Plastic Surgery Advances and Artistry
Brett E. Stompro, MD & Chester K. Cheng, MD
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery has advanced to the state that currently allows patients to attain the most desirable improvements of the face, breast and body. Artistry in plastic surgery has been noted for centuries.
The term plastic surgery is derived from the Greek word ‘Plastikos’ which means “to mold” or “to sculpt.” That’s really what we as plastic surgeons do; we take the body’s own tissues and we shape and sculpt them in a way that is more pleasing to the eye. The Egyptians understood artistry and beauty centuries ago and it can be seen in the universally accepted standard of beauty of Nefertiti’s face. For over 3000 years this has been the standard of beauty and remains so today. Leonardo da Vinci during the Renaissance came up with the concept of the Divine Proportion. This is the symbol of harmony and balance that we see in art, architecture, nature (birds, seashells, insects, and flowers) as well as music. Da Vinci’s genius 500 years ago is applied in many of our procedures that we perform today.
Plastic surgery is a very diverse field that attracts surgeons who are innovators. The best plastic surgeons are those that are artistic. Plastic surgery training is one of the longest of any type of surgical subspecialty. Requiring eight years of schooling prior to your internship and residency that is four to six years including general surgery and specialization in the various disciplines of plastic surgery which include microsurgery, burn, hand surgery, trauma, breast reconstruction, microsurgery and aesthetic surgery.
Prior to World War II there were only a handful of plastic surgeons in the United States. Today the American Board of Plastic Surgery has over 5000 board-certified plastic surgeon who performed over 1 million reconstructive surgeries and over 1 million cosmetic surgery procedures annually. Plastic surgery has always been a specialty of innovation. The first organ transplant patient in 1954 was performed by a plastic surgeon, Joseph Murray M.D., who received the Nobel Prize for his efforts. In the 1960s microsurgery was developed by the famed Harry Buncke, M.D. (Dr. Cheng worked with closely) and led to many successful tissue transplantation techniques including a recently performed successful face transplant. The recent decades have seen significant progress in surgery for cleft lip and palate reconstruction, breast reconstruction, and the introduction of endoscopic procedures to shrink incisions and speed recovery.
The current state of the art in aesthetic plastic surgery allows the artistic plastic surgeon to create beautiful results that are natural and pleasing to the face, breast and body.
The advances in facial aesthetics require a thorough knowledge of harmony and balance. Endoscopic brow techniques and less invasive facial rejuvenation techniques have allowed improvements to occur with quicker recovery and better results. The advance of fat transfer has been significant as well because this restores volume loss that occurs with aging.
Improvements in breast surgery have allowed women to attain the most desirable breast shape with advanced lifting techniques with smaller incisions as well as restore volume lost after childbearing with improved implant techniques.
Body contouring has seen a significant expansion due to the introduction of less invasive body contouring with ultrasonic and laser liposculpture techniques. These techniques have allowed women to shape their bodies back to their pre-pregnancy shapes. A significant number of women following childbearing have come in for the very popular mommy makeover. This includes flattening the abdominal region with a tummy tuck which tightens the muscles as well as removes excess skin and at the same time have breast reshaping through lifting and augmentation. The recovery periods have decreased as well. Often times patients are resuming their activities in a week to 10 days. Another very popular technique is body contouring after significant weight loss. This is of particular interest to those who have lost significant amounts of weight but are still hampered by excess skin.
As with any medical procedure, it’s important that patients seek out an experienced, board-certified, well-trained, artistic plastic surgeon with a board-certified Anesthesiologist and a fully Certified Facility in which the procedures are performed. Do your research by asking friends, family and colleagues as well as your family physician prior to making your final decision and go on a number of consultations and review the before and after galleries of the surgeons that you are considering. Social media reviews can also be helpful.
Plastic surgery’s recent advances and its basis in artistry can offer patients dramatic improvements of the face, breast and body and create wonderful results for appropriate surgical candidates
Brett E. Stompro, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Brett E Stompro, M.D., brings a unique blend of artistry and technical expertise to the field of aesthetic surgery. Dr. Stompro completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Davis and competed in varsity football. He then attended medical school to University of California, San Diego. He continued his general surgical training and plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University California, Davis and is board-certified through the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He is trained in the latest plastic surgical technology including lasers and endoscopic techniques with small incisions. He has extensive experience in cosmetic surgery of the face, breast, and body. Dr. Stompro is married to his high school sweetheart, Janice and they have three children together. The Stompro family is active members of the community with Janice founding a charity for breast cancer research and Dr. Stompro volunteering as a high school football coach. With an interest in sculpting, Dr. Stompro’s understanding of balance, form, and beauty coupled with state-of-the-art technical technological precision, blend to create a unique union that distinguishes his work in aesthetic surgery.
Chester K. Cheng, M.D., M.S.
Chester K. Cheng, M.D., M.S. returns to the Bay Area with his training and experience that allows, his cosmetic procedures to be artistic and natural. Pursing his lifelong dream of becoming a physician, Dr. Cheng received his Masters of Science degree in Physiology and Doctorate of Medicine degree at the Chicago Medical School – University of Health Sciences in 1994. His post-graduate general surgery training was at the prestigious Mount Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Cheng then had advanced surgical training in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Rush Presbyterian Saint Luke’s Medical Center and the famous Cook Country Hospital in Chicago. He also completed a microsurgery fellowship at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco with the world renowned Dr. Harry Buncke. With his extensive training Dr. Cheng combined his surgical talent with his interest for teaching at Loma Linda Medical Center. There he helped kids with craino-facial birth deformities look more normal; he reconstructed patients after cancer; he fixed patients from trauma and taught medical students as Director of Student Education. Dr. Cheng is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He is an expert in the latest technologies which include endoscopic procedures that use tiny incisions and the latest in laser technology.