I had my first surgery overseas when I was about 20. I never really noticed I had a problem until about 10 years later when I watched a TV series about plastic surgeries that went wrong and saw a story about a girl who had capsular contracture. I then realised that my implants are sitting way too high and that I might have capsular contracture as well. My previous surgeon never told me about capsular contracture, so I had no idea that I might be having some complications. I decided to see a surgeon and get a replacement. I did lots of research trying to find the best surgeon for me. This time I decided to have the surgery in Australia, not overseas. When I came across Dr Moss' website, he instantly struck me as a perfectionist. His credentials are impressive and he has great reputation. His results are very natural and don't look "plastic". I was going to make appointments with other surgeons to get a few opinions, but after my consultation with Dr Moss, I was confident with my choice and I knew I didn't have to look any further. Dr Moss is honest and will explain any limitations of your body, what size, shape and profile is best suitable for your body frame and will also discuss any complications that may occur. He also explains the features of different implants and how they can affect the outcome of the surgery. I have trusted his professional recommendation and chose anatomic implants, even though before the consultation I was planning to go with round. I have no regrets! When comparing the two surgeries and the before- and aftercare, I have to say the experience I had with Dr Moss is definitely superior to the experience I had overseas. Prior to the surgery I received lots of information from Dr Moss and his staff, I was encouraged to ask any questions or talk about any doubts I might have. I was able to come back to the clinic and talk to one of the friendly nurses and look at more before and after photos of other patients and check what my new implants are going to feel like (they have samples of the implants in various sizes). I had several post op appointments with Dr Moss and his staff (compared to only 1 appointment after the surgery overseas) - and it does make a difference to have someone regularly monitor the progress, and guide you through the healing process and tell you what is normal and what is concerning. My new boobs look great and so natural! Previously because of the shape of my boobs I could not wear unlined bras, swimsuits or just t-shirt without having bra underneath, because it just looked awful. Now they look great in any "outfit" and I no longer have to be ashamed when I go swimming :) I highly recommend Dr Moss! Also, across from Dr Moss' clinic is a skin centre - Liberty Belle - and in my surgery package I received a free treatment, which was probably best facial I ever had! And now, as Dr Moss' patient I am also entitled to a discount on skincare at Liberty Belle :)
The reason I decided to go ahead with facial rejuvenation was I felt full of energy and still enjoyed an active lifestyle, but looking at myself in the mirror, my face no longer matched how I felt. After scanning the internet for before and afters, and reading reviews we came across Dr Moss... I do not live in Australia but felt that this was something I could not take lightly, if I needed to travel to another country to get the best surgeon, I would. I was excited to hear that Dr Moss had a beautiful apartment available for out of town patients to stay in after surgery which is located right next door to his rooms and the Liberty Belle skin Centre. This was very convenient and meant I was able to take advantage of his skilled team of nurses to help with my recovery. After meeting and talking to Dr Moss I was sure I had come to the right place. He listened to my concerns and advised what he thought he could do to achieve the best result for me. The consultation was not rushed, and when I left I had all the information I needed to make my decision. My operation was a great success! I imagined it would be a lot more traumatic than it was, but the pain was very minimal. My face was quite swollen for the first 2 days, but almost no bruising at all which surprised me. Once I left the hospital, the apartment was very comfortable and Dr Moss's nurses helped me settle in. There was even food and drinks in the fridge! I was shown how to sleep "elevated" and all by concerns and questions were answered. I felt very safe and in good hands. Every second day I was carefully placed under the healing lights at the clinic next door, which aided my recovery. Dr Moss also kept a check on me during this time to ensure I was healing nicely and my recovery was on track. The staff were so lovely, and although I was in recovery it was like being on holiday. I am very happy with the results of my surgery, I do not looked "done" I look like a younger more refreshed - version of myself, which is just what I was looking for. Dr Moss is a highly skilled plastic surgeon and I would definitely recommend him for facial surgery.
