Dr. Joseph Michaels is a board-certified plastic surgeon serving patients in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. At his practice, Michaels Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgery, Dr. Michaels offers a range of surgical procedures for the face, breast, and body, but his primary area of expertise lies with body contouring procedures, especially for patients who have experienced significant weight loss.

Dr. Michaels has two practices in the DMV area: one in Rockville, Maryland, and the other in Fairfax, Virginia. He also welcomes consultations (virtually or in-person) with patients from other parts of the United States and abroad.

Patients who have lost a lot of weight—either through a healthy diet and exercise or with the help of bariatric surgery—are frequently left with sagging skin. Along with potential hygiene and health issues, excess skin can distort their body’s true appearance and make it feel as if their weight loss journey isn’t yet finished.

That’s where Dr. Michaels’s renowned body sculpting skills come into play, with a customized combination of skin removal surgery and body contouring. Procedures may include liposuction (SmartLipo, VASER lipo, or tumescent liposuction), tummy tucks, breast lifts, arm lifts, or a full upper and/or lower body lift.

Dr. Michaels received his medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. After completing two residencies at the New York University Medical Center in general and plastic surgery, he was accepted into one of the few fellowships specializing in post-weight loss body contouring at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, making him a true expert in this field.

The depth of Dr. Michaels’s body contouring experience has made him an invaluable resource, often tapped as an expert by the media and scientific journals alike. He has been featured on CNN and Doctor Radio on SiriusXM and written more than 10 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He was the co-first author of the James Barrett Brown Award manuscript, an award presented to the best paper on a plastic surgery-related topic, published in the elite Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery journal in 2009.

Passionate about furthering advancements in plastic surgery, Dr. Michaels frequently performs research. He has been an investigator in FDA-approved clinical trials, most notably of tissue glue used in tummy tuck surgery (abdominoplasty).

He also fosters innovations in his field by directly supporting the next generation of doctors. In addition to being an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the department of plastic and reconstructive surgery, he helps train plastic surgery residents from Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins Hospitals.

Dr. Michaels has more than 12 years of experience as a plastic surgeon. In addition to being board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, he is a member of two professional organizations: The Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

In his life outside his medical practices, he is a proud husband as well as a doting father to three wonderful kids.