S04E71 Celebrity Disclosure of Plastic Surgery and the Surge in Dimple Creation

Unlock the hidden truths of celebrity cosmetic procedures with our distinguished hosts, Dr. Sam Jejurikar @samjejurikar from Dallas, Dr. Sam Rhee @bergencosmetic and guest host Dr. Lawrence Tong @yorkvilleplasticsurgery from Toronto, (subbing in place for Dr. Salvatore Pacella @sandiegoplasticsurgeon), as we delve into Sia's candid admission of liposuction and the ripples it sends through the realm of fame and personal choice.

Explore with us the delicate balance of transparency and privacy, and whether celebrities are under a moral duty to disclose their aesthetic journeys, and how this intersects with the privacy standards of other professions.

As we shift the spotlight to the world of dimple creation with the rise of a new "dimple maker" device #dimplemaker and compare it to dimpleplasty surgery. Will it be a breakthrough or a cautionary tale?

00:00:06 Celebrity Liposuction and Disclosure

00:14:22 Controversies and Considerations of Dimple Surgery

S04E71 Celebrity Disclosure of Plastic Surgery and the Surge in Dimple Creation

[00:00:00] Dr. Sam Rhee: Welcome to Three Plastic Surgeons and a Microphone. We have with us today Dr. Sam Jejurikar from Dallas, Texas. And subbing for Sal Pacella, we have Dr. Lawrence Tong from Toronto, Canada. And I am Dr. Sam Rhee. I am from Paramus, New Jersey. Today, we're going to talk about a couple topics.

One is about celebrities getting liposuction. And what do we think about that and about patients talking about their own procedures? And then maybe we'll talk a little bit about the dimpleplasty trend, which is this newest trend that talks about creating dimples for patients cosmetically. But, um, as always, just remember, this show is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Shows for informational purposes only. Treatments and results may be, uh, vary based upon circumstance, situation, and medical judgment after appropriate discussion. Always seek the advice of your surgeon or other qualified health prof uh, provider with any questions you may have regarding medical care.

And never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking advice because of something in this show. So with that, um, the first thing we're going to get right into is the singer Sia, who is an Australian singer and songwriter. She's written songs that. I hear almost every week, like Titanium, Diamonds, Wild Ones with Flo Rida, Chandelier, Cheap Thrills.

I really like that song. Unstoppable.

[00:01:29] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: I'm impressed at your knowledge of Sia's musical catalog. I feel like you must be looking at something while you're saying all this.

[00:01:37] Dr. Sam Rhee: I had to look and see, like, which songs. It's like, oh my god, I listen to these at the gym almost, like, every

[00:01:43] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: You know, she's also an incredibly talented songwriter as well. She is, uh, she's, she's written as many hits as she's recorded.

[00:01:50] Dr. Sam Rhee: that is true. Um, she is famous because she wears, uh, these lavish wigs during her performances that kind of cover half her face. And she wrote recently that she had, um, she took a medication that made her put on a lot of weight, and she couldn't take it off with exercise or thyroid medication, so she went in for liposuction.

And she said, please know, I'm lucky to have the resources to change the way I look. And when you see me looking crazy foxy again, that I want to know, I want you to know that I did it and it didn't come from diet and exercise. And she said she wanted to be candid about undergoing liposuction so as not to perpetuate a culture of secrecy around celebrity body image.

Um, so what do you guys think about Um, about Sia and her announcement that she got liposuction.

[00:02:38] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: I'm going to defer to our esteemed guest from Canada, Dr. Tong.

[00:02:41] Dr. Lawrence Tong: Thanks. Thanks, Dr. Jejurikar. Uh, well, I think that, you know, it's a personal decision whether or not somebody discloses whether they've had, uh, cosmetic surgery or not. And, uh, the fact that, you know, a person is in, is in the public eye, uh, such as a celebrity doesn't mean that, um, they have to disclose it, but I applaud her for being, uh, transparent about it.

