Eyelid Surgery

Facelift

Juvederm

Rhinoplasty

John Rachel, MD

Chicago Aesthetic Surgery & Med Spa

Mini Facelift

PRP Injections

PRP for Hair Loss

Pixel Laser

Photodynamic Therapy

Nonsurgical Neck Lift

Nonsurgical Nose Job

Nonsurgical Facelift

Neck Lift

Mole Removal

Ptosis Surgery

MACS Facelift

Lower Facelift

Liposculpture

Lipoma Removal

Lip Surgery

Lip Reduction

Lip Lift

Lip Fillers

Latisse

Scar Removal

Voluma

Vollure

Volbella

TCA Peel

SMAS Facelift

Smart Lipo

Skin Tightening

Skin Rejuvenation

Sinus Surgery

Septoplasty

Laser Resurfacing

Scalp Micropigmentation

Salicylic Peel

Revision Rhinoplasty

Retin-A

Restylane Silk

Restylane Refyne

Restylane Lyft

Restylane Defyne

Restylane

Cheek Augmentation

Ear Surgery

Earlobe Repair

Dysport

Deep Plane Facelift

CO2 Laser

Genioplasty

Chin Liposuction

Chin Implant

Chemical Peel

Cheek Lift

Buccal Fat Removal

Brow Lift

Botox for Migraines

Botox

Blue Peel

Asian Rhinoplasty

Double Eyelid Surgery

African American Rhinoplasty

Affirm Laser

Glycolic Peel

Laser Liposuction

Laser Hair Removal

Kybella

Jaw Reduction

Dermal Fillers

Hyaluronidase

Hand Rejuvenation

Hair Transplant

Hair Loss Treatment

Accent Prime

FUE Hair Transplant

Fractional Laser

Forehead Reduction

Facial Fat Transfer

Facial Reconstructive Surgery

Facelift Revision

Eyebrow Transplant

Lower face lift and I am so happy I did it. Had 3 consultations in Chicago and chose Dr. Rachel because of his triple board certifications in facial reconstruction. So glad i did it. Looks fabulous !!

Lower Face Lift and People Are Shocked when They Learn I Have a Son in College

Facelift, neck, upper and lower eyes and fat transfer

I've had botox by several docs and Dr. Rachel is the best. fantastic results. My 11 was gone and it looked very natural. Botox is pretty straight forward so don't know why this is making me type a longer response.  Sorry ladies and gents, apparently so much info is required to submit a review, kinda silly

Botox for 11 Between Brows - Chicago, IL

I was considering lower face lift for quite some time now. i was going back and forth choosing different procedures. i was't thrilled about lifetime lift after reading all the reviews. At the end of the day i trully believe that no matter what procedure you select the most importand decision will be selecting your doctor. i went to Glenview IL clinic because i saw that Dr. Rachel is doing that procedure there. He is triple board certified and i had a lot of confidence in him. 
When i came for consultation i tried to avoid that whole promotional speech and ask the rep to arrande me a meeting with the doctor. He came in and i asked him questions that were my concern. he told me what exactly he will do and what to expect. 
i schedule surgery for the next week. when i arrived surgical nurse took me to the room, checked my vitals and took pictures. she also gave me 4 tablets of valium and one tablet of something to control nasuea. i didnt take all four pills, i old her that two valium would be ok for me. i aslo was taking arnica montana for 4days prior the surgery and started anabiotic night before. 
After giving me pills surgical tech took me to the operation room. i have to say this was a state of art facility: clean, lots of monitors. she laid me on the warm bed and covered with warm blanket. in a few minutes she started administering local anastesia. i asked her about her experience and she said that she is working with Dr. Rachel for 7 years and she has 30 years of experience in plastic surgery. it made me actually more comfortable. 
after injectic some of the numbing stuff she started to pumping actual numbic solution under the skin. i asked doctor about epinephrin and that it gives me heart racing so they used more diluted solution, which was nice and i didnt feel any heart speeding. 
 in a few minuted doctor came in and he told me what he was doing every step of the procedure. i had my neck muscle tighten under the chin with a little lipo and then he did tighten muscles and skin around my ears. i didnt fall a sleep and hear everything, so probably if you will take all 4pills you most likely will be out. i felt what he was doing but it didnt bother me at all. there were no pain. 
 i had doctor and two his assistants in the room all the time. i was hooked t o the pressure and oxygen monitors, hering nice quiet music. so it wasnt bad. 
 
