Contact Us  |  Locations
Map to our office

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


    Enter the correct answer:* 1 + 3 =

    How many cosmetic procedures can I have done at one time?

    Author Archives: drlcorbett

    How many cosmetic procedures can I have done at one time?

    Posted on January 22, 2014 by drlcorbett

    There are several factors that you and your surgeon need to consider if your are thinking of having more than one procedure. Patient Safety is our primary concern. The primary issue is “How healthy are you?”. The reasons that people have serious complications around the time of surgery is because they have a bad heart and/or bad lungs. So if someone comes to me with emphysema from smoking their whole life I tell them no. If someone has active chest pain or a heart attack history I’m not operating on them either. People with a history of a blood clot that required blood thinners is also a “no go”. Now, if your lower back hurts everyday, and you had a hysterectomy, and you are hypothyroid, well none of that really factors in. None of those issue will affect how you do during anesthesia so they aren’t relevant. The summary statement is we need to look at your combination of medical problems and see if any of the constitutes a ‘red flag’. The second issue is time under anesthesia. Most plastic surgeons that I know will call it quits after about 6-7 hours for elective cosmetic procedures because after this point complications rates can go up. The third issue is “What are we combining?”. I’ve had patients request 5 or 6 things be done at once and we did them all because they were relatively small operations. Usually it is a breast & tummy combo, the Mommy Makeover, and I do those all the time. That being said I’ll never combine a thigh lift or a body lift with anything else because they are significant operations. So the answer is we have to look at the scope of procedures and base our answer off of that.

    So, combining procedures is fine and we do it everyday in plastic surgery. We just need to make sure, as with any surgery, that you are a good candidate based on the factors described above.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    Medical Director, Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa

    How long will the swelling last after my surgery?

    Posted on January 21, 2014 by drlcorbett

    Well, it obviously depends on what type of surgery you have and on what part of the body, but there are some general guidelines that we can talk about. First, any time we operate on soft tissue be it a breast surgery, liposuction, or a tummy tuck or any facial surgery, we are wounding your tissues. Now we are wounding them under the most ideal circumstances e.g. anesthesia, sterility etc… but we are still doing surgery and this causes some trauma to the tissues. Our bodies are programmed to heal via a pre programmed cascade of which Inflammation is a key component. Now, the irony is that most hear the word ‘inflammation’ and have negative connotations, but inflammation is a normal and very critical component of tissue repair. What happens is that within and adjacent to the area where the surgery occurred, the blood vessels become leaky, like a soaker hose. Blood vessels are tubes with lots of holes in them to allow the cells that promote healing to be delivered to the injured area. As the cells escape the blood stream to heal, they pull water with them. That is called osmosis, think back to Biology 101. So there is extra water in the area. Now, to compound the problem, when there is extra water/swelling fluid the body gets rid of this via the tiny venous and lymphatic channels that course through our body. Well, the surgery usually disrupts these channels and new ones have to form. This process usually takes a several weeks to months. That’s why after cosmetic procedures, your surgeon will usually caution you to expect some swelling for at least 6 weeks and probably for 3-6 months post operatively. Areas that are particularly prone to swelling are the extremities, especially the legs. Anatomically, your leg is technically from your knee to your ankle. Because of gravity, this area swells the most and heals the most slowly. The head and neck areas also swell because the blood supply to this area is very robust and so there are just more ‘soaker hose’ vessels to leak during the inflammatory phase of wound healing. The take home message here is that swelling is a normal healthy part of healing. Your surgeon will discuss how much swelling and for how long based on your planned procedure and area to be treated.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    Who is your Cosmetic Surgeon?

