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Atlanta tummy tuck

Surgeries for After You Reach Your New Year’s Weight Loss Resolution

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For many of us, the new year is an opportunity to set our sights on a successful year ahead with meaningful goals. One of the most common New Year’s Resolutions is to lose weight. As long as you focus and set reasonable goals, weight loss is absolutely doable, but sometimes there’s more to the process. As a double board-certified plastic surgeon, I often work with patients who have reached their goal weight but now have excess sagging skin or a stubborn bulge or two of fat. I may not be able to help you with weight loss, but if you reach your goals and find that your new physique needs some polishing, there are plenty of options available.

Tummy Tuck or Band Aid Tummy Tuck

Many people who lose significant amounts of weight will have looser skin remaining on their abdomen. While our skin is rather “elastic,” it can’t also constrict enough to remain firm while the fat underneath shrinks. In this case, a tummy tuck can remove excess skin and give you a more taut, toned look. Some patients, especially women who have had children, also have some laxity in their abdominal muscles, and this can be improved with a tummy tuck as well. Other than a traditional tummy tuck, you may be a candidate for a minimally invasive Band Aid Tummy Tuck, an extended tummy tuck (which reaches the “love handles”), or a circumferential tummy tuck (which treats the back as well as the sides and the front of the abdomen).

Arm Lift or Band Aid Arm Lift

Another common “problem area” after weight loss is the upper arm. Aging alone can cause the thin skin on the underside of the upper arm to sag, and weight fluctuations make this more dramatic. An arm lift (or a Band Aid Arm Lift for patients who have less excess skin and don’t need as much improvement) removes excess skin and gives the arms a more firm and youthful shape.

Liposuction or Band Aid Liposuction

As much work as you put into losing weight, all you can do is cause your body to lose fat – you can’t choose where that fat comes from. This is why many patients find that even after all their hard work, they still have a stubborn bulge or two that bothers them. Liposuction (or Band Aid Liposuction for smaller areas) is designed to polish off these areas and produce a more desirable contour for patients who are already at or near their goal weight.

Breast Lift

Women who lose weight often lose fat from their breast as well, and unfortunately, this can cause the breasts to droop more than they normally would. For these women, a breast lift can restore the breasts to a more youthful shape without changing their size. Or, for women who do want to change their breast size, a lift can be paired with a breast augmentation or a breast reduction.

Neck Lift

Another area this is often left with sagging skin after weight loss is the area under the chin and the neck. This can make you look older or heavier than you truly are. If this is the case, a neck lift can remove the excess skin, tighten the underlying neck muscles, and give you a more slender and rejuvenated neck and chin.

Facelift or Band Aid Mini Facelift

Fat can make the face look fuller and more youthful, but when you lose weight, it can appear to make your face age quickly. Signs of aging you may have had before can be more noticeable now thanks to a slimmer profile. Fortunately, you don’t need to exchange one cosmetic issue for another. A facelift (or in many cases my minimally invasive Band Aid Mini Facelift) can restore firmness to your skin and reposition the supporting muscle and other facial tissue to give you a more naturally vibrant look.

Mommy Makeover or Other Combinations

Just like you rarely gain weight in one area alone, many patients find themselves with sagging skin in multiple areas after successful weight loss. For this reason, it’s very common to combine multiple procedures at the same time, giving you a more comprehensive result and less recovery time overall.

When you’re first getting started on your weight loss journey, it can feel like you have a long road ahead. But if you keep yourself on the right path and take it one day at a time, you can reach your goal weight. When you do, I’ll be here to help you enjoy your results even more. To find out more about post-weight loss plastic surgery, schedule a consultation with me, Dr. John LeRoy. For more health tips to keep you going throughout the year, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+.

Dr. LeRoy’s Unique Band Aid Plastic Surgery Procedures Featured in Atlanta Magazine

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The field of plastic surgery is constantly changing, not only because new technology continues to arise, but also because surgeons and researchers are always looking for ways to better meet patients’ needs. As part of this effort, Atlanta plastic surgeon Dr. John L. LeRoy developed his exclusive line of Band Aid plastic surgery procedures. But, many patients ask, what makes Band Aid procedures different from typical plastic surgery?

