Welcome to Fairbanks Plastic Surgery Center

We offer a full line of plastic surgery procedures. While we are especially well known for our facelifts and rhinoplasty results, we have developed winning techniques in ear pinning, eyelid surgeries, breast enlargements, breast lifts, breast reductions, liposuction, body contouring, tummy tucks, thigh and buttock lifts, upper arm contouring, and other cosmetic procedures.

Furthermore, we provide a number of reconstructive surgeries, and have achieved unparalleled results in total ear reconstructions.

Please review our procedures and beautiful results, and give us a call. We would be happy to answer your questions and help you make an informed decision regarding your health and physical goals.

Plastic Surgery and Facial Plastic Surgery

While we perform a wide variety of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures, we are exceptionally well known for our deep-plane facelift, restorative rhinoplasty, and ear reconstruction procedures.

In the area of Facelifts, using the most advanced techniques, we provide you the maximum degree of youthfulness while completely avoiding the unnatural stretched look that is commonly found in old, outdated surgical techniques. Please view our page on facelifts for more information.

Our surgeons have extensive experience with rhinoplasty, commonly known as a nose job. Also, a large part of our practice is devoted to correcting noses that have already had unsatisfactory nasal surgery; a procedure known as a secondary rhinoplasty.

Facelift or Facial Rejuvenation

You may have asked yourself, "If I feel so good, why should I look so old?" and indeed, you don't have to! If you are showing signs of aging, or appear prematurely aged, your appearance can be turned back fifteen to twenty years. You can look younger without any of the stretched, tell-tale signs of having had a facelift.

A well performed procedure, using the most medically advanced techniques, is the most predictable way of restoring the appearance of youth. We can provide you with a long-lasting, natural, and youthful appearance, while continuing to look like yourself.

If you are considering a facelift, you should research your options. Facelift procedures vary, and so are the results. Beware of the clever catch-phrase quickie lifts (e.g. "swift," "smart," "life," "lunch hour," "S-lift," "mini," etc.) These are ALL mini lifts. Despite the fact that they are heavily marketed today, these are outdated procedures. They were performed in the 1920s and 1930s. The results are both limited and disappointing. They are performed today generally by practitioners of limited training. The medical science of facial rejuvenation has come a long way since then, so don't settle for hundred-year-old technology when it comes to your health and appearance. At Fairbanks Plastic Surgery, you can expect to receive optimal results with state of the art science.

Facial rejuvenation surgery should not be confused with facial resurfacing procedures, such as laser, chemical peel, or dermabrasion. Facial resurfacing refers to skin surface destruction, which then heals on the surface only. While beneficial in many cases, you cannot expect to attain anything like the rejuvenation and youthful appearance to be had through a medically advanced and well-performed facelift operation.

The most important things to avoid when considering a facelift procedure are the tell-tale signs of having had a facelift. Only a natural looking, younger appearance should be acceptable to you. Inferior facelift procedures result in the loss of sideburns, obvious scars, hair loss, or unsightly stitch or staple marks. These undesirable results are known as facelift stigmata. At Fairbanks Plastic Surgery, we have been able to avoid these unsightly features. Our perfected, medically advanced procedure will give you the youthful appearance you want without looking tight, stretched, or strange. We also employ special techniques to minimize bruising and swelling. Patients can generally plan to resume public appearances in 12 - 14 days.

If you have been considering cosmetic surgery to achieve a more youthful appearance, be sure to call us. One of our plastic surgeons will be happy to explain the principles of the Fairbanks Facelift and the advanced techniques we have been able to achieve on the basis of facial anatomy. Your surgeon will answer your questions and show you examples of our excellent results.

Microtia

Ear plastic surgery, or ear reconstruction, can provide a positive solution for cases where a child is born with a tiny, malformed ear (which is called microtia), and also the traumatic loss of an ear through accident.

For children who were born with an underdeveloped ear, cosmetic ear surgery can begin as early as age six to create a new external ear. Older patients can be benefitted immediately following the accidental loss of an ear. In all cases, the most effective method for success will be achieved by carving a new ear framework from the patient’s own rib cartilage. Atresia refers to the absence of the external ear canal, which is almost always associated with microtia. If the internal ear components are developed well enough, an external ear canal can be created. This, however, should not be done until the external ear (microtia repair) has been completed.

