The thing I love about plastic surgery is the ability to transform lives in a way that can inspire and empower. I'm a big believer in being your best self and living your best life. I also like to focus on diversity in beauty, and celebrating who you are as a unique individual.
I truly can't say enough wonderful things about Dr. Patel, Vita and her team! Recently very early on a Sunday morning I had an accident that left lacerations on my face. Dr Patel and Vita offered help and kindness. I will never forget their generosity when I was in need! Above and Beyond!! I'm eternally grateful.
Top notch surgeon & office with the vibe of hanging out with some of your coolest friends. I researched A LOT of doctors, and paid out a chunk of $$$ for several different consults around the city. Dr. Anita Patel stood out for many reasons. She gave me two full consults and did not charge for the second. She is very smart and extremely personable. She listens, and is also meticulous in giving you the appearance you are looking for. The whole office, Jayde and Gia, are simply terrific. They promptly answered every question I nervously pestered them with before the surgery, and always with good humor and professionalism. I wanted a female plastic surgeon (male surgeons are great too, but women seem to listen better), to replace old breast implants that had been in for 20 plus years, and were giving me problems. One of them had actually become infected and had to be removed under emergency circumstances in 2020. The result was that I spent the last two years lopsided, feeling horrible about my body, and worried about ever putting implants back in. So, I was looking to do two procedures: reconstruction on one, and removal and replacement on the other. I was missing breast tissue on the one that had the implant out under emergency condition, and it looked mangled. Ugh! Dr. Patel takes her time and really explains everything. After avoiding doing the surgery for such a long time, I finally committed and set the date. Dr. Patel uses a great surgery center in Beverly Hills with a wonderful staff. When surgery day arrived, Dr. Patel came to speak with me right before. She made me feel so calm and reassured that I entered the operating room feeling confident and relaxed. My incisions are tiny, with meticulous stitching. One side healed up almost overnight. I've had no swelling, only slight discomfort for one day, and no bruising. I virtually have no scars, and I'm only 4 weeks out! I got saline implants as I did not want silicone like before, and they look and feel every bit as good as silicone. I also opted for smaller implants than I had before, as I wanted a very natural look, and that's exactly what I got. I cannot recommend Dr. Patel, and her whole team, enough. If you want GREAT surgery with a laid back, completely professional surgical team, Patel and her office are for you. She listens and delivers. There are lots of surgeons in Los Angeles, but not many that combine real aesthetic skill with an unpretentious yet highly professional atmosphere. ( Just to be clear, I also did my due diligence. I made sure to go into surgery well-rested, doing pre-op vitamin drips, & hyperbaric oxygen treatments, etc. You won't get good results if you don't take care of your body.)
Dr. Patel was a delight! I was amazed by her warm demeanor, meticulous surgical skill, and aesthetic talent. She was receptive to all of wants and concerns. She has helped me obtain natural looking, beautiful results. My journey with Dr. Patel was magical from start to finish. Her friendly and accommodating staff kept me prepared throughout the process. They were always available for questions and concerns, no matter how small.
Dr. Patel did an amazing job with my lip fillers. She was very informative and made me feel so comfortable throughout the whole process. My results look amazing! The staff is also so knowledgeable and friendly! 10/10 recommend!! Updated on 31 Dec 2020: I have had the best experiences with Dr. Patel! She is honest and detail oriented. She will never try to upsell you and gives her honest opinion, and it works! She recommended I get less lip filler than I wanted and I’m so glad I listened to her. My results look absolutely amazing and I am in love with them! My friends think the same, I hope they make the same decision as me! Not only is Dr. Patel the best, but her office is so pretty and her staff is even better. So much love for everyone here!
