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Louisville KY, 40223

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I need a Breast Reduction. Will my insurance pay?

Insurance coverage for a Louisville Breast Reduction is dependant upon several factors.

First, there must be an element of medical necessity. In other words, you have to have symptoms. They want to know if you have a history of neck, shoulder or upper back pain, shoulder grooving, or rashes under or between your breasts. Insurance companies do not care if you can’t buy a bathing suit, if you are self-conscious, or can’t exercise.

The second critical factor is how much weight we predict can be removed from your breast. The minimum amount is determined by your height and weight. These two numbers are plugged into a formula and out comes a number called your Body Surface Area. For each BSA there is a corresponding amount of breast tissue that must be removed. Since your height doesn’t change, what this means is that the more your body weight, the more we have to remove.

It seems to change all the time, but at least for today, if you have symptoms and we can get enough off to satisfy the BSA chart, you will probably have coverage.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

502.721.0330

All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville Breast Reduction expert, Dr. Lee Corbett.

Ear Gauges. They CAN be removed and the ear repaired.

Earlobe Guages are not uncommon in the late teen and early 20 age categories. The problem is, as this age group starts to leave school and enter the business world, law enforcement, or military, the guages need to go and the earlobe is left fairly deformed.

Repair for smaller guages is pretty easy. I can treat those like a typical split earlobe. The repair is done in the office, under local anesthesia, in 10-15 minutes. The stitches come out in a week and your problem is gone.

Some larger guages, those in the 1-2″ category are a bigger challenge. These repairs are trickier and I find they are best carried out in an O.R. Because the problem is more complex, the repair can take 30-40 minutes per side, anesthesia is more of an issue, and because we are in an OR, the cost is much higher. A normal lobe contour is also harder to achieve because in some cases the lobe is so stretched and the anatomy so distorted, normal becomes a stretch. But, the repair can be done and though “perfect” may not be feasible, a near-normal lobe shape is a reasonable expectation.

Lee Corbett, MD

https://www.corbettcosmeticsurgery.com/

502.721.0330

My earlobe is split & I can’t wear earrings. Help!

This is actually a pretty common problem. I have fixed a lot of Louisville split earlobes in my time.

Typically, the patients are women in their late 30’s and 40’s. The reason is the big heavy earrings that were so popular in the 80’s you wore. Over time, the weight of the earring pulled the post downward and the piercing becomes a split.

This is a very easy problem to correct. I can do it in the office under local anesthesia and it only takes about 10 minutes per earlobe. It isn’t terribly expensive either, ranging from $200 to $300.

What we do is get the lobe numb, and then remove the skin that lines the split. Then I just sew it up with a few sutures and that’s it. We take the sutures out in a week.

My recommendation is to wait about 3 months before you re-pierce. In the interim, clip on earrings are allowed.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.corbettcosmeticsurgery.com

502.721.0330

Why do they call it Plastic Surgery?

This is a pretty good question. A lot of people think as Plastic Surgeons we use plastic in our operations. Now we do use a lot of prosthetics like chin implants, cheek implants, titanium plates and screws, breast implants and many more. Thing is, none of these are made of plastic.

The specialty got it’s name from the etymology of the word Plastic.

The first known defintion of the word dates back to 1632, and it meant “capable of shaping or molding,” from the latin word plasticus, and from the Greek word plastikos “able to be molded, pertaining to molding,” from plastos “molded,” from plassein “to mold” (see plasma). The Surgical sense of “remedying a deficiency of structure” is first recorded 1839.

I thought this was a good nerdly bit of Plastic Surgery trivia you might enjoy.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSugery.com

502.721.0330

All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville, KY Cosmetic Surgery expert, Dr. Lee Corbett

Before and After Pictures…use them wisely.

I have dozens of them on my website. Most every plastic surgeon does. There are Breast Augmentation sites all over the internet that have huge galleries of before/ after augmentations.

They serve a valuable purpose. I think they allow the prospective patient a glimpse at what their prospective surgeon produces, they show what implants look like, and the allow you to see how the different types of implants look.

BUT…be careful trying to use them to answer your most important question…”How am I going to look?

The first problem that I encounter when women bring in after pictures is that they don’t take into account the starting point they see in the photo vs. theirs. For instance, if you are 38 and have had 3 kids and breastfed, your tissues are not going to be the same as a 24 year old who has never been pregnant. You may be the same height, same weight, same starting bra size, but your breast is just different. So, your result will probably be different.

The other main issue is size. I can put the very same type and size implant in two women who on paper are identical, only to have them look totally different from a size perspective. Why? Because the width of your chest, the base width of your breast, the amount of skin laxity you have all factor in. Plus, your band size has to be taken into account. A C cup on a 34 bra is smaller than a C cup on a 36 or 38 band bra. Why? Because a woman with a 38 band has a bigger torso than a 34 band woman, so it takes more breast to make a C cup on her than it does on the 34 band woman.

My advice is to use the galleries as a guideline for size and appearance. If you print out a picture and tell your Plastic Surgeon you want to look exactly like this photo, he or she will probably hesitate. Look at lots of photos and develop a size range and then see how your surgeon thinks this will work for you.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

502.721.0330

All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville Breast Augmentation surgeon, Dr. Lee Corbett.

Help, I’ve got Cellulite!

Well, you’re not alone, that’s the good news. The bad news is that if you’ve got it, you’re stuck with some degree of it.

Cellulite, most typically found on the thighs, results from ligamentous attachments that span from the skin undersurface down to underlying muscle or bone. Basically, the attachments are tether points and are immobile. As the skin around these points looses a little of its’ elasticity and we add weight, the skin stretches out except at the fixed point. The result…a dimple. Cute on your baby’s face, not on your thighs!