Atlanta plastic surgeonA Different Approach

Many cosmetic surgeries (like the facelift, eyelid surgery, and brow lift) focus primarily on helping patients look younger. In this case, procedures like the Band Aid Facelift are based on a different philosophy than the traditional facelift. Many facelift patients have observed their appearance aging as the years have gone by, and have eventually reached a point when they feel that surgery is “worth it” to minimize their wrinkles and skin laxity. The ideal Band Aid Facelift patient, on the other hand, is typically seeing the earlier signs of aging and is seeking a strategy of addressing facial aging as it arises. Rather than feeling unhappy with their appearance until they’re ready for a more comprehensive procedure, these patients often pair incremental Band Aid Facelifts with non-surgical procedures (like Band Aid Skin Tightening) every few years to address aging as it occurs, so they look more youthful and natural for years to come.

Balancing the Results with the Means

Facial rejuvenation procedures are not the only plastic surgeries that can be performed with minimally invasive techniques. With these surgeries, the goal is to improve the balance between the results that will be achieved and the commitment from the patient required to achieve the results. For example, we’ll compare the tummy tuck and the Band Aid Tummy Tuck. Both procedures are designed to improve the appearance of lax skin and, in some cases, excess fat or stretched muscles in the abdomen. For a patient who only has a smaller amount of excess skin to be removed, the general anesthesia and comprehensive procedure required with a traditional tummy tuck aren’t necessary. By focusing only on the areas that need improvement, Dr. LeRoy can use gentle numbing and limited incisions to give a Band Aid Tummy Tuck patient the slimmer, more youthful midsection they’re looking for, all with minimal downtime and cost.

Choosing the right plastic surgery to fit your needs is an important part of getting the results you want. Double board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. John LeRoy has performed over 5000 Band Aid procedures over the course of nearly twenty years and can guide you toward determining which procedure is best for you and your individual needs. To start discussing your cosmetic options and which choice may be the best fit for you, schedule a consultation with Dr. John LeRoy. Or, to stay up-to-date on the latest plastic surgery news, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Your Biggest Band Aid Plastic Surgery Questions Answered

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In terms of medical treatments, surgery is often thought of as being the most extreme option, and most people only require surgery a handful of times throughout their lives. As a result, many people who hear about Dr. John LeRoy‘s originally developed line of Band Aid plastic surgeries have difficulty understanding how a surgery can be minimally invasive. Featured in the latest issue of Atlanta Magazine, Band Aid procedures involve unique strategies that allow them to be performed in-office with gentle numbing. To help our patients develop a better understanding of when and how these procedures can be beneficial, we’re answering some of the most common questions our patients ask about Band Aid plastic surgery.

band aid plastic surgery atlanta gaHow can cosmetic surgery be performed while the patient is awake?
To explain how cosmetic surgery can be performed using gentle numbing (local anesthesia at the treatment area) rather than using general anesthesia to make the patient fully unconscious, we’ll compare the Band Aid Tummy Tuck and the traditional tummy tuck. The traditional procedure uses an incision across most of the patient’s lower abdomen to remove excess skin and fat and to repair muscles that have been damaged and loosened by pregnancy. Because of the depth of this surgery, general anesthesia is necessary for patient comfort and safety. But a Band Aid Tummy Tuck focuses on removing excess skin, and because these patients have less skin to be removed and don’t require muscle repair, the incision is smaller and is placed strategically to address only the areas that need attention. With the minimal depth of the procedure and the smaller incision, the patient’s comfort and safety can still be maintained using local anesthesia.

Will the lack of general anesthesia make my recovery more painful?
Lowering the amount of anesthesia used does not leave the patient in more pain during their recovery; quite the opposite, in fact. Procedures like the Band Aid Facelift require smaller incisions and make less comprehensive changes, so the minimized extent of the surgery helps patients to recover more quickly and smoothly than if they had opted for a traditional procedure. To further minimize the discomfort of recovery, Dr. LeRoy injects Exparel® pain management into the incision site when the procedure is completed, providing up to 72 hours of post-surgical pain relief.

