Lavinia K. Chong, MD

Dra. Chong, es una doctora muy amable, muy profesional, muy consciente, y le dedica el tiempo a su paciente.
Tuve una experiencia y resultados muy satisfactorios de mi cirugía y regresaría en el futuro con el 100% de seguridad de que de nuevo estoy en las mejores manos.
Gracias Dra Chong por su excelente trabajo y además la doctora habla perfectamente el español y gracias a todo su equipo de trabajo porque todos son muy amables

First and foremost, I just want to say thank you to Dr. Lavinia Chong and the entire staff for making me feel like apart of their family. Not only am I happy and satisfied with my procedure, but I now thanks for Dr. Chong I am more confident, this wasn’t just a cosmetic surgery for me, it has been something that has changed my life completely. You are a hero, thanks to Dr. I can now feel like myself again.

I am naturally a small and petite woman so finding just the right size in breast for me has always been a challenge. I’ve been to two other surgeons before and it just wasnt the right fit, either too small or way too big. With Dr. Chong she really made sure to go with the right size for my body, she was very critic with her measurements and that’s what I really appreciated most about her, was because I felt like she really cared about my body and what I really wanted. Going to get my breast revision done with Dr Chong has been the best decision of my life and I wish I had gone to her sooner. She is truly the best at what she does hands down.

You don’t need to visit any doctor other than Dr. Lavinia Chong. Recommended by me and relatives and friends that have used her services. Extremely recommended to visit her first and last for your needs.

Please read if you’re are looking for a plastic surgeon that will go above and beyond for her patients.

I met Dr. Chong in 2014 after years of searching for a doctor that was willing to fix the mistakes of my prior surgeons. After meeting with her she accepted the challenge. She explained her surgical plan in detail & set my expectations accordingly. My surgery consisted of a full breast reconstruction, lift, implant exchange, internal bra (using strattice) and scar revision. After surgery she informed me that my right silicone implant had been exploded for some time, which explained years of stomach pain no other doctor was willing to investigate. My surgery was a success & my results surpassed my expectations. I was so impressed by her work & bedside manner that I started seeing her regularly for botox & fillers.

In November 2020 she literally saved my life. After a workout my left boob swelled up almost 2x the size of my right boob. I immediately reach out to her & without hesitation she instructed me to go to Hoag for an ultrasound. The result were fluid around the implant, which isn’t unheard of and most of the time nothing to be alarmed of. Dr. Chong insisted I have the fluid tested to rule out a very rare fairly unheard-of cancer, BIA-ALCL (Breast implant associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma), which is caused by textured implants. Unfortunately, my test came back positive for BIA-ALCL. Most doctors would have pushed me off to an oncologist. Not Dr. Chong she had already reached out to her colleague at MD Anderson in Houston, who referred her to a doctor that specialized in & spearheaded the research of this specific cancer. Within a week I was off to Houston for treatment. Luckily, the cancer did not spread and was localized to the capsule of my implant. Dr. Chong took over my care when I returned to home & regularly video conferenced with my doctor in Houston. Shortly after returning home, I developed a staph infection from the hospital and a seroma. Unfortunately, after multiple surgeries in 2021, I ended up losing both of my boobs because the seroma & infection would not go away.
Finally in 2022 I was healthy enough to have reconstructive surgery and couldn’t be happier with the results. Throughout this nightmare Dr. Chong never left my side, cared for me like I was family and never gave up on me. I could never repay her for all the blood sweat and tears her & her staff put into my care. I’ve had several plastic surgeons over the years and she is hands down the best. Her staff is amazing, attentive, kind and always a pleasure. I have referred my friends to her & they are extremely happy with their results.
If you are looking for a doctor that strives for perfection, has integrity and a superb bedside manner Dr. Chong is the doctor for you. I highly recommend her and trust her with my life.

Amazing experience. Dr. Chong was prompt, highly skilled, painless and caring. The results were excellent. I will certainly never go to any other plastic surgeon and I would not hesitate to recommend her.

