Dr. Alex Earle is the founder of Pure Plastic Surgery, known throughout South Florida for the “South Beach Butt Lift,” which is similar to a BBL but with minimal incisions and more natural results.
As an early pioneer of the ultrasound-guided...
Dr. Alex Earle is the founder of Pure Plastic Surgery, known throughout South Florida for the “South Beach Butt Lift,” which is similar to a BBL but with minimal incisions and more natural results.
As an early pioneer of the ultrasound-guided Brazilian Butt Lift and many other safety measures, Dr. Earle and his team are recognized leaders in patient safety.
At Pure Plastic Surgery, Dr. Earle works alongside his wife as the CEO and two other experienced plastic surgeons. Their happy breast & body patients, friendly atmosphere, and seamless care attract people from all over the US and Europe.
To learn more about Dr. Alexander Earle
Follow Dr. Earle on Instagram
ABOUT MEET THE DOCTOR
The purpose of the Meet the Doctor podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you’re making a life changing decision and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be.
When you head into an important appointment more informed and better educated, you are able to have a richer, more specific conversation about the procedures and treatments you’re interested in. There’s no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close.
Meet The Doctor is a production of The Axis.
Made with love in Austin, Texas.
Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who’d like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book a free 30 minute recording session at meetthedoctorpodcast.com.
Dr. Alex Earle is the founder of Pure Plastic Surgery, known throughout South Florida for the “South Beach Butt Lift,” which is similar to a BBL but with minimal incisions and more natural results.
As an early pioneer of the ultrasound-guided...
Dr. Alex Earle is the founder of Pure Plastic Surgery, known throughout South Florida for the “South Beach Butt Lift,” which is similar to a BBL but with minimal incisions and more natural results.
As an early pioneer of the ultrasound-guided Brazilian Butt Lift and many other safety measures, Dr. Earle and his team are recognized leaders in patient safety.
At Pure Plastic Surgery, Dr. Earle works alongside his wife as the CEO and two other experienced plastic surgeons. Their happy breast & body patients, friendly atmosphere, and seamless care attract people from all over the US and Europe.
To learn more about Dr. Alexander Earle
Follow Dr. Earle on Instagram
ABOUT MEET THE DOCTOR
The purpose of the Meet the Doctor podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you’re making a life changing decision and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be.
When you head into an important appointment more informed and better educated, you are able to have a richer, more specific conversation about the procedures and treatments you’re interested in. There’s no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close.
Meet The Doctor is a production of The Axis.
Made with love in Austin, Texas.
Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who’d like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book a free 30 minute recording session at meetthedoctorpodcast.com.
Dr. Alex Earle is the founder of Pure Plastic Surgery, known throughout South Florida for the “South Beach Butt Lift,” which is similar to a BBL but with minimal incisions and more natural results.
As an early pioneer of the ultrasound-guided...
Dr. Alex Earle is the founder of Pure Plastic Surgery, known throughout South Florida for the “South Beach Butt Lift,” which is similar to a BBL but with minimal incisions and more natural results.
As an early pioneer of the ultrasound-guided Brazilian Butt Lift and many other safety measures, Dr. Earle and his team are recognized leaders in patient safety.
At Pure Plastic Surgery, Dr. Earle works alongside his wife as the CEO and two other experienced plastic surgeons. Their happy breast & body patients, friendly atmosphere, and seamless care attract people from all over the US and Europe.
To learn more about Dr. Alexander Earle
Follow Dr. Earle on Instagram
ABOUT MEET THE DOCTOR
The purpose of the Meet the Doctor podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you’re making a life changing decision and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be.
When you head into an important appointment more informed and better educated, you are able to have a richer, more specific conversation about the procedures and treatments you’re interested in. There’s no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close.
Meet The Doctor is a production of The Axis.
Made with love in Austin, Texas.
Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who’d like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book a free 30 minute recording session at meetthedoctorpodcast.com.
Dr. Alex Earle is the founder of Pure Plastic Surgery, known throughout South Florida for the “South Beach Butt Lift,” which is similar to a BBL but with minimal incisions and more natural results.
As an early pioneer of the ultrasound-guided...
Dr. Alex Earle is the founder of Pure Plastic Surgery, known throughout South Florida for the “South Beach Butt Lift,” which is similar to a BBL but with minimal incisions and more natural results.