Um, and I think that, um, that gives, um, you know, that gives a glimpse into, you know, how celebrities, um, keep looking so good. Obviously, celebrities, um, look good to start off with, but we all know that, uh, many, many of them do cosmetic surgery, just not a lot of them admit to it.

[00:03:27] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: Yeah, I mean, I, I agree. I think when you're a celebrity, you have a big platform and people, um, hear what you have to say. It's interesting, though, um, the way you actually describe her announcement, um, it makes it sound as though she was talking about liposuction as a means to lose extra weight, which makes me a little bit worried, actually, that Perhaps, you know, as, as every plastic surgeon will tell you, liposuction is actually not a preferred way to lose weight.

It's actually a way for once you've gotten close to your ideal body weight to sculpt the way your body is. So I do applaud her for, for, uh, you know, for letting people know that there's no shame in having liposuction. I want to make sure that the message that she delivers is actually accurate with what the expectations should be with liposuction.

I

[00:04:11] Dr. Sam Rhee: Do you think, um, celebrities are obligated to be honest about their plastic surgery? Because there are a lot of people that speculate, obviously, about celebrities. And then some celebrities will just lie. And they say they didn't have it done. Like Bella Hadid admitted to having a nose job when she was 14.

But she, for a long time, Lied and said that she had never had surgery before.

[00:04:37] Dr. Lawrence Tong: So I think that, um, this is my opinion. I don't think that, Um, celebrities have to disclose if they've had a cosmetic surgery. Uh, after all, it is, you know, their own personal medical information. And just because they're in the public eye, they don't have to, you know, disclose everything they've done. Um, I guess your point is, if somebody asks them if they've had cosmetic surgery, um, how do you feel about them, you know, denying it?

And I guess, um, you know, there's arguments both ways. whether or not that is, uh, the right thing to do, because once you've asked that quest, you're asked that question, if you, if you say you've had it, then it's in the open. But then if you, um, try to say something like, you know, I'm not going to discuss my own personal medical information, but I, you know, support the decision for anybody who wants to do it, then Most people are just going to think that they've done it, but they just don't want to, don't want to say it.

So I guess, um, I'll turn that around and say, you know, should we be asking celebrities, uh, whether they've had cosmetic surgery or not? Um, just because you, you generally wouldn't do that, um, to other people in other realms. You wouldn't like ask, uh, if you're interviewing a politician, um, or, uh, or an athlete if you've had, you know, cosmetic surgery or not.

And, you know, why is it, uh, you know, sort of okay to do that, um, for a celebrity?

[00:06:11] Dr. Sam Rhee: What do you

[00:06:12] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: mean, I, yeah. I think, I think, um, I think people, you know, kind of to answer Lurie's questions. I think people ask celebrities because celebrities are inherently fascinating to those of us that are not celebrities. You know, um, there's something about them or people want to know all of these details about their lives.

And so, you know, I think, I don't think celebrities are under any obligation whatsoever to disclose their plastic surgery. However, I feel like they're going to be scrutinized a lot more than the average person, um, and particularly certain procedures that involve the neck on up. When there's been alteration of facial appearances, it's harder to hide that.

So if you are caught in a lie, it's, it's, um, it may be bad for their brand, you know, to, to sort of admit, you know, to be caught in that. So it's a, you know, I think what every individual celebrity does probably depends on the procedure they've done and their desire to be transparent or not be transparent, but I think if you are a celebrity and you do get caught in a lie, my favorite example with Dr.

Rhee is the quarterback of his beloved New York Jets, Aaron Rodgers, when he was When he was asked about whether or not he had been vaccinated for, uh, you know, for COVID 19 and when he said he had been immunized, which actually meant he had just been exposed to the virus. And then when you get caught in those things, you look pretty bad when you're a celebrity.

So you just have to be

[00:07:30] Dr. Sam Rhee: a lie, that wasn't a lie. It was

[00:07:33] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: intentional deception of the public. So, so I think ultimately, if you, if you're a celebrity, you're going to be asked these questions. You can ignore them. You can tell the truth. You can lie. I'm not a public relations expert. I don't know what to tell a celebrity.

But do I think they have to tell us? No, I don't think they have to tell us.

