Dr. Zelken got his buccal fat pads removed. A surgeon's perspective as patient and lessons learned.
1.2 هزار بار بازدید -
2 ماه پیش
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After performing over 500 buccal
After performing over 500 buccal fat pad removal cases, Dr. Zelken was unhappy with his own buccal fat prominence. Although most outsiders observed Dr. Zelken's face as thin and slender, there is no question that there is a more apparent prominence when he speaks; Dr. Zelken attributed it to buccal fat pad prolapse. Dr. Zelken searched far and wide for surgeons he trusted to perform the procedure and enlisted Dr. Edwin Kwon to help him. Dr. Kwon was kind enough to perform the operation at Dr. Zelken's office on Friday, May 10, 2024.
There is a joke among surgeons that surgery is more challenging when the patient is a doctor, nurse, friend, family, or lawyer. Dr. Zelken's operation was no exception. Although Dr. Kwon skillfully navigated the buccal space, Dr. Zelken had hard-to-reach buccal fat pads and very little buccal fat to speak of. Compared to an average of 4 to 5 cc, Dr. Zelken's buccal fat pads were 1 cc on the left and 2 cc on the right. However, Dr. Zelken and Dr. Kwon agree that size does not matter in every case, and Dr. Zelken is very eager to see the results of his surgery. He is also very grateful to Dr. Kwon for his assistance.
Dr. Zelken learned several important lessons from this procedure; first of all, he had it done with local anesthesia alone. There were no oral sedatives or oral narcotics used, and the operation was very tolerable. Even though he was on the table for over 1 1/2 hours (average time +30 minutes), Dr. Zelken felt very little during the procedure. However, when he did feel something, it was impossible to communicate because of the retractors in his mouth. And when the operation took longer than expected, Dr. Zelken would have liked some verbal feedback to understand how everything was going. Other than that, the experience was a pleasure, and Dr. Zelken proudly endorses Dr. Kwon.
The most important lessons learned arose from the postoperative experience. Dr. Zelken recognized that the postoperative experience is tolerable and pleasant and requires no narcotic pain medication. However, extra strength Tylenol would have been nice the first night after the procedure. His sleep was disrupted somewhat due to intraoral pain. The next day, with extra strength Tylenol on board, there was no pain, and Dr. Zelken slept through the night. Also, although the incisions are small and heal quickly, they feel quite large inside your own mouth. The tissue underneath the incision is relatively numb, but the cheeks are quite tender. Not to mention, they are very swollen. Dr. Zelken recommends compression with some sort of facial compression garment after the procedure to help with this.
Finally, your face looks abnormal for up to 2 weeks after surgery, more so to the patient than an outside observer. At 5 days, Dr. Zelken was surprised to see swelling of the jowls AND the neck. This not only makes one look older but heavier than you normally do. If the emotional roller coaster of surgery is not enough, the early physical postoperative changes can be challenging for self-confidence and return to work, school, etc. Dr. Zelken recommends that patients use Arnica, wear compressive garments liberally, and remain active to minimize swelling. After 1 week, Dr. Zelken felt like himself again, even though there was some residual swelling.
#BuccalFatRemoval #DrZelken #FacialSurgery #PlasticSurgery #BuccalFatPadProlapse #CosmeticSurgery #PostOpCare #SurgeryRecovery #FacialAesthetics #LocalAnesthesia #SurgicalExperience #PatientExperience #FacialSwelling #DrEdwinKwon #ArnicaForSwelling #CompressionGarment #PlasticSurgeryJourney #SurgicalLessons #FacialContour #PostSurgerySwelling #SurgeryWithoutNarcotics #SurgeonPatient #PlasticSurgeryRecovery #BuccalFatPadRemoval #MinimalInvasiveSurgery #FacialSurgeryRecovery
There is a joke among surgeons that surgery is more challenging when the patient is a doctor, nurse, friend, family, or lawyer. Dr. Zelken's operation was no exception. Although Dr. Kwon skillfully navigated the buccal space, Dr. Zelken had hard-to-reach buccal fat pads and very little buccal fat to speak of. Compared to an average of 4 to 5 cc, Dr. Zelken's buccal fat pads were 1 cc on the left and 2 cc on the right. However, Dr. Zelken and Dr. Kwon agree that size does not matter in every case, and Dr. Zelken is very eager to see the results of his surgery. He is also very grateful to Dr. Kwon for his assistance.
Dr. Zelken learned several important lessons from this procedure; first of all, he had it done with local anesthesia alone. There were no oral sedatives or oral narcotics used, and the operation was very tolerable. Even though he was on the table for over 1 1/2 hours (average time +30 minutes), Dr. Zelken felt very little during the procedure. However, when he did feel something, it was impossible to communicate because of the retractors in his mouth. And when the operation took longer than expected, Dr. Zelken would have liked some verbal feedback to understand how everything was going. Other than that, the experience was a pleasure, and Dr. Zelken proudly endorses Dr. Kwon.
The most important lessons learned arose from the postoperative experience. Dr. Zelken recognized that the postoperative experience is tolerable and pleasant and requires no narcotic pain medication. However, extra strength Tylenol would have been nice the first night after the procedure. His sleep was disrupted somewhat due to intraoral pain. The next day, with extra strength Tylenol on board, there was no pain, and Dr. Zelken slept through the night. Also, although the incisions are small and heal quickly, they feel quite large inside your own mouth. The tissue underneath the incision is relatively numb, but the cheeks are quite tender. Not to mention, they are very swollen. Dr. Zelken recommends compression with some sort of facial compression garment after the procedure to help with this.
Finally, your face looks abnormal for up to 2 weeks after surgery, more so to the patient than an outside observer. At 5 days, Dr. Zelken was surprised to see swelling of the jowls AND the neck. This not only makes one look older but heavier than you normally do. If the emotional roller coaster of surgery is not enough, the early physical postoperative changes can be challenging for self-confidence and return to work, school, etc. Dr. Zelken recommends that patients use Arnica, wear compressive garments liberally, and remain active to minimize swelling. After 1 week, Dr. Zelken felt like himself again, even though there was some residual swelling.
#BuccalFatRemoval #DrZelken #FacialSurgery #PlasticSurgery #BuccalFatPadProlapse #CosmeticSurgery #PostOpCare #SurgeryRecovery #FacialAesthetics #LocalAnesthesia #SurgicalExperience #PatientExperience #FacialSwelling #DrEdwinKwon #ArnicaForSwelling #CompressionGarment #PlasticSurgeryJourney #SurgicalLessons #FacialContour #PostSurgerySwelling #SurgeryWithoutNarcotics #SurgeonPatient #PlasticSurgeryRecovery #BuccalFatPadRemoval #MinimalInvasiveSurgery #FacialSurgeryRecovery
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