No decision is more important than choosing a well-qualified, well-trained, and experienced surgeon to perform your breast augmentation. With the myriad of variably trained and qualified physicians in the United States offering to perform breast augmentation surgery, the patients’ abilities to make a clear and sound decision has been muddied and blurred – creating a very difficult situation for any patient who is not able to discern what type of physician is truly trained and qualified to perform the surgery from those who are not. I have seen marketing ads from just about every type of general practitioner and subspecialist, surgeon and non-surgeon, offering their services to perform a breast augmentation. In our country, most states do not require that the physician reveal in the ad what type of board-certification or residency training background they come from, nor do they require the physician to differentiate ABMS (American Board of Medical Specialties) board-certification from those certifications that are not controlled nor recognized by the ABMS. This has created a wide range of skills, training and experience of physicians performing the procedure without the patient having any insight as to what these differences are.

Breast augmentation remains one of the top two surgical cosmetic procedures performed in the United States, and my private practice echoes this trend closely. Due to the ongoing high demand in my practice and also with the recent entry in the US of a third FDA-approved breast implant manufacturer, I felt it timely to write a concise summary of the breast augmentation process and multiple options for the patient in today’s world.

This blog will be divided into multiple separate “issues” on my practice website, published over the next month (or so), due to the length and number of items to be addressed. My intent is to concisely hit the major decisions to be made by the patient along with the board-certified plastic surgeon and to educate the patient as to the overall process and options. I recommend that patients considering breast augmentation educate themselves as much as possible before having the surgery. In my practice, the happiest patient is the most educated patient regarding the surgery being performed.

Having a full understanding of your surgery, the risks, and realistic expectations make for a clearer decision for you. Going into this surgery without a good understanding of breast augmentation process sets you up for possible disappointment and unrealistic expectations. My breast augmentation practice is busy and my patients are happy and fully informed throughout the process. My goal for you, the reader, is to experience a successful breast augmentation with minimal surprises. Thanks for reading this and return often to our blog!

Dr. Howard

Official stats from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons would support the notion that breast enhancement surgeries remain the top-tier procedures today. Among the breast enhancements, breast implant augmentation is the most popular. But breast procedures, of course, are not limited to augmentation: there are also breast reduction and lift surgeries.

Know Difference

If you are planning to improve the size or shape of your breasts, knowing the difference between breast procedures is a good initial step to attaining your particular goal. For example, breast augmentation and breast lift are two of the often confused procedures.

Breast Augmentation is generally intended to increase small-sized breasts using implants, while Breast Lift is generally intended to improve the shape of droopy or sagging breasts to a more youthful appearance. In many instances, augmentation and lift procedures are done at the same time, but one procedure is usually not a necessary component of the other.

Breast Lift Expert

Atlanta Plastic Surgeon Dr. Brian Howard is known for his breast enhancement procedures that provide precise and detail oriented outcome – including the breast lift surgery or mastopexy. For Board-Certified Dr. Howard, mastopexy is a straightforward procedure in that it seeks to elevate or lift the position of sagging breasts by removing extra skin and tightening the surrounding tissue. As a result of surgery, the breast shape is improved and the breasts themselves assume a younger contour and a slightly elevated position.

Essentially, the Atlanta breast lift only “raises what is there and changes the contour of the lower breast”. Hence, the procedure is ideal for a woman with nipples pointing downward, or one breast smaller than the other, or breasts that are sagging or pendulous.

What It Cannot Lift

Since mastopexy is designed to change contour of the lower breast only, it cannot make the upper area of the breast more round, nor can it enlarge the breast.  However,  breast lift the nipple and areola may be moved up to their former height if necessary. In other cases, the enlarged areolae due to motherhood may be reduced through breast lift procedure.

Educated Patient Preferred

The exceptionally skilled Dr. Howard prefers a patient who is well informed about the intended procedure and all its important aspects. Based on experience, an informed patient is usually the happiest with outcome as she already processed the info on potential surgery risks and realistic results. If you pick Dr. Howard over other plastic surgeons, you can expect a breast lift surgery with well-hidden incision and sutures and lesser downtime duration.

Schedule now a talk with Dr. Howard, please call our office thru Michele at (770)-619-9566. You may also schedule an appointment via this Online Contact Form.

Almost simultaneous with the continuing growth of cosmetic industry is the ever growing desire of men and women alike to improve their physical appearance through every means available today. Rightly so, making oneself look better can have significant physical, psychological, and even social effects to an individual’s life. This is the same case when it comes to those people with thin lips.

Having thin lips, at least in the American society, is almost always deemed as having dull, ill-defined lips. In other words, thin lips are likely to diminish a person’s (whether man or woman) chance to stand out from the rest. In this part of the world, full and vivacious lips are the gold standard, as to what an aesthetically ideal pair of lips is. It is no wonder that Hollywood stars with full and well-defined lips, like Angelina Jolie, are envied so much.

Lip augmentation is a cosmetic procedure intended to improve lips into full and vibrant ones – and make them appear more prominent features of the face. A person planning to undergo lip augmentation should really be careful in choosing a surgeon to perform the procedure. After all, there had been numerous reports of lip enhancement gone terribly wrong in the past – a Hollywood celebrity or two included.

