Dr Mosser, Author at Scott Mosser M.D.

Traditionally, tummy tuck surgery is thought to be best for patients who have excess skin, often after weight fluctuation or pregnancy.It’s certainly an excellent surgery to tighten a flabby abdomen and will commonly rid a belly of some or all of the stretch marks on the lower abdomen.

However, a tummy tuck also involves tightening the “six-pack” muscles in the center of the belly, which often separate and lie off to the sides instead of in the middle. Bringing these “rectus abdominis” muscles back together is one of the essential steps of a full tummy-tuck procedure, and it is what improves the waistline and truly tightens the muscular part of the abdominal wall of muscles.
Sculptra is a great filler for patients that want the longest-term result possible but don’t have a problem waiting a bit for the full effects of treatment. All of my Northern California and San Francisco Sculptra patients made the choice to use Sculptra because they prioritize a natural appearance. And the nice thing about Sculptra is that when the filling is complete, it is the patient’s own natural tissue that is doing the filling.

Sculptra has gotten a bad rap because of reports of nodules beneath the skin that can form. Fortunately for me and my patients the technique I use is working to reduce the incidence of firm areas beneath the skin to less than 1% of patients. For me, as long as a patient has a few months to see the full effect of the volume, Sculptra is one of the best choices for facial filling.
I particularly enjoy working with patients who have recently undergone significant weight loss. Some of the most gratifying results – for both patient and physician – come from supplementing weight loss with cosmetic surgery to restore a balanced body contour.

Losing significant body fat, especially after many years of overweight, can leave behind loose, flabby folds of skin that do not respond to exercise. Older skin that has lost some of its natural elasticity also often means disappointing results for weight loss patients.

If you are contemplating gastric bypass surgery for drastic weight loss, or plan to lose a significant amount of weight soon, you should discuss with your personal physician the possibility of coordinating plastic surgery with your weight loss program. A consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon can give you valuable input on what to expect and the available solutions such as a tummy tuck or liposelection.

Some advance planning and coordination will greatly increase your chances of a successful and satisfying weight loss result.
With changing social customs, many couples are waiting longer before having children, and the modern mother is often a professional woman taking time out of a busy career to have a family. Once maternity leave is over, whether after a few months or a few years, and the new mother is preparing to re-enter the business world, she may be taking stock of her wardrobe, her appearance, and her body image. She may find that in spite of dieting and exercise some parts of her body have not returned to her former body shape.

This would be the time to consult with a board-certified plastic surgeon for a professional assessment and candid advice on the many options open. Whether a lower body lift, a mini-tummy tuck, or liposection is needed to restore body contour, or some limited liposelection to correct stubborn fat deposits in specific areas, your surgeon will provide you with complete information.
There is never a good reason to have more elective plastic surgery than you absolutely need to achieve your aesthetic goals. Don’t ever apply the old adage, “While I’m at it I might as well…”. There are several “mini” plastic surgery procedures which are tailored to correct a specific facial or body feature you wish to improve without being unduly invasive or requiring long recovery periods.

The surgical procedure used to remove excess skin and also to tighten the abdominal muscles is referred to as abdominoplasty, but is more popularly known as a “tummy tuck”. This procedure is most often performed together with a full body resculpture following drastic weight loss or pregnancy or in conjunction with liposuction. There is, however, a modified procedure called the “mini tummy tuck” which can accomplish very pleasing results in specific cases.

How do you know if the mini tummy tuck is for you? Some of these conditions could make you the perfect candidate:
- Following a weight loss program your weight has reached your desired level and is stable but you still carry a roll of extra fat below your belly button and in the waist area that you cannot get rid of.
- You exercise and eat healthy foods and feel toned but have been unable to firm or tighten your abdomen muscles.
- You’ve never had a weight problem and you’re happy with your general body shape but as you reach middle age you find your weight has shifted to your waist area.
- You are satisfied with your weight and shape, but the skin around your waist and abdomen is loose and flabby so you avoid clothing that reveals this area.
A consultation with a Board-certified plastic surgeon who will explain the various options available and what choices you can make to achieve your goals could be very rewarding.
There’s no ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to this question. The most correct reply is that gummy bear implants may be ideal for one patient and not at all suitable for another, depending on body characteristics, age, skin type, size, and personal goals.

