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Breast reduction surgery is one of the most common procedures we do in plastic surgery.  In fact it has one of the highest patient satisfaction rates of any of our procedures.  In one study almost 90% of patients were very satisfied with their surgery and 94% would encourage others to have it.  The benefits of [...]

all cancers, whether breast, brain or blood, start when a single cell’s DNA gets a mutation or is damaged. This means that a normal gene, that produces a protein that goes on to provide a certain function, becomes abnormal. This abnormal gene produces an abnormal protein. Now our cells are really smart and there are other proteins that detect abnormal genes and remove them or even signal for the entire cell to be destroyed. However, it’s often these removing genes, known as tumor suppressor genes, that are abnormal…..

So you’ve met the parents.  Now I guess if you twist my arm I’ll talk about myself.  Remember this wasn’t my idea!
As I’ve said, I’m the youngest of four.  The “baby” of the family is the end of reproductive life of the mother.  So my theory is that the youngest gets spoiled because the mother [...]

Like many cancers, the treatment for breast cancer has gone through its evolution.  Surgical treatment in the beginning and well into most of the 20th century consisted of the radical mastectomy.  This procedure involved removal of the breast, pectoralis major muscle and all of the lymph nodes of the axilla or armpit through a large [...]

Today I had a consultation with a lovely couple.  The wife and patient is a  31-year-old mother of two young children.  During a breast self-exam (which I hope all women do but know they don’t so do it) she noticed something very slightly different in one of her breasts.  She saw her doctor, who sent [...]

Okay I have my bottle of wine, a Valium and the encouragement from my therapist who says that talking about my mother is therapeutic.  Hmmmmm.  I’m just kidding, mixing Valium and wine-that’s just crazy.  Don’t get me wrong, this is no celebrity “I blame my mother for everything,” sob story.  My mother did the best [...]

There’s no doubt about it, I am no “private person.”  You ask me pretty much anything and I’ll tell you.  I’m strong in my personality and convictions so I’ve got nothing to hide.
Many physicians take great care to never discuss their personal lives with patients.  And while it’s true that there must always be a [...]

Recently, a fellow surgeon and I had an interesting discussion about consent for surgery, which was relevant because I had just seen several patients who had visited other surgeons and had procedures done without their consent.
For instance one patient went in for a lower eyelid lift and ended up with extensive scars across her temples.  [...]

Breast implants are not designed to fail. In fact their durability is quite impressive, as the picture depicts.  They must be able to withstand years of everyday life and the occasional mammogram.  Yet they can fail. A recent study of Mentor’s breast implants placed the rupture rate for primary augmentation at 1.1%.
The leading theories for [...]

I have found through my work with sites like RealSelf that patients are often left out of the decision making process or simply allow their surgeon to determine the correct implants, only to be disappointed with the outcome.  The number of questions I answer about “what size will I be after X size implants?” [...]