Contact Us  |  Locations
Map to our office

Louisville
13125 Eastpoint Park Blvd.
Suite 102
Louisville KY, 40223


    Enter the correct answer:* − 2 = 1

    Skin Care 101…Do you have the right products?

    Author Archives: drlcorbett

    Skin Care 101…Do you have the right products?

    Posted on April 5, 2014 by drlcorbett

    G-R-A-S-S : This is the acronym that one of our skin care lines, Skin Medica®, uses to remind us of the components everyone’s daily skin care regimen should include.

    Grass breaks down this way…G: Growth Factors R: Retinols A: Anti oxidants S: Sunscreen S: Specialty products

    Growth factors are proteins that are normally found in your skin. They are important because they help the skin repair and remodel itself, help prevent collagen breakdown, and prevent aging. The problem is levels tend to decrease as we age, which is when we need growth factors the most. Thus the prescription strength product lines such as SkinMedica® and SkinCeuticals® should be included in everyone’s skin care regimen to help replace this key to youthful skin.

    Retinoids are derivatives of Vitamin A and are excellent exfoliants. They help rid you of the top layer of dead skin cells that lead to more fine lines and overall a more dull complexion. This not only leaves you with healthier, younger looking skin, it also allows your other skin care products to reach the healthy skin cells.

    Anti-oxidants are very important in protecting your skin from environmental stresses like UVA light and pollution. Sun is probably the single most destructive external element that damages skin. As the skin is damaged the cells change and free radicals result within your cells causing oxidation. Anti-oxidants stop this process and protect the skin from the environment. Common examples of topical anti-oxidants include Vit. A, C and E which are found in many skin care lines.

    Sunscreen is critical to any skin care regimen. Nothing is worse for your skin than excess sun exposure and tanning beds. UVA, which accounts for most of the sun’s rays, is the dominant cause of skin aging and even skin cancers. Protecting your skin from these damaging rays is essential.

    Specialty Ingredients are the products that treat particular issues such as acne or things like hyper-pigmentation (brown spots)/melasma that tend emerge as a result of too much sun or hormone changes or pregnancy.

    There are several prescription strength product lines that incorporate some or all of the components mentioned above. In our MediSpa, we have carefully chosen specific products from the SkinMedica®, SkinCeuticals®, NeoCutis® and Obagi® lines that we feel offer the best result for the best value. If you have any questions about your skin care feel free to contact our East Louisville office at 502-721-0330.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    Medical Director Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa

     

     

     

     

     

    How do I make sure my breast augmentation looks natural? I want “natural”.

    Posted on March 9, 2014 by drlcorbett

    This is probably the most common theme I encounter when I meet a new patient who is considering an augmentation. Getting a natural result after a breast augmentation depends on two main factors. First, we have to take into consideration how much breast tissue you have to start with. Secondly, we have to think about what size implant you are considering.

    So, lets look at your starting point. If you have no chest, I mean a small A cup, you will have a more round look than you may like. There’s just no way around it. The implants are round and if you have no tissue to cover the implant that’s what you will get. Now, you can opt for the Allergan 410 implants that are contoured. These will give a bit more natural shape as they have less upper pole fullness. The downside to these is price, they cost a lot, and they require a larger incision to place them. But they can help minimize that really round look. Now if you have any amount of breast tissue things get much much easier. Basically your breast will maintain it’s natural shape just more full. So if you pick an implant size that fits nicely behind your breast you will have a natural look.

    Size. Size matters! I get a whole lot of women who come in and tell me they want to look ‘natural’ and then they chose this great big implant. You cannot, and I don’t care what your starting point is, you cannot put in a huge implant and look natural. It doesn’t work. You need to choose an implant that fits within your breast’s native boundaries. In other words, if your breast is 15cm wide, we need to stick with an implant that is 15cm or less. Then we need to find one with a volume that balances out your figure. Now, it’s ‘ok’ to get a little greedy. So say you really like a 375cc and the 400cc implant, then pick the 400cc one. The difference is minimal. In general, it takes about 150cc of implant to change a bra size so you can use this as a rough guide as you consider size.

    Finally, both saline and silicone and smooth and textured implants can produce natural results. The factors above are much more important than implant type. UNLESS you are very very slender and have very small breasts. Then in my opinion a gel implant is the better choice due to its feel advantage.

