Author Topic: Revision surgery costs?  (Read 10753 times)

Offline Whattha

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I begged, stole and borrowed to pay for my surgery the first time round and I'm not happy with the results. In fact, I feel more concerned about my chest now than before. The cost was £4000. I was wondering if surgeons tend to do surgery again more cheaply. I was genuinely hoping my surgeon would do it for free but I believe that is probably naive to think. I can't afford to keep paying out. I feel a job was done, but poorly and not thoroughly. Did others here go back to the same surgeon they had the first time round and what did you end up paying in relation to the initial costs?

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your input.

DrBermant

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I begged, stole and borrowed to pay for my surgery the first time round and I'm not happy with the results. In fact, I feel more concerned about my chest now than before. The cost was £4000. I was wondering if surgeons tend to do surgery again more cheaply. I was genuinely hoping my surgeon would do it for free but I believe that is probably naive to think. I can't afford to keep paying out. I feel a job was done, but poorly and not thoroughly. Did others here go back to the same surgeon they had the first time round and what did you end up paying in relation to the initial costs?

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your input.

Cost of Gynecomastia Surgery depends on the problem, what was done, what needs to be done, and varies around the world.

Each surgeon has his / her own policies regarding revision surgery for their own patients. The question becomes why was there a need for revision?  Revision surgery is often more complex and difficult. It is easier to take away than put back. Eventually local tissue resource options become depleted and there are no easy options. Having the same surgeon revise the surgery can then be an issue. That is the advantage of picking an experienced revision gynecomastia surgeon for the first revision or for that matter the original surgeon before any surgery.

I just posted another case of Revision of Crater Deformity after Prior Gynecomastia Surgery in Texas and Massachusetts. Being the third surgeon in makes the solution much more complex and difficult. If you want more specifics about costs in our office for such issues, Jane is my office manager.  She can normally be reached at our office by phone Monday - Friday 9-5 Eastern Time at (804) 748-7737.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Revision Gynecomastia and Chest Surgery

Offline Whattha

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Thanks for the informative reply Dr,

I myself don't really need anything put back, but more taken away. The problem spread towards my armpits and now I am very uncomfortable in the region. Before surgery I didn't have this problem. I feel the surgeon didn't fully remove the fatty tissue and my chest is still breast-like. It is not majorly severe, but it is still within the ball-park of how it was pre-surgery and I want to be able to take my shirt off and feel comfortable - or even wear a t-shirt and feel comfortable. Matter is compounded due to once having an excellent body with my chest being the best feature.

DrBermant

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Thanks for the informative reply Dr,

I myself don't really need anything put back, but more taken away. The problem spread towards my armpits and now I am very uncomfortable in the region. Before surgery I didn't have this problem. I feel the surgeon didn't fully remove the fatty tissue and my chest is still breast-like. It is not majorly severe, but it is still within the ball-park of how it was pre-surgery and I want to be able to take my shirt off and feel comfortable - or even wear a t-shirt and feel comfortable. Matter is compounded due to once having an excellent body with my chest being the best feature.

I see many patients complaining to me that another surgeon did not take enough out. We help explore such concerns during consultations or a Preliminary Remote Discussion to minimize travel to Virginia.  Here are but a few of the many patients from the UK with Gynecomastia who prefer and traveled for my techniques.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Revision Gynecomastia and Chest Surgery

Offline clevelandguy1980

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Thank you for adding the before and after photos for the crater deformities. I look forward to having my pictures up on your site after I get my revision scheduled. It would be great to see more of your crater revisions on your site, but I know you are a busy man.

I would really like to see the "after" pictures of the three crater deformities you have pictured here http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/revision_gynecomastia/crater_complication_scar.htm. I am looking for revision pictures for the crater condition like these where the nipple "creases" when flexed.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2010, 11:18:22 PM by clevelandguy1980 »

DrBermant

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Thank you for adding the before and after photos for the crater deformities. I look forward to having my pictures up on your site after I get my revision scheduled. It would be great to see more of your crater revisions on your site, but I know you are a busy man.

I would really like to see the "after" pictures of the three crater deformities you have pictured here http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/revision_gynecomastia/crater_complication_scar.htm. I am looking for revision pictures for the crater condition like these where the nipple "creases" when flexed.

At present there are over 10,000 photos / movies before during and after surgery on almost 1600 pages demonstrating my skills and techniques. Perhaps one day I will get to adding to that section.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Revision Gynecomastia and Chest Surgery

Offline sabercut

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>>> I just posted another case of Revision of Crater Deformity after Prior Gynecomastia Surgery in Texas and Massachusetts.