Hi everyone,
I recently had my breast implants removed under local anesthesia by Dr. Chong. I previously had another set of breast implants removed by Dr. Chong years ago and both experiences were great!
I wanted to have my surgery with Dr. Chong again because I feel very confident in her abilities; she is very intelligent and a skilled surgeon but, a humble and down to earth person. Her team is amazing and talked to me throughout the duration of the procedure, which was an awesome distraction because I didn't even realize when Dr. Chong had finished.
Recovery has been great. The first two days I just felt like I had a couple of cat scratches on my chest and did not take any pain medication. I have been wearing the compression bra Dr. Chong provided me with along with the elastic compression bandage on top of the bra day and night except for when I shower.
I had my first set of implants for about a year and I believe they were around 525/550cc; removed them and then about 6 months later got another smaller set, which I had for approximately 7.5 years and were around 350cc/375cc. Although I liked the look of them initially, they became more uncomfortable over time and I feel that they no longer fit my lifestyle as I enjoy running.
If you are considering breast implant removal surgery without a lift or additional procedures I feel that it is important to have realistic expectations. I prepared myself for any potential outcome after the breast implant removal and would like to avoid any additional procedures.
I felt compelled to write another review with photos because I feel that it is important for others considering breast implant removal to be able to see an additional outcome, especially because one of my breasts has folds in it; I would want to be able to see someone's progress with that issue as well.
I did not have folds in my breast after the first implant removal, so it will be interesting to see how that evolves or "unfolds", rather... pun totally intended. I am content with this outcome either way!
Good luck to all of you on your journeys and happy healing :).

Updated on 26 Aug 2021:
Photo of 7.5 year old breast implants, one week before removal. The implants had begun to look bottomed out. They also would fall far to the sides on my chest when laying down; felt pretty uncomfortable.

Updated on 30 Aug 2021:
Hello. Just wanted to do a quick update since I have begun to notice some changes in the left breast in terms of the depth of the folds. Both breasts seem to be more full as well. Have a beautiful day!

Updated on 3 Sep 2021:
Hello everyone,
Just wanted to do another quick update as the folding in my left breast has improved big time. I'm happy with the progress! I will update again at the six week post op mark. Have a great weekend!

Updated on 30 Sep 2021:
Hello and happy fall since we are officially in the best season of the year! I am 6 weeks out from surgery today and I feel awesome. The crease is no longer really noticeable, I can see the slightest hint of a crease if I lean a certain way, but I am very happy and pleased with the outcome.

I wanted to note some additional, relevant information; I am 32 years old and I have had two beautiful children, both of whom I breastfed for around 6 months each. I stopped wearing the chest wrap a couple of weeks ago and have since been wearing a compression bra solely. I will update at the 24 week post surgery mark.

Take care and happy healing!

Updated on 26 Jan 2022:
Hi everyone,

I hope that you are all doing very well! I feel that my breasts have "fluffed up" quite a bit. I did gain about 6 lbs over the holidays, which may have contributed. I feel very pleased and happy with how things are progressing. I'll update again in the future. <3

Updated on 27 Sep 2022:
Hello everyone,

It has been a year since my breast implant removal. The year flew by! I'm still happy with my decision to remove the implants. I can still see a crease in my left breast at times, but at this point I'm not bothered enough by it to pursue treatment for it. I feel more comfortable without the breast implants and have been having fun shopping for cute little bralettes. I wish you all well on your own journeys. Take care!

