Richard Galitz, MD, FACS (in memoriam)

Hello. I wanted to get rid of the small jowls and undefined jawline I was beginning to see, especially under the left side of my face. I also had fat under the neck . Dr Galitz is an absolute sweetheart and the staff is very caring. They were extremely organized and efficient. What I liked the best was the attention was focused on me, not like so many of the factory surgery places where you are a number.
I only wrote I'm unsure if it was worth it because I'm only 3 days out from the procedure. I don't see much noticeable difference on my left side and underneath the chin with the fat. I'm hoping it's just swelling. The lips look amazing as he got rid of the joker like smile I was getting and the downturning of the lip corners. I will update as soon as I'm more healed.

Updated on 29 Nov 2022:
Dying to get stitches in my lips out..and to not have sticky hair on my head. Swelling going down but still have fullness on neck and sides. I can see a huge difference in my face I'm back to having an oval face not the trapezoid I was getting .

Updated on 13 Dec 2022:
Swelling continues to subside, one pebble I had on a stitch seems to be going away. I have a small weird area on one of my suture spots on my lip may be a problem but I'll have to give it time to heal then I'll speak to Dr about it. So far I'm very happy with the correction but I'm giving it the correct time to heal. I had no bruising whatsoever on my face and most of the swelling was on my neck area.

I wanted to thank the ladies that posted their dermal fat grafting to their líps in realself. I am very satisfied with my decision to go forward. Dr Galitz is a very humble, polite and kind surgeon. He will make you feel protected and in good hands. Ms. Lili, Karen and Gaby are like him, courteous and very dedicated to their customers.
I was very nervous because I didn't want to feel any pain or even discomfort and they assured me that I will be almost sleeping during the procedure and it is exactly. So for those of you who want to get bigger lips and make their augmentation permament the derma fat transfer is the only natural way.
I did it on the 11th of August and I started to have bruising... also it is not that painful.... it is uncomfortable but with percocet or tylenol you will be feeling totally normal. I hope I can post some pics because it is truly amazing how Dr. Galitz can see tridimensionaly and make your lips amazing. When I went to his office in Aventura Miami I also learned that he has a degree in art that contributes to his intense ability to do all the facial surgeries that he performed. I also had voluma injections on my cheeks and for the first time I had them done perfectly like mother nature intended to be on your face. I wish I would it know earlier this magician surgeon. I know that it will take me 2 to 3 months to see the final results but I am ok with that since it will be the last time touching or retouching my lips and,spending so much money on fillers.

Updated on 22 Aug 2021:
10 days after the procedure. Mi lips are healing well. I only have a bit of discomfort but no pain. I use neosprint an antibiotic cream 3 to 4 tomes a day. I have a video conference with Dr. Galitz on Tuesday to check the stitches.

Updated on 23 Oct 2021:
I had my lip augmentation done 2 1/2 months ago and I wanted to do an update. After the mini surgery on my lips I did lip blush, semi permanent tatoo, because it is easy to get up and only put a bit of concealer on my face. I also did my eyeliner like 15 years ago... and yes I will try anything that can improve my looks. I am 58 years old.

Updated on 2 Apr 2023:
My lips are looking really good, no scars and the prefect thickness that I love. They gave me some pills,that put me at sleep and when a woke up I was done. It was a bit painfull the first 3 days but with percocet I was able to eat and go outside. Dr Richard Galitz did an amazing job. What I love the most that the size of my lips is now permanent ... no spending more money on injections.....

