due to puberty when hormonal changes occur, and many times they’re a teenager and they develop excessive breast tissue. But often that can occur in older men too. Some of this is related to weight, some of this is related to just increasing fatty tissue in the breast, and in a sun beach area like we’re in, often this becomes a real psychological concern to a lot of men, and to a lot of younger adolescent kids. Many times this could be corrected in one session, either utilizing ultrasonic liposuction which I prefer, and possibly a small incision, but it recreates the whole shape of their chest, and it allows patients, both men and younger men, to feel comfortable on the beach, comfortable at the pool. Many times these men wear a shirt over this area even at a pool and they’re concerned about it. I’ve even seen men who wear under armour more sport athletic shirts and they’re concerned about the prominence of the breast area, and I love this procedure, it’s one of my favorite procedures to do, and I feel with ultrasonic liposuction and occasionally a small incision, we can make major changes and balance someone’s body. So it becomes a non-issue for them when they’re on the beach or when they’re at the pool, so that’s what I like about this procedure. In an hour and a half or so we can recreate their shape so it becomes a non-issue.

Hi, it’s Dr. Stephen Clark. Today I’d like to talk about a procedure called liposuction sculpting or abdominal sculpting. It’s often for men but can be for women also, and during a liposuction procedure we’ll define certain muscles of the rectus, muscles of the abdomen, and the six-pack. In a sense we can define those to make them. Even most athletic men sometimes can work out a lot but not have the definition they really want. So through very small incisions and particularly using ultrasonic liposuction, one of those names or laser, which is a ultrasonic unit we use, we can recreate the shape of the abdomen by recreating a better definition of those muscles also known as six-pack. For women we often create a more subdued appearance of those muscles but often the obliques are an important landmark for women, and it just gives them better definition, it gives them a better hint of that defined abdominal look.

Hi, it’s Dr. Stephen Clark. Over the next few weeks we’re going to be talking about facial rejuvenation. You know, when I look at someone who comes in and they’re concerned about the aging process of the face, I look at them in three zones, First an upper phase zone which involves the brow and the upper lids, and then we also look at their mid face which involves the cheek and the lower lids and what we call the tear trough, the delineation between the lower lids and the cheek pad, and we also look at the lower face which is the neck, the mandibular border and the banding in the neck. So we look at them, not that they require all of these procedures, but we try to separate these in order to get the best result on each area because there is a balance to the face, and today with modern plastic surgery, it’s all about recreating volumes and resuspending areas that lack support. But the key is to get someone rejuvenated and still look themselves, still look natural, still just look at an improved and a better appearance of you, not to change them in any way to look unnatural or to look in a sense strange with their rejuvenation.

Hi, it’s Dr. Stephen Clark. Today we’re going to talk about a part of body shaping and the topic today is abdominoplasty, or also known as tummy tuck. You know there’s several approaches to tummy tuck. Some women need a mini tummy tuck, others need a full abdominoplasty. We even perform extended incision abdominoplasty for particular patients who have weight loss.
Abdominoplasty is a great procedure and many times it’s performed as part of a mommy makeover, secondary to pregnancy weight changes etc. What we do is we sort of recreate the shape of the abdomen by removing skin, removing fat and tightening the internal structure. You know I often think of abdominoplasty as reupholstering a chair, you know the spring level has to be set in a certain way in order to redrape the material properly, so we tighten many of the muscles that have been, you know lacked secondary to pregnancy, we remove skin, we often perform liposuction with abdominoplasty to get to certain outlying areas that abdominoplasty may not correct, and through those procedures we really make a major difference in the way of someone’s look. And often you know with mommy makeover many times it’s performed with a breast procedure, whether it’s a breast augmentation or lift, but we recreate a lot of the issues that pregnancy and aging and weight changes have created.