[00:07:52] Dr. Sam Rhee: Let me ask you What do your patients do in general like when I'm sure many of them get asked by others Do your patient ask you like what should I say or do they tell you? Hey, listen, I'm not telling everyone or I'm telling everybody that I'm getting my, like, that I had plastic surgery done with you, like, what, what are the trends in terms of your patients in terms of disclosing what they've had done?

[00:08:17] Dr. Lawrence Tong: in my practice, I think the majority of patients will, you know, disclose to, uh, close family and close friends. Um, but most of them, you know, don't try to publicize it. Um, on the other hand, I've had patients who are very happy and then they'll go. You know, post their, um, experience or photos on, you know, Reddit or YouTube or RealSelf and, uh, you know, I find those patients are, are great because, um, they, you know, they're very genuine and, you know, other people can be exposed, uh, to, you know, to your own practice.

Um, but I think that those things have to just happen organically. You can't, you know, seek that kind of, um, um, publicity out. And if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't. Um, and then it does it, but I would say that, uh, for most patients, they, you know, they just keep it to themselves. Um, and it, and it just depends on the patient.

Some people will be more willing to talk, and some people, uh, won't be as, uh, open.

[00:09:16] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: Yeah, I mean, exactly the same here. Some people shout it from the rooftops if they've had aesthetic surgery, and those patients tend to generate a lot of patients for, for our practice. Other people are private about it, and they don't want people to know, and I respect, I respect that as well. I mean, I think, I think there's not a set trend amongst patients.

I think it just matches the trends in society where, you know, there are people that want to, that want to spend a ton of time advertising everything they do on social media and want everyone to know what they're doing. And. Other people are very, you know, private by nature.

[00:09:49] Dr. Sam Rhee: How about where, and we see this, I mean, even our peers, some of our friends, they go on and they speculate about whether certain celebrities have had plastic surgery or not. Is that really appropriate for us to even be talking about that as plastic surgeons?

[00:10:05] Dr. Lawrence Tong: Well, I think that it depends on, uh, you know, what venue, uh, you're in. I mean, if you're just speaking with colleagues, uh, I think that's appropriate. If you are going, you know, like on a podcast like this and putting something out in public, I would. Uh, say that if you're going to do that, just have to put some disclaimers out, you know, saying that you don't specifically have knowledge about if this person has had any surgery, they're not a patient of yours, you've never, you know, taken care of them, and anything that I say is, uh, just speculation.

So I would just, um, do it like that if I was going to put something in the public, just, you know, put a lot of, um, um, caveats, uh, before putting my opinions out.

[00:10:51] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: I mean, I think I definitely know many plastic surgeons that do do that, as I know you guys do as well, and they'll do it on podcasts and on social media, and it's definitely a form of marketing for their practice. Much like you, uh, you know, Sam, we decided to talk about celebrity plastic surgery because people are inherently interested in it.

People are interested in someone who's an expert in determining whether or not Um, they've actually, you know, what their opinions are on it. I don't think it's inappropriate for people to do that. I just don't have any personal interest in doing it myself.

[00:11:22] Dr. Sam Rhee: I, I think it could be hurtful. I think it's, it's gossip on a certain level. Like if I was like, Larry definitely had some sort of like facial procedure. He looks so young. There's no way. That Dr. Tong looks as young as he does without having had work done or Dr. Jejurikar's physique is so chiseled. He's definitely had work done like that kind of, and if you haven't had anything or maybe if you had, like that kind of brings you down a little bit, it's, I feel like it's a little bit, um, Uh, I don't want to say disparaging, but a little bit, if you just assume that someone's had something done, maybe they haven't had anything done.

Um, doesn't that make them feel, uh, wronged on some level that, you know, we're speculating incorrectly when we actually don't even have any

[00:12:13] Dr. Lawrence Tong: Yeah, I would agree with that. And I think that that's why, you know, to put those caveats, um, ahead of whatever you say, or include in whatever you say, and to say, you know, to your opinion, and as a plastic surgeon who's never treated or has, uh, knowledge of it, um, of whether or not they've had surgery, they might be totally wrong.

