Reviews you can trust, from real people like you.
How it works
- Our highly-trained Review Moderation team evaluates all reviews before they're published to ensure they're written by people like you and not a member of a doctor's office.
- This multi-step process takes up to 24 hours from review submission to publication.
- Doctors can't pay to have reviews removed or hidden.
- Reviews are only removed at the reviewer's request or if they violate our Terms of Service.
If you have questions or believe we should re-evaluate a published review, let us know.
Sort by:
*Treatment results may vary
Bad Liposuction
I very much regret having my liposuction done by Michael Szalay. He did a terrible job! I paid nearly $12,000 to have my inner knees, inner thighs, front of thighs, outer thighs, abdomen and flanks treated over 2 procedures, one on Friday, the next on the following Monday. For starters the wrong garment had been ordered. I paid for 2 full-length garments and got 1 half-length garment - completely inappropriate for my procedure and could have resulted in permanent damage. I was not aware of this until after the first procedure when the nurses were dressing me in the garment and trying unsuccessfully to smooth the bulges with compression stockings. This created several restrictions and bulges where it should have been smooth (the body is swollen with fluid after lipo) - this is an absolute no-no! He told me (while still under the influence of the drugs) to come back on Monday for the correct garments (he was happy to leave me like this for 3 days). On the Saturday morning I rang and said this wasn't good enough, so he sent me to a Chemist to buy another inappropriate garment (I shouldn't have been driving). He later rang and said he'd organised for me to pick up 2 garments from the manufacturer and he would pay for them. I didn't realise at the time that this meant I still had to pay for the garment that was useless to me (they are $300 each). Despite following the aftercare instructions to the letter, over time it became apparent that I was left with very uneven and ugly contours everywhere he had treated and that he had even taken fat from the side of my buttocks which I hadn't asked for (I had been told that a small amount of fat from my outer-lower buttocks would be removed - this did not happen). My buttocks are now an awful shape. He told me at the time that I should have all 4 sections of my abdomen done (other surgeons call this 1 section) even though I had virtually no fat above my navel (just a small bulge below) because I could end up with a crease between the top and bottom sections. What I ended up with was much worse! It looked like my abdomen was upside down (more fat from just above my pubic line and zero in a disc shape just below my navel). Less fat removed around my navel, which made it overhang and many indentations and gouges. (I used to have a smooth abdomen). I had 2 big indentations in my flanks and my thighs looked particularly bad - one much worse than the other. My left inner thigh waves in and out, in and out. I have a very large, ugly dip above the knee and indentations on my inner knees as well as other irregularities. I really shouldn't have had my abdomen and flanks done as I had hardly any fat there in the first place. Over a long period of time of arguing (Michael insisting that it was a good job) via email and sending pictures (I live 2 hours from the clinic) he finally agreed after seeing me for the second time that it was a bad job. He has done 2 revision surgeries since (with small improvement in some places and new irregularities in others) including fat transfer with saved fat. My flanks now have several long indentations instead of two large ones. My abdomen is forever ruined and my left thigh still looks terrible. After 4 surgeries and 18 months I told Michael that I would seek the advice of a 2nd surgeon. Michael said he like to know what the 2nd surgeon said and sent him my records. He told me that it is obvious that Michael had removed too much fat in some places and not enough in others. That some fat had been removed too close to my skin. This is impossible to repair. My only hope is to spend a lot of time and money have many small procedures of lipodissolve, liposuction and live fat transfer (this story is already running into years). This 2nd surgeon also told me that transferring saved fat was dangerous and only live fat transfer should be attempted, and that saved fat should only be stored under very specific conditions. I have asked Michael where and how the fat was stored and he has refused to a answer me. I asked him about the large indentions in the side of my buttocks and he told me this was a result of having an "athletic" body! I didn't suddenly get an "athletic" body post liposuction at age 52, and I have never seen an athlete with a weirdly shaped buttocks! I have challenged him twice on this and he has refused to answer. I had hoped with the procedures that I could confidently wear shorts and shorter skirts, instead my wardrobe is reduced anything that doesn't show my shape. I was so much happier with my original body and wish I had never had this done. I recently sent a long email outlining the 2nd surgeons' review and my grievances (I CC'd in the 2nd surgeon for transparency and an opportunity to respond). I stated that it would only be fair for Michael to start negotiating a means of compensation. I had hoped that he would pay for corrective procedures. His response was to answer to none of it and that I should seek legal advice.
Provider Review
Dr Michael Szalay