    Posted on January 20, 2014 by drlcorbett

    I ask this question because most patients don’t realize that there are no regulations on who can claim to be a “cosmetic surgeon“. Your ‘cosmetic surgeon’ might be a plastic surgeon, an ENT surgeon, an Ob-Gyn, a dermatologist, an ER doc, or a Family Practice doctor. Any doctor with a medical license can advertise to be a ‘cosmetic surgeon’. And that doctor can make that claim having worked not even a single day as a surgery resident. Now, the majority of ‘cosmetic surgeons’ are Plastic Surgeons and Otolaryngologists (ENT) doctors. Most plastic surgeons are fully trained general surgeons(5-6 years of residency) who went on to a plastic surgery residency (2-3 years). The ENT doctors typically train 5-6 years and a lot then did an extra year of just facial cosmetic training. If your cosmetic surgeon has either of the above qualifications, you are probably in very good hands.

    The problem is doctors incomes have plummeted, especially in the past 10 years, and so doctors in other specialties are becoming “cosmetic surgeons” to replace that lost income. The issue is that as a Dermatologist, ER physician, or family medicine doctor these physicians have no formal surgical training. They go to weekend long courses and learn how to operate. Well, your plastic surgeon and ENT doctors did 6-8 years of training working 100 hour weeks to learn to operate. We trained that long for a reason. There is a whole lot to learn about surgery and its effects on the body. I’m not sure a Friday and Saturday seminar can replace my 7 years of residency.

    Now, I am not discrediting all non plastic surgeons and ENT’s. We certainly don’t ‘own’ the rights to cosmetic medicine. In my community there are Derms who have done lipo for many years and do a nice job and are good doctors. My advice to you as the patient is to look at your doctors back ground training. Not all ‘cosmetic surgeons’ are made the same. Look at what specialty they did their residency in, if it wasn’t surgical in nature I think you need to ask some serious questions.

    Herbal Supplements: Helpful or Harmful?

    Posted on January 19, 2014 by drlcorbett

    In a Study published in the journal of my society, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, it was shown that almost 50% of patients who were planning to undergo some type of facial cosmetic procedure (facelifts, blepharoplasty, rhinoplasty) were taking some from of herbal supplement. The problem is that many of these supplements can have adverse effects for a surgical patient.

    In the study, it was found that 49% of patients were using at least one supplement, usually vitamins. In all there were about 53 different supplements that were used and the average number of supplements used was about 3.

    The problems we see as surgeons that are supplement related are that many patients don’t really know what is in these things and they can cause problems. Bleeding is probably the most common problem and is related to bilberry bromelain, fish oil, garlic, MSM, selenium and Vit E.

    What I recommend to my patients is to stop taking all supplement 2 weeks before surgery. And, don’t be tricked into thinking that these supplements are always safe. A lot of my patients, when they fill out their intake paperwork, will omit their supplements because they are not prescriptions. This is a mistake and can lead to post operative complications.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    How much weight can I lose with Liposuction?

    Posted on January 18, 2014 by drlcorbett

    I was seeing a patient this week for a Smart Lipo consultation and she asked me this question. She was quite surprised by my answer which was, “not much”. So, I thought this might be a good topic to blog about so that you might better understand the role of liposuction.

    First, conceptually, think of Liposuction as a shaping tool, a sculpting tool. It is a way that I can restore balance to your figure. Another way of saying it, and I tell every patient this, is to think of liposuction as you would a nail file. It is a tool we use to smooth out a rough edge. For instance, take your back as an example. Say you are OK with your bra line area and you are OK with your tush, but right above your buttocks, lets call this area your hips, you have a bulge. I use this as an example because it seems like every woman who has had a baby has a little extra fat right there. Well, using the nail analogy, I want to use liposuction to ‘file down’ your hips so that they blend more smoothly with your bra line above and your buttock below.  So we are shaping/sculpting your figure to give you a smoother,  better curve. This doesn’t mean I am trying to remove every fat cell in the area, if I did that I would leave you with a dent that doesn’t match what’s around the area. I just want to remove enough to improve your figure. Now, if I am doing liposuction on your tummy, I am trying to remove every fat cell that I can possibly get out as no one has ever complained that their tummy is too flat!