I wanted to start my story at day one of recovery .. which is today. I’m going to be very thorough for others who have questions that may not have been answered in other reviews.
I began my search about 2 years ago for a facelift surgeon. I started near where I live in Maine. I had a consultation with a nice doctor but there was something that made me not want to choose him so I kept thinking about it. I think it was because his revisions weren’t aggressive enough. I didn’t want to go thru all this and spend the money but only see a small change. I also didn’t want to look “like I had a facelift”... there is definitely a fine balance. I wanted to look refreshed and ten years younger but not have people wonder what I did. I felt like I started to really age after 50, maybe at 52. Prior to that people often commented that I looked much younger but the comments stopped right around 50 ):
I hated the jowels I started to see, my marionette lines, my loose neck and fine smile wrinkles.
During the boredom of Covid, I started my search again. I considered going abroad to Turkey or Brazil because I heard about great cost savings and great doctors. But after consulting a doctor in Turkey thru an online plastic surgery service, I felt it wasn’t personal enough. I had also asked the surgeon if he could do a facelift, upper bleph AND breast aug revision all at the same time. It was mostly a safety test question. I’m a Type 1 diabetic on an insulin pump... surgery is risky especially pushing my body to the limit. The surgeon agreed to do it ALL together saying I would be under general anesthesia for 8 hours!! Visions of never waking up or waking up with complications in a foreign country where English was not the primary language sounded too scary even for this daredevil. So I kept searching. I found Dr Galitz here on RealSelf when I decided “why not go somewhere with nice weather to reconver rather than Maine”. I knew I wanted the surgery when I wasn’t tan so I chose January and worked the surgery into a vacation.
My initial visit with Dr. G was via Facebook .. I immediately thought he was kind, down to earth and friendly. He showed me around the office and surgery center, showed me before & after pics, explained the surgery and his recommendations for me. He said I would do well with a facelift and I should get an upper bleph because I might be disappointed if I had the beautiful face but left out the eyes. I appreciated his advice. His office girl, Lily handled the rest. She gave me some dates to choose from and went over the price and payment methods. I found $8500 affordable for my budget and I chose to use CareCredit which came with zero percent interest for 6 months.
And off I went, traveling from Maine to Florida pulling my little camper with my Jeep. I spent a week in southern Florida with two of my sons making great memories before my surgery. I chose to recover at a modestly priced VRBO condo with a beach view and full kitchen (knowing I wouldn’t want to go out for a while) in Hollywood Beach, which was only a 15 minute drive to Dr. Galitz’s surgery center in Aventura.
My pre-op appointment was one week prior to my surgery where I got to see the office, operating room, recovery room and met Dr. Galitz to further discuss the details. He handed me a mirror and explained what he was going to do, pulling my loose skin back and showing me how “beautiful” it would look after. I appreciated his gentle & friendly bedside manner. It felt to me like he could be my uncle. I liked him a lot and that made me feel very positive that I made the right decision. At first when entering the office, I was a bit hesitant because it wasn’t as glamorous as I envisioned in my head... but Dr G took the hesitance away and I figured why not have lower overhead and pass on a good price to your patients. I’m not a Miami socialite so I didn’t need the glitz. The reason I chose Dr G in the first place was because of his years of experience, the before & after pics and the fact that he had an art background... giving him great aesthetic knowledge.
That’s the beginning of the story. My next post will describe the surgery.
Are you ready?

Updated on 2 Feb 2021:
It’s surgery day! I am having a facelift and upper bleph .. while awake!
One of the good things about having a local anesthesia facelift rather than being put under is that the doctor wanted me to eat a big, good breakfast!! Yippee... no fasting! The only limit I had was no caffeine. They wanted me relaxed. I got to my surgery appointment at 8:30am with my good friend along. The doc looked at my face again and told me how great I was going to look. The nurses took me to the recovery room where I changed into a gown, got a warming blanket, received sleepy & relaxing meds (Valium) and listened to soothing music while I chatted a bit with my friend. I guess it took a while to be relaxed enough as I did not go into surgery until 11.
I was told by one of the nurses that the most painful part was gonna be the numbing injections. She was right. It was uncomfortable. I hate needles and injections anyhow ... crazy cuz I should be used to it as a diabetic. Once I was numb, the doc started his cutting. I couldn’t feel much.. it sounded like he was cutting plastic rather than my skin. I was relaxed and able to talk. They checked several times having me smile, open my mouth, etc. I told the nurses I wanted a video & pics to show my son who is in the surgery field. They obliged which is cool. The stitching kinda pulled a little bit nothing remarkable. After both sides of my face were done, it was time for my upper bleph. The eye numbing was worse than the face. I did not like that part and swore a bit. Receiving injections into your eyelids feels like it’s going into your eyeball. Unpleasant. The eyelid surgery itself was worse than the facelift also. Maybe my meds were wearing off or maybe it is just that the eye area is more sensitive. I had a lot of fat in the corners of my eyelids. Removing the fat was the worst part of the entire surgery. Pain level maybe an 8 ... not my worst pain ever but definitely memorable. Stitching the eyes was also uncomfortable but totally survivable especially since the nurse told me we were nearly done. And then, it was over!! I think we were done about 2:15 or 2:30. So 3.5 hours total. It didn’t feel that long. The nurses had me sit up and wrapped my head in thick gauze and ace bandage. I was able to walk to the recovery room and get dressed. They tell you to wear a button down shirt which is a necessity as your wrapped head is giant. My friend showed up to drive me. Recovery time was about 20 minutes. Crazy! I have had multiple general anesthesia surgeries and recovery seems like hours. I was wide awake and aware and walked into my recovery condo with my scarf over my head and sunglasses. I can’t say I was in pain... my head felt heavy and clogged and my eyes were difficult to open and close. I will post recovery days in another post.
Sent from my iPhone