As an early pioneer of the ultrasound-guided Brazilian Butt Lift and many other safety measures, Dr. Earle and his team are recognized leaders in patient safety.
At Pure Plastic Surgery, Dr. Earle works alongside his wife as the CEO and two other experienced plastic surgeons. Their happy breast & body patients, friendly atmosphere, and seamless care attract people from all over the US and Europe.
To learn more about Dr. Alexander Earle
Follow Dr. Earle on Instagram
ABOUT MEET THE DOCTOR
The purpose of the Meet the Doctor podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you’re making a life changing decision and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be.
When you head into an important appointment more informed and better educated, you are able to have a richer, more specific conversation about the procedures and treatments you’re interested in. There’s no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close.
Meet The Doctor is a production of The Axis.
Made with love in Austin, Texas.
Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who’d like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book a free 30 minute recording session at meetthedoctorpodcast.com.
Dr. Alex Earle is the founder of Pure Plastic Surgery, known throughout South Florida for the “South Beach Butt Lift,” which is similar to a BBL but with minimal incisions and more natural results.
As an early pioneer of the ultrasound-guided...
Dr. Alex Earle is the founder of Pure Plastic Surgery, known throughout South Florida for the “South Beach Butt Lift,” which is similar to a BBL but with minimal incisions and more natural results.
As an early pioneer of the ultrasound-guided Brazilian Butt Lift and many other safety measures, Dr. Earle and his team are recognized leaders in patient safety.
At Pure Plastic Surgery, Dr. Earle works alongside his wife as the CEO and two other experienced plastic surgeons. Their happy breast & body patients, friendly atmosphere, and seamless care attract people from all over the US and Europe.
To learn more about Dr. Alexander Earle
Follow Dr. Earle on Instagram
ABOUT MEET THE DOCTOR
The purpose of the Meet the Doctor podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you’re making a life changing decision and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be.
When you head into an important appointment more informed and better educated, you are able to have a richer, more specific conversation about the procedures and treatments you’re interested in. There’s no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close.
Meet The Doctor is a production of The Axis.
Made with love in Austin, Texas.
Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who’d like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book a free 30 minute recording session at meetthedoctorpodcast.com.
Dr. Alex Earle is the founder of Pure Plastic Surgery, known throughout South Florida for the “South Beach Butt Lift,” which is similar to a BBL but with minimal incisions and more natural results.
As an early pioneer of the ultrasound-guided...
Dr. Alex Earle is the founder of Pure Plastic Surgery, known throughout South Florida for the “South Beach Butt Lift,” which is similar to a BBL but with minimal incisions and more natural results.
As an early pioneer of the ultrasound-guided Brazilian Butt Lift and many other safety measures, Dr. Earle and his team are recognized leaders in patient safety.
At Pure Plastic Surgery, Dr. Earle works alongside his wife as the CEO and two other experienced plastic surgeons. Their happy breast & body patients, friendly atmosphere, and seamless care attract people from all over the US and Europe.
To learn more about Dr. Alexander Earle
Follow Dr. Earle on Instagram
ABOUT MEET THE DOCTOR
The purpose of the Meet the Doctor podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you’re making a life changing decision and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be.
When you head into an important appointment more informed and better educated, you are able to have a richer, more specific conversation about the procedures and treatments you’re interested in. There’s no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close.
Meet The Doctor is a production of The Axis.
Made with love in Austin, Texas.
Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who’d like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book a free 30 minute recording session at meetthedoctorpodcast.com.
Eva Sheie (00:03):
The purpose of this podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you're making a life-changing decision, and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be. There's no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close. I'm your host, Eva Sheie, and you're listening to Meet the Doctor. Welcome back to Meet the Doctor. My guest this morning, live in Miami, is Dr. Alex Earle. Welcome to the podcast. It's good to see you.
Dr. Earle (00:40):
Yeah, no, it's great. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here today.
Eva Sheie (00:44):
So let's start with just tell me a little bit about your practice.
Dr. Earle (00:48):
Yeah, so we have our private practice here in Miami. It's called the Pure Plastic Surgery. We started, or I started about five years ago now, but we're up to three surgeons, so it's myself and Dr. Natalia Vidal and Dr. Garrett Wegerif, who just joined us actually approximately a month ago. We concentrate mostly on body work, so breast, tummy, tuck, liposuction, BBLs, and we also now have an aesthetic arm to the practice called the Pure Aesthetic