“Gummy bear’ implants, due to their form-stable shape, require a longer incision than standard round or tear shaped silicone implants and cannot be inserted into tiny incisions in an non-inflated form as can saline filled implants. They also require very precise positioning in the spaces created for them either under or over the chest muscles. For this reason they are often not suitable to replace previous larger implants.

If you decide that ‘gummy bear’ implants are right for you be sure to chose a skilled plastic surgeon with expertise and experience using the new cohesive gel implants.
With the US FDA approval of silicone breast implants in November 2006, US plastic surgeons are again able to offer their patients a choice of silicone implants in addition to the commonly used saline filled implants. Throughout their 14-year ban silicone implants continued to be used in Europe and South America, and were also used under approved conditions such as reconstruction following mastectomy and in research within the US.

Advances have been made in the shape and consistency of silicone implants, one of them being the ‘gummy bear’ implant, so named because the consistency of the gel inside the implant resembles the popular chewy treat.

The ‘gummy bear’ has been on the market in France, Germany, Spain, and Japan for the past ten years. It is composed of exactly the same ingredients as the standard silicone gel implants; the difference lies in its form-stable shape due to more cross linking causing the silicone molecules to bond more to one another. Such cohesive gel implants can be sliced, punctured, or damaged and nothing will leak out.
If you’ve made the decision to have breast augmentation surgery and you’ve chosen a board-certified plastic surgeon, you now face the important step of selecting the breast implant that will suit your goals.

Here are three ways to ensure that you make the right decision:
- A full medical appraisal to match your age, weight, skin and body type and general health to an implant that best suits you from a medical standpoint.Some implants may not be suitable at all so you might as well eliminate those at the outset.
- Define your body image goals.Be sure you are clear about what size and shape you feel is ideal and discuss candidly with your plastic surgeon what you hope to achieve. This will help you to determine realistic goals and avoid disappointment later.
- Try them on for size. Your plastic surgeon will let you touch and handle – and try on – any of the various implant sizes, shapes, and textures.He will also let you view ‘before and after’ photos to help you visualize results.
By the time your surgery date rolls around if you feel confident that you have made the right choice and are in possession of the full information you can look forward to successfully realizing your realistic goals.
Though the nose is in the most prominent location of the face, it should never take “center stage” to the facial features. That is, the nose should always should compliment the face, not dominate it. If the nose is too prominent, it will draw attention away from the beauty of other facial features. Likewise, if surgery of the nose makes it look sculpted and overdone, it will be just as badly out of balance.

So the key is to bring the nose back into balance with the face, which is why rhinoplasty is such an individualized surgery. This need for balance is all the more true in the San Francisco Bay Area, since there is such a priority on looking and feeling natural in our Northern California culture.
Originally the theory on the major cause of facial aging was the looseness of the skin, which led to sagging and wrinkles. Then, it was discovered that the skin is not the primary problem in a mature facial appearance, but instead it was centered around a gradual descent downward of the tissues beneath the skin. Therefore, procedures (such as the SMAS facelift) that addressed this downward movement have resulted in a much more natural rejuvenation through facelift surgery.

More recently, however, my discipline has been realizing that there is a loss of overall facial volume as we age, and to get a truly rejuvenated appearance in some patients will require a natural replacement of that volume. For some patients fat grafting at the time of surgery is the best option, but for others facial volumizing agents such as Sculptra are best administered either before or after facelift surgery. The goal is a balanced, natural result that looks and is a subtle rejuvenation. Now specialists realize that skin, structures beneath the skin (such as the SMAS) and the overall facial volume play an important role.