Updated on 2 Feb 2021:
Home from surgery.
I had filled my prescriptions prior to surgery. Took one antibiotic with breakfast as instructed. When I got home, I had my prescription of Tylenol with codeine. One 30mg tablet every 6 hours. I felt my bandages were too tight under my neck and since I did not require a chin incision, the doc told me I could cut the ace bandage at the neck. It felt like my blood was pulsating so I cut the gauze too. It relieved the problem. But there were times when I felt like I wanted it to feel tighter again so I wrapped a scarf around so I could take it off & on as I felt I needed it. Pain? Everything felt tight, not necessarily painful. I got to the condo at 3:30ish and took my first pain med at 6. I had a “headache”.. more literally tho. I laid on the couch and fell asleep a while. I had a soup & sandwich dinner. It’s slightly hard to open your mouth wide. The drains and blood pouches kinda freaked me out but they weren’t really bothersome. The pic shows me at the condo with my head wrapped and the blood drains attached to my head wrap. One side drained quite a bit more than the other. I felt the doctor had to be more aggressive on my left side (not sure why) which was the side that drained more. My friend stayed overnight with me and did everything for me which really helped. I feel I could have managed alone but since I’m diabetic, I wanted someone with me just in case. I managed my blood sugars very well for the surgery and after. Having good control of my sugars will help me heal best. I applied ice cold gauze on my eyelids almost constantly to help with swelling. I took my antibiotic again at bedtime and my pain meds at 10pm. You have to sleep upright with two pillows. I managed to get sleep and didn’t need another pain med until 4am. The pain was rather easily managed. I would say the immediate post surgery was rather easier than expected. The day after will be my next post.

Sent from my iPhone

Updated on 2 Feb 2021:
The day after, I noticed what I thought was a large swelling on my neck. Upon further investigation, my friend pointed out that it was the drains. I had no idea they went so deep into my neck! I got curious and found a video on YouTube that I found informative & helpful. I’ll try to reference it. I figured out how I empty the blood and to stretch the tubing and create a suction thru this video and I also decided to clip them on my shorts so it was a downflow rather than on top of my head. The pics show the back of my head where the drains come out, the shocking neck depth of the tubing and my face on day one post-op. I have included the stitches on my eyes and some of the ear. You can see how I clipped the chin part of the bandage away. I already felt like I could see improvements in my neck and cheeks so I did before & after pics to show my friend & family :) I was feeling energetic after that and we went for a little walk and sat in the shade on the beach but when I got back, that little bit of activity depleted me and made me feel rather sore all over my head and pressure in my eyes. Too much. Too soon. Back to rest & meds & icing my eyes the remainder of day & evening,
Day Two to follow

Updated on 3 Feb 2021:
Surgery was on Saturday, Jan 30 2021. Day 2 Monday, Feb 1st. My boyfriend drove from Virginia to Hallandale FL to spend the next month with me in the warmth. We live in Maine so FL is a great place for surgery & recovery during winter frigid temps & blizzards like today when 2 feet of snow is falling back home!! I went to the Surgery center at 10am to have my bandages and drains removed. I had been creeped out by this after watching the YouTube video. The surgeon in the video mentioned how the patient wouldn’t feel a thing. I didn’t believe that comment as I could certainly feel the drains in my neck and back of head. The nurses sat me down and Dr Galitz came in to see how I was looking, check my healing so far and removed my bandages & the drains. It was quick but was an adrenaline rush. I started feeling nauseous & dizzy. They laid me back as I was about I pass out. I had some juice & crackers and kept an eye on my blood sugar. I didn’t like the feeling of those coming out. After I recovered from nearly fainting, the nurses washed my hair and scars. It felt great to be free of the bandages, drains and have my head/hair washed. Dr Galitz said I was healing good and he would see me in a week to remove the stitches.
I took it easy the rest of the day, examined the scars as I could really see them now without bandages. My face was swollen & painful in the cheek area near the ear scars so I applied ice packs wrapped in a towel and continued to ice my eyes and also apply a thin layer of bacitracin to the scars. They itched and felt dry & tight. My right eye was quite swollen and black & blue, I put a little makeup on and a cap to take a walk around the hotel. The worst part of the day was certainly the drains. I’m not saying it was painful... but for me, it was a nauseating experience.

Updated on 5 Feb 2021:
The days are going by and the swelling is reducing. My right eye is quite black, purple & blue. I assume that will take weeks to dissipate. The swelling around my cheek/front ear area has been the most bothersome during these past days. It literally feels like my ears were detached and sewn back on. My hearing is muffled and my head feels heavy. I get weird sensations inside my ears .. maybe dried blood, fluid or inner ear swelling. I gently cleaned by spraying warm water in my ear and using a qtip. Gently!! My eyes really itch in my eyelash area. Cold compresses and bacitracin ointment provide relief.
I have continued sleeping on my back with my head elevated. I’ve had activities each day.. going for drives and taking walks. Laying on beach or by the pool for short periods and making sure my scars were blocked from the sun. I am tired at the end of any small activity and require lots of rest. I’ve been eating healthy and keeping my blood sugars in excellent range. I think I’m healing wonderfully. I have continued ice as needed and pain meds have been very infrequent. I sleep good. This morning, I noticed my eye scars have settled into the creases which makes me see that my eyes are going to look great :). I am happy thus far.

