CosmeticSurg blog: Expert insights from Dr. Ricardo L. Rodriguez

I have been performing the Brazilian butt lift for almost a decade.  With this procedure, I remove fat from unwanted areas and then reinject into your buttocks.  Patients are now doing so much research , that I often get the question about how much fat is injected into the buttocks. To answer the question, I looked at my last 100 procedures to find out the average amount of fat which is injected per patient, per buttock cheek.  Before I give you the answer, you should know that the final amount injected will NOT be the amount which is removed. The amount reinjected will only be  a fraction of the amount of fat which  I  have removed.  I only keep the ‘good fat’ . The rest of the fat contains dead cells, blood, and other components that will *not* help the fat survive.

Many doctors on Instagram take their photos right on the operating room table. This is NOT an accurate representation of what the result will be. For starters, plastic surgeons inject tumescent solution into the buttocks, and this fluid will make the buttocks appear bigger on the operating room table. That solution will dissolve later. In addition, photos taken on the Operating Room table have the patient facing down. This positioning will give the appearance of hips larger than what they will be when standing upright.

Silicone breast implants are back! The truth always comes out in the end. In the case of silicone breast implants, it took 14 years! How can it be that implants are supposed to be so bad yet they’re back in the market? Well, because silicone breast implants were never really ‘bad.’

I have been doing the Vertical Scar Breast reduction since 1989, having learned it in Nice, France, from Dr. Claude Lassus, a French plastic surgeon, who is the originator of the technique. When I left France, I started doing the technique at Yale, where I was a faculty member in the plastic surgery department. I presented the first scientific paper on the technique in the US in 1992 at the 25th anniversary meeting of the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.

What type of incision should you get for your Breast augmentation procedure? In addition to the implant size this is another very important decision that you need to make. It seems to me when I ask a patient whether they have a preference as to what kind of breast incision they want, the most common answer is that they want the type of incision that they have seen on a friend. Likewise, the second most common comment is “I don’t want such and such incision because somebody I know had one and it looks bad”. The truth is every type of incision has its pros and cons. Here is my explanation of the types of Breast augmentation incisions…

I have been looking at some of the breast implant forums, and there are a lot of issues related to breast scars. It seems most surgeons use the Wise pattern, or Anchor scar, and some use the Benelli scar. A few surgeons use the Vertical scar or the Crescent scar. I use all of these breast techniques, except the Wise pattern scar. I feel that the Wise pattern technique makes unnecessary scars.

A lot of patients who come in for a Breast augmentation or a Breast lift with implants consult will usually make a comment about cleavage. Some patients don’t want “that fake look,” yet others specifically ask for “a lot of cleavage.” It helps when patients bring in pictures, because cleavage is one of those words that, like “natural look,” can have different meanings to different people. In this post I will talk about cleavage, and how it is related to surgical technique and patient anatomy.The word cleavage is derived from the word cleft. According to the Merriam Webster online dictionary… cleft : usually V-shaped indented formation : a hollow between ridges or protuberances The misunderstanding between plastic surgeon and patient comes from knowing which end of the “V” we are talking about. Does the patient want upper pole fullness, which is prominent at the upper part of the breasts? Does the patient want medial cleavage, which is breasts that are close together at the midline? Or is it both upper pole fullness and medial cleavage? The surgeon has two surgical methods to improve cleavage with breast implants.

What type of scar will you get with a Breast lift procedure? This is a very common question, and an important question that all patients should discuss with their plastic surgeon prior to having surgery. Any procedure that lifts the breast will require the surgeon to make an incision and that incision will leave a scar on your breast. In most cases, the scar will eventually fade and the positive aesthetic outcome of the ‘lifted’ breast will far surpass the remnants of a scar.

If you are considering Breast augmentation, don’t get too focused on a particular implant size. The shape of the implant will also play a big role in your implant selection! Watch Dr. Ricardo Rodriguez explain what the difference is between a 350cc high profile implant vs. a 350cc moderate profile implant. Dr. Rodriguez is a Yale trained, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon who has been in practice for over 20 years. Ask questions about implant selection at his Cosmeticsurg blog.

For months, we have been hearing the debate on ways to reduce healthcare costs. Thus far, nearly everything introduced requires vast amount of government expenditures and seriously upsets people who actually like the health care plan that they currently have. It is astounding that THE most important way to lower health care cost rarely , if ever, gets discussed. So how do we lower health care costs? As the Governor of Minnesota would say—prepare to be dazzled.

The year 2010 ushers in a new decade where science , beauty, and your own fat make a marriage that promises to deliver one of the most disruptive medical technologies of the century. Dr. Ricardo Rodriguez, a Yale trained Plastic Surgeon believes that stem cells from your own fat will lead the cosmetic surgery trends.

The choice of anesthesia for Breast Augmentation are either General Anesthesia or IV anesthesia. With IV anesthesia the recovery is very quick, less nausea, and no lousy feeling the days after surgery. In addition, the risk of getting a blood clot or pulmonary embolism is almost eliminated.

Most Breast augmentation patients are very focused on breast implant size. While that is important, it is only one of the 8 decisions you need to make before having a Breast augmentation procedure. I think that the choice of implant incision location is a very important decision that you should discuss with your plastic surgeon in your pre-operative appointment. In my own Baltimore practice, I always discuss the choice of incision location with patients before the procedure. The incision location is where the breast implant is inserted. Therefore, it is the location where you will have a small scar. In most cases, the scar is barely noticeable, but in any event you should KNOW where your implants will be inserted.

The Crescent lift mastopexy is a surgical technique used when only a minimal Breast lift is needed. It avoids a lot of scars, yet lifts the breast to result in a perky breast. Read about it this Breast lift technique performed by Dr. Ricardo Rodriguez in Baltimore. 

Patients who call our office looking for Breast augmentation information are usually also gathering total surgical cost prices as well as financing information. This week, our office did a little bit of secret shopping to find out what the average cost of a Breast augmentation procedure costs in Baltimore. Remember that Breast augmentation total costs depend on whether you select silicone or saline Implants. We compared costs of both.