[00:12:33] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: Yeah, I think you're right, Sam. I definitely think you're right. Um, you know, I feel, you know, unfortunately for people that are huge celebrities in the 21st century. I don't want to say that they have lost all right to privacy because I think they're humans that deserve some privacy, but I think the reality is I don't think they have any privacy.

I feel like so many aspects of their lives have just are invaded and speculated on and they, there is no, that this is just one other facet of it. And the reason I don't have any interest in talking about it, the same reason why you guys don't have any interest talking about it is yeah, on some level we feel as though we're invading people's privacy when we do that. Not everybody shares those same, those same concerns that we do.

[00:13:16] Dr. Sam Rhee: All right, I appreciate that. All right, let's talk about our next topic, which is dimple plastic surgery. Um, and this just came up because there was actually a new device called the Dimple Maker, which I don't know if you've seen it on TikTok, but it's like a small cherry shaped device with a curved wire sporting Marble balls on each end, and supposedly, if you watch TikTok, all you have to do is open this device up, slip it in your cheek, and these two little balls sort of clamp on the inner and outer side of your cheeks, and then you leave it in place, and the

[00:13:49] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: How long?

[00:13:50] Dr. Sam Rhee: di Uh, I don't know a really long, yeah, that's a really good question.

I don't know. It doesn't, I actually just read an article about it. I actually never saw it on TikTok, but apparently hashtag dimple makers has had more than 60 million views. So I probably should have done my due diligence and watched and seen how long you have to stick this thing on. But apparently a lot of users say they have gotten great dimples according to this little device and they encourage people to buy it for like.

So, what do you guys think? Is this a good thing? Not a good thing?

[00:14:28] Dr. Lawrence Tong: Well, I guess, um, you know, there's so many questions, um, surrounding this, like. If it works, is it something that's permanent? And if it, you know, if it is permanent, what happens if you, you know, don't like how it turned out, how it has turned out? Um, and also, um, you know, to me it seems like you would have to have this on, know, repeatedly for many sessions.

Um, I don't know if it works by the You know, compressing the, the fluid out of there and causing some edema? Or does it actually cause some like tissue damage that could create some scar? Cause that, that sounds like that could hurt, um, as well. If it's gonna,

[00:15:15] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: That's, that's really what I've been thinking this whole time is that, that sounds really freaking painful. Um,

[00:15:21] Dr. Lawrence Tong: And this thing just, if this thing goes in and out of your mouth, like how do you know you're putting it in the right spot every time, especially in the beginning?

[00:15:29] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: Is it a one time treatment, Sam?

[00:15:31] Dr. Sam Rhee: No, you're supposed to leave it on, like, every day for a while. And it doesn't say how long, but, like, yeah. It just, like, squeezes that area on your cheek and creates, like A little dimple for you. Yeah. So, I mean, dimple surgery is available. Like, do you guys do dimple surgery? Like dimpleplasties?

[00:15:55] Dr. Lawrence Tong: For me, not as a regular thing. I have done it. Um. And the times that I've done it, it's actually been usually in association with doing a facelift because I find that it's just easier, uh, that way, uh, because you don't have to make an extra incision, um, in the skin and you just sort of thin out the, uh, the skin flap a little bit and put some stitches, um, to sort of tack the skin, uh, to the underlying muscle and fascia, uh, to create it.

It works, it works pretty well, but I've, I've not done, um, I think there's a technique where you go from inside the mouth and you make a little pocket and you put a stitch that goes through the cheek out through the skin and then back in and tie a bunch of knots to create it, but I have not done that.

Have either of you guys?

[00:16:42] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: I have, I've done that probably three or four times. Um, and it's an easy thing to do, but, um, what, what I tell people Because, you know, it's interesting how, like, there's procedures like this, my patient demographic that wants that are not typically facelift age patients. They tend to be younger patients that want that.