    Your best bet though is to let your plastic surgeon meet with you, examine you, and you explain your goals. Then together you can make the best implant choice for you.

    Lee Corbett, MD
    Medical Director of Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa

    Tummy tuck or Liposuction? Which one do I need?

    Posted on March 6, 2014 by drlcorbett

    This might be one of the most common body contouring questions I answer. And the answer is really pretty straightforward…sometimes. So lets explore this one.

    Basic issues:

    Liposuction removes only fat, and if you choose SmartLipo, it will tighten skin.

    Tummy Tucks remove skin and fatty tissue and tightens your muscles.

    So, they are really very different operations and which is right for you depends on what your expectations are.  If you are looking for maximal tightening of your abdomen, a tummy tuck is the right choice. Now, with this comes an expanded procedure, more recovery, more downtime, more costs, but more result. Its a very powerful operation that produces very dramatic results.

    I really like my Smart Lipo. In my opinion, this is truly the best option if you are considering lipo. It reduces the amount of pain, swelling, bruising, and overall recovery associated with lipo. Smart Lipo works by using lasers to both melt your fat cells and to heat the under surface of your skin to give a tightening effect. It is basically a “kinder, gentler” way to re-contour and it has the benefit of tightening your skin more than traditional lipo can.

    Which option is best for you depends on your starting point and your goals/expectations.

    Lee Corbett, MD, FACS

    Member, American Society of Plastic  Surgeons

    Certified, American Board of Plastic  Surgery

     

    Can Liposuction help me lose weight and lower my blood pressure?

    Posted on March 3, 2014 by drlcorbett

    Over the weekend I had a good question posed about what liposuction can and cannot do. So, I thought I’d answer that question on my blog to help clear up some pretty common misconceptions about Liposuction.

    First, there are several liposuction techniques. Tumescent lipo, ultrasoninc lipo both internal and external, and laser lipo such as the SmartLipo® technique that I prefer. Although all are a bit different, the end result of any of these techniques is a contouring or sculpting effect. Liposuction is a tool we use to remove fat that will  not go away with a reasonable amount of exercise and when maintaining a healthy diet. Common areas are under the chin, the back of the arms, bra line, tummy, love handles, inner and outer thighs or saddlebag area. The goal when treating any area is to bring that problem spot back into proportion with the rest of your figure. I compare it to a nail file. It is a tool we use to smooth out a “rough spot”.

    Liposuction is NOT a way to lose weight. It will not lower your blood pressure. It will not lower your cholesterol, raise your HDL or lower your LDL. It will not help your diabetes. It is not a way to shrink yourself. Again, it is a sculpting tool that we use improve your shape and perhaps trim off a dress size of so by ridding you of a bulge on your tummy or hips for instance.

    So why cant we use Lipo to just suck out 30 or 40 pounds of fat? Well, fat is not very dense as a tissue. Think of the “pound of feather, pound of lead” concept. Well, fat falls into the feathers category. It is not a very dense tissue so it takes a whole lot of fat to add up to even 5 pounds. Liposuction is a very safe procedure, in fact it is the second most commonly performed cosmetic surgery in this country behind breast augmentation. That is because Plastic Surgeons use it properly. We remove maybe 2 or 3 pounds of fat with a typical lipo case. In contrast, trying to remove 30 or 40 pounds of fat would NOT be safe and could lead to very serious complications. So the reality is that while removing a tummy bulge or saddlebags may change you a dress size or make your clothes fit a lot better, that’s not enough of a weight change to help with BP or cholesterol or diabetes.

    Hope this explanation helps.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa

    Breast Augmentation Recovery…how long does it take to get better.

    Posted on February 25, 2014 by drlcorbett

    With Spring Break and the summer bathing suit season a few months away I am seeing the usual ‘Spring rush’ for breast augmentation, which is the most common cosmetic operation in the US. Recovery period is a common concern for the patients and so I wanted to go over so generalities about return to work, exercise, swelling etc..

    The biggest determinants of recovery are 1) placement location 2) Implant size and 3) your starting point. Implants that are placed below the muscle lead to more recovery than above the muscle. When the muscle is lifted and manipulated it swells and gets sore. Under hurts more than over. Larger implants stretch your tissue out more and so the more stretch the more pain. And the final aspect is how tight your skin is to begin with. If you have had pregnancies and your skin has stretched it will feel much less tight than say an A cup woman who has never been pregnant. Again, more stretching means more discomfort.

