Women have been trying to improve their skin aesthetically for centuries.  Egyptians used to bathe in sour milk for their skin not knowing that it was the lactic acid content that we use today to produce the desired results. The French during the Renaissance used red wine on their faces to take advantage of the tartaric acid contained within the grapes.  People of middle eastern descent would exfoliate their skin by using fire to lightly singe themselves.  All of this was done in the interest of improving the quality of their skin by producing a selective insult to its surface to facilitate the body's healing powers with epidermal and dermal remodeling.  The real breakthrough came during the 1800's when phenol peels came of age.  That remained the gold standard until laser resurfacing became available in the 1990's.  However, the recovery time and the occasional complication soon made this modality of treatment less desirable even though when properly performed, produced as good a result as the Baker Gordon phenol peels of the past generation.  Today as technology has tried to refine the CO2 laser, it has done so by partially or fractionally ablating/removing the epidermis and the upper part of the dermis (the skin's foundation) by drilling a series of microscopic holes into the upper echelon of it.  This creates a small debris field  the body feels compelled to heal much like a community of people after a storm comes through and the results are significant improvement of the skin's surface with much less downtime and/or chance for complications.  If you need improvement of photo damaged skin with its attendant spots and roughened texture on your face, hands, or any other part of the body, then a fractional laser resurfacing procedure maybe just for you.   Please e-mail us for more information.

Breast lifting procedures have undergone a paradigm shift in the past several years to include a procedure known as a vertical mammoplasty.  This surgical technique when indicated can produce a more attractive breast with less scarring than the more conventional procedures that have been performed over the past several decades.  With few exceptions, I have gone to this style of operative technique in my practice.  This type of surgery is especially indicated in patients who have small to moderate sized breasts and a significant amount of ptosis or sagging.  The goal is to remove unwanted, loose skin  while reshaping the remaining tissue into a more youthful breast mound.  If implants are desired, these are placed in a separate procedure several months later to allow the incisions from the vertical mammoplasty to heal without tension.  If you need more information or would like to see some of our before and after pictures, please call us at  your convenience.

We live in a society that has rather large midriffs.  There are two basic reasons for this: fat and a relaxed abdominal wall.  The fat is located not only on the outside of the belly wall which can be treated with liposuction, but it is also found on the inside of the tummy wall where the intestines are located.  This depository of fat can only be reduced by exercise and diet.  The other scenario for a protruding abdomen is the relaxation of the muscular wall.  In women, this often exists from the belly button downward and is usually attributable to pregnancies.  In men, it is found from the belly button upwards and exists when the six-pack muscles separate either from over exertion and/or a rather large collection of inward fat.  This deformity is often worse after a large meal when the belly is even more protrusive because the muscular wall is not strong enough to hold the stomach in after having been filled.  The surgical redress for these issues are either liposuction, abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and /or both.  In my practice, I prefer to liposuction the fat from around the abdomen and flanks followed several months later with an abdominoplasty where the stretched tissues are put back together.  Regardless, the goal for either gender is a smaller waist and a flatter tummy.  When indicated, staging the procedures by removing the fat first with liposuction and tightening the abdominal wall and skin later gives the very best results.