Are Band Aid plastic surgery procedures safe?
While minimally-invasive surgery seems like a new development, physicians have long been working toward the goal of making surgery easier to fit into patients’ everyday lives, and Dr. LeRoy has been at the forefront of this effort by performing Band Aid procedures for nearly twenty years. Because Band Aid surgeries are less invasive and less comprehensive, and because general anesthesia isn’t used, the risk of complications is actually lower than it is for traditional plastic surgery.

Are the results of Band Aid procedures more temporary than the results of traditional plastic surgery?
No cosmetic surgery can truly be called “temporary,” nor “permanent.” Take the facelift as an example. During the procedure, excess sagging skin is removed and the remaining skin and tissue is given a lifted, more youthful firmness. The procedure can take years off a patient’s appearance, but it does not stop the aging process. So while the skin that was removed will never “grow back,” throughout the years, the rejuvenated facial skin will continue to lose collagen and develop new wrinkles and laxity. Because the Band Aid Facelift produces more natural, less comprehensive results than a traditional facelift, it generally takes fewer years off the patient’s appearance, but for patients who are best suited to a Band Aid Facelift, the results are just as satisfying and long-lasting as those of a traditional facelift.

How do I know whether a Band Aid plastic surgery procedure is right for me?
Every patient’s aesthetic goals and medical needs are unique, and cosmetic procedures are not “one-size-fits-all.” Learning about the procedures you’re considering is a great first step, and the next step is to talk to the expert. Schedule a consultation with Dr. LeRoy to discuss your cosmetic concerns and other factors that affect your decision, and he can recommend and help you determine which option is the best fit for your needs and priorities.

Band Aid plastic surgery procedures are among the most popular cosmetic choices for our patients, because in many cases, they provide an ideal balance of the aesthetic improvement patients are looking for and the recovery time and expense they’re able to commit. However, they’re only part of the extensive menu of options that allows us to provide cosmetic treatments that are tailored to each patient’s unique needs. To learn more about the procedures and treatments we offer, explore our website, contact us with questions, or join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Procedures for a Slimmer Midsection

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As summer ramps up, many of us have already planned a beach vacation or two into our schedules. And while circling those dates on our calendar gives us something to look forward to, it can make both men and women spend a lot more time examining their midsections in the mirror and making a note of all the flaws that will make them self-conscious in that new bathing suit. Even if a beach vacation isn’t on the books, summer brings our abdominal woes to the surface as we spend more time in cooler clothing that shows more skin. While a healthy diet and exercise are important for people of any size, sagging skin and stubborn fat often doesn’t respond as we would hope. For patients who know this frustration, double board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. John LeRoy offers several cosmetic procedures to help them regain their self-confidence.

  • Liposuction is a great option for patients who want to remove pockets of unwanted fat. In this procedure, a narrow tube is used to break up targeted fat cells and suction them out of the body. For precise contouring, tiny incisions (hidden in the natural creases of the body when possible) are used in order to access the treatment area from multiple angles. Depending on a patient’s needs and “problem areas,” liposuction can slim down several areas in the same procedure, like the abdomen, back, and “love handles.” However, this is not a procedure that should be used as a form of weight loss, but rather as a finishing touch for patients who have already reached their goal weight or have maintained a health weight and simply have small areas of stubborn fat.
  • Band Aid Liposuction is a less invasive version of traditional fat removal. Developed and performed exclusively by Dr. LeRoy, Band Aid Liposuction is performed in a similar way to standard liposuction (stubborn fat is removed through a narrow tube), but this unique procedure can be performed in-office with gentle numbing because it uses smaller incisions and targets smaller areas of fat. Band Aid Liposuction can be a perfect option for patients who don’t necessarily have weight to lose, but are bothered by small bulges of fat.
  • Tummy Tuck procedures are ideal for patients who may want the fat removal that liposuction offers but who also have excess lax skin and/or a separated muscle that gives them the appearance of having a “kangaroo pouch.” As a more comprehensive procedure, a tummy tuck often involves removing unwanted fat, repairing and tightening abdominal muscles that have been stretched. These concerns are especially common among mothers and patients who have lost significant amounts of weight, and a tummy tuck can be tailored to fit the needs of each patient.
  • Band Aid Tummy Tuck procedures have similar goals to a traditional tummy tuck, but like Band Aid Liposuction, can be performed in a comfortable office setting using gentle numbing. By targeting only the areas of the abdomen that need the most improvement, rather than using a longer incision that tightens the skin across the entire tummy, a Band Aid Tummy Tuck can achieve great results with minimal downtime and scarring.