Dr Anita Patel is simply the best. I feel like I'm in such great hands with her. She is professional, courteous, lovely and puts me at ease every single time. Im so glad I found her and would highly recommend her for anything that you need. She is always on top of the game and introducing new and updated techniques. Her clinic is beautiful and the staff are always so helpful. Thank you
Hello Real Self readers, My name is J. Peters and I am so glad to bring this testimonial to you. I started my discovery process by combing through many doctors on this site and have landed firmly in the arms of the office of Dr. Anita Patel in Beverly Hills, CA. Her ability to listen to patient concerns is far above and beyond any other normal consultation experience I have undergone, and I have had plenty. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that she is a member of MENSA, and has an incredibly high IQ. But with that said, she is a delight to talk with and has a great sense of humor on top of it all. She is incredibly observant and assessed my concerns with skill while taking into consideration the smallest details of any procedure we discussed. She explained them fully to me so that my comprehension was complete with regard to the intended results vs. my expectations. She even managed to suggest some alternatives to me as options with lower costs and less downtime, which is something other Doctors have not done for me before. Her ability to pay attention to the smallest detail is a real plus when you consider the "slam bam thank you mam' attitude of most surgeons. I guess what I am trying to say is that she has vision, she sees clearly, she is an ARTIST as well as a Cosmetic Surgeon and I felt SAFE with her from the very beginning. I went in to discuss several procedures, Tummy Tuck/Lipo to back of Hips/ fat injections into my outer Libia, along with a scar revision on my right breast from a botched job many years ago. (I just got sick of living with his mistake) These were areas, which at my age, were in bad need of some help. First we discussed the fat transfer and she suggested a procedure called Thermiva. I had my first one of three. June (Dr. Patel's wonderful assistant)who talked me down and into a complete state of relaxation, made it possible for me to actually enjoy the procedure. June is the perfect compliment to Dr. Patel and she has a wonderful way about her which totally disarms any fear you might have with the work at hand. She was sweet, attentive, and most adept at her duties, plus I really liked her! Now mind you, this procedure stimulates collagen both inside and out of the vagina. Wow.....it actually felt so warm and wonderful, I was sorry when it ended! Luckily I have two more sessions to go...and even after one session, I could clearly see the difference in my puffy little lips down there. Needless to say the puffy was indeed on the inside too.....now that made my hubby really happy.....so I have two more sessions, have put down the deposit for my tummy/tuck. Dr. Patel also did the revision on my breast....it looks just amazing since her stitches are so very fine and her lines are perfect. Her motto is "you're not married to the stitch", simply put, if she doesn't like the way it looks she takes them out and does them again...now that's a doctor you can trust.... Now that I have told you just how wonderful she and her staff are....please do me a favor, leave room for me to get back in with her for the rest of my procedures! All kidding aside, I will post pics before and after of my tummy tuck and boob restoration! May God Bless and keep you all from making the wrong decisions on a Doctor to trust with your beautiful self.....
She is amazing at what she does and working with you to plan out how to age beautifully. My ultimate goal is to age naturally and slow things down. Dr Patel takes the time to work with me so I look natural ;) I take her advice and she never pushes things on me ever. I also have autoimmune so she picks the best products that don't interfere with my natural immune system. I was scared to get botox and i must say...i LOVE the effects. Its pretty amazing. Thank you so so much your team Zuny and Joy are fantastic too.
Dr. Patel and her staff are simply wonderful. I was referred to her from Westside Medical Spa and they patiently kept in contact with me for over a year while I considered a breast re-aug. I moved forward with Dr. Patel b/c she I found her so good-natured, relatable and easy to trust. Her assistant June is the best -- accessible, helpful, calming, always kept me well-informed. I never felt pressured. The prep and surgery from beginning to end was smooth and fairly stress-free. When I had concerns about cost, they worked with my budget. When I was indecisive on size, they had no issue with me coming into the office multiple times to try on samples. When I had last minute issues with a pharmacy having a prescription available post-op, June called the pharmacy and resolved the issue quickly. When I was experiencing post-op nausea late at night, June contacted a 24-hour pharmacy and sent in an anti-nausea prescription for immediate pick-up. This kind of attention and service is what separates one doctor from another. And I love my results. Thank you Dr. Patel and June!
Dr. Anita Patel is an absolute sweetheart with the most genuine patient interests in mind. I could tell right away that she has such kind heart and is so caring for her patients. Her office is very welcoming and it starts with her assistants June and Zuny, who genuinely try to understand you and your needs. The office itself also has a great aesthetic and is very relaxing to be in. For reference on the reason for my visit, I went in for a consult to discuss a problem I had inside of my nose and Dr. Patel devoted an hour and a half getting to know me and then discussing the procedure itself. She gave me a proper diagnosis(collapse of internal valve), broke down how she would go about fixing it, and even recommended names of other colleagues/surgeons I could potentially go to for further information/consults. I went into Dr. Patel's office having done a good amount of research from my own end, so I was able to grasp what she was articulating from an anatomy/function perspective, but she explained everything very clearly to make sure that we were on the same page. I love Dr. Patel and would trust her with any procedure.