 after they were done nurse transferred me to the post operation room. i had tight bandages around my face. my face felt pretty tight so i couldnt even close my mouth. i was going home in about 30 minutes. 
 
at home i didnt take vycodin becase it makes me sick so i opted for talenol and ibuprofen every 3 hours. i cant lie - there is a lor of pain, i cant eat from the spoon so im just drinking water and yogurt. it is alo very painful to swallow because of all that neck repair. 
 
all together it took me 4hours in the clinic from the moment i came in. now its 7 oclock and 
im sitting in my bed because i cant lay down, it hurts. my neck it really hurts to the touch and i cant see the swalling yet because of thr wraps. tomorrow i will be going back o take the wrapping off, so hopefully i will have pictures to post. 
 
while i was there on the table the nurse commented on my neck and said that it looks very smooth and i have a nice jaw line. i cant wait to see myself. 
 
sorry for my typos, im on my ipad and no spell prof 
 
Updated on 23 Jan 2014:
 
The first night was tough. i slept probably 2 hours alltogether. had lot of pain and the wrap was really tight. next day i went to the clinic to remove the wrapping. nurse told me to take shower and show me how to clean insisions. 
 
that second day was tough, i took tylenol but it didnt do much. my only relieve was from ice cold compresses. i actually used ice with water and cloth , it worked better then ice packs because it would contour my face and i dont have to hold it. nurse told me about it and im glad she did. by nine oclock i was so tiered and exhausted so i just took ibuprofen and half of xanax to get some sleep. i slept till 4am and acually feeling much better today. i have no bruising but my face and neck is swollen, also looking at my insions they look very nice. i will add photos when i get to the computer later today. 
 
Updated on 23 Jan 2014:
 
actually my post was for the second day after procedure 
 
Updated on 23 Jan 2014:
 
here are sine before and after. My surgery day and second day 
 
Updated on 23 Jan 2014:
 
So i had surgery on Tuesday Jan 21. This is picture from Jan 23rd. you can see my neck is swollen and my ear is swollen too. Not much bruising yet... 
 
Updated on 24 Jan 2014:
 
No pain! yey! I'm completely off the pain killers. Still taking antibiotic, cleaning the scars twice a day and applying ointment. Still very puffy on the face and neck, tight under the chin and behind ears. 
 
Updated on 26 Jan 2014:
 
Yesterday i got out of my PJs and relocated from my bedroom to the couch in the living room. I feel more mobile today. I have no pain, just discomfort, my neck is tight, soreness behind the ears... I took a long shower today and washed my hair for the first time. Still swollen around the temples but it's getting softer to the touch. The bruising going down, I'm using arnica gel on my neck. That's the only place where I have yellow bruising. My stitched to be removed in two days so I 'm feeling very excited. I feel like it will be phase two of my recovery after that. I don't do much these days, really didn't go anywhere just took my dog for a walk yesterday for the first time. 
 
Updated on 26 Jan 2014:
 
 
 
Updated on 26 Jan 2014:
 
 
 
Updated on 2 Feb 2014:
 
I'm healing very nicely; my scars on front are completely invisible. I still have swollen tissue behind my ears. My neck is also kindda puffy and tight and I have no feeling under the chin and temples areas. I will phone office tomorrow because i think that I have some fluid under the skin below my ears. I googled it and it's called ceratoma or ceroma. It is very common and should be absorbing by your body, but I wanted to see if the doctor can extract it. Other then that it looks great. 
 
Updated on 10 Mar 2014:
 
I had a doctor's follow at week 6th. Everything looks great.The swollen things that I thought is seratoma - were just internal tissue scars that are almost completely dissolved. I still have puffy chin but that's about it. Little numbness and tightness but overall no complains or problems. 
 
Updated on 18 Apr 2014:
 
It's almost three months since my surgery. The face is actually back to it's normal self - not swollen anymore. Still some numbness in front of my ears and under the chin. It looks great, especially neck. I still have some soreness in my neck so I can't go for a facial yet :) but very excited with the transformation. 
 
Updated on 1 Jul 2014:
 
Everything is going really well. I still have some tight feeling under my chin and ears - but i kindda like it. LOL . I think that this was the best thing that I did. I'm very motivated now - i exercise every day and probably now in the best shape of my life. I love pulling hair up to a ponytail - which I would never do before. Love it, love it, love it!!!

I Did It! - Glenview, IL

Lifestyle Lift

i wanted to look 10 years younger. i wanted to remove loose skin around the neck and eyes. the turkey neck was removed along with the bags under the eyes and the dark circles under the eyes.there was minimal pain during the procedure. recovery time was only a few weeks. there was little bruising. i received many favorable comments on my new look.

life style lift - Downers Grove, IL

wish I could give no stars. He made my nose look worse. It's bigger and doesn't fit my face. My facelift was a joke. He agreed to the example pictures I sent. Then did whatever he wanted. When I told him about it, he said that's another procedure. Really? I have to pay you twice for what you should have done the first time. The gaslighting at this office is over the top. You know? Like when a salon ruins your hair then tells you it looks great. Only this won't grow out. I have always been attractive, but now I am not, due to the nose he gave me. Stay clear of this office. I got this done in March and now I try not to look in the mirror, because every time I do I feel like crying. I looked into suing him for my money back so I can at least try to fix my nose with another doctor. But no lawyer will take a plastic surgery case unless you are considered legally disfigured. I guess him making me ugly is not criminal. The WORST decision I ever made! Truley! If you want to see my pictures look him up on yelp.

Worst Decision I Have Ever Made!

I am having a rhinoplasty and chin implant done on May 24th. I am more excited than I am nervous seeing that I have done a lot of research and searching for the right doctor over several years. I can't wait to have it done now that I have made my choice and scheduled a day! I wish time would move faster! 
 
I have always been very self conscious about my profile due to my large dorsal hump and weak chin. I went back and forth about having the procedure done for years because of the permanent impact it would have on my face. After several consultations and countless hours of research on this site and other sources, I finally decided to pull the trigger. 
 
I had my pre-op appointment yesterday and my doctor spent a lot of extra time with me to answer all of my questions - which really put me at ease and got me really excited for what is to come. We discussed what I wanted to achieve through the surgery and I felt like he really got an understanding of what I wanted while guiding me from a professional standpoint what his suggestions were. We also discussed what sizes would work best with respect to the chin implant. We decided on making the incision and pocket from the outside, under my chin. He said he will fit both the medium and large sized implants and decide which is more aesthetically pleasing with my facial structure. Both sizes also have wings to help with projection for creating a stronger jawline. 
 
 All in all, I am very excited for my surgery which is in just two weeks. Any advice, suggestions, stories, or a time machine (since I am terribly impatient) would be much appreciated! 
 
Updated on 21 May 2013:
 
So I am three days away from the big day. I am really getting more and more excited, but also getting the slightest bit of nerves. I am just worrying about what I will look like after, will I heal well, will it be the outcome that I have wanted and hoped for all these years of waiting? 
 
 I am confident my surgeon knows what I want and will deliver a great end result, but there is still that little bit of fear that I will be let down or underwhelmed by the surgery. I have really built up a lot of expectation after seeing pictures and hearing stories from other people! Also, since I am having both a rhinoplasty and a chin augmentation, I expect to see significant change in my facial structure. 
 
I have filled all my pre-op and post-op medications and went to the store to get the necessities for my recovery time, so now I am just counting down the hours! I will update on the day of surgery and during my recovery. Wish me luck!

Rhinoplasty and Chin Implant - Chicago, IL

Amazing doctor and his entire team. I go to him pretty much for everything. He is triple certified, experienced, great bedside manner. I would say if you need to do any procedure just go to him with out any hesitation. 
 
Updated on 11 Jul 2018:
 
So it took me almost 2years to work up the courage and do it. If I knew it would be so easy I would do it much sooner. The procedure was not bad at all. I have done upper and lower abdomen and back with bra rolls. I went to the same surgeon who did my mini face lift 4years ago and I’m still so happy with it. 
So anyway I took 2 pills of Valium and was dr. Rachel did the markings and I was taken into the op room. It took about 15minutes to get the numbing solution into me. Deb is an amazing nurse and I didn’t feel a thing. After that dr. Rachel started with procedure. They all make you feel very relaxed and comfortable. 
I had no pain and the only time I feel some discomfort when it was the ribs area on the back. He quickly added more solution and that was it. All n all it too about 2 hours. I had 1000ml taken off my stomach and about 250 ml off each side of the back. 
I’m 5’6 132lb active,not much far all around. 
After the procedure Alicia and Deb got me all wrapped up and I went home. I still had no pain and wasn’t taking any pain medication. 
After getting home I just ate a little veggie soup and went to bed. I did take 2extra strength Tylenol but not because of pain but rather to prevent it. 
I slept til 8pm, and then got up to wash up. Getting up and laying down is the hardest part. Still no pain, just a lot of discomfort on the back. I walk around the room for about 15 minutes and then got to bed. Slept till 6:30am. 
Today I will be taking the wrap off and showering. I will post pics later tonight. 
 