Updated on 14 Feb 2021:
Today is day 13. I am not just healing from a facelift, I am also on vacation in sunny Florida which is a big deal when you are from frigid snowy Maine... so I might be more active than I should be. It was also my 56th birthday this past week!
I had my eye stitches out on the 9th day after surgery, I took two atavans and two Tylenol because of my reaction to removing the drains. Removing the stitches was just a minor process. The nurse did it and the Doc came in to see how I was doing. The area were my drains were, especially the left side which drained 3 times more fluids than the right, was quite swollen and sore and I brought it to his attention. I was informed that I had a hematoma. A collection of fluids under the skin. He said to apply warm compresses and massage gently. It has definitely bothered me during the past week and I have tended to it as he suggested.
My eyes feel great with the stitches out. No more itching, swelling is gone and lower lash area no longer bothering me. I have a huge shiner on my right eye. I would say that developed because that side drained less.
The swelling around my ears and cheek area gets less and less each day but that is the area that is most bothersome after the hematoma area. My ears feel clogged still... I’m hoping that will go away when my face/ear stitches are removed.... which is tomorrow!!
I’ve done some little walks, shopping, swimming and normal house stuff. I get worn out easy. My body tells me when it’s time to rest. I listen :). I went out for a few drinks and had a fun Friday night. Yup, I was sore when I got home. When I’m in the sun, I wear sunglasses or a hat and I cover my stitches (and I look like a little silly) but I’m doing my best to balance healing and enjoying my vacation.
I’m happy with the results thus far but sometimes when I’m staring in the mirror or at selfies, I’m still seeing wrinkles/flaws that I want gone. My surgeon told me that I should not over analyze until all healing is complete as lots of work is being done by my face “behind the scenes”. He also told me that he is his own worst critic and he will fix whatever I’m not satisfied with.
I’ll update tomorrow about the removal of the stitches... I can’t wait (they are really annoying at this point).

Updated on 1 Mar 2021:
Trying to attach a video.

Updated on 1 Mar 2021:
Idk if it work

Updated on 4 Mar 2021:
It feels like this black eye will never go away!!! So I did a collage of the 31 day progression of my black eye. Maybe one more week?!?

Don’t waste your money with Permalip (No different from your regular lips). Don’t waste your money with fat injections (They don’t last). Dermal graft is the way to go! It’s permanent.....Surgery went well. I’m in love with my results so far. Top and bottom lip done. It’s going on 4 weeks now...Recovery was BRUTAL. Extremely painful! The stitches were the most annoying. Ok, so let me give you a run down. I drove myself to Miami. I live 3.5 hours away. Stayed in a room the night before. Took an Uber to and from my procedure. Surgery was done with local anesthesia. The first night wasn’t bad at all. I was still numb from the meds. But the next morning was HELL. Intense swelling and pain. From my jaws on down were swollen. It was extremely hard to eat and drink. Expect to lose a pound or two.The bruising started around day 3 or 4. I started experiencing some drainage around day 6. The first two weeks were the worst. I removed the stitches myself during week 3. I don’t recommend you removing them yourself. I only felt comfortable removing them because I’m a nurse and have removed them before. I wouldn’t want you to risk damaging your lips. The sutures are small and it would be easy to accidentally cut your lip. (That’s how tight they were) By the way, with dermal grafting to the lips, he removes a layer of fat from your pubis area and places them in your lips. (Nothing like fat injections, don’t get the two confused) I removed the sutures from my pubis as well. I am satisfied with my lips. Loving the plumpness! The rim of my lips are still a little numb. Not really painful but still a little tender. I can eat now so I’m happy about that! I plan to post more updated pics in a month or two to keep you updated.

Dr. Galitz operated my eyes, upper and lower in August, 2018. This year I went back to receive additional treatment with Botox, and we discussed a facelift and browlift as these were my concerns. I was quoted $7000 for both procedures. Dr. Galitz utilizes local anesthesia with the option of a cocktail of valium and xanaz, which I declined. Surgery day was October 10, 2019, I am now 3 days post op. It is beginning to heal, and while I am swollen and bruised under my eyes, I do believe this will be successful. Photos will follow, right now I will need help from Realself submitting the photos. I am taking pictures day to day.