And, um, and a lot of these same patients are the same patients that have come to me wanting, like, buccal fat pad removal too, where it's, where it's things where they're, you know, they are relatively easy operations to do, um, with a relatively quick recovery, but there's sort of no coming back from it. So, I tell the buccal fat pad patients, okay, you're going to look. You'll look the way you want to right now. But in 10 years, you may look prematurely old. You need to be prepared to get a lot of filler. And I tell these patients, you know, what we're basically doing is we're, we're making a little incision, we're, we're, we're putting in a stitch and we're creating a bunch of scar tissue on the inside.

And so if you decide you don't like this dimple down the road, it's not that simple to get rid of it because it will actually be like, it'll be, it'll be sunken in and you'll have this dimple forever. And, um, and I can't completely control how it's going to scar. They may scar a little bit more on one side versus the other.

So I think when I explain it to, I probably have talked to like. Twenty five people about it, and I think I've done it three times because I am so unenthusiastic about the potential long term consequences of it that I tend to kill the patient's enthusiasm for it. I

[00:18:12] Dr. Sam Rhee: I think this is one of those where, uh, there is a young demographic. They see a lot of TikToks where, you know, it's not just the dimple maker device, but just dimple surgery in general. And like you said, Sam, it's the same people that are driven by Uh, viral trends like buckle fat pad reduction and or, you know, younger patients or, or sometimes chin or neck lipo, you know, that sort of thing.

And, and so I have talked about it. I've never done it. Um, I feel like you're right. It's hard to necessarily control the degree of dimpling and it. Is something that people may or may not like 10 years from now. Like, like you said, um, it's like a, it's like anything you get, anything that I wanted when I was 18, I think is totally stupid right now.

Like there's like, things don't necessarily age well, that tattoo of, uh, you know, your girlfriend that you put on your arm, like maybe that's not really the best thing later on in life. And so I think. It's really nice that you talk very seriously about your patients about this because I think there's a whole bunch of people out there because this is not necessarily technically challenging, right?

You go on the inside of your mouth. I saw some videos like you, like you said, you, you make a small incision, you take out a little bit of the muscle, you make some stitches, you get that to scar in. But, You know, the results for long term may not be what you want at all. And so I'm not sure that these are things that people should be messing around with without actually thinking about for a while.

So,

[00:19:49] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: I do know that when this podcast is over, I am immediately going on social media and I'm looking up this dimple maker. I want to see what this is all about. I expect a

[00:19:58] Dr. Lawrence Tong: Wait, wait, but do you have, do you have dimples?

[00:20:02] Dr. Sam Rhee: you have dimples?

[00:20:03] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: not really, I mean, I think I have nasolabial

[00:20:05] Dr. Lawrence Tong: then you're perfect. You, I think you should, I think you should purchase one

[00:20:09] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: Mm hmm.

[00:20:09] Dr. Lawrence Tong: I think you should use it and I think we should have another podcast in the future to see what the result is.

[00:20:14] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: Maybe I'll just do it on one side and see if you guys can figure out which side it

[00:20:18] Dr. Lawrence Tong: good.

[00:20:19] Dr. Sam Rhee: sounds good.

[00:20:19] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: Exactly.

[00:20:20] Dr. Lawrence Tong: Just don't come back with a hole in your cheek.

[00:20:23] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That is the real risk.

[00:20:28] Dr. Lawrence Tong: No. I mean, maybe it's, maybe it's, maybe it's a great solution to the, uh, the alternative of having surgery if it may be something that's sort of semi-permanent, sort of goes away

[00:20:38] Dr. Sam Jejurikar: Yeah, I mean, I think, I think it has the spectrum of possibility is it could be a complete disaster that causes full thickness necrosis or, it could just be complete garbage. So it's going to be one of those two things.

[00:20:52] Dr. Sam Rhee: I think you're right. Anyway, thanks very much for this episode. Um, as always, uh, you can catch us on 3 Plastic Surgery Podcast. Uh, we're on YouTube. We're on all the podcast channels. Please like and subscribe. Thank you, Larry. Thank you, Sam. And we'll talk to you later.

[00:21:11] Dr. Lawrence Tong: Take it easy.