Dr. Andrew Ordon

We make sure to put in a long-acting local anesthetic during the procedure, so the patient is comfortable immediately post-up.  Make sure your surgeon gives a muscle relaxant to keep you comfortable during the early post-op period.

A lot comes from pre-op discussions we have with the patient. That determines where you start. We also look at the diameter of the breast, and do the breasts point straight out or do they point to the side.  It’s based on what the patient wants, too.  It helps if they show pictures of what they are looking for in terms of size. They also have choices in design.  Do they want more of a projecting breast or a low, wider-based breast, which is fuller. There are options.

We make sure to put in a long-acting local anesthetic during the procedure, so the patient is comfortable immediately post-op. Make sure your surgeon gives a muscle relaxant to keep you comfortable during the early post-op period.

That’s a big decision. In the past, we tried to get away with placing large implants without a lift, but as time went by, we found out that a large implant over time is going stretch the tissue, bottom out and create more laxity, and then you subsequently have to do a bigger lift. At our practice, we like to do combination breast lift and breast implant augmentation. We also do what we call and internal brassiere where we’re tightening the tissues inside with special stiches, the Alloderm skin matrix if necessary and sometimes we use internal lasering to contract that dermal tissue.

We try to keep scars to a minimum and in some cases we can do a lift with an incision just around the nipple. Sometimes just a vertical incision and sometimes we need to do a more traditional anchor type incision with the vertical and horizontal scar. However, when we decide to do that anchor incision, there is a reason and a positive trade off to get the best possible breast shape. We’ve tried all the different techniques and there is a right technique for each patient.

I don’t think we’ve ever had a patient who said they couldn’t breast feed at all. In some cases, the amount they were able to breastfeed was reduced but they were still able to do it.

The eyes are what give character the face. If you are doing surgery around the eyes, you don’t want the change the shape of the eyes. You just want to improve the framework. What we’ve found is that less is more. The days of removing too much skin and fat around the eyes is over. We know that anything that takes away from character gives the face a more skeletonized or cadaveric look, which isn’t a youthful look. Today we perform the least invasive procedure to achieve the desired look. You have to know what you’re doing. You have to know the right operation for the individual needs of the patient.

It has dramatically changed for the better. It’s more based on results and science and we have a much better idea of what works and what doesn’t work. We want natural results so we know to pull the skin in a natural direction, which is vertical instead of pulling back. We realize you have to tighten the underlying tissue in a similar natural direction and we also know that part of aging is losing volume. Without question we’ve become more refined and more aggressive with what we can do.

Liposuction is not a substitute for diet and exercise. The ideal candidate is someone who is at a stable weight and has pockets of stubborn fat that just aren’t responding to diet and exercise. That’s the kind of history we want to hear. We ask someone who is significantly overweight to lose weight first and then we will focus on their figure flaws. I think the maximum amount of fat that should be removed for a single liposuction procedure is five liters of fat. It’s also important to remember that it’s not about what you take away as much as it is about what you leave behind. Women are not supposed to be straight and should have curves. You avoid liposuction deformities by not removing too much fat.

It’s baffling how many combinations of liposuction there are today: laser assisted, power assisted, wet technique, jet technique. It’s mind-boggling. You have to find an experienced doctor—a board-certified plastic surgeon. I like to use the tumescent technique, and in the right patient, Vaser or ultrasonic-assisted liposuction, especially for revisions and men with fat in the chest or love handles. The ultrasound helps to break up or dissolve the fat cells and then we can suction them away.

It’s very volume dependent, meaning the more fat that’s removed, the longer it’s going to take to recover. Compression is a big part of recovery. Most of our patients recover fairly quickly. They can do brisk walking within a week and higher impact aerobic exercise and some weight lifting within two weeks. You have to be vigilant in following the doctor’s instructions for post-op care if you want the best results.

Post-bariatric weight loss surgery is becoming more prevalent today and Dr. Chopra and I have been known to work as a team on some of these patients to do body contouring. For many of these cases, the patient has lost 100 pounds or more. We’re known for working together to get patients off the operating table faster with multiple surgeons. Combining surgeries in more complex cases is one of our specialties.

Noninvasive radio-frequency treatments can be used on the face in the right patient. We’re fans of Thermage and the newer hand pieces that they have come out with that are more effective at targeting smaller areas. I think you can also count Fractional CO2 in this area. It is an ablative laser, but it’s not as invasive as making incisions. It is a very effective tool in treating fine lines, irregularities and brown spots.

What I suggest is using fresh whole dairy cream mixed with avocado. Great moisturizer!