Updated on 13 Oct 2019:
I underwent surgery using only local anesthesia. As previously arranged, I was allowed to drive myself home, which I did (saving a good bit of money). I felt fine, no pain at the time (that came later, while I had oxycodone prescribed I did not use that, only a small amount of over the counter medication). Small dinner, then went to work on the computer as always. I had added my ice packs with elastics (pictures will follow) and I went to work as planned. After a while I went to change the ice packs and my bandages were falling apart. OK, did the best to put them together and went to work. After a while I started to bleed heavily from the right side, dripping onto my legs. Went outside with paper towels, and for over half an hour the bleeding continued. It finally stopped and I went to bed. The next morning I packed up the entire mess into a shawl, took my shampoo and conditioner with me and went to my appointment. They did not know what caused the bleeding either, but the drains were in place. They removed my drains and what was left of the bandages, and the nurse washed my hair, Feeling much better, even though my right side of the face was heavily swollen, I ran two errands and then went to Reiki in my neighborhood. Fell asleep at Reiki, woke up feeling much better and went home. My face is somewhat sore, treating it with Bromelein and Arnica pills and Arnica Gel. Also pineapple pieces and pineapple juice. Worked on the computer for a while, then laid down (5 pilllows) to watch TV, and fell asleep again. Pictures will follow, I need help uploading them.
Updated on 14 Oct 2019:
Saturday was a little bit difficult, got up early, fed my 4 dogs and 3 cats, cleaned up after them, and fixed my breakfast. I have felt better in the past LOL but I made it through. In the afternoon my cleaning lady/pet sitter came as usual, and I asked her to bathe the dogs, as I did not want to damage my face. Good day, made a lot of money on my part time phone job as well. Sunday was another good day. I am having some pain around the stitches, only using Arnica tablets and gel for pain relief, and it feels like a helmet around my face. This I can live with. Went out on Monday, with makeup, and ran some errands. I am being careful not to lift to many things (everything was done prior to surgery) so I am now somewhat bored. Yes, I have work to do, need to eliminate thousands of emails. Overall I feel very positive about the surgery, I am keeping myself busy while the healing takes place.



Updated on 16 Oct 2019:
Dr. Galitz removed a small hematoma on the right side of my face. He approved how I was caring for it, and have another appointment. Went to work, Miami Immigration at 8 a.m., and then another hearing this afternoon. Glad I can work again. Still having some pain, not using pain pills, and numbness on my head. I was told that my skin is very sensitive, and to be careful.
Updated on 18 Oct 2019:
A new hair style (pictures will follow), I am having to use a scarf or a band around my hair to go out. I had to work on Wednesday and styling simply did not work. Also I cannot get makeup on the stitches, and that part of my face is very fragile. The hair bands are a solution, nobody commented on it (at least to me). The earrings are only in public, at home I take them off as I do not want to damage my face or ears.

The bruising is irritating, hoping it will fade. Using arnica gel and pills as well as bromelain pills and pineapple juice. No pain pills except for the arnica. Some discomfort around the stitches, mainly concerned that they are so fragile.. As per Dr. Galitz I am using hydrogen peroxide and triple antibiotic cream.

I am feeling somewhat tired, but able to keep going and trying to avoid daytime naps, not sure if due to the surgery (still) or I have a sudden desire to watch TV! LOL


Updated on 23 Oct 2019:
Pictures will follow. My first reaction was "I paid $7000 for this" The pictures are without make up and with triple antibiotic gel and arnica gel on face. The stitches being removed stopped the (minor) pain around the stitches. Aside from not quite looking back normal, I feel active and able to do everything, no more excuses from chores LOL, and definitely able to work.



Updated on 23 Oct 2019:
These pictures going to court for mediation. I feel slightly funny wearing a scarf, but the scars are hidden. I had to wait for the defendant, and looked at old pictures. Now I know why I did this, I was so ugly from age.

Updated on 31 Oct 2019:
Dr. Galitz said that I was healing well. I asked him about the bruises under my eyes, which are still prominent. He offered me steroids (pills) which I declined as I try to avoid any prescription or non prescription pills if at all possible, He thought about injections but held off as I have a history of bleeding. He gave me Elastiderm Eye Serum (prescription) to try. Hopefully that will help. My scars are hidden by my hair for the most part and make up takes care of the rest. My face is still somewhat numb, that is to be expected, but no pain.

Updated on 5 Nov 2019:
Dr. Galitz wants to see me in two weeks, he is very pleased with my healing up until now. The bruises under the eye are getting better. I am feeling well, able to do everything.A little bit tired at times but not bad, occasionally I lay down in the afternoon if I have time, Overall I am very pleased with the results, most of the bruising is gone.

Updated on 19 Nov 2019:
Now I am becoming critical of my face. I had a browlift, and I still have wrinkles. I have had them since age 30, and yes, they are much better, but they are still there. Additional surgical intervention will not help, according to Dr. Galitz, but I can use botox. Problem is, botox does not last very long for me. I wonder if he can use Juvederm, that seems to last forever. Under my eyes still have the Juvederm from last year, not sure what we can do with this. Afraid if he will do surgery I will have a huge bruise again. He said to wait until I heal more......Patience is a virtue and I do not have this particular virtue! LOL

Updated on 2 Dec 2019:
I went for my next scheduled appointment, and brought up that I was not satisfied with the brow lift. I had mentioned this last appointment and Dr. Galitz had mentioned using botox, as he could not do more with surgery, My brows have had deep wrinkles since age 30. As botox has not worked well for me, we decided on Juvederm which does work well for me. I currently have Juvederm injections in my forehead, and also a touch up around my chin. An added blessing, I did not have to pay for this, Dr Galitz was very nice about that.