    So how long will you be sore? Well, assuming you go under the muscle as most people do, the first two or three days post op are the worst. These first few days you will need to use your pain meds and muscle relaxants. These will help a lot and keep you comfortable but the side effect is you will be groggy. You will be mobile and able to do basic day to day things but you will be sore if you try to do too much to soon. Most patients, if they have a  desk job, are able to get back to work within 5-7 days. If you have a job that involves heavier lifting, pushing, pulling etc…you might need several weeks to recover. As far a exercise, you can start some light aerobic stuff at 2 weeks, but start slow. Full bore exercise is probably more likely at the 4-6 week point or longer.

    Bras and Bikinis. Do NOT run right out and buy a whole slew of new bras and bikinis! It takes at least 6-8 weeks to even start to see what your final size and shape will be. Go buy some inexpensive bras at first to ‘bridge the gap’ from where you started to your end result. Your surgeon will be able to tell you when you can go shopping based on your exam.

    Considering Breast Augmentation? Check out our websites at www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com or www.KentuckyBreast.com

    Lee Corbett, MD

    www.kentuckybreast.com

    Split Earlobe repair. What’s this entail?

    Posted on February 22, 2014 by drlcorbett

    Split earlobes are fairly common, particularly amongst the women who had their heyday back in the ’80’s when larger, heavier earrings were the style. A second wave is also starting to hit my office with all of the gauging of earlobes. While a gauge deforms the lobe shape more than a common split, the repair process is fundamentally the same.

    So what does the repair involve? Well, it’s actually a pretty quick procedure. I do it in the office and use local anesthesia. So the split or gauge area is injected with lidocaine®. The lidocaine stings a little bit but this only lasts a matter of seconds. The area is numb almost immediately. We clean the ear off to sterilize the skin and then the repair is begun. You can’t sew skin to skin, it would separate the minute the sutures were taken out, so I need to cut away the skin that  lines the split or gauge. This literally takes about 20 seconds. Then the earlobe is sutured back together with a very fine stitch. You will have stitches on the front of the earlobe and on the back. Total repair time is usually 10 minutes or less and then you’re on your way!

    Sutures come out in one week and you can re-pierce in 3 months.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    Medical Director Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa

    Preparing for your plastic surgery consultation…

    Posted on February 21, 2014 by drlcorbett

    I met a very nice patient a few days ago and we had a very different but very fun type of consultation. She was a 40ish lady and wanted to know what could be done about her face. The thing is, she couldn’t really tell me what she didn’t like, she just knew she “looked older” and didn’t like that part. She wanted me to analyze her face and help her figure it out.

    Sooooo…off I went and we broke down every aspect of her face from top to bottom. We found a couple of minor issues that were easily addressed with a little Botox® and a couple of syringes of filler and she left the office happy BUT with some homework before her next visit.

    Her ‘homework’, and I would recommend this to anyone before their facial aging consultation, was to sit down in front of her makeup mirror and simply make a list of what she saw that she didn’t like. I also asked her to do this with a photo in hand of her when she was in her mid 20’s so she could compare and really see what changes had occurred.

    If you can give your plastic surgeon a very specific, detailed list, we can offer a list of “fixes” starting from easiest/least complicated up to surgery and that way you can decide which approach you want to take.

    Lee E. Corbett, MD

    Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa

    The misunderstandings about fillers…

    Posted on February 16, 2014 by drlcorbett

    About every other day I have someone ask me why so and so looks the way she does or why the celebrity of the day has “lips like that”? What they are questioning is the look you can get when you add a lot of filler, such as Restylane® or Juvederm®, to the lips or cheek areas. Usually it’s the lips.

    Well, the thing is, it’s not the filler and it’s not the injector, at least not in my office, it’s the patient who is directing this. When we inject filler what you see is what you get right on the spot. Now in the day or two after you may have swelling or bruising that can slightly alter what the real result is, but that is transient. So the point is, when you see someone with really full lips, that you might think are overly plumped, well, they are that way because she wanted them that way. We don’t make that decision for the patient.