I got my breast implants done 15 years ago. I was just a kid only 21. I didn’t know what I was really doing at the time. All I knew is the my breasts were uneven in size and I wanted to correct that. My first surgeon was amazing and did a great job but the implants he chose were extremely large for my frame. At the time huge boobs were the trend. I immediately wanted to take them out. Over time I lost weight and just told myself it was my consequence and that I had to just deal with it. I am now 37 years old and the size still bothers me a lot. I have a petit slender frame and have a hard time finding tops that are size small or Xsmall but large enough in the bust area. I was a triple D after my first surgery I contemplated taking them out entirely but worried about the skin that had been stretched out for 15 years and that I would still be unhappy with my uneven breast. I originally got saline implants under the muscle with the incision in the fold. I never experienced any bad symptoms with them and would have kept them in if I liked the size.
I have been going to Dr. Chong for retinol peels and fillers so each visit we talked a little about it until I finally decided to have a consultation with her. She was extremely patient with me and listened to all of concerns, fears, and answered all of my questions. I began looking on her work on realself and didn’t even have to think twice about getting a second opinion with another surgeon. She had me send her and show her lots of pictures of what I wanted. I wanted to stick with saline under the muscle with the same incision since my body worked well with it before. She did suggest silicone at first but as soon as I mentioned I was more comfortable with saline she pivoted and we started to look at the saline implants we were going to order. I think I researched so much that I read all of her reviews on her. I remember one in particular that said it was a waste of money she was downsizing as well and felt they were too big. I don’t understand how that happened because Dr. Chong has a consultation with you were you order the ones you want. In my case we ordered 3 sizes since I have 2 uneven breasts. I advocated after doing a lot of research what size were the ones I wanted to order. I was 460 cc’s on the left breast and 410 cc’s on the right. Based of the pictures Dr.Chong did recommend 300cc’s but based off my research and my girlfriends having the size I wanted I said I want to be at 250cc’s. So together we ordered saline moderate plus with a 225 implant, and 2 250ccimpkants. With saline you have to overfill to not get the ripple effect. She ended up having to keep the 50cc difference between my 2 breast to create better symmetry. She ended up putting the 225 implant in my right breast and filled it up to 250cc’s and put the 250cc implant in my left breast and filled it 300cc’s. She also did a suture capulorphsy, she had to modify the pocket for the smaller implant. Dr. Chong did a great job explaining the implant we chose had a similar circumference around so it would take much por let modification but the moderate plus projects way less profile wise. My original implant was a saline mentor high profile implant. It stuck out so much when I turned side ways. What I was most worried about was the extra skin or loose skin. She did not do a breast lift, I have not had children and she measured and assured me I would not need one. She also said since I am Latina and olive skin that my skin should go back. I gotta admit that should is a little terrifying but I am a firm believer in meditation and telling your body how to heal so that’s what I have been doing and I am happy to report the skin has gone back! I also bought some Olay skin re-tightening cream for your face that I applied daily where the skin was loose on the sides and I have only taken off the medical bra to showers and wash it but I did purchase a secondary one. You can buy one from Dr. Chong or she can give you a website where to order it from. I am a week out now still in some pain but off of the pain medication. They are still a bit swollen which helps when you are downsizing for the skin to gradually go back. I absolutely love them these fit my body a lot better, look very natural and look like they are my own. Dr. Chong was able to maintain my cleavage and I love everything she did. I feel like I even look more slender now. I also had a lot of back issues and I can already feel the relief off my back.

Updated on 8 Jul 2020:
I had my week out post op appointment with Nicole who is amazing and will make you feel so good about the entire process. All of Dr. Ching’s staff are amazing. Erika and Nancy will always take care of you and relay any information to Dr. Chong for you if for some reason you can’t speak to Dr. Chong. They also get back to you in a timely manner. I am now 1 and a half weeks out and I am off the pain medication I am just taking Tylenol. It stings and burns a little from time to time but that’s part of the healing process.
I will post the bra I bought. When purchasing your own I recommend to go up 2 sizes in the band. I am normally a 32 in a bra and did a 36 you have to remember you will be sore where the incision is and when you are reclined your rib cage expands so even one size up is not comfortable for 24hr use.
My skin on the sides still need to go back more but I am very happy with the natural appearance and each day they look better and better.

Updated on 10 Jul 2020:
I realized I didn't mention I am 5'7" and I weigh around 118lbs. I wore a 32DDD bra before and I was shooting for a C cup. Once I can wear a bra I will update what my bra size ends up being.

My Dr. also recommended Galaflex mesh that Dr.s call the internal bra to help support the internal stretched out tissue. I opted out of this and she did a suture calsaphory which is the old fashion way of doing it and more cost effective. Both dissolve in about 6 months.