    As far as weight loss goes, fat is not a very dense tissue. It falls into the “pound of feathers” category. In other words, it takes a lot of fat to weigh even a pound. With most of my liposuction cases the patient might lose between 3 to 5 pounds, but that’s about it. Now, losing 3-5 pounds might very well enable you to drop a dress size or two. If we get rid of the bulge on your hips or your tummy your clothes will fit much better and you might not have to buy that larger size just to accommodate your problem area. But the idea of liposuctioning off 20 or 30 pounds or more is simply not possible and not done.

    Dr. Lee Corbett

    Medical Director Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa

    Cohesive Gel & Gummy Bear Implants: What’s the difference?

    Posted on January 17, 2014 by drlcorbett

    Breast Implants. There are saline filled ones, silicone filled ones, and silicone gummy bear implants. A lot of my patients are confused about silicone vs gummy bear silicone so I thought I’d try and explain. The term “Gummy Bear” implant has been used for years and most often it is applied to the silicone gel filled implants that both Mentor and Allergan have had on the market since the fall of 2006. The problem is that these implants are not really gummy bear implants. Today’s silicone implants are filled with what the industry refers to as a ‘cohesive gel’. Without getting too technical, what this means is that the individual silicone molecules are so extensive cross linked to one another that the gel is a solid. The older implants from the 1980’s and early 1990’s were filled with a gel that was syrup consistency. Today’s implants are more like Jello. If you cut the outer shell of today’s implant, because the silicone is so cross linked, the gel doesn’t leak out. But that is not what a true gummy bear implant is.

    The true gummy bear implants are best known amongst plastic surgeons as Allergan’s series 410 implants. These implants are the true Gummy Bear implants. Mentor also has brought a similar implant to market. Both of the implants have been on the market for about a year or so. Now these implants are even more extensively cross linked than your standard implant. They are more firm than a normal implant, more solid feeling, and will hold their shape better. The ‘problem’ with the 410 series is that they are very expensive. One 410 costs more than two standard silicone implants. In order to place the implants a much larger incision has to be made, almost twice the size of a standard gel implants. Finally, because the implants are shaped, if they were to rotate on you after your surgery, your breast will have an unusual shape and this will require additional surgery to correct the implant orientation.

    Both implants are very, very good products and can give you a lovely result. You just need to work with your surgeon to decide which implant is best for you given your starting point and your goals.

    Lee E. Corbett, MD
    Medical Director: Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa

    What’s a Mommy Makeover?

    Posted on January 15, 2014 by drlcorbett

    I’m preaching to the choir here, but pregnancy takes its’ toll on Mom’s figure. Sometimes it’s minor, but sometimes its not. Your breasts take a hit, especially if you breast fed. Obviously your tummy is forever changed, particularly with twins or triplets. And, in a lot of cases, even after you get back to your pre-pregnancy weight, your shape just isn’t the same.

    Here are a few truths that a lot of my patients are surprised to hear. 1) Your skin will not respond to exercise 2) There is a sheath that wraps your stomach muscles called fascia. It gets stretched with pregnancy and it will not respond to exercise. Thus the laxity 3) Your breasts will not get more perky if you exercise your chest muscles. 4) Your shape will be different no matter what your weight.

    So…there are Mommy Makeovers. A Mommy Makeover is not a specific operation though. It involves some combination of a breast augmentation or breast lift or both. For your tummy/flanks/hips a tummy tuck or liposuction or both are used. Some combination of these procedures adds up to a mommy makeover.

    Mommy makeovers are usually done in a hospital setting because they tend to be longer cases, around 3 to 4 hours. I prefer that my patients take advantage of an over night stay after surgery but this decision depends on the scope of the procedure.

    After surgery you should plan on about 3-4 days of downtime, back to work is about 7-10 days, and a return to full activity in about 6 weeks.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    Who has Cosmetic Plastic Surgery?

    Posted on January 15, 2014 by drlcorbett

    These stats are taken from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons annual release of trends in Plastic Surgery. The numbers are gathered by the members of the society and submitted each year. The ASPS then analyzes the numbers and publishes them each year.