Updated on 9 Jan 2020:
I thought the bags under my eyes were getting better....using ElastidermEye and also Beverly Hills MD Advanced Scar Therapy. However I had a rude awakening. Gizmo, my Shi Tzu, and I went to visit Gizmos foster mother, and brought her a banana bread. Gizzies foster mom asked me "Who punched you in the eye?". Ouch. While visiting my 89 year old mother she commented that I did not have any lines on my forehead but there was a big line under my eyes.
At my 3 month post op appointment I brought this up to Dr Galitz. I asked about steroid injections, but he decided a small revision was called for. Now the appointment is for February 6, 2020. I did not want this just before my Mother's 90th birthday. So once again I will have stitches in my face. At least no downtime....they know me too well and I have always immediately worked. Will be happy to loose the bags.Will follow with 2 pictures to RealSelf

Dr. Galitz performed my eyelid surgery (Blepharoplasty) on August 21, 2018. I found Dr. Galitz through Real Self, and had a consultation. He explained everything to me, including that he used local anesthesia and a cocktail to relax. I chose only the local anesthesia, as I do not like any sedation. The surgery was a pleasure to have, so easy. No pain at all after surgery, I went home and had an ice mask, which helped a great deal. I went to work on the computer the same day, and was in court, with dark sunglasses the next day. (not recommended, my appearance was not the best,). Dr. Galitz is absolutely the best!!! The price was also very affordable.

I started to hate my permalip implants. (You can read more about that in my other reviews.) So I started looking for a more natural, yet permanent, option for lip enhancement. I did NOT get the procedure where they “lipo” fat from another area and then “inject” it into your lips as I’ve heard that method can have very unreliable results. My procedure involved taking a strip of dermis (with the epidermis removed and a little layer of fat still attached to it) from my lower abdomen and having it placed in my lips through incisions on either side of each lip. I found Dr Galitz here on Realself and learned that he had been doing this procedure for over 30 years and had lots of BEAUTIFUL before and after pictures. I immediately knew this was what I wanted to do. I traveled to Miami and had it done on April 19th. Here is my journey so far...

Updated on 25 Apr 2019:
I am about 6 days post op and the pain is finally becoming bearable. I’ve been having to take a lot of narcotics to deal with the pain. My lips cannot be iced because you don’t want to restrict blood flow to the graft causing it not to take. That has been the biggest struggle because I feel that if I could ice them I wouldn’t have to take as many pain meds. I have to leave the stitches in my lips for 10 days so I have an appointment on Monday with my surgeon here at home to have them removed. I’ve been wearing a surgical mask everywhere to hide the swelling and the black stitches hanging from my mouth. They are there to hold the graft in place, so they are not dissolvable. So far I am extremely happy with my results, though. I just wish I would have realized how intense this procedure is. It’s been difficult to eat and I feel like I constantly have to clean my stitches because they always feel like they’re on the verge of being infected. I had my procedure on a Friday and went back to work that Monday. I work in family business in a small office so my sister could answer phones all day while I did paperwork... if you have a job working with customers I would seriously consider taking time off until you get stitches removed. I still talk with a lisp but it’s been getting better. I’m going to post what my lips looked like before (with permalip in) and what they look like now (6 days post). I’m actually starting to love having big ole lips so I hope they still look nice and plump when it’s all said and done.

Updated on 25 Apr 2019:
I wanted to add that I did not stay in Miami for a follow up with Dr Galitz. I went straight home. I have two young children and a full time job I had to get back to. Since I’ve been home he has allowed me to text him every day with questions and pictures and always seems genuinely concerned about my recovery. He was so nice and accommodating when I met him and made sure I felt very comfortable the whole time I was there. His entire staff was the same way. They are like a big family there and I cannot thank them enough for the great experience I had.

Updated on 28 May 2019:
I’ve waited to post an update because the healing process was a little rocky and I wasn’t sure that I was happy with what I had done. I understand that this is what this site is for, but I was feeling pretty negative about the whole thing and I didn’t want to spew my negative thoughts when everything just might be okay. Between my last update and now, my stitches had migrated while they were still healing, causing a pocket of fat to protrude from my lip and I could do nothing except let it close up on its own (which took weeks!) Each side of my lip has healed at different paces but it is now to the point where everything looks pretty good. My lips are soft and natural looking. I honestly think this is a great procedure but wish I knew how tough recovery would be. I do have some scarring that’ll need revised (due to stitches migrating) and a very small amount of fat that needs trimmed to even everything out. I am almost grateful that I was able to experience the bit of fat protruding from my lip because it is really sooo soft and squishy I could only think of how difficult it is to place in someone’s tiny lips! I have a new level of respect for Dr Galitz and this procedure and can respect that some minor complications/unevenness may happen due to the nature of the fat itself. He really did such a great job and I will be 100% happy when I get some minor scar revision and trimming done. Here are some pictures of my lips now and I have also included photos of my lips before EVER having any work done to them.

