Dr. Joshua T. Halka, MD, and his private practice, Hedden & Gunn Plastic Surgery, situated in Birmingham, Alabama, have made a lasting impact on both the medical community and the lives of numerous individuals through his significant contributions to the field of plastic surgery and unwavering dedication to patient care. Dr. Halka's reputation as an exceptional plastic surgeon is truly remarkable. His commitment to precision and artistic flair in performing surgical procedures has not only resulted in remarkable transformations for his patients but has also bolstered their self-confidence and overall well-being. His surgical expertise covers a broad range, encompassing intricate reconstructive procedures aimed at restoring function and appearance after trauma or illness, as well as aesthetic enhancements that help patients achieve their desired image.
I cannot adequately express how grateful I am to Dr. Halka. Not only is he a skilled surgeon, he’s also kind and easy to talk to. After having two kids and losing over 80 pounds, I was left with loose, sagging skin. Dr. Halka performed an arm lift and breast lift and a couple of months later, a lower body lift and fat transfer to the breasts. I have experienced zero complications and have healed so well thanks to his care. I am thrilled with my results and plan to have him do my thigh lift in the next few months.
Dr. Halka and his staff are caring, respectful, and professional. Everything they told me about my procedure was accurate and true. They even repaired mistakes from my original surgeon. I highly recommend Dr. Halka.
Dr. Halka did an outstanding job replacing my 15-year-old saline breast implants. I researched extensively before selecting a surgeon. I was dealing with one of the 15-year-old implants having suddenly ruptured and deflated. I was concerned that this might cause complications and less-than-ideal results with the replacement; therefore, I wanted an exceptionally-skilled surgeon. I considered surgeons in Huntsville, Nashville, and Birmingham. After my consultation with Dr. Halka, I was confident that he was the right choice. It was clear to me that he had the knowledge, skill, and experience I was seeking in a surgeon. My impression was right! He did a great job. He replaced both implants (submuscular, saline, inframammary incision); and, the results exceeded my expectations! I’m six-weeks post op, and the scars are healing beautifully. Due to my age (60), I did not expect my results to be excellent. So, I am very happy to say that, because of an outstanding surgeon, the results are truly excellent. I highly recommend Dr. Halka.
I searched for a long time for someone to do a thigh lift. I had lost a significant amount of weight and wanted my thighs to look…better. I had no expectations of being model perfect but just better was good enough for me! I emailed Dr. Halka and he responded! I had emailed numerous other Doctors but no responses except from Dr. Halka. I made my appointment and paid for surgery and in January my life was changed for the better, way beyond my expectations! Believe it or not I didn’t take 1pain pill!! I was amazed that he laid the medication protocol out and found that the Tylenol, Advil, and muscle relaxers handled the pain perfectly! Now my surgery due to the vast amount of skin removed wasn’t without complications, (opening of incision and fluid buildup) but I am so pleased! Thank you Dr. Halka and your wonderful staff! It’s been a pleasure working with you and the life changing difference you made in my life!
After 4 babies and a weight loss of 80lbs, finally decided it was time to get rid of some skin. Went in thinking mommy makeover. Dr Halka told me he didn’t think the tummy tuck results would make me happy and recommended the lower body lift. I was concerned about it flattening out my butt so he also suggested the fat transfer. I could not be more pleased with the results. I cried the first time I saw my new tummy. Best money I’ve ever spent. Totally worth it!! He has been wonderful through the entire process. As an incentive for posting a review, this reviewer received an entry into RealSelf’s monthly $500 gift card giveaway.
I am seven weeks out from breast lift surgery performed by Dr. Halka and I am beyond pleased. From the beginning, Dr. Halka made me feel comfortable. He always had time to answer all my questions. Before surgery, my neck and shoulders were constantly sore. Since the surgery, the pain is gone. The pain after surgery was minimal I am healing faster than I thought I would. The only question I have is why I didn’t do this sooner. I highly recommend Dr. Halka!
What a life-changing experience with Dr. Halka! As a 45-year-old woman, wife, and mother, I finally realized that taking care of myself IS taking care of my family. I decided to put myself and my health first for a change and set a goal to lose the excess weight I've been carrying around my entire life. With bariatric surgery, a complete lifestyle change to a low-carb diet, and 4-6 intense 5 am workouts weekly, I lost 110 pounds and have maintained the loss for two and a half years. This was ah-mazing! However, after two years of hard work and dedication, my body was still a saggy, floppy mess even after the incredible weight loss. I decided to go for a Mommy Makeover consultation at Hedden & Gunn Plastic Surgery after following them on Instagram for about a year. I met with Dr. Halka, who was very thorough and took his time explaining everything, answering all of my questions, and addressing all of my concerns. I went on two other consultations in Huntsville, AL, and Chattanooga, TN as those locations are closer to my home, but ultimately, I chose Dr. Halka's plan for the procedure and recovery because it was the best. We decided on a 360 body lift with muscle repair and lipo, breast augmentation with 500 cc Mentor silicone implants placed above the muscle, and fat transfer to the buttocks. The procedure went smoothly with no complications, and I followed the post-op instructions to the letter. Now, 12 weeks post-op, I am incredibly happy with my results. Dr. Halka didn't just perform a Mommy Makeover, he created a whole new version of me. I'm in the best shape of my life and finally, at 47 years of age, I feel confident, beautiful, and comfortable in my skin. I'm incredibly grateful for Dr. Halka's kindness, talent, and expertise. I can't imagine having a better experience.
