Bryan Criswell, MD

I searched the entire state of North Carolina to find an outstanding plastic surgeon and was fortunate to find Dr. Bryan Criswell and his team in Charlotte. Dr. Criswell took time to explain the process and the team of people, including the anesthesiologist, were incredibly competent, kind and supportive. The experience from the initial consultation, though surgery and the recovery period exceeded my expectations. The entire team answered all questions with kindness and respect, and I am thrilled with the results so far (3 weeks post-op). I am grateful I made the drive to Charlotte and I highly recommend this group of professionals to anyone considering plastic surgery.

I had been thinking about a tummy tuck for a long time and after meeting the Criswell tram, I felt confident and secure in their approach. I took the plunge on Tuesday (4 days ago) and I can not put into words how happy I am with the results. I have a waist again! My muffin top is gone! I am leaving behind the fear of trying on new clothes, the need to layer clothes to hide my belly, my underwear constantly rolling down and my poor posture.

Dr. Bryan Criswell and his staff walked me through everything thoroughly and with great care and they have been there for me post-op to answer questions and give guidance. He truly is an artist and I am grateful that a friend referred me to this practice. If you are thinking of doing this - don't wait! I am nearly 50 and after 3 c-sections and many diets I just could shake that midsection and the rollover skin. I wish I had done this much sooner. VERY HAPPY!



Updated on 25 Jul 2021:
More pics

Updated on 25 Jul 2021:
This is a front picture one day post op. The pain meds helped a lot and I was able to get up and walk around a bit. Once the pain meds wore off I got pretty tired and had to start taking daily pain meds every six hours. I missed one dose of Advil and it made a big difference in pain levels. Make sure you stay ahead of the pain!

The staff is always so kind and so welcoming. Dr. Criswell is so nice and comforting when it comes to surgery/post surgery cares/concerns. He takes his time with you and makes sure that all your questions are answered and is just one of the kindest doctors I've ever had. Any future plastic surgery/cosmetic surgeries I will have done - will certainly be with Dr. Criswell! :)

My experience with this doctor was amazing and I would recommend him to anyone especially if you want someone that’s not doing it just for the money. He was patient, kind, understanding, honest! I love his team as well they all deserve 10 stars... please don’t just take my word for it research him and you will be pleased I guarantee it!

After having my current saline implants for nearly 10 years (10 years at the end of 2019) I decided to get them redone. Being 20 when I originally got them done, I was limited to the Saline option (you had be to 22 to opt for Silicone back then, not sure if that has changed today). I was also 5’5.5 and about 115 lbs, no kids and Very flat chested. When I say that I was an “A”, I mean a small “A” — didn’t fill out the entire cup of my bra and I couldn’t make cleavage if my life depended on it.

I went to a place here in Charlotte after knowing someone who had recently went to the same doctor, and he said I would have to go saline and that he thinks the most he would be able to fit in my body at the time would be somewhere between 350-400cc’s and that he would put in what he could fit. Now — we also discussed another thing — the anatomy of my chest wall/sternum. I’m not sure if you can tell in these photos, but I have a rather large “drop off” of my sternum as it goes down that is fairly deep. Because of this, the way my breast line fell outwards was at a slant. He told me that, due to my anatomy, it was likely that I would have somewhat of a gap in between my breasts, because he could only go as much inward towards the center of my chest as my muscle went inward towards my chest — the drop off creating that downward diagonal slant outward would limit his ability to get the maximum closeness/cleavage I was looking for, but that it was likely sometime down the road I would get the redone, and the second time around — once my skin has had time to adjust and stretch, I would be able to 1. Go with a bigger implant and 2. Likely be able to get them closer together due not only to the implant being bigger but also because my skin would be easier to stretch and my muscle will have likely expanded enough to allow moving it closer to center more easily.

All that being said, I ended up with 350 saline inpatients overfilled to 375 (or so I thought until they were drained pre BA no. 2 and we actually found 390 in there). No big deal to me. I did realize that he went s big as my body would allow at the time, but I knew immediately — pretty much after about 5 months — that I wished they were bigger. It happens to the best of us, but your first time around, your anatomy will only allow what your anatomy will allow. If it can’t fit bigger, you can’t make it!

