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

Here is a question which I received from a reader who recently had a Brazilian Butt Lift procedure with another surgeon and was experiencing a bacterial infection: Dear Dr. Rodriguez, About Eight weeks ago I had a procedure adding fat from my flanks to my buttocks by my local plastic surgeon. I have been in discomfort ever since. My buttocks are red and swollen in both cheeks. One time every week the surgeon has been removing fluid that has accumulated in my buttocks. He has stated that he released an area in my buttocks that had a deep Cellulite indentation( he had a different name for this). He thought fluid was somehow accumulating in this area and would continue to remove this fluid whenever in go unbearable. I was in tremendous pain this week and went back to the office where he then told me he had gotten the results back from June 21st on the fluid he had collected and I have some kind of bacterial infection inside my body…

In 2007, I wrote a blog post about Hydrogel for Buttock augmentation. In the post I detailed my reasons why I did not think it was a good idea to do a Buttock augmentation or Butt Lift with Hydrogel. The only thing that has changed since I wrote that post is that I have seen many patients who have suffered terrible damage from Hydrogel injections! My position remains the same: Hydrogel to buttocks: Don’t do it! To recap.

The Stem Cell Niche Stem cells usually exist in a low grade resting state in a controlled environment called a niche. The niche contains mesenchymal stem cells, also known as MSCs. The mesenchymal stem cell niche is usually located in the blood vessel wall itself. The status quo for a niche is not full blown stem cell activity, but a level of activity finely attuned to its surroundings. These cells like to keep a stable environment  (on the vessels) within the niche. They will only respond in a very specific way, to certain kinds of stimuli. In a chronic disease state such as scar tissue or aged skin, the stem cells present in that tissue are responding in many small and measured ways to whatever is happening in the tissue. Stem Cells are trying to maintain balanced conditions, this is called homeostasis. There are no big changes, just a low-grade adaptation to aging or scar process. This is why the stem cells in the local tissue are not doing what you would like them to do.

Dr. Rodriguez, a Yale trained Plastic Surgeon who has been practicing for over 20 years, gives his thoughts on Smart Lipo. With Smart Lipo, some damaged fat is usually left behind and the skin tightening is temporary.

Patients routinely get fat grafts to the face, breast, and buttocks. However, some patients do not get the result they wanted because the fat graft did not ‘take.’  So, what happened? Why do fat grafts sometimes die or fail to take? In this post, I will explain one of the most important factors in creating a long-lasting fat graft. When the recipient tissue is normal, there really should be no need for a touch-up, or revision. Plastic surgeons have all of the tools they need to create a good fat graft on the first try!

When most women ask for a Breast augmentation, they imagine a larger breast positioned where their breast was when they were in their younger years. They also want some cleavage. For the final result they want as minimal or undetectable a scar as possible.

What can one do for bags under the eyes? For many years, patients would come to me asking to remove the bags under the eyelids, saying the bags made them look old and tired. I usually recommended a standard blepharoplasty or Eye lift. That involves making an incision right under the eyelashes, lifting skin and the muscle that is right under the skin. I would then remove the fat. It was the standard solution but it had several drawbacks.

Dr. Ricardo Rodriguez, a Yale trained Plastic Surgeon, explains what happens when you lose weight after a Brazilian butt lift procedure. Do you lose some of your new augmented buttocks or does the fat graft survive? Watch his video which profiles a Brazilian butt lift patient who lost weight following her Brazilian butt lift surgery.

2010 ushered in the new promising decade for the use of adipose stem cells. Stem cells from your own autologous fat, also known as adipose stem cells, have the power to rejuvenate tissue, heal wounds, and cure diseases. Taking the pulse at the various Stem Cell conferences around the country in 2010, we found that more clinical researchers are gravitating to adipose tissue as a source of stem cells. Bone marrow has historically been the default source of adult stem cells for researchers. Likewise, the volume of peer reviewed publications and research papers attesting to fat as an abundant source of stem cells has seen a tremendous increase in the past year. So what’s in store for 2011? Fat is phat again!

Dr. Rodriguez’s Brazilian butt lift technique is featured in the Washington DC – Baltimore spring issue of the Women’s Journal.

“DAO” (Depressor anguli oris) release to lift the corner of the mouth. I have always been a fan of the lip lift procedure. There are many reasons why it’s preferable to fillers, but the most important one is that it looks so good and natural. The effect is best in the central part of the…

Patients are asking for specific procedures because they have been reached by the marketing efforts of Plastic Surgeons. Since surgeons are trained to do procedures, they market procedures as their product. In order to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, they come up with these catchy names to create a “unique” presence for themselves in the marketplace. Alternately, if there is a particular buzzword or catchphrase that is getting media attention, the surgeon will use it in his marketing pitch, to benefit from the attention generated by that particular “product-lift”.

Cosmetic surgery is not just for your face, breast, and body. Your hands age too. As we grow older, there is a change of fat distribution in the body. For example, the face tends to lose some volume in certain areas, and the midsection of the body tends to gain fat. Another one of the areas which loses fat is the hand.

Today I saw a patient who had been operated on for a condition known as “tuberous Breast deformity” and asymmetry. Tuberous breast deformity occurs when a patient has a narrow base of the breast. The fold underneath the breast is tight or narrow and the breast mass appears to hang over the breast base. The term “tubular” breast deformity is also used to describe this as the breast has a tubular shape instead of rounded one. Some patients are also unfortunate in that their tubular breasts are also different in size.

I once had a patient who wanted a revision of her Liposuction. I have seen her already several times and she is unhappy about small areas on her hips. The small bulges are above and below the panty line so the indentation of the panties on the skin magnifies the defect. She recognizes that the result is an improvement on what she had before but these small things are irritating her.