Hi all, I've just turned 40, about 5'4", weight fluctuates between 125-130. I live in Australia now. I'm generally a thin build, always have been, but have always had some chunk on my thighs and as i entered my 30s, it started to pile up on my middle. 4 Years ago I had liposuction on my thighs and it worked great, although one thigh ended up a bit bigger than the other. i wanted to treat my rapidly increasing love handles and abdomen as well but at the time i couldn't afford to do both. (and having done lipo now, i would not like to go through that again, it's brutal.) since that time my surgeon started offering CoolSculpting. As my surgeon is widely regarded as amongst the best in the country, i didn't think they were putting me on when they started raving to me about it. So i decided to give it a go. My first treatment was last October (2013) and they treated the two side/back areas of my muffin top or "flanks". I felt no pain or discomfort from the procedure at all. and nothing especially afterwards. The areas were a bit red and numb feeling there, but they were immediately tighter and smaller. Even my husband noticed a change straight away. About 4 months afterwards I started getting pins and needles in these areas and the nurse said that was the sensation of my nerves coming back alive and would subside. indeed it did after a few weeks. no biggie. and the results there, 9 months later, are still noticeable and great. i used to be able to grab a whole handful of fat there, but now i can barely pinch it. as such, i figured now that i'd saved up the $$ it was no biggie to go and have the front, over my abdominal area done. I had it done yesterday. well it is certainly a MUCH different experience to last time! this time, she used the large applicator on two areas forming a large crescent under my belly button. i'm pretty small overall so this was enough to cover pretty much my entire spare tire. it hurt and was very uncomfortable this time. after the expected block of butter/massage part, my belly looked relatively normal (except for being red) and i felt OK. she took one look at my skin and said "you're going to bruise a bit", which i was prepared for cuz i bruise easily. but by time i got home, my lower abdomen had severely swollen out, making me look pregnant! ah!! it's also a bit red and splotchy, in the clear shape of the applicator, but i have very pale skin that marks easily so i was expecting that a bit. i had mild pain to the touch and have not been able to wear anything constricting at all. it's now day 2 and that bulge is massively sticking out! it looks absurd! i'm like a stick figure with a big jutting roll. it feels firm to the touch and i can't suck it in, but when i move it feels jiggly and liquid. gross! today it's still a bit tender to the touch but not nearly as bad as yesterday. i've been reading that this sort of reaction in the abdomen is normal but it sucks! it's like all the fat there has been bunched up into a solid roll, whereas it used to just naturally hang down and spread evenly. i have completely psyched myself nervous that i've ruined my body, which was not that bad to begin with. i know i have to be patient, but this is so gross looking!! someone please tell me this will go away! i'm so paranoid now! i don't have any before photos at this stage but i will try to get the before pix from the doc when i can. and obviously after pix will have to wait. Updated on 31 Jul 2014: Today is the Friday after the Monday i had my belly done, so i think that makes it day 5. Each day the swelling has reduced significantly. the area is still tender to the touch and red and splotchy, but nothing like the first two days. if you want an idea of how easily my skin marks, the pen marks she made as a guide are still there. nightclub stamps take a week to rub off my skin too, so i expect this splotchiness to be there for some time still. in fact today i can wear pants again. i still look bloated, but i actually look bloated the same way i do just before my period, which is coming up. so it could be that as well. i've got a feeling now like i just did 1,000,000 crunches at the gym. not oppressive, not too bad. i can bend over easier now. the frozen block shape is gone and the hard ridges have softened. so my belly is starting to look more natural again. just rounder! now it's gone a bit itchy, but as the area is still quite numb, i can't feel scratching to relieve it! so i just scratch around it and that helps. it still feels very jiggly. i might add that from Day 2 i started wearing compression panties (like spanx) around the clock and that made a huge difference. i could move a lot easier cuz the jiggling sensation was gone. i've also been gently massaging the area, which is what i did after the lipo on my thighs. one weird thing that happened twice yesterday was a strange pins and needles sensation throughout my upper body. arms and shoulders and torso. and i got very dizzy and lightheaded twice. i just stood up and did some deep breaths and stretches and that seemed to help. i don't know if that's related but it must be cuz that has never happened to me before. so now more waiting. i've been reading other reviews that said the fat was back a year later but having had lipo, i can understand that. it seems that after doing a procedure like this, the body overcompensates at first then eventually settles into a more natural state. so i was really skinny in the legs after the lipo, but a tiny bit has come back. but they are still much smaller than pre-lipo. and the fact is that aging bodies hold on to fat more than a younger one does, so the fat cells left behind may be expanding more than they previously would have. but only time will tell at this stage how lasting this will be, provided i get results at all! but today i definitely feel less anxious like i've made a huge mistake. but i'll check in again in a few more days! Updated on 1 Aug 2014: Well the clinic called me today to check on me and i told her everything that's been going on. she said it's all very normal and in fact, i seem to be progressing faster than most do. so i guess that's a plus. she warned me that at the 5-6 day mark, people tend to start getting jabbing pains, so we'll see if that happens to me. also i wanted to post some pix. i took one just after the applicator was removed and she massaged it out. you can see how red i was. the other 3 are from Day 2, when i was panicking big time. i did