Updated on 6 Sep 2019:
My lips have really not gotten much smaller since my last update. They are still uneven in some areas from scar tissue so I will need to go back for minor revision once I have the funds to fly back to Miami. At the end of the day, I am still VERY happy I went with this procedure.

Updated on 10 Sep 2019:
What a difference my new lips have made to my side profile!! (Among other surgeries, check my reviews). The before pictures I found are before ANY surgery had been done.

Updated on 31 Aug 2020:
Overall, I do not regret this procedure one bit. It is truly life changing for those of us who have tiny lips. But since I’ve posted my review, I’ve had several people contact me with questions and photographs regarding complications they’ve endured. I’m going to go over some of these in more detail and what I had to do to correct it:

1. UNEVENNESS - The first complication, which was chalked up to uneven swelling, was indeed that the fat graft itself was uneven. If this happens to you, it WILL start to even out and not look so obvious, but you have to give it LOTS OF TIME.

2. HEALING - Which leads me to my second point. The actual healing time of this procedure is extremely long. There will be residual swelling for months. It may be 3-6 months before your lips truly feel like your own again and all residual swelling is completely gone.

3. MIGRATION OF STITCHES - I had a complication where my stitches actually migrated and a pocket of fat started protruding from my lips. I saw my local surgeon to see if he could close it back up, but was told by Dr Galitz himself AND my local surgeon that this was something you had to let heal on it’s own. This took several weeks for the skin to grow back over the protruding fat while I also had to keep trimming the excess fat as it healed. This was not fun and slightly embarrassing. This also led to pretty bad scarring in all four quadrants where incisions were made.

4. SCARRING - there is a huge risk for scarring which is very hard to address when it comes to your lips. The scarring can be very thick and deep. PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOUR STITCHES. If you notice them migrating, get it assessed ASAP.

5. SCAR TREATMENT / TRIMMING EXCESS TISSUE - I begged my local surgeon for months to trim excess tissue and “cut out” bumps/thick scarring from my lips. (I was not willing to pay for another plane ticket, hotel, days off work and babysitter to go back to Dr Galitz) He did not feel it was a good idea and talked me into doing CO2 laser treatments to essentially “burn off” the excess tissue and scarring. I finally gave in and it worked out almost perfectly. I did not lose any volume to my lips and 3 out of the 4 quadrants are now virtually scar-free. I have one scar that is VERY THICK AND DEEP - and this wasn’t even the quadrant that the fat was protruding from! I feel I will need a few more treatments on that area.

6. WEIGHT FLUCTUATION - Since I had this procedure done I lost 25 pounds. Because the fat graft was taken from my lower abdomen, I did notice my lips also shrunk in size. Although this was not a HUGE difference, it was definitely noticeable to me. I have recently gained 10 pounds back and noticed my lips have puffed up a little more.

IN CONCLUSION:
-CO2 laser works very well for scarring/burning off excess tissue but is not a perfect solution. (I honestly feel there is none)

-Using fillers helps a lot with any unevenness...but adds an extra monthly/bimonthly expense trying to camouflage and it wears off quickly in the lips.

-Permanent makeup may be a good solution to help blend the white scar tissue. I am looking into doing this next.

-If you are traveling to see Dr Galitz, try and stick around so he can address any complications right away. I was not able to stay and left town immediately after my procedure.

-Before this procedure, I tried lots of filler and two different sizes of permalip implants... and I would still recommend this method over any of those because of it’s naturalness and permanency... just be prepared to deal with these possible complications!

I have attached current photos of my lips today. Any filler I previously had is almost 100% gone. When I have the filler in my lips, the unevenness is not noticeable at all.