Updated on 11 Jul 2018:
 
 
 
Updated on 13 Jul 2018:
 
I'm feeling much better. No pain just mainly discomfort. Easier to get to bed, I can even sleep on my side, yey! Drink ton of water, no salt. I started walking same day of the procedure. First time I was able to walk for 15 minutes. Today I did walking excersize for 30. I would recommend Leslie Samson walk at home. This is perfect for post recovery. Easy moves, little stretch. It is better than lymphatic massage. And it's free on you tube. I also take arnika tablets. Started fast before the surgery. I have very little bruises. Staying positive, hoping to see results soon. 
 
Updated on 19 Jul 2018:
 
Every day I can see more changes. I don't have any swelling on my sides, a little on the back in the bra area and more around stomach. I'm excersizing every day. Still sore in the stomach and itching like crazy. I have not taking Tylenol since day 2. Also I bought a lighter garment in Walmart today to wear at night. 
 
Updated on 20 Jul 2018:
 
Not much to report. I wear my garment pretty much all the time. Bought a lighter one black for the night and if I need to go out. Still sore in the stomach and bra areas. Eat light and exercise. These photos are taken in the morning. I see that it's getting flat but telling myself that I have to be very patient. I have realistic expectations, I know that I'm not going to have results like 20 y.o. And that recovery will take many month. I'm excited to see changes that happen now, I can wait. 
 
Updated on 22 Jul 2018:
 
I feel like my stomach getting more lumpy sms.ateb.com also one side on the back is more swollen than the other. I hope it's just temporary. I started my usual workout routine - cardio 30 min, strength 30 min. I also walk outside 2.5 miles. Am I overdoing? I don't feel swelling just one place on the back and around stomach. 
 
Updated on 25 Jul 2018:
 
Had a doctor's visit today. He said everything looks great, no restrictions of any kind. I can be officially out of my garment. I will still put it on for the workout though cause it feels better. I do have some very mild swelling and will start massages. Overall I extremely happy with results. I'm excersizing at about 90%of my regular strength. I think starting early moving and excersizing is the key. Also I starting to apply some steroid cream on my back scars. I have it left since when I did laser under my eyes. I don't know what that is, doc. gave me in a small container. Anyway, I will continue adding my updates and hope everyone have speedy recovery! 
 
Updated on 31 Jul 2018:
 
Well still healing, my stomach is very tender. My back is still numb in some places. I can see more ripples on the stomach and one spot on my back where it is swelled up. Here are some pics from morning. I don't wear garment at night but all the time during the day. 
 
Updated on 9 Aug 2018:
 
It's getting better. Still soreness in the tissues, hard to do stretches, my back hurts in the car if I have to drive for some time. Massage definitely helps with bumps and lumps, however I feel that I'm more swollen after. I thought that it would be opposite. These pictures were taken in the morning after last night massage. I really love the way clothes sit now, especially shirt dresses. Just telling myself to have patience. 
 
Updated on 22 Aug 2018:
 
I LOVE my results. Every day is getting better. I feel like swelling is going down. Still sore everywhere, I can't wear jeans yet, and tight anything around the waist. I don't wear garment anymore, I don't see much difference with or without. Massage helps with getting sensitivity back into the skin. Overall healing process is long. 
 
Updated on 8 Sep 2018:
 
Just wanted to post update. It's been two months. I'm pretty much back to all my normal activities. Still have a little soreness in the stomach around navel area. It feels always more puffy then the rest of the stomach. I still love the results. I will be 55 in two month and do have realistic expectations and I'm aware that I will never look like Victoria secret model, so for me my results are amazing. I feel very confident in tight dresses and jeans, no more muffin top! It just made me more happier.

54 Years Old Smart Lipo in Glenview, IL.

I've been thinking about doing this for 6 years. Finally got the nerve up to do it after reading about others journey on Real Self. Thank you all for posting about your experiences. 
I'm getting a Face &amp; Neck lift, Brow lift, Upper &amp; Lower eyes, Buccal fat removal, and CO2 Laser Resurfacing on full face and neck. May also do liposuction on my hips. Hope it's not too much at once! See my doc tomorrow to go over the details. I wish I could say I'm excited, but I'm more nervous!

turning 59 and getting the works!