Dr. Bae:
Hey Greg, how you doing?

Greg:
I am amazing Dr. Bae. Hey, I wanted to talk to you about this, you are very transparent with your pricing. You have a pricing tool right here on the website that people can find out how much something cost. Not everybody can pay for everything right upfront I mean, you’re not going to sit here and tell people, “Yeah I can do this for next to nothing.” And I don’t want my surgeon saying that by the way.

Dr. Bae:
Right. Cheap plastic surgery isn’t good and good plastic surgery isn’t cheap.

Greg:
No. So tell me some options that people have, maybe I can’t roll out five, six, seven, $10,000 just right off the bat but I want to get a procedure done that cost that.

Dr. Bae:
Yeah. So it’s a tough question because we don’t want people overextending themselves but there are definitely ways of financing these operations through different services. We don’t actually do any in… people ask all the time, do we do in-house financing? We don’t do in-house financing meaning that we won’t do your operation for nothing upfront and then you pay us back over time. We don’t do that but we do use some finance… You’d be surprised how many people ask that-

Greg:
Well, and by the way, I don’t do that for the radio station either. I don’t say, “I’ll work for a couple of months and you pay me later.” So I get that. I don’t do that either Dr. Bae.

Dr. Bae:
So that’s what I’m hoping is once the utility company says, “Oh, we’ll just give you the electricity [crosstalk 00:01:35] and you can pay us next year.” That’s when I’ll start doing. But for now what we do is that we use some third-party financing companies. We use CareCredit which a lot of people use, not just for cosmetic procedures but if you have a high deductible health plan and you got to pay out of pocket for medically necessary services, people use CareCredit for that, they use it for dental work. So we use CareCredit, We use another company called Alphaeon Credit, there’s Prosper Healthcare Lending. There’s several of them out there and they do things different ways as far as how they pay but the idea is that we get paid upfront for the service from that company and then the patient pays them back.

Dr. Bae:
So like CareCredit for example, they will pay the pers… pay the CareCredit back. The consumer will pay CareCredit back monthly for a certain period of time. And the thing people need to keep in mind there are options. There are some options like you can do six months no interest where CareCredit pays us everything and then if you pay CareCredit back within that six month period, you have to pay them the full amount but no interest that’s pretty awesome. But just to be sure-

Greg:
That is awesome, that’s like cash, yeah.

Dr. Bae:
It’s like cash but just be sure that you’re going to be able to pay it back within that six months because if not, then they are going to start to add interest and the interest is like 26%. It’s very high. Now-

Greg:
Oh, I see you do financial advice to Dr. Bay. So you are a financial advisor and… Yeah I mean, [crosstalk 00:02:55] don’t understand the interest rates and stuff like that so you have to do your research.

Dr. Bae:
Right. And that you got to keep in mind, how do these companies make money? They don’t make money by paying… people paying them back interest free in six months, they make money by people not being able to pay them back in six months interest free and then they have to pay a 7th and 8th month and the 9th month with that 20% interest rate. So of course, whatever advice I’m providing make sure you clear with an accountant first or your tax advisor. But the other thing to keep in mind is like, okay, well still you’re thinking, “Okay. You know what? I can’t afford it six months. I can’t pay it all off in six months so I don’t want us to be stuck paying some usury interest rate for that after those six months.” So the other option you might think is like, “I’ll pay it off over five years or I’ll pay it off over six years.”

Dr. Bae:
And they do have plans like that but keep in mind, those interest rates are pretty high too. Maybe they’re not as high as 26%, but they are may be like 14% or something like that. So they do get kind of high if you’re not going to pay them off within a year or two. So just keep that in mind, be safe, read the fine print. The fine print is there. They’re not trying to hide it from you. They have actually, I think by law had to made the fine print bigger. It can’t be as fine has to be bigger and easier to read. The other thing the state of California has done is that we can’t sign you up for CareCredit. That’d would be the way it could be done in the past and we could be done honestly where we would sign the patient up for CareCredit.

Dr. Bae:
They would give us their information and we would physically sign them up online. Now we no longer can do that. They have to physically log in and sign up for themselves because obviously some doctors may be or some institutions were signing people up without their knowledge so that’s why you can’t do that anymore. We never did that of course but anyway, read the print, know what you’re getting yourself into. And a lot of people you’d be surprised I mean, even if your credit score is not awesome, people are still getting approved by these different companies and they’re getting their procedure and hopefully paying back the company to keep the company whole so they don’t turn them over to collections.