Dr. Patel is amazing! I did my lips and a few other procedures at her office and I can honestly say I would never want to go anywhere else! She really cares about what you want and also likes to keep it natural. The office is so nice and a very relaxing environment. She is very down to earth and made me feel comfortable throughout my whole experience.
The main differentiating factor between tummy tuck and lipo is whether or not you have skin laxity, versus just excess volume. You're in great shape overall, and it's hard to tell the degree of skin laxity on the photo. Lipo is great at reducing excess volume, and creating a leaner shape and contours. It does not however tighten the underlying abdominal fascia, or remove excess skin, like the tummy tuck. One additional useful view would be the abdomen when bending forward. If there are a lot of wrinkles and loose skin in that view, then you may be a better candidate for a tummy tuck. Often after 3 pregnancies, there has been enough stretching of the skin and fascia, creating a small bulge or pooch, that makes one a great tummy tuck candidates. In person, a surgeon can determine if the contour is a result of a small amount of fat (where lipo and later skin tightening are sufficient, even if there is some skin laxity left), or if it's from stretched abdominal fascia or rectus diastasis (better off with a tummy tuck).
I think you're referring to a mini tummy tuck, not a full tummy tuck. Full tummy tucks tighten the abdominal skin from top to bottom, meaning from the lower border of your sternum in the middle, and the borders of the ribs along either side, all the way down to the pubic area below. Mini tummy tucks, on the other hand, by definition only tighten the skin below the belly button. Reverse tummy tucks are useful if there is only laxity above the belly button, and one does not mind having scars along the breast folds. Full tummy tucks are by far the most common, since the majority of patients have laxity above and below the belly button.
I agree with a full tummy tuck, since there is some skin laxity or looseness above the belly button as well as below, and would make the incision as long as it needs to be to give the best final result. The term "shorter scar" is relative, and not exactly equivalent to "short scar", so it's hard to know what that surgeon means as far as how long she/he plans to make the incision. Personally, I typically like to make the incision a bit longer than where the lower abdominal skin fold ends, if one has a skin fold. In my experience by doing so, the end result is a nice flat contour, and the skin is tightened throughout. Making an incision shorter than ones needs does not give a better aesthetic result (and it sounds like you already know that!), because it can create bunching or pleating on the ends and incomplete correction of laxity. The more before and after photos you look at, the more you see different surgeons have different styles in how to contour that lower abdominal incision (some smooth and curved along the abdomen, some with sharper angles, some with a higher central portion, etc), the type of belly button incision and placement, and also how long the incision is for a given result. You can always ask your surgeon for more clarity on how long the "shorter scar" is, and discuss your concerns, so you're on the same page before surgery.
Breast augmentation would not be expected to make it better or worse. Whatever tenderness and changes you are having related to your cycle would likely continue, but not necessarily be any worse.
Sorry to hear about your experience. What you are describing is not normal for a tummy tuck. The usual course for a tummy tuck is pain that is the worst the first few days after surgery, and then resolving over time, with most patients off of pain medication within the first week or so. The swelling typically improves a lot after the first 2-3 weeks, and then the rest gradually resolves. If you are having unbearable pain and swelling persisting for 3 years, the source of this pain and swelling needs to be sorted out before being able to answer your question. Normal scar tissue that forms after a tummy tuck does not create pain or swelling like you are describing, even when a large amount of skin is removed. It would be a good idea to speak to your plastic surgeon who did your tummy tuck and ask if there were any unusual events or findings during surgery, and ask if the surgeon has any insight into your current symptoms. I understand you may want to choose a different plastic surgeon at this point, and getting additional opinions and evaluations is a good idea if you are not comfortable with your original surgeon. Unfortunately, most plastic surgeons do not accept insurance, so if you are having trouble finding one who does, you could ask your insurance which plastic surgeons participate in your plan and see what is available.