I had an amazing experience with Dr. Halka from consultation up to full recovery. He provided me with the required education by explaining things to the best of my understanding. His follow ups after the procedures were excellent. Even when I had complications, he was there to provide the necessary revisions to make sure the end result was great. He is someone you can trust with your body and you can trust his judgment as well. He has strong passion for excellence and has excellent human relations. I will recommend him over and over again for anyone desiring the best outcomes for such procedures. I had a tummy tuck and breast lift.
Dr. Halka is now the only plastic surgeon I trust for any future procedures. In May, he performed a bi-lateral breast augmentation on me and right from the beginning, he provided clear explanations about what to expect after the surgery and how long I would experience discomfort. He was always available to address any questions I had. I expressed complete trust in his ability to select the appropriate size implants that would enhance my body's proportions, and I have never been happier with my body since then. The results are truly amazing, and I receive compliments on them frequently. Throughout the entire process, Dr. Halka displayed a high level of professionalism and made me feel incredibly comfortable. The consultation alone expanded my knowledge about breast augmentation, and I am grateful to him for that.
From the first visit with Dr. Halka I knew I was with a great surgeon. I initially went for a consult of removing excess breast tissue under the arm pit area and flattening my mons pubis area. I expressed a dislike of the lack of fullness in the upper portion of my breast. We discussed an augmentation at that time. I had lots of questions and concerns. Dr. Halka answered my questions with fact and research based responses. Which I appreciated very much! He made me feel comfortable and I left my first appointment feeling knowledgeable and confident in my decision. I asked for upper pole fullness in my breast and a very natural look. He accomplished just that! I am thrilled with my results. 10/10 recommend.
Hello, That is definitely quite a scar. These kind of things happen often when people have large surgeries as children. I recently revised a similar scar on a patient who had open heart surgery as a child. Since the original surgery went through the skin, fat, muscle, and into your abdomen, there is tethering from all the scar tissue which formed along this entire tract. The scar should be excised and all this scar issue should be removed down to the muscle. Once that is performed the surgeon would close in many layers, making sure to put things together they way they were before you had surgery when you were an infant. You would still have a scar but it would be flat like the rest of your skin and should heal quite well. Good luck!
Hello, Tummy tucks do not enter the abdomen, they only involve he skin and fat on top of the muscle. So unless the surgeon enters your abdomen for some reason (the most common reason being to repair a hernia) then there should be 0% risk of having bowel adhesions own the road, if you don't have adhesions then you shouldn't get a bowel obstruction either. Hope this helps!
Hello, This is a tough situation because that much wound breakdown could be from bacteria being in the pocket or on the implant, even if there isn't any, and the wound broke down because of some other reason, the implant could still get infected. If you are otherwise healthy and your incision looks like this roughly 6 weeks after having an implant exchange, it is quite possible that the implant is infected and needs to come out. If at this point it seems to be healing well, there isn't any redness or thickening of the skin in the area, and you feel fine, meaning you aren't having much pain in the area, and you aren't having fevers an chills, then you could try to leave it in place and hope everything heals over. If you have any of those issues at this point, being quite far out from a normal implant exchange, then you should remove the implants and put new ones in once things are healed down the road. I'm sorry you're going through this, I hope this gets resolved quickly for you!
Hello, There are a number of things that could cause the issue you are dealing with. A chronic seroma is likely the most common cause. This could happen after the drains were pulled, and if it did, it would just stay there and cause a hard bulge in the area, and wouldn't go away without surgery to remove the seroma. If you have gained weight since the surgery it is possible that you gained some fat inside your abdomen which is causing this area to stick out more. I think the least likely thing that happened would be that the diastasis repair failed in that area, as that area is under the lowest tension. If that repair fails it is usually around the belly button, not at the very bottom. The good news is that a seroma should be easy to diagnose with an ultrasound. I use an ultrasound in my office daily to look for fluid collections, breast implant ruptures, hernias, etc. So some surgeons have them in their office, otherwise you could get one done at an imaging center to look for the seroma. If they do find one the treatment would be to open your tummy tuck incision back up and remove the seroma and the cavity it sits in, because if you just drain it, it will fill back up. I hope you can figure this out and I hope this information helps you in the process!
Hello, Looking at your picture, it appears that your left implant has "bottomed out", and is sitting lower than the right based on the nipple position and where the scar is sitting. This could be improved with either tacking the pocket to push the implant into the correct position, or doing this and adding mesh for reinforcement. Regarding your silicone implants, it is surprising to hear someone say that they feel harder than saline, often saline is noted to feel harder and people feel like silicone feels more natural. This may have been because your silicone implants are a thicker gel and your saline implants were underfilled, making the silicone feel harder and the saline feel softer, but this is hard to know. The other thing that may be going on is that you may have some degree of capsular contracture, meaning the scar tissue around your implants has thickened and is causing them to feel harder and change shape a bit. I wouldn't say that there is anything wrong with swapping back to saline implants if that's what you wanted to do, but I wouldn't do so assuming they will feel softer, I think there are some other issues at play here. But atleast this information might give you a better idea of what might be going on so you can make the best decision with your future surgeon. Hope this helps!