Updated on 31 Aug 2020:
Overall, I do not regret this procedure one bit. It is truly life changing for those of us who have tiny lips. But since I’ve posted my review, I’ve had several people contact me with questions and photographs regarding complications they’ve endured. I’m going to go over some of these in more detail and what I had to do to correct it:
1. UNEVENNESS - The first complication, which was chalked up to uneven swelling, was indeed that the fat graft itself was uneven. If this happens to you, it WILL start to even out and not look so obvious, but you have to give it LOTS OF TIME.
2. HEALING - Which leads me to my second point. The actual healing time of this procedure is extremely long. There will be residual swelling for months. It may be 3-6 months before your lips truly feel like your own again and all residual swelling is completely gone.
3. MIGRATION OF STITCHES - I had a complication where my stitches actually migrated and a pocket of fat started protruding from my lips. I saw my local surgeon to see if he could close it back up, but was told by Dr Galitz himself AND my local surgeon that this was something you had to let heal on it’s own. This took several weeks for the skin to grow back over the protruding fat while I also had to keep trimming the excess fat as it healed. This was not fun and slightly embarrassing. This also led to pretty bad scarring in all four quadrants where incisions were made.
4. SCARRING - there is a huge risk for scarring which is very hard to address when it comes to your lips. The scarring can be very thick and deep. PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOUR STITCHES. If you notice them migrating, get it assessed ASAP.
5. SCAR TREATMENT / TRIMMING EXCESS TISSUE - I begged my local surgeon for months to trim excess tissue and “cut out” bumps/thick scarring from my lips. (I was not willing to pay for another plane ticket, hotel, days off work and babysitter to go back to Dr Galitz) He did not feel it was a good idea and talked me into doing CO2 laser treatments to essentially “burn off” the excess tissue and scarring. I finally gave in and it worked out almost perfectly. I did not lose any volume to my lips and 3 out of the 4 quadrants are now virtually scar-free. I have one scar that is VERY THICK AND DEEP - and this wasn’t even the quadrant that the fat was protruding from! I feel I will need a few more treatments on that area.
6. WEIGHT FLUCTUATION - Since I had this procedure done I lost 25 pounds. Because the fat graft was taken from my lower abdomen, I did notice my lips also shrunk in size. Although this was not a HUGE difference, it was definitely noticeable to me. I have recently gained 10 pounds back and noticed my lips have puffed up a little more.
IN CONCLUSION:
-CO2 laser works very well for scarring/burning off excess tissue but is not a perfect solution. (I honestly feel there is none)
-Using fillers helps a lot with any unevenness...but adds an extra monthly/bimonthly expense trying to camouflage and it wears off quickly in the lips.
-Permanent makeup may be a good solution to help blend the white scar tissue. I am looking into doing this next.
-If you are traveling to see Dr Galitz, try and stick around so he can address any complications right away. I was not able to stay and left town immediately after my procedure.
-Before this procedure, I tried lots of filler and two different sizes of permalip implants... and I would still recommend this method over any of those because of it’s naturalness and permanency... just be prepared to deal with these possible complications!
I have attached current photos of my lips today. Any filler I previously had is almost 100% gone. When I have the filler in my lips, the unevenness is not noticeable at all.

Updated on 1 Nov 2021:
My lips are still beautiful. I do periodically use a tiny bit of filler to fix some minor unevenness. I am still extremely happy I did this procedure. I get compliments on my lips all the time.

Richard Galitz, MD, FACS, is an expert in facial plastic & reconstructive surgery and plastic surgery-head & neck. I rate Dr. Galitz and his staff five stars based on the overall professionalism of the office staff, care and attentiveness provided by Dr. Galitz, and staff throughout the entire pre and post-surgical process, his years of experience and artistic talent, and most of all, the exquisite result I received were far beyond expectations. I highly recommend Dr. Richard Galitz if you are considering any type of facial reconstructive or cosmetic facial surgery. You won’t be disappointed.

I found Dr. Galitz here on Real Self. I needed a revision rhinoplasty for a bump that had formed on the tip of my nose from a cartilage graft. I had consulted with several other doctors previously and was told I'll need general anesthesia, ear cartilage, fascia, and a full open rhinoplasty. I wasn't prepared to go through all that for a small bump so I kept delaying it. One day I found a post by Dr. Galitz saying he can treat this kind of problem through a closed approach under local anesthesia. He offered a free FaceTime consultation by phone and said he can address my problem. I scheduled the procedure for this week. It was great! I couldn't possibly be happier. Dr. Galitz and his team, Lilly and Bianca, were amazing. They answered each of my questions and concerns promptly and completely. I had a past adverse reaction to epinephrine and Dr. Galitz was willing to do the procedure without epinephrine, under local anesthesia, and all I took was valium beforehand. It was so fast and I went home right away afterwards. I had no side effects afterwards except minor swelling which is almost gone already. I never even needed Tylenol. There was no pain. My nose already looks great. It's perfect and I'm so happy. This was the least invasive, least risky approach and if I hadn't found Dr. Galitz I either would have never done the procedure or I would have had to go through a big ordeal with another doctor. Dr. Galitz was so skilled, so fast, so accurate, and so kind. I will be eternally grateful to him and his team. I highly recommend him. I'll be going back in a week or two for the follow-up and anyone who would like to see the before / after photos can ask to see the ones from the girl who needed a bump removed from the tip without epinephrine. They'll probably remember who I am at least for the foreseeable future.

Dr Galitz is a wonderful Doctor with the utmost integrity. I would highly recommend him. He will go out his way to make sure you have the best results possible. Unlike most doctors he will give you his cell phone and will come in on his day off to see you if need be.