This is a real good job, Dr. Bermant. In fact the best that I have seen till date.

Questions:
1. Isnt 3 months too early to tell. Could you follow up on 6-9 mths progress period as well.

Offline sabercut

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To the person who started this thread. I feel the same way in my armpits. My surgery was a absolute horror.

One of the reasons is that the gland holds the tissue from the center of the chest on side and the lateral tissue on the other providing nice taut tissues on both sides. Hence when they remove the gland, this tension needs to be recreated.

I am yet to go back to original PS to kick in his balls and show him some Newtons laws of momentum.

DrBermant

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>>> I just posted another case of Revision of Crater Deformity after Prior Gynecomastia Surgery in Texas and Massachusetts.


This is a real good job, Dr. Bermant. In fact the best that I have seen till date.

Questions:
1. Isnt 3 months too early to tell. Could you follow up on 6-9 mths progress period as well.


Thank you for your comments.

Travel From Around the World
I would love to have longer follow up pictures on all of my patients. The problem with a practice like mine, that sees patients from around the world, is why should a happy patient come back to see me just to get longer term pictures?  I was lucky to get the 3 months pictures and only had those because the patient had asked me to do something else surgically to another part of his body. It is rare that we get a week that we are not working with patients from at least 3 different continents.

Patient Photos
Some patients send in their own photos to show their results. These tend not to be with the same lighting, position, and details and are like comparing apples and oranges. Actually to get the degree of reproducibility of angles and framing for each of the views I need to have the before surgery pictures on the wall as I am taking the subsequent shots. We appreciate when our patients give us Standard After Gynecomastia Surgery Pictures as part of their follow up. Here is one such Pictures 2 Years After Revision Surgery. The issue of those pictures is here was a patient with a debilitating deformity who would hide indoors now out playing in the pool who came to me to repair the mess done by a surgeon in Australia. The photos actually came from his grateful mother, the patient had moved on. She was just expressing her gratitude for my sculpture. The views are not standard, but the emotion on the face and activity are enough to convey the result. Yes, even that quality had to be obscured so I could preserve his privacy.

Appreciated Followup
Ideally I would like to see 6 month, 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years follow up as a scientist evaluating progression of his sculpture. But then again dragging up an emotionally disturbing deformity just for science, marketing, or my own enjoyment over the evolution of my surgery seems unfair to my patient. When they do offer up such an experience, we appreciate it.

Camera Technology
Sometimes they come back and the camera technology has evolved such that I no longer have that combination still available to match the before and after surgery. My practice has seen the onset of the digital age migrating from 36mm slide to digital video to HD video. Each format distorts the documentation to a degree such that patients in a transition period often had pictures taken with 2 different cameras.  That is a hassle for someone who has been doing this for decades.

Successful Methodology of Surgical Sculpture
With the system I have evolved over the years, we often do not often get a chance to enjoy the evaluation of longer term results. Many patients are off home the day after surgery. More complex cases either stay local, sight see, or return for the safety of my dressing removal at 6 to 10 days. Others come back so I can interact with their progression of scar care and comment on the progress or continue the education on what best to do at that point.  One of the problems with a successful methodology is that we are also happy that patients are able to move on with their lives. We remain busy enough that we have never needed to press our patients to keep dwelling on their painful experiences for marketing games or long term documentation for the web, public education, or the furthering of my subspecialty. That is a common factor here on this forum. My patients tend to move on with their lives.

Perhaps if you become another of my surgical sculptures, you will come back for such documentation for others.

To the person who started this thread. I feel the same way in my armpits. My surgery was a absolute horror.

One of the reasons is that the gland holds the tissue from the center of the chest on side and the lateral tissue on the other providing nice taut tissues on both sides. Hence when they remove the gland, this tension needs to be recreated.

I am yet to go back to original PS to kick in his balls and show him some Newtons laws of momentum.

Yes, having a continuum of structural support both deep and on the surface is key for a dynamic sculpture. That is why I stress on how tissues move. Some doctors are content I have even heard some saying "it does not matter what it looks like with arms up overhead or while flexing."

It is amusing to consider desires to do something similar to surgeons I see repeat disfiguring deformity from unhappy patients asking me to fix a mess or from results shown at meetings, forums, or the doctor's own website. However, I just channel that into public education as best I can.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Revision Gynecomastia and Chest Surgery


 

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