Westbury, NY office lifestyle lift experiences?

I had it done in January by the guys in Westbury. First of all, I NEVER MET THE DOCTOR beforehand. He never discussed with me if I am a good candidate. And the office manager was "selling" the procedure with her slick presentation. The surgery was awful, painful and it did not deliver. I am only 42 and had a little bit of loose skin on my neck. Initially when your swollen it appears to be gone. But as the swelling goes down the dropping comes back. Go to a board certified MD and have this properly done under general anesthesia.I twill cost more but you will be happy. I am paying off a loan for this and I have nothing to show for it. Also, that office has not called me back because they know I am dissatisfied.

"Guest" I am so sorry for your disapointment, but I am going to take your advice. I'm Scheduled for a "Cosultation" in Westbury tomorrow at 5:15 PM and guess who's not going. I was so exited about this LSL, Affordable, no time down, local anesthesia, great results. It all sounded too good, so since I had some time on my hands diceded to do a little research, boy am I glad I did. I read you blog, I watched a video on a report that had been done on the LSL (http://www.nbcsandiego.com/health/10052581/detail.html)and behold...my decision "THEY AIN'T GETTIN MY MONEY" I will wait and get the real thing. Thanks...... hope everything turns out well.

I am happy you investigated. The have so many unanswered complaints lodged against them. Go to the Better Business Bureau web site.

I had the LSL done almost three weeks ago and so far am very happy with the results from Dr. {edited}. I will, however, tell you that it is a procedure much more than is explained in the initial consult. A little too heavy on the sales pitch and not enough said about the actual experience. This is performed with local needles much like what you receive from the dentists office and lots of them. You do become very numb and with the two valium they give you, you are fairly relaxed. But, you are still very much awake and with the work being done right in front and in back of your ears, I was not thrilled to hear and feel all that was going on. Your ear is almost completely removed from what I can see and feel. As long as you are aware of what to expect beforehand and you are OK with the sounds and feeling of pulling on your flesh and cutting of your skin, I think that the savings in cost is worthwhile. I must say, once all the swelling is completed, which it is not so far, I think that I will be very happy with the result. Each ear is stitched all the way up the front side and 3/4 of the way up the back side. You need to sleep with your pillows elevated for about a month. If you have the lipo, you need to keep your chin wrapped in the night for a month. There will be swelling, not too much bruising for me, and hard lumpiness all around your ears and a little bit in front of your ears for quite some time. I still have hardness, numbness and a very tight feeling around my neck and below my ears. I don't know how long this will last but hopefully not too much longer. Dr. {edited} will be leaving next week on 5/30 but I understand that Dr. {edited} is a wonderful Dr. from people who I called prior to having my surgery done. I think Dr. {edited} was a wonderful, caring, gentle and very kind man. His follow up calls were much appreciated. I am having my eyes done later this summer with Dr. {edited} and I did also do some botox and restyline with Dr. {edited}. I will be happy to discuss this further with you if you would like. Respond to this message, leave me your telephone number and I will contact you. Good luck and feel free to be back in touch if I can be further assistance. LHardy Editor note: you must join RealSelf so you can be contacted privately with doctor recommendations and feedback. This requires free registration for an account. When registering you must opt-in to receiving private contacts (a check box).

Hi Leslie, I'm interested in having the LSL done and have paid the deposit but have not gone in for the consult with the doctor doing the procedure yet to make sure I'm a good candidate and what I am looking for. YOur explaination was good but had some more questions since you have had it done. I'm in Seattle but I would imagine that any doctor that they have doing this should be skilled in the procedure. The one they recommended to me does around the ear and not straight in front so less scaring. (not sure what this is called.) Any help you could offer is much appreciated.

This link does not work. I can't find the video online. Please correct the link so I can find it. Thanks.

Leslie, please tell me how things went and how long they actually took. Who was your surgeon??? That is what is most important for me to know. I would have you telephone me, but I don't want my phone number posted on the web. If you email me through this site, I will give you my number if we are using the same doctor -- I already made an appointment, but I would cancel it if I am finding out too many bad things, and you are the only one saying good things. -Annonymous

You had it in 2007. How did it go? Do you look better now? If yes, how long did it take you to improve? Did anything go wrong? I am scheduled for Dr. Roy in the Manhattan office soon, so I need to know whether to go through with it.

Did you go? Who was the doctor? Where was it done? What were the longterm and shortterm results?