    So, who is having plastic surgery…

    Gender wise, women still are the majority of the patients making up 91% of those having cosmetic  procedures. Procedures meaning both surgery and non surgical treatments like peels, laser treatments, and injectables. Men are having things done too, mainly non surgical treatments such as laser hair removal, Botox and Dysport, and fillers like Restylane and Juvederm.

    As for age, as expected the largest age category is the 40-54 year old segment. Teens make up a very small minority as do the twenty somethings. Patients in these younger age segments typically seek rhinoplasty, ear pinning, breast augmentation, breast reduction, laser hair removal and skin care.

    As we get into the 30-54 age group more issues creep into the picture with aging, weight gain, and pregnancy related changes explaining the spike in procedures. The 30-39 and 40-54 age groups account for about two thirds of all patients seeking cosmetic procedures.

    A couple of more interesting facts before I sign off. 11 Billion dollars was spent in 2012 on cosmetic procedures! And more and more patients are seeking office based procedures as opposed to a hospital setting.

    If you want to learn more click on the ASPS link above for more details.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    Medical Director Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa

    Cankles…What can be done

    Posted on January 14, 2014 by drlcorbett

    Cankles. I think everyone knows what cankles are. Think Hilliary Clinton. If you don’t know the term it refers to when there is really no taper as the calf transitions into the ankle area. Sometimes this problem is associated with higher BMI patients but a lot of times it’s just the way that particular patient is shaped. The treatment for the problem is Liposuction. However, before you sign up for this procedure you need to understand what you are signing up for! Assuming you are a healthy patient, having the procedure done isn’t really a big deal. It would take about 1 to 1.5 hours under anesthesia on an outpatient basis. So the surgery itself isn’t the issue, the swelling after is. Any time we do liposuction, whether its traditional tumescent liposuction, ultrasonic lipo, or SmartLipo laser liposuction, we traumatize the soft tissues in that area and swelling results. That is a normal process and it is how the body heals itself after we have a surgery or experience an injury. The problem is that anything below the knee will swell more and for longer than any other area of the body. So we’ve now combined a procedure that is known to cause a fair amount of swelling in an area that is prone to swelling more than any other area on the body. Not a great combination. What this means for you is months of wearing compression hose and being very patient with the process. Like 6 to 9 months of patience. So it’s not a procedure for everyone. I have done it before and it works quite well but the patients were will to be very diligent with their compression hose for many months.

    Lee Corbett, MD

    Medical Director Corbett Cosmetic Aesthetic Surgery and MediSpa

     

    Earlobe Rejuvenation

    Posted on January 14, 2014 by drlcorbett

    Earlobe rejuvenation. Sounds kind of weird but it’s actually a pretty common request and something that I fix pretty commonly. What tends to happen is that through a combination of aging and years of wearing heavier earrings, the lobe will thin and stretch. The piercing hole also tends to elongate giving the ear a creased appearance or in some cases it is actually split. In the case of a thinned, deflated lobe we use dermal fillers to re-establish the volume. Typically this means either Restylane or Juvederm. The cost for the filler is around $500 and should last over a year. The good thing here is that there will be extra filler after the lobes are plumped and this can be used somewhere else on the face. If the lobules are split, I can repair this with a minor office procedure. The ear is numbed with local anesthesia and the split is removed and then with a few stitches the earlobe is repaired. This takes about 5 minutes and there is no downtime or recovery. Pain medicine isn’t even necessary. You can re-pierce the ear but you have to wait 3 months. A lot of times the ear isn’t split but the hole is so large it appears it is split. I treat this just like a split lobe and repair it as described above. If the lobe has just gotten too large and droopy a small wedge is removed and the earlobe made smaller. This is often coupled with the Restylane and Juvederm treatments. A last category of earlobe problems that I am seeing in our younger patients are the gauged lobes. These repairs are more complicated and a little trickier but they can still be carried out under local anesthesia in the office. The repairs tend to take a little longer, maybe about 10 minutes a side. After the recovery is the same as a simple split.

    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