use photoshop to edit out my tattoos, so the texture in some places make look funny because i'm terrible at photoshop. however the shape and skin discoloration is accurate of what was happening on that day. my underwear made an impression on my skin but perhaps you can see how there was a sharp ridge on the underside of the treated area. Updated on 7 Aug 2014: Hi there. OK, so now it's day 10. the clinic has called me again during this time to check on me and i've told them everything going on. they say it's all quite normal. the only thing that has been odd - and i'm sorry if this is TMI - is that since i had it done, i have had to do #2 about 2-3 times a day. that's not normal for me and now i've got hemorrhoids cuz of it, but that will pass. the last 2 days have been the only days i haven't been glued to the crapper. the nurse said she has not heard of this and will ask the Dr. about it, but she theorized my body is just in a hyper-metabolic mode and perhaps that's why? indeed - and again, sorry if this is TMI - when i'm sick or something is off, i tend to have #2 instead of vomiting, so maybe it's connected? i will wait to hear back from the Doc on this one! so on Day 7 i finally started getting a tiny bit of the deep cramping pains i was warned about. this lasted for 2 days but i gotta say, it was very very mild. no worse than the period cramping i used to get when i was younger. it sort of felt more like i had eaten something too spicy. it was a pain from deep within, but only bothered me once in a while. my belly remained tender to the touch for another few days. meanwhile, here on Day 10, the bloating has majorly dissipated. i'm still a bit rounder than normal, but pretty much all pain/discomfort is totally gone (except for the 'roids, that is). i can suck in my gut again, but there is just the tiniest bit of sensation when i push on the area. the pattern in which my fat makes rolls on my gut has changed, it is now all centered in the middle instead of spreading to the side as it used to. at this point i need to just wait and see if any of this fat disappears for good! if anything else happens or i get an answer on the #2s, i'll let you know! Updated on 28 Aug 2014: Hi all. well I'm in week 4 now, almost to week 5. All of the shocking symptoms I experienced immediately afterwards have nearly completely gone. I can still feel a bit of tingle when I grab the area, but it's nothing major. So that's good news. (though I never got an answer on the #2s) The not so good news is that so far, it appears to have made little to no difference at all. I know I'm supposed to wait 3 months but you'd think it would have done something by now. I can still grab pretty much as much fat as I could before the procedure. with the exception of just below my belly button. It seems to have worked there, but I still have the rest of my roll. My husband thinks it's made a difference, but my clothes are actually fitting me a little bit tighter than before so who knows. I guess I'll just keep waiting for the 3 months mark! Here's to hoping! Updated on 8 Oct 2017: Hi all. I obviously haven't been on here in a few years but wanted to update my older posts. After my lower abdomen session, it finally settled down - IMMENSELY. my lower abdomen went flatter than it's been since I was a teenager. I was loving it. Except that because I didn't treat the area over my belly button, it had a weird hang over muffin top. It was so weird, like a wall shelf. So I had that bit done and that smoothed that out. Then I had a variety of sessions around the rest of my flanks and a few touch ups to the abdomen. For about 2.5 years, I had the body of a 20 year old again. I was loving it. Everything was fitting me and I was wearing clothes I couldn't have dreamed of before. I was feeling really good about my body. Now, 3 years later, my middle has puffed out to the biggest it's ever been and is super flabby and misshapen. I'm 43 and had an extremely stressful year with a divorce and change to a really stressful desk job. So I thought, it's just middle age kicking in. I've been tested for thyroid, hormones, pre-menopause and all of that and it's none of those things. Absolutely none of my clothes fit, not even the ones from before my first ever cool sculpting treatment. And my flab has shifted locations. Perhaps because of the coolsculpting, I don't get it on my lower abdomen now, though that area is solid and puffy now. I get it between my underbust and my navel. So I have like a weird block shape in the middle of my body. If I wear high waisted pants, I end up having a crazy looking muffin top 3-4" higher than it would normally be, closer to my underbust. It looks weird and deformed. It's depressing the daylights out of me, especially because I'm getting remarried and can fit NOTHING. So I'm on the fence if I should get more cool sculpting. Before venturing into this, I was advised that multiple sessions would be needed on each area and that makes sense if it can only reduce 20-25% at a time. If you want to lose all of the fat in one area, you'd need to do it 4 times by that measure. In the areas I've had treated, I can't pinch nearly as much fat as I could have before, but now I can pinch heaps in areas were I couldn't before. It's just moved. And I supposed middle age spread is kicking in. I don't know if I should venture it again. I should note both mild & hardcore dieting and working out 3-4 times/week has not helped at all. Should I or shouldn't I? Updated on 7 Dec 2017: So it's been 6 weeks since I had 3 more treatments, 2 on my upper flanks/back and 1 on a stubborn spot over my navel on my left side that had 2 previous treatments. Usually with CoolSculpting I find it looks no different until exactly the 2 month mark, so I still have a few weeks to go in that regard. But I think it's already made a difference. It feels and looks like there's been some reduction. I will keep watching it. The two month mark will be Christmas Day, so here's to hoping Santa brings me a skinnier body. Updated on 1 Feb 2018: I think I got my usual result. it's now Feb 2 and there's definitely been a reduction in the treated areas. I can tell because I had been trialling corsets and shapewear for under my wedding dress. Before the CS, I had major muffin top under my arms and my back and now, there's very little. I still want to treat a few more areas but that'll have to wait until later this year when all these wedding expenses pass.