Hi, Bill, tell your wife to save her money -- it's a waste of time. I had my surgery done by Dr. {edited} in Westbury in May07. (Dr. {edited} is now in Manhattan office). It's nothing like what the ads show. I was told I was a perfect candidate, all I wanted was to get rid of my jowels. The first week or two after surgery, my skin was nice and tight -- no jowels or smile lines, but a lot of bruising and swelling. After 3 weeks, my jowels and smile lines were back, and I looked no different than I did prior to surgery. The scarring behind my ears is horrible, my ear lobes are twice the size they were initially, and to this day, (Jan'08) I am still numb in front of my ears . My two friends also had this surgery around the same time, and we are all unhappy. We went back to voice our disappointment and was told to wait one year to come back for a touch up. At this point, we don't want more surgery as the first surgery was horrible. We tried to obtain our "before and after" photos from Dr. {edited}, to no avail. Save your money!! Editor note: you must join RealSelf so you can be contacted privately with doctor recommendations and feedback. This requires free registration for an account. When registering you must opt-in to receiving private contacts (a check box).

PLEASE tell me which doctor did your surgery. I have the surgery scheduled for Manhattan, and I need to know WHICH doctor you didn't like. I had a consultation with one I thought I did like. And the Better Business Bureau lists only 3 complaints, none of which are medical, about the whole Manhattan office in 36 months. Without the name of your doctor, your comments aren't helpful, so PLEASE TELL ME.

WHO did the surgery? What is the name of your actual Lifestyle Lift doctor? I am scheduled, and I need to know whether to do it or cancel.

I am a plastic surgeon. I believe that many people will be discouraged from undergoing a facelift, necklift, etc. because of this sham. I want to do something about this, but I think we'll need more dissatisfied patients. If you are interested I have a friend who works for a downtown lawfirm who is looking into the matter for me from my perspective. I never thought about it from the patient's angle, but I believe if we could join forces it may be beneficial to all.

Hi Dr. Jake and feel free to contact me. I had LSL done and I never signed informed consent. I was told this was going to tighten my neck and my face wouldn't be touched, the "doctor" agreed my face was flawless, but they did a facelift on me anyway without consent. Not only that but the scarring was so horrible and painful I underwent a scar revision procedure three weeks ago and spent an additional $16500 to fix LSL mess. The doctor was wonderful who fixed LSL's mess and from what he told me he fix's their mess's ALL WEEK LONG. The primary focus of his practice is fixing botched plastic/cosmetic surgery of the face. This has been a horrible experience and I actually was told by a big lawfirm I HAVE GREAT LIABILITY. I still have stupid women e-mailing me who are considering this procedure and they know about the 52% dissatisfaction rate? If I told you that a plane you were getting on had a 52% chance of crashing would you get on it? Please no e-mails from dummies who want to know where I had it done. What does it matter. The whole orginization of LSL is corrupt. In my opinion.

I am very disheartened to hear of such discourteous comments from a colleague who is also obviously not a Facial Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon. There is a difference between a general plastic surgeon and a Facial Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon who has gone through two additional fellwoship training years to acquire the specific skills to perform facelift surgery as well as other head and neck cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. Suggesting that surgeons working at lifestyle life perform sham surgery will certainly lead to complaint against you at your professional Academy once your name is known. The surgeons performing "LifeStyle" lift surgery are performing completely acceptable minimally invasive surgical procedures which are currently acceptable procedures in all the current Facial Plastic surgery professional literature as well as textbooks. Dissatisfaction is an unfortunate weight every plastic surgeon must bear from a minority of patients in which results are not to their exact satissfaction. The only plastic surgeon who experiences 0% satisfaction is one who does not perform surgery which is beginning to cast shadow on your remarks my friend. The difference between your practice and the practice at lifestyle lift does not lie in the professionalism or expertise nor in the experience since, the surgeons at lifestyle lift are not only board certified they are specifically trained in Facial Plastic Surgery which is not something you seem to be trained in (general plastic surgeons are not specifically trained in the head and neck region - they are trained to perform mostly body work during their training and a minority of their time is spent doing cosmetic facial or head and neck procedures) The generalization about "lifestyle lift" surgeons is unfounded because each one does his/her surgery according to the way they were trained and not according to a cookie cutter method. I invite you to observe the overwhelming majority of patients who ARE satisified with the results as they were carefully selected for the procedures they would undergo.