Dr. Simeon Wall Jr., a board-certified plastic surgeon and the originator of SAFELipo® body contouring, explains why there has been a boom in the need for costly revision procedures such as corrective liposuction in Louisiana.
Shreveport, Louisiana (September 2012) – While the demand for plastic surgery has remained fairly static in recent years, the number of practitioners offering cosmetic procedures has grown significantly. According to Dr. Simeon Wall Jr., of The Wall Center for Plastic Surgery, the increase in physicians calling themselves “cosmetic surgeons” has been a major reason he and other board-certified plastic surgeons are increasingly being sought out for corrective surgery. “We’ve seen a flood of doctors, many not trained in surgery of any type, into cosmetic medicine and surgery because maybe they can make more money in cosmetic surgery than in what they were trained to do. Everyone knows there are serious economic pressures to doctors, and offering cosmetic surgery is available to them. It sounds crazy, but it’s true,” says Dr. Wall Jr.
At his practice in Shreveport, Louisiana, breast enhancement and body contouring are the most common procedures that Dr. Wall Jr. is called upon to fix. “Some of these doctors learned how to do the procedure from a 4-hour course given in a hotel. In contrast, we spent over 100 hours per week for 5 years being trained in plastic surgery,” he says.
Dr. Wall Jr. developed a revolutionary approach to body contouring – SAFELipo – in response to the unique challenges of corrective liposuction in Louisiana. The SAFELipo treatment involves equalization, redistribution, fat grafting, liposuction, skin tightening and contour deformity correction to repair the poor results he often sees in patients.
“We have always had a significant portion of our practice dedicated to secondary, or revision, surgery,” Dr. Wall says, “but we’ve seen it increase quite a bit during the past 3 to 5 years.” He says that many of the practice’s revision patients are referred by other plastic surgeons, many of whom have seen the same increase in these challenging procedures. Dr. Wall Jr. says that even though revision patients come from near and far to see him after having an unsatisfactory liposuction procedure elsewhere, many times they can’t be helped. “Unfortunately, some of these contour deformities just can’t be improved, or fixed. We try to be honest and up front about what we can and cannot improve, and I think patients appreciate that. It’s frustrating for us and the patient.”
“They take longer to perform, they are much more complex, they require a great deal more expertise and experience to manage, and many times have higher risks,” says Dr. Wall Jr. These factors typically make the cost of these surgeries much higher, often many times more than the cost of the original surgery.
When asked, many patients explain that they originally chose a non-plastic surgeon, or one who is not well-established, for financial reasons. But the risks are not worth it, according to Dr. Wall Jr. “When you choose a board-certified plastic surgeon, the advantages are worth every penny. You get years of specialized training, a commitment to safety, and the most effective technology and products.”
Dr. Wall Jr. emphasizes that the best course of action is to trust your cosmetic surgery only to a highly skilled, experienced plastic surgeon, thereby minimizing the need for a re-do in the first place.
If you are considering a Louisiana cosmetic plastic surgery procedure and want to learn more about your options, request a consultation at The Wall Center for Plastic Surgery, or call our office at (318) 795-0801. Conveniently located in Shreveport, we serve patients from Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas.