Berardi Aesthetics & Plastic Surgery

Typically, tummy tuck scars are pretty extensive, if you consider any other procedure we do. However, the great thing is that we're able to keep these scars down under the clothing and should be hidden by a swimsuit or underwear. And the healing process is highly dependent on the patient. Also, at our practice we have some scar scar healing protocols. We'll use a product called Embrace, that will help take the tension off the wound during the prime time of healing in that first couple weeks after surgery. After that, we use various scar creams to assist with the healing process, and ultimately you wind up with a scar that's very acceptable and going to be hidden by your clothing.

In general, there are three things that are going to be addressed by a tummy tuck: Loose skin Excess fat A loose abdominal wall In general, only one of those will be addressed by diet and exercise. If you have extra fat around the belly button or below the belly button, sometimes we can take that away, though those areas tend to be pretty resistant.

Sculptra is Poly-L-lactic acid which is a similar component to what is used in suture that we use for surgery. It's liquefied and we place it just under the skin throughout the face. We put in the face, the cheeks the temples, and so forth, and this is going to volumize the face over time. Typically we'll do two vials at a time, and we wait about six to eight weeks. Then we do an additional two vials. Sculptra differs is that it's a filler that gives you volume over time, it's not instantaneous. Oftentimes, I'm using Sculptra for people that have a very thin face and maybe don't have a lot of fat on their body, where we can gradually build up collagen in their face by using Sculptra.

When we do an evaluation for eyelid patients, there are two things that we look at: we look at the eyelids and we also look at the brow position. More often than not, someone that comes in may also need something done with the position of their eyebrow. The upper eyelid and the skin just below the eyebrow, which is considered brow skin, works as a whole, which means sometimes it’s a combination. So with time, eyebrows will descend. If you feel your eyebrow and that rim of bone that goes into your eye socket is right under the eyebrow, especially in women, it typically means you may be trending toward a brow lift procedure.

Filler addresses volume loss in areas where the facial features have descended, causing shadows where we might want to place volume. A very common place is in the cheeks. Botox addresses areas where animation causes wrinkles, like the sides of the eyes, in between the eyes, or even on the forehead. One great area for fillers in under the tear troughs. Often these tear troughs make people look tired. Other areas that are often overlooked are the temples and the hands.

Number one, the answer is yes. CoolSculpting works. However, you have to be a good candidate for it, just like standard tumescent liposuction. So anybody that's going to undergo a liposuction-type procedure needs to have elastic skin or an isolated area of fat. Typically, you want to be following a healthy lifestyle where you can benefit. If you have some sort of liposuction the fat is going to go away; however, if you follow an unhealthy lifestyle, it's just going to come back. CoolSculpting is a great procedure. It's an office-based procedure and an outpatient procedure. It does get your get rid of fat in isolated areas. I've found it's not a great procedure to cover great areas like an entire abdomen or an area that's larger than the handpiece, let's say because then you can get some irregularities.