    When we inject filler we have the patient there with mirror in hand. We treat and then have her take a look. If she likes what she sees we stop. If she wants more, we add more in small amounts until she is pleased. It’s that simple. So don’t be afraid of filler!  Fillers are GREAT products and are actually the treatment that is growing in popularity by the day. If you only want a mild to moderate correction/enhancement that is entirely possible.

    Fillers are your friend!

    Lee Corbett, MD

    Medical Director Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa

    Scar revisions…are they worth it?

    Posted on February 14, 2014 by drlcorbett

    As a Plastic Surgeon I get a lot of requests to check patients to see if they are a candidate for scar revision surgery. A lot of times the answer is a quick, easy “Yes” but not always. And when I tell the patient that I can’t help they are usually fairly unhappy so I want to go over what I, as a plastic surgeon, am thinking when I see a scar.

    First, I want to know how old it is. It takes at the very least 6 months to get a good idea of what a scar may turn out like. A lot of times what looks pretty bad at a month or two ends up looking quite good by the 9-12 month point. 1 year is the usual point where I will consider a surgical revision.

    Secondly, I want to know the circumstances that left the scar. If the scar resulted from a traumatic laceration I am more willing to consider revision. Traumatic lacerations are usually dirty wounds that involve a crush component to the wound edges. This is not very favorable and can leave a worse scar. If on the other hand, the scar resulted from a surgical procedure I am not quite as willing to take a revision on because the wound was already repaired by a trained surgeon under ideal circumstances.

    Third, the location of the scar is important. Any scar over a joint, on the upper back, or the upper mid chest is not going to heal well no matter who sewed the cut up the first time. These areas are just very unfavorable. So location in important.

    Your biology is important. If you have a keloid scar or a hypertrophic scar, well these are errors in wound healing that tend to be genetic. There are some things we can try to defeat these problems but unfortunately, especially with keloids, your genes win and the scar returns. Bottom line is some people just don’t heal as well as others and there is nothing I can do to change that.

    Finally, if you have a scar and want it completely gone, well that is impossible. It ranks right up there with getting rid of stretch marks. Sounds good but it isn’t gonna happen.

    So if you have a scar and your surgeon tells you “I can’t help” there are a lot of good reasons and probably a lot of experiences behind that statement.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    Medical Director Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa

    What are fillers and what can they do for me?

    Posted on February 12, 2014 by drlcorbett

    Basically, Fillers are injectable treatments that we use to help restore facial volume. If you are in your mid 30’s or above age wise, and you are at a normal weight, you are probably noticing that your face looks a bit thinner each year. A full face is associated with youth. Look at the Victoria Secret supermodels that are plastered everywhere, they are all about 6’0″ tall and 120 lbs but they all have these beautiful round, full faces. That’s because they are all in their teens and 20’s.

    So, we use filler to help restore the volume to your face to help you look younger. Now, today’s fillers are an evolution from the Collagen injections of days gone by. The problem with collagen was that some people were allergic to it so you had to skin test them, then wait several days or weeks, then inject, but you had to over inject them because some was going to go away almost immediately so you never really knew what your result would be, and in the end the stuff went away in 3 months or so. And it was expensive. Bad combo.

    Today’s most commonly used fillers are made of Hyaluronic Acid (HA). The two most common trade names for these fillers are Juvederm® and Restylane® which you can find in almost any plastic surgeons offices. These are FDA approved products to help fill deeper facial lines and restore facial volume. HA is what is known as a GAG, a gylcosaminoglycan and is already found throughout the body in your connective tissues. So it is already a part of your person and very safe to use. The companies that produce these products all of varying claims of their longevity but what we see is that most people seem to get about 15 to 18 months out of these fillers. The HA fillers are reversible as well so if the patient does not like the result they produce the product can be dissolved. We love them and their popularity amongst our patients and nationally increases every year.

    There are more sophiticated fillers like Radiesse and Scuptra. These last much longer, are irreversible and tend to be more expensive. These products are typically used for patients who have had the HA products a couple of times, know they like the results, and want a longer lasting product.

    If you have filler questions contact us and schedule a consultation via e mail at [email protected] or 502.721.0330.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    Medical Director Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa.

    Location

    KENTUCKY

    Louisville
    13125 Eastpoint Park Blvd
    Suite 102
    Louisville, KY 40223

    PHONE
    502.721.0330

    Contact Us