The surgeon should have substantial training and experienced when it comes to successful lip augmentations. At the very least, the surgeon should be board-certified to ensure that he or she actually graduated plastic surgery and strictly follows approved standards with his or her practice.

In Atlanta, GA, Dr. Brian Howard has years of excellent track record in performing various plastic surgeries and cosmetic procedures. With lip augmentation, Dr. Howard is aware that each person has individual cosmetic aspirations for the purpose of improving their physical appeal. For this reason, he performs various lip augmentation techniques to suit particular needs.

Among the Atlanta lip augmentation techniques being offered by Dr. Howard include:

– Soft Tissue Fillers
– Botox
– Hyaluronic Acid Fillers  (Restalayne and Juvederm)
– Collagen
– Fat Transfer

Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, Dr. Howard believes that lip augmentation is a procedure filled with ongoing and developing technology. Hence, the ultimate gauge as to effectiveness of an augmentation technique is whether it can truly serve the satisfaction of a particular patient.

Schedule now a talk with Dr. Howard, please call our office thru Michele at (770)-619-9566. You may also schedule an appointment via this Online Contact Form.

As Dr. Brian Howard reports, the search for effective, painless, noninvasive and permanent fat reduction in the field of plastic and cosmetic surgery may have just come a step closer to reality in Atlanta, Alpharetta, and Roswell Georgia with the introduction to the Vanquish device! One of the many Holy Grails sought in plastic and cosmetic surgery is a device that meets these exact criteria just mentioned – a method of fat reduction that is permanent, noninvasive, painless and effective. Several new technologies attempting to deliver these goals have been introduced recently and include fat freezing (Zeltiq, Coolsculpting. or Venus Freeze), radio frequency devices such as Exilis, ultrasound devices such as Vaser Shape and Liposonix, and now fat heating devices including the new Vanquish. Although each of these different technologies has shown promise with some of the desired criteria for non-invasive fat reduction, Dr. Brian Howard notes that each has also shown associated unique limitations ranging from possibly being painful to not being permanent or overly effective.

Vanquish has been FDA approved for the heating of deep tissues, but the real goal of the Vanquish device is to selectively heat fat cells to the point where they die and are cleared away by your body’s own protective systems, according to Dr. Brian Howard. Vanquish has found a way to selectively heat only the desired fat layers of your treated tissues without affecting the surrounding tissues. The fat cells can be heated to a high enough temperature for a long enough period of time to selectively kill the fat cell. It uses a focused-field radio frequency technology to target the unwanted areas of fat without damage to nerves, hair, skin or muscle. Built-in sensors in the Vanquish device automatically evaluate and adjust the settings after going through a set-up reading of your own body. Each treatment session takes approximately 30 minutes and initial studies are showing an average of two-inch waist reduction in just four treatments spaced one week apart! Patients report the treatment as no more than “feeling warm,” without pain! The only after-treatment instructions are to drink plenty of fluids to flush out the fat! You may experience a few days of mild redness and swelling after the treatment.

Dr. Brian Howard in Alpharetta/Roswell/Atlanta Georgia is excited about this latest advancement in the search for noninvasive painless fat reduction. Call to schedule your consultation with Dr. Howard to see if you are a candidate for the Vanquish!

The underside of the upper arm – specifically that portion from underarm region to elbow – is likely to get your attention only when it itches and you need to scratch it. As you age, however, it may become an area of concern aesthetic-wise. This is especially true when genetic factor, aging, and significant weight fluctuations would combine to affect the shape of your upper arms. When your upper arms already appear sagging and full due to the presence of extra skin and fat, it is time to seriously consider an arm lift surgery aka brachioplasty.

The loose appearance of your upper arms may not be so much to affect your whole life and limbs. But if the hanging of loose skin is noticeable enough on the upper arms, it is sufficient to affect your total body shape and confidence. If you can take it, you can just of course keep it that way. Or, you may opt indeed to have the excess fat and skin on your arms removed surgically.

Remarkably skilled Atlanta plastic surgeon Dr. Brian Howard has performed successful brachioplasty operations over the years. He has both the surgical talent and artistic touch to harmonize your upper arm form with the rest your body contour. Generally, he will remove any pockets of fat that have formed in  your upper arm through the process of liposuction (sometimes simple excision will do). Then, the inner tissue in the arm will be tightened and smoothed out. The expected result is to make your upper arms look more proportionate and toned.

While brachioplasty is relatively a minor procedure, Dr. Howard will make it clear that the final decision whether or not to perform a surgery is yours (and the extent of such procedure). Rather, he will be in close discussions with you from the moment you step into his Roswell, GA office (also has offices in Alpharetta and Atlanta, GA) for consultation until your post-op recovery. He is mindful that some Atlanta Arm Lift Procedure patients would seek for a comprehensive outcome, thus giving each patient options to perform complementary brachioplasty procedures such as tummy tuck. Moreover, the Atlanta Surgeon puts emphasis in making your surgical incisions and potential scar least noticeable as possible.

Dr. Brian Howard is part of a select group of medical professionals with board certification in plastic surgery. At the very least, it means he has substantial training and experience to undertake safe surgical procedures.

Call us at (770)-619-9566 today or contact is via this Contact Form to schedule an appointment with Dr. Howard.