Greg:
All right. And what about crypto coin? Do you take crypto coin? That’s a big thing-

Dr. Bae:
We do actually. You got to-

Greg:
What?

Dr. Bae:
Yeah you got to stay up with all the time. So yeah, we take Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dozer Coin. We [crosstalk 00:05:08]. I don’t know that we can take XRP right now. I think that’s tied up in litigation the SEC or whatever but yeah, we do take crypto coin if people are interested in paying that way. The trick is to get paid by that crypto coin and then cash it out immediately because the price fluctuates [crosstalk 00:05:28]. Yeah somebody can pay you when it’s $10,000 and then when you’re cashing in it’s $8,000, you just lost $2,000 on the operation but-

Greg:
There you go. [crosstalk 00:05:36] got to work out your finances on your end too.

Dr. Bae:
Exactly. That is true.

Greg:
All right. Well thanks Dr. Bay. And if you want pricing, it’s right here on the website, everything is transparent. You can book appointments, you can call to ask questions. You can email to ask questions or probably the easiest way is to reach out on social media.

Dr. Bae:
Yeah, you can reach us on TiTok, Snapchat, Instagram @realdrbae R-E-A-L-D-R-B-A-E. You’re a great spokesperson Greg, I might pay you to do this.

Greg:
Oh, you should in crypto. I’ll take Bitcoin.

Dr. Bae:
Fair enough.

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post Financing your medical or cosmetic procedure first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

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Check pricing for under eye bag removal

How to Minimize the Appearance of Under Eye Bags: 3 Methods

1. Lifestyle

Under-eye bags can be prevented or managed with a few simple lifestyle changes, such as:

a. Staying Hydrated

Dehydration can contribute to poor circulation, causing lymph fluid to build up in the pockets underneath your eyes, leading to puffiness. Consuming at least 6-8 glasses of water per day and eating food with a high water content can help flush your system and eliminate excess fluid from the eye area.

b. Eating a Healthy Diet

Diets high in salt can cause fluid retention that leads to eye bags. Improving your diet by reducing your sodium intake and increasing your intake of leafy green vegetables and fruits that are high in vitamins A and C and foods containing collagen can counteract the effects of fluid retention.

c. Wearing Sunscreen

UVA rays damage skin cells and degrade the skin’s elastin, creating deep wrinkles that can form under-eye bags. Wearing broad-spectrum SPF50 sunscreen every day and a pair of polarized sunglasses when outdoors can minimize sun damage to your eye area.

d. Getting Enough Sleep 

Getting adequate rest is crucial for all body functions, but a lack of sleep can increase the levels of stress hormones—like cortisol—in your body, which can contribute to premature aging. Cell renewal is higher at night while you sleep, including skin cell renewal.  The average adult needs between 7-9 hours of sleep per night to allow their body to rest and rejuvenate.

e. Managing Allergies and Health Conditions

Some underlying health conditions can contribute to the development of under-eye bags. Thyroid and sinus dysfunction, as well as several inflammatory disorders, can cause puffiness under the eyes. Even menstruation can increase fluid retention, giving your under-eye area a fuller appearance. Talk to your doctor about testing for thyroid issues, and keep track of your menstruation to determine whether changes in your eye’s appearance coincide with the onset of your period.

Eliminating Eye Bags at Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery

If you have persistent under-eye bags, consider these three options, depending on how aggressive you want to be with the treatment and the time frame in which you wish to achieve the results.

2. Non-Surgical

If you want to go one step further, then consider fillers. While fillers don’t remove under-eye bags, they can help camouflage them by injecting filler into the deep crease below the under-eye bag, so there’s a smoother transition from the lower lid to the cheek. Pricing for non-surgical options.

3. Minimally Invasive

Surgical under-eye bag procedures are suitable for heavy bags, subtly lifting them to give you a more youthful appearance. By making a small incision on the inside of the lower eyelid, the fat that causes the under-eye bag can be removed. After removal, no stitches are needed to close the incision. Since the only incision is on the inside of the lower lid, there’s no visible scar. 

Most patients have no pain postoperatively; however, you may experience bruising, which resolves over the course of a week. Most importantly, there’s almost no downtime with any of these options. Plastic surgery prices for eye-bag-tightening procedures vary depending on the severity of your under-eye bags and which treatment you select.

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Call or text Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery at 415-923-3005  to find out more. Book a consultation with Dr. Kaplan to rejuvenate your eye area and achieve a more youthful and revitalized appearance.