The problem with getting rid of cellulite is that it represents normal anatomy coupled with a little skin laxity we all experience with age, pregnancy, and weight gain. So, you really can’t get rid of it.

You can watch your weitht and avoid significant swings in your weight. But lifting weights or running to tone your leg muscles will not help cellulite.

There are a lot of lasers and medispa treatments, like endermologie, which claim to help. I can’t say that these don’t work because I have not used most of whats out there, but be very cautious before spending a lot of money. Likewise, Liposuction is not an answer. It may help or it may not. It may even make it worse if the skin is really lax.

If there was a sure-fire treatment, trust me, every Plastic Surgeon in the world would be all over it!

Lee Corbett, MD

https://www.corbettcosmeticsurgery.com/

502.721.0330

All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville Liposuction surgeon, Dr. Lee Corbett.

Size change operations for Men.

Two or three times a month my office will get a call from a male patient inquiring about increasing his size. There are options out there for this situation but none of them are very good.

First, I don’t do any of these operations / procedures. If they are done, it is typically done by a Urologist.

The only surgical operation I am aware of is to cut the suspensory ligaments that anchor the base of the penis to the pubic bone. This will typically add length but may affect the ability of the penis to rise with erection. The length gains are limited, an inch or so.

To increase diameter, or thickness, several things have been tried. Fat injections have been used, more recently Hyaluronic Acid fillers (Juvederm & Restylane) have been used, and even Alloderm (cadaver dermal grafts) have been used. Fat can cause scarring and leave the shaft with lumpy or even bent. The HA fillers will go away in a year and re-injection will be necessary. The Alloderm grafts require the penis to be degloved (skinned), the grafts placed and the skin repoistioned.

The bottom line is that these procedures are all associated with some significant potential side effects and you should think very, very carefully before you have any of these procedures.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

502.721.0330

All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville Cosmetic Surgeon, Dr. Lee Corbett.

What is a “Liquid Face Lift”?

The study and analysis of facial aging is ongoing in the world of Plastic Surgery. One of the realizations that we have made is that as the face ages, it loses volume. This is where the “liquid face lift” comes into the picture.

In the last few years there has been an increasing number of Hyaluronic Acid (HA) fillers hitting the market, the most commonly known ones being Juvederm and Restylane. These fillers are long lasting (over 1 year) and effectively re-establish facial volume.

The new fillers can be used to camoflauge the signs of facial aging. Typical placement spots include: the groove between the lower lid and upper cheek, just under the cheek bone, the groove between the cheek and the upper lip, around the mouth, and along the jaw line. When all of this is done in combination, it can offer significant facial rejuvenation, thus a liquid face lift.

In Louisville, KY facelift surgery is a popular option for many. For a lot of others though, the thought of surgery is just not appealing. But remember, a facelift is a facelift and will always produce more dramatic results than fillers. So you need to be very clear with your doctor about your goals. But for those not interested in surgery, using fillers is now a very nice option we didn’t really have just 5 years ago.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

502.721.0330

This one is for the Men.

This blog is created with Men in mind. Ladies, you already know this stuff.

Not infrequently, I field the question, “My wife/girlfriend wants a ‘boob job’, what’s that cost?” In Louisville, boob job is typically synonomous with Breast Augmentation or the combination of a Breast Augmentation with a Breast Lift.

An augmentation is where only an implant is placed behind the breast to increase its’ volume. Often, her complaint is that with aging and after kids the upper half of the breast has lost volume. An implant will restore the volume and give her the full appearance and improved cleavage she has lost.

Now, if most of her breast and or the nipple rests below the fold under her breast, she will need a lift with or without an implant. If she is happy with her size, a lift alone is good. If she wants everything back up where it used to be and size, she will need the lift implant combo. This is a more complex operation with a higher cost and more scarring implications.

Costs vary pretty widely depending on what type of implant is used and how much of a lift is needed. Things can range from $4,000 up to 7 or $8,ooo depending on her starting point.

Guys, I hope this helps. It’s not all inclusive of what’s involved, but it will catch you up with what your wife/girlfriend probably already knows.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

502.721.0330

All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville, Kentucky breast implant specialist, Dr. Lee Corbett.

Why do I have to wear this after surgery?

One of the things that make recovery after Cosmetic Surgery procedures different is that we frequently will put you in a compression garment. This is true for facial cosmetic surgery, breast surgery, and body contouring surgery.

We do this for a couple of reasons.

First, we are trying to minimize swelling. Swelling is universal after soft tissue surgery. In fact, it is a normal part of the healing process. By providing compression, be it with a chin strap, bra, girdle or wrap, we are trying to keep the swelling to a minimum. We don’t want the compression so tight that it cuts of circulation or is uncomforatble, just enough so that the garment or wrap is snug.

The second issue, particularly after Liposuction, is to aid in skin redraping and retraction. Skin has the capacity to ‘snap back’ and some compression can aid in this. Since I have yet to meet a patient who appreciates loose skin, the garments are truly a mandatory part of your recovery.

How long you will have to wear whatever we put you in depends on you. Your skin tone and elasticity and your age are the biggest factors. A woman who is 40, has had 3 babies and doesn’t have a stretch mark is less likely to have to wear the garment as long as a 40 year old with 3 kids and stretch marks all over her skin. Likewise, the 40 year old without stretchmarks is going to need to wear it longer than her 30 year old clone simply because of the age difference. Skin wise, 20 beats 30, 30 beats 40 and so on.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

502.721.0330

All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville Liposuction surgeon, Dr. Lee Corbett

I need a Breast Reduction. Will my insurance pay?

Monthly Archives: July 2009