While there are a number of synthetic ear frameworks available, these are not living material, and the chance that the will erode through the skin is high. When this happens, the artificial framework has to be removed, and the patient will have lost their chance for a successful ear reconstruction.

A living ear created from the patient’s own tissue, when done well, is preferable to a prosthetic, stick-on ear. The quality of the result depends upon your surgeon’s artistic ability to carve, or sculpt the new ear in cartilage.

The process begins by using a mirror image of the patient’s normal ear as a template. Measurements, patterns, molds, and plaster casts are made from this mirror image, and the surgeon carefully chooses where the new ear will be created under the existing skin.

During surgery, a carefully carved cartilaginous framework of the patient’s own cartilage is implanted beneath the skin. If an earlobe is present, it will be rotated into the proper position. Once this has been allowed to heal, the ear is elevated, and a skin graft is placed behind the cartilage in order to create the space behind the ear, and help bring the reconstructed ear out. Finally, the central cup of the ear, or concha, is deepened and the protective door over the ear canal, or tragus, is created.

If the patient has sufficient internal hearing structures, it may be desirable to create an external auditory canal. Creation of the external ear, however, must be completed before an ear canal is made.

A patient can be missing an ear as the result of congenital causes, trauma, or malignancy. Congenital, or developmental ear absence or deficiency can be the result of a number of syndromes. This includes the First and Second Branchial Arch Syndrome, Goldenhar's Syndrome, Plagiocephaly, and other syndromes. Microtia from the above is best reconstructed using a patient's own rib cartilage. Non-living materials, although readily available, must be avoided at all cost. They will fail. For the traumatic injury to the ear, many reconstruction techniques are available; including the rib cartilage approach that is standard for microtia. For ears lost from malignancy, the resulting scaring usually precludes reconstruction ear surgery and a prosthesis (attachment ear) is generally required.

Your plastic surgeons at Fairbanks Plastic Surgery Center have extensive experience and expertise in performing total ear reconstruction using living tissues. As a result of their artistic background and ability, they have successfully produced some of the best results in ear reconstruction available today.

Secondary Rhinoplasty or Nose Job Correction

An operation performed to correct an unsatisfactory result from prior nasal surgery is called “secondary rhinoplasty.” The deformed nose following prior nasal surgery can usually be corrected or improved using the advanced surgical techniques we have developed at Fairbanks Plastic Surgery Center. If you have had prior nasal surgery elsewhere, which failed to meet your expectations either in terms of appearance or airflow, your condition may benefit from our corrective nasal surgery procedure.

The previously operated nose is more complex than a nose that is being worked on for the first time. However, by using state-of-the-art surgical techniques, such deformities resulting from a failed prior rhinoplasty can generally be corrected.

Frequently issues found in a less-than-acceptable nose job include supra-tip swelling or a "Polly beak" deformity, over resection of the hump or a "scooped nose," over resection of the tip or a "pinched tip," and a turned up nose or a "piggy snout." A dropped tip can also occur giving the nose a droopy, unnatural appearance.

Other exterior problems include an asymmetrical nose, a nose which goes over to one side, and a nose that easily collapses and doesn't breathe well.

Internally, airway problems may not have been corrected properly, resulting in a constriction of the nasal vault, and reducing airway. We have also seen nasal septal perforations (a hole through the central membrane of the nose). These are all signs of a failed rhinoplasty.

Most of these problems have solutions, but corrective surgery must be done very carefully. As a result of dense scar tissue from prior surgery, the anatomy can be less predictable. Each case must be investigated individually, and extensive pre-operative planning is a must.

Our goal, and yours, is to have a nose which does not have an operated look, one which functions well, and one whose appearance makes you feel wonderful.

In many secondary rhinoplasty cases, cartilage grafts will be required to correct the flaws of previous attempts. To avoid complications, the cartilage grafts must come from the patient themselves. This provides the most reliable and predictable results. Sources for cartilage grafting will be explained at your consultation. In NO instance should a patient undergo the placement of any artificial, non-living material in their nose.

If you have a nose which has uncorrected problems either in appearance or breathing after a prior rhinoplasty, we will be pleased to consult with you, examine your nose, and explain what can be done to improve or correct it. Explanations of nasal physiology, airway, anatomical design, and surgical approaches for correction will all be discussed at the time of your initial consultation.