This recent USA Today article highlights several tragic but avoidable situations in which unqualified and dangerous physicians who were not boarded by the American Board of Plastic Surgery- and not properly trained in plastic surgery- caused the deaths of patients who were seduced by a sales pitch and a discount.

Particularly with liposuction, the overdose of patients with drugs used during this operation is avoidable and a major point of teaching during the vigorous residency training in plastic surgery.  Non-plastic surgeons who tout themselves as cosmetic surgeons can perform such operations without oversight in their non-accredited offices.  It is crucial that patients are aware to look for accreditation of both their plastic surgeon as well as their surgery centers.

Surgery centers such as ours are certified by the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities which provides rigorous standards.  Certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery assures adequate training of your doctor.  Locally, Dr. Howard Gross, Dr. Douglas Mackenzie, Dr. Julio Soares, Dr. David Buchanan, and myself (Dr. Lowenstein) are all fully trained plastic surgeons certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and operate in highly standardized and certified Surgery Centers.  For liposuction, breast augmentation, abdominoplasty (tummy tucks), face lifts and all other types of plastic surgery, it is important to seek out the right surgeon and the right facility.

Plastic surgery in Santa Barbara- what’s in a name?

The term plastic surgeon is getting more confusing to understand, every day.  Cosmetic surgery, cosmetic medicine, plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery, facial plastic surgery- many patients, and unfortunately some physicians, are using these terms interchangeably.

This is largely because any physician with a medical license can call themselves anything they want.  A general surgeon can advertise themselves as a plastic surgeon.  So can a physician who is trained in obstetrics and gynecology.  A family medicine physician, who has a very limited training or experience in invasive medicine, nonetheless surgery, can even advertise under a variety of self-deemed terms from cosmetic surgeon to plastic surgeon.  And in fact, it’s hard to blame them. (more…)

When is Liposuction the right answer?

Yesterday I did a liposuction operation on a young woman here at my Plastic Surgery Center in Santa Barbara.  She was in her mid 30’s, and she’s going to get a great result because she was an excellent candidate for the operation.  A lot of my patients come to the office looking for a change in their body form, often in the abdominal region.  Some patients are excellent candidates for the liposuction procedure, and some are better off with actual excisional body contouring plastic surgery.  Often I spend a good deal of time explaining the difference.

Liposuction is a process where extra fat is removed- literally “suckedâ€� out of the areas where it has inappropriately accumulated- without significant manipulation of the overlying skin. (more…)