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Jonathan Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post How to get rid of bags under your eyes: 3 options first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

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The Inframammary Incision: Pros

Inframammary incisions are made in the fold where the lower part of the breast meets the chest wall. From there, a saline or silicone implant can be inserted below or above the muscle.Many patients prefer this type of incision—especially those with greater breast tissue volume below the nipple—because the scar is easily hidden by a bra, bikini, or the breast. Because of the incision’s proximity to the surgical site, surgeons have more precision and control over implant placement and bleeding than they do with transaxillary and transumbilical incisions.

Like the periareolar incision, the original incision site can also be reopened for subsequent surgeries, if necessary, which means no future additional scarring. But, unlike a periareolar incision, the inframammary incision presents no additional risk of nerve damage in the nipples.

The Inframammary Incision: Cons

One drawback to inframammary placement is that, from an aesthetic standpoint, it makes it difficult for a patient to change her breast size later on. If a woman increases her breast size, it can cause the scar to move up, so it’s on the breast. If she decreases it, the scar can move down, so it’s visible below the fold of the breast. 

This incision can also interfere with the milk ducts, so it is not recommended for younger women or women who plan to have children and breastfeed. The incision scar is typically between 0.5”-2” wide and, although it cannot be seen while wearing a bra or bikini, it may be noticeable when raising your arms over your head or lying down. 

For patients who start out with very small breasts or little-to-no natural breast creases, it can also be difficult for a plastic surgeon to place the incision in the optimal position, though this risk can be minimized by going to a highly experienced plastic surgeon.

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Feel Confident with Breast Augmentation at Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery

The type of incision to choose depends on the size implants you want and the current shape of your breast. Incision placement can also affect plastic surgery prices for breast augmentation, so it is important to consult your plastic surgeon about incision locations and other details for your surgery. 

At Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery, we want you to look as good on the outside as you feel on the inside. Breast augmentation can improve bodily symmetry and give you the boost of confidence you need. Call or text Dr. Kaplan for a consultation today at 415-923-3005.

The post Inframammary Incision: Pros & Cons first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

Patients often ask cosmetic surgeons if face lipo could help with issues like drooping jowls or a double chin, and most reputable surgeons always respond with a definitive no. Liposuction is an effective treatment for many areas of the body, such as the abdomen, hips, and thighs, where there are ample fat deposits. However, while it can be challenging to lose weight from your face, face liposuction comes with inherent risks and often doesn’t achieve the desired results. 

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The Risks of Facial Liposuction

As you age, you automatically begin to lose fat and muscle tone in the facial area. That’s why most anti-aging cosmetic procedures for the face involve putting something into it, such as dermal fillers to add volume. In the 1980s, when liposuction was first introduced, most plastic surgeons felt comfortable applying it to any area of the body a patient requested. However, through trial and error, we have come to understand that the face is not a viable option for liposuction treatment, and there are several risks involved in the procedure. 

1. Premature Aging

Removing fat from your face can lead to a hollow look and cause your skin to become loose, which adds years to your face. 

2. Nerve Damage

Another reason is that your face is full of nerve endings, and face liposuction can cause damage, affecting your ability to make certain facial expressions.

3. Scarring

To access certain areas of the face for fat removal with lipo, surgeons need to make an incision close to the surgical site. Liposuction requires the surgeon to move the cannula back and forth to break up the fat cells. This can lead to visible scarring, affecting the aesthetic results of the treatment. 

4. Facial Deformity

Facial deformity or asymmetry often occurs if the fat removal is uneven. Liposuction is ideally suited to larger areas of the body, as it is difficult to remove small pockets of fat, such as those found on the face, using this technique. 

5. Infection

While liposuction infections are rare, they can be serious and leave permanent marks on your face. Some infections include cellulitis, staphylococcal abscesses, and mycobacterial infections, which may need to be treated both with medication and surgery, resulting in scarring. 

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Alternatives to Facial Liposuction

While liposuction can be a very effective way to treat some parts of the body, including neck lipo or arm lipo, it is not the right choice if you want to make changes to your face to fight the signs of aging. Several other suitable treatments eliminate fat around the chin and jowls, including buccal fat removal or Coolsculpting®. Depending on the results you are hoping to achieve, plastic surgery prices, and your overall health, these options are a better choice to slim your face and help you look younger and rejuvenated.  

If you’d like to schedule a consultation with Dr. Kaplan to discuss other options to sculpt your face to help you look your best, call or text Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery today at 415-923-3005. 

The post Face Liposuction: 5 Risks first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.