So how do you know which procedure is right for you? Check out the chart below for a brief comparison, then schedule a consultation with Dr. John LeRoy. After discussing your desired results and your priorities, he can recommend the procedure that will provide the best balance for all your needs. To stay up-to-date on these slimming procedures and other plastic surgery topics, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.Procedures for a Slimmer Midsection

Who are the Right Candidates for Band Aid Procedures?

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A recent issue of Atlanta Magazine featured double board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. John LeRoy‘s original line of Band Aid cosmetic procedures. Because of these innovative techniques, patients can achieve great aesthetic results through minimally-invasive procedures that are performed in-office with gentle numbing. Most plastic surgery patients begin their journey with the question, “I want to feel better about my appearance, but which procedure is right for me?” One way to begin learning about your options is to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, but to determine whether a traditional cosmetic procedure or its Band Aid counterpart is the better fit for your needs, decide whether you fit into any of these groups who tend to be the best candidates for Band Aid procedures.

Jan2014_ATL MagPatients Who Want to Minimize Recovery Time

Many patients find that while they know they’ll feel better about their appearance after a procedure like liposuction, they’re struggling to clear out the necessary recovery time in their schedule between work, caring for their families, etc. Resuming your normal activities too soon after surgery can result in complications and less-than-optimal results, but because Band Aid procedures are less invasive than more comprehensive surgeries, the recovery time required is significantly less, and patients can more easily work their aesthetic goals into their busy schedules.

Patients Who Have a Strong Focus on Natural Results

No patient wants to look “fake” or “operated on,” but for many patients, results that are discreet and look natural are their top priority. These patients generally want a less dramatic improvement—in terms of facial rejuvenation, for example, just enough of an enhancement to help them look younger and more rested. While this subtle look can be achieved with a traditional facelift, Dr. LeRoy’s Band Aid Facelift can produce the results these patients want with less risk of visible scarring, lower costs, and less recovery time.

Patients Who Don’t Need a Comprehensive Procedure

Some patients come to us during an “in-between” point in their appearance—for instance, a patient who is unhappy with a bit of unwanted fat and loose skin on their abdomen, but doesn’t have enough excess tissue or muscle damage to warrant a full tummy tuck. For these patients, a minimally-invasive procedure can provide a better balance. In other words, instead of the going through the moderate amount of inconvenience and discomfort associated with a tummy tuck to achieve the mild results they want, patients can opt for a Band Aid Tummy Tuck to attain the same results with minimized effort and expense.

Patients Who Are Seeking More of an Improvement than Non-Surgical Procedures Can Provide

To meet the needs of all our patients, we offer not only plastic surgery but non-surgical procedures as well, such as dermal fillers, Botox® and Dysport®, and a variety of skin treatments. Non-surgical options can be perfect for patients who have minor cosmetic needs like fine lines and wrinkles, but if these treatments are too mild to achieve results that can help the patient become their most beautiful and confident self, Band Aid procedures are a great next step that can produce sufficient results without the more extensive recovery time of a traditional surgery.

One of the ways that Dr. John LeRoy has developed a reputation for his superb results is by having expertise in such a wide variety of procedures that he can offer each patient the ideal cosmetic option to fit their needs. While Band Aid procedures are a perfect option for many patients, other patients are best suited for traditional plastic surgeries, and still others are a great fit for non-surgical treatments. To learn more about your options and discuss the best way for you to reach an appearance you can feel confident in, schedule a consultation with Dr. John LeRoy.

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