I will say lastly, my surgeon was correct — they were as big as they could be at the time and there was a space between my boobs that was due to no fault of his own but my anatomy, but I did and have always hated it and 10 years later, when I had the time and the money, I was more than excited to finally get them redone in hopes of going bigger and also closing that gap as much as my body would allow. These two pics are the day before my second BA, about 9.5 years post 1st BA.

Updated on 28 Mar 2019:
As I said before, my main goals my second time round with this BA were to 1. Get them closer together and 2. Get them bigger. I had a couple consultations with some docs, and wound up at Dr. Criswell’s. He did my friend’s BA about 8 months prior, so not only did I get to see his work firsthand (which was amazing) but his bedside manner is just over the top.

I went in and explained what I wanted, what my goals were and what I was hoping to achieve. He told me, realistically, what he thought he could do for me and the different ways he would try to get me my desired results. He said he may be limited by my anatomy a little (which we already knew) but that he knows one of my biggest goals is getting them closer together and that he would try his best to get me to as close to what I wanted as possible. When tying to decide size, I had an idea I wanted to be around 500 but didn’t really know, because sizers are hard to try in over implants. He told me I could hold off on picking a size, come in on surgery day and he would drain (yes, DRAIN!) one of my implants so that I could try on sizers before my surgery starting from scratch. FYI — that’s what we did and no, it didn’t hurt too bad. If anything, just a slight pinching feeling.

His nurses still went above and beyond and we tried on sizers over my implant anyway and I left my consultation pleased with both him and his nurses, and the sweetest office coordinator Darla. Not one person in this office ever made me feel rushed or like I was asking too many questions (I asked a lot) and the whole experience was just really really great from the get go. So I booked my surgery for March 26 and I started counting down the days....

Updated on 28 Mar 2019:
It is now two days post op. I went in on morning on surgery and had my implant drained, tried on a million sizers and finally decided on a range, somewhere between 500 and 550. Dr. Criswell did throw me a curveball when he came in and told me that after looking at my photos (of myself) and the look I was going for and knowing that my main goal is to get them closer, he wanted to know how I got about going over the muscle. This shocked me because I hadn’t ever considered it, nor did I have any time to research it! He said that, because of the way my chest muscle and sternum are, he’s 90% sure he’d get in there and find that either A. My muscle was cut too much previously and he would have no choice but to go over, or B. If he could go under, he would be very very limited as to how close together he could get them, as he can only go as far inward as my muscle goes inward and I may be happier going on too bc he has a little more leeway to work. I was worried, obviously, but ended up telling him to use his best judgement. He is the expert, after all, and at the end of the day, I want them to look as best they can regardless of where they are placed.

Skip to the good stuff, I walked myself back to the OR, they put me under and I woke up with one of the nurses in a chair and a warm blanket over me. I’m not sure who told me what size I had gotten, her or my boyfriend or the Doc, but someone told me he went it’s 545cc over the muscle and that everything went great.

The first night went well. I think because I was coming off anesthesia and still had pain meds in me and then they also gave me one of my pills before I left, I felt fine. Obviously hard to walk and move around as usual, but I just hung out in bed and relaxed. Sleeping upright on my back has got to be the worst because I’m not a back sleeper at all. I don’t so much feel my incisions but where he injected my boob to drain the one, that injection site is so sore!!

I’m on my second day post op right now and feeling a tad better. It’s a little easier to get up out of bed without help today than it was yesterday. I was supposed to be able to take a shower 24 hours post surgery but in all honesty I was kind of Nervous to take the bra and gauze off so I have yet. Will probably do that later and update as well. I have a pic from day 1 post op, about 6 hours after surgery and will take another today for 2 days post.

Updated on 28 Mar 2019:
I finally mustered up the courage to take my bra and bandages off and shower today. It didn’t hurt, but I was just nervous that the weight of them might make me feel strange since my incisions are underneath. It didn’t.

