Cosmetic treatments are more available than ever. Med spas, dermatology offices, dental practices, and physicians from many specialties now offer everything from injectables to liposuction to full surgical procedures. That access can be a good thing. But it also makes one question more important than ever: who is actually qualified to do the procedure you’re considering?
Here’s what “board-certified plastic surgeon” really means, how it compares with other providers, and the questions I’d encourage anyone to ask before booking.
What does “board-certified plastic surgeon” mean?
The phrase gets used loosely, so it’s worth being precise. A board-certified plastic surgeon has been certified by […]
Pregnancy, nursing, and the years of chasing little ones change a woman’s body in ways that diet and exercise often can’t reverse. Many of the moms I meet in my Lake Norman practice tell me the same thing: “I’m healthy, I’m active, and I love what my body did — but I don’t feel like myself anymore.”
That’s where a mommy makeover comes in. It isn’t one single operation. It’s a personalized plan that combines procedures to address the specific changes pregnancy left behind. Here’s what’s typically included, why we combine them, and how to know if the timing is right […]
Why fat grafting changed eyelid surgery
For decades, lower blepharoplasty was almost purely a subtraction procedure: remove the herniated fat pads and a little excess skin, and the eyes look less puffy. That approach still has its place, but surgeons now recognize that many patients don’t just have too much — they also have hollowing at the tear trough and lid-cheek junction that no amount of skin tightening can fix. Removing fat from a hollow eye only ages it further.
Fat grafting closes that gap. By harvesting a small amount of a patient’s own fat (usually from the abdomen or thighs) and […]
Fall is your planning window
By the time the holiday party invitations start arriving, it’s usually too late to start anything with real downtime. The good news is that late September through October is exactly the right runway: most facial procedures, from a quick injectable refresh to eyelid surgery, have a fairly predictable timeline between treatment day and “looking like yourself, just rested.”
The trick is working backward from your first big gathering rather than forward from today. A treatment that looks wonderful at six weeks can look bruised and swollen at six days — so the question isn’t just what you […]
Hey! Welcome back to Katie’s Corner–or welcome if you’re new! This blog is a teen’s perspective about life and skincare. Today I wanted to start a series of skincare related blogs, but I have to announce something first.
I haven’t posted in two weeks, even though I promised I’d try to stick to that schedule. That’s because I was away at a sleepaway camp for a month and didn’t have access to the internet.
I also wanted to address the fact that I wanted to make a series of posts related to the necessities everyone should have in their skincare routine. I […]
for Post-Bariatric Body Contouring
One of the most common questions we hear from massive-weight-loss patients is simple: “Will insurance cover this?” The honest answer is that it depends entirely on which procedure you’re asking about — and understanding that distinction early saves patients a lot of frustration later.
The Core Distinction: Functional vs. Cosmetic
Insurance coverage in body contouring almost always comes down to one question: is the procedure correcting a functional medical problem, or is it reshaping the body for aesthetic reasons?
Panniculectomy is the one procedure in this category that sometimes meets insurance criteria for medical necessity, because it can be tied […]
Sequencing Abdominoplasty, Body Lift, Thigh Lift, and Arm LiftLosing a significant amount of weight — whether through bariatric surgery or sustained lifestyle change — is one of the hardest things a person can accomplish. But it often leaves behind a problem that diet and exercise alone can’t fix: loose, hanging skin across the abdomen, arms, thighs, chest, and back that no longer matches the body underneath it.
Body contouring surgery is how we address that gap. The challenge isn’t usually deciding whether to operate — it’s deciding what to do first, what to combine, and what to save for later. Here’s […]
Hey! This is the first post of Katie’s Corner. In this post, I’ll explain who I am, what this blog’s purpose is, and why I decided to start it in the first place.
To start off, I’ll give you a quick introduction to myself and my background. My name is Katie. I’m a teenage girl living in North Carolina, and I wanted to start this blog not because of the possible notoriety it could bring, but because I know there are a lot of other girls trying to find confidence and figure things out along the way.
Of course, explaining the “why” […]
A board-certified plastic surgeon’s comprehensive guide to evaluation,complications, and the evolving landscape of implant options
Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon
With millions of breast implants placed over the past five decades, a substantial and growing population of patients is living with implants well beyond their original placement — many without the benefit of regular follow-up imaging or even awareness that their devices may require attention.
As a board-certified plastic surgeon, one of the most nuanced conversations I have is with a patient who presents with implants placed years — sometimes decades — ago. The landscape has changed considerably. We understand implant biology better. Imaging has […]
Enlarged breast tissue in men is far more common than most realize — and far more treatable.
“Many of my patients tell me they’ve felt embarrassed about this for years — sometimes decades. The truth is, gynecomastia is a medical condition, not a personal failing, and effective treatment exists.”
THE BASICS
What Is Gynecomastia?
Gynecomastia is the benign enlargement of breast tissue in males, resulting from an imbalance between estrogen and testosterone. It can affect one or both breasts and occurs across all age groups — from newborns and adolescents to middle-aged and older men.
It is important to distinguish true gynecomastia (actual glandular breast […]