Updated on 10 Jul 2020:
These 2 photos are what I used for reference and they are from this realself website. It took me lots of research and hours to find the ones I liked. I think it helps to get measure correctly as well pre-surgery. If you are in the states get measured at Nordstrom for your true bra size the majority of women are in the wrong bra size. Although a surgeon may say it’s a C it may be a lot bigger of a size. By getting measured correctly by certified bra fitters you can have a better gauge of getting the true bra size you really want. Wish I had that knowledge before my very first surgery.

BEST DAY EVER! Thank you, Dr. Chong for giving me back my athletic body. Today, was the day I got to hit the trails on my mountain bike after having surgery just over 4 weeks ago. I’ve always been a very athletic person, playing competitive soccer when I was younger, running track in college which developed into a love of long-distance running in my 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s, as well as a passion for mountain biking which started in my early 30’s.

After having my two beautiful boys and nursing them, I wasn’t happy with the way my once perky B cup breasts looked. I made the decision to have a breast augmentation without really understanding the full ramifications and the impact this decision would have on my athletic performance and overall comfort.

In 2005, at the time of augmentation, I had a surgeon that really didn’t “hear me.” He told me I’d regret not going larger with my implants. Unfortunately, I listened to his advice and decided to go bigger. He also felt so strongly that while I was under the knife, he took the liberties of increasing my saline implants larger than I would have liked. I’m 5’1” and ended up with a very full D cup breast size. For the past 5 years, I have had shoulder and back pain due to the weight of these implants. The implants were 490cc and 465cc.

Making the decision to have my implants removed was something I didn’t take lightly. I knew my first priority was to find a plastic surgeon who would listen to me and understand my lifestyle. I spent time researching and meeting with physicians in my area and after meeting with Dr. L. Chong, I knew she was the one! Dr. Chong is very personable, compassionate, and a highly skilled surgeon. She performed a breast explant with a lift using the latest surgical practices. I am extremely pleased with the results. Since the date of the surgery I no longer have shoulder or back pain and I am back to my perky B cup. Every week my breasts look better, and my scars are healing nicely.

From the moment I met her, Dr. Chong listened to what I wanted, took the time to get to know me, and has provided me with the best care. It is without reservation that I recommend Dr. Lavinia Chong for any of your plastic surgery needs.

Thank you, Dr. Chong and “Go Warriors!”

Lisa D.

After 2 sets of implants over 40 years, my breasts were badly disfigured. Scar tissue had formed hard ridges on one breast. Both were hard and misshapen. I wanted the implants removed and my breasts restored. This required, I felt, a more experienced and talented doctor. Anything less might have left me worse off than before. So I spent a lot of time talking to people and researching the backgrounds and reputations of plastic surgeons in Orange County. The name that kept coming up was Dr. Lavinia Chong. I am so glad I found and chose her to help me get normal breasts again. She spent a lot of time evaluating the situation given the level of disfigurement in my situation. I wasn’t just a unit on an assembly line. She took the time and gave me all the attention necessary. She really cares about her patients; and her staff was, in every way, perfect: supportive, knowledgeable and professional. Most importantly, I am so very happy with the result. Thank you, Thank you, Dr. Chong.

I had been wishing for a breast reduction for many years and finally my husband said, "just do it!" My PCP referred me to Dr. Chong. Her bedside manner and the friendliness of her staff won me over! I was also delighted to find out that my insurance would pay for the whole thing! Dr. Chong is experienced, professional, and careful. She is also considerate, engaged, and makes you feel like you're the only patient she has! She takes time to listen, explain everything, and answer questions. The procedure was much easier than I anticipated (NOTE: do NOT watch YouTube videos BEFORE the procedure! I treated myself to watching them in bed my first night home . . . and sharing them with my spouse gained a lot of empathy!) The recovery took several weeks; however, Dr. Chong and staff were ALWAYS available when I had concerns & questions. They gently walked me through everything and put my mind at ease. I am so pleased with the results! This is one of the best decisions of my life and I only wish that I'd done it sooner. I can not praise Dr. Chong and staff highly enough!