They actually look REALLY good for being two days post op. It looks like he did a really great job closing the gap I had before, which was my “biggest thing” so I’m very happy about that. My right side, which is* the right side in the photos doesn’t seem AS rounded out at the bottom. There is a little flat spot where the other is completely round but I’m thinking it will settle and round out. Will attach photos

Updated on 7 Apr 2019:
All in all, things are good so far. My right boob on the underside isn’t as rounded out as the other one, but I think with time it will round out. Remember ten years back to my first BA, both sides didn’t heal at the same pace but they ended up just fine. A little bruising on the left side but the doc said it is fine — just healing

Updated on 7 Apr 2019:
Woke up this morning and my right boob, the one that wasn’t as round as the other, has rounded out.

Updated on 7 Apr 2019:
Things are still shaping up well. Looking good — still very very firm but that is to be expected.

Updated on 7 Apr 2019:
Forgot to add the photo...9 days post op.

Updated on 10 Apr 2019:
Hi all! Just wanted to update real quick, as I didn’t get to it yesterday. I am 15 days post op today, and feeling good. I go back for my next post op appt a week from today, which will put me at about 3 weeks post and I’m hopping to get news that I can at the very least resume light cardio! Fingers crossed! Missing the gym????

Updated on 3 Jun 2019:
Been too long since I updated last but this was from 5 weeks post in gym clothes bd a sports bra. Again, 545cc subGLANDular.

Updated on 3 Jun 2019:
So this is from this past Saturday, which we 9 weeks 4 days post surgery. My recovery has gone great! I absolutely LOVE how close they are now. Especially considering where I started from (see before pics in beginning of this update.) No complications this far. My right boob (looks more rounded at the top in the photo) still needs to drop. As you can see it’s not quite settled yet, as it’s higher and still way more round at the top than the other. The incision on my left side is perfectly in my crease, whereas my right incision is still on the flat part of my body at the very tippy top of my rib cage. Hoping it drops more. Still doing exercises and check back with Dr. C for my 3 month in a few weeks. I do have slight rippling when I lean too far one way (left or right), but it is only noticeable when I move a certain way and due to not fault of my surgeon. Going over the muscle allowed him to get my boobs closer together, which was my number one concern when getting them redone and would not have been possible had he gone under the muscle — you always risk slight rippling when going IV the muscle, especially if you have thin or little breast tissue, and to be honest, since you can only see it if I dramatically move a certain way, I don’t even care. They look 1,000 times better than they did and you have to realize you can not achieve perfection.

Dr Criswell replaced my saline implants with Natrelle implants and in Jan 2018. He listened to my concerns, made recommendations and we decided together on the best option for me. Six months after surgery and I couldn’t be happier. Side note, he’s also great injecting Botox.

I am completely satisfied with my experience, from my first visit to every follow up. The nurses and coordinators are great, Dr. Criswell did a fantastic job, and everything was professional. Absolutely nothing fell through the cracks. I would recommend this practice to anyone.

Dr. Criswell is extremely competent in performing plastic surgery. He gives personal attention to his patients and is kind and caring as a physician. I highly recommend Dr. Criswell if you are considering any type of plastic surgery. You won’t be disappointed with his skills.

Dr. Bryan Criswell preformed my Lower Abdomal Lipo and Butt Augmentation back in August of 2017. I walked into his office knowing what I wanted and he gave me exactly that and more. His staff is absolutely amazing and when you schedule an appointment at 3pm you will see him at 3pm unlike most doctors. For the quality of work he does his prices are unbeatable. Dr. Bryan Criswell stands by his work 110% and will do all he can to go over and beyond you expectations. I absolutely love my results and I get a lot of compliments!

I turned 40 in Feb of 2017 and knew I needed to do something to lose the weight and keep it off for good! I set a goal to lose 40 pounds and when I achieved that, my reward would be the tummy tuck. I have struggled my entire life with my “pooch”... it runs in my family. I hit my goal by Oct and booked my surgery for Nov 7th. I talked to several people and read Tons of reviews on this website before the surgery and prepared myself for the pain. One bit of advice, prepare yourself for the emotional/mental pain as well. You can’t do anything to help your family for a couple of weeks and that was harder for me than the physical pain. I’m 9 weeks Post-op and in love with the results. Started back at the gym this past week to start building muscle and toning. Can’t wait to wear a 2 piece this summer at the pool! First time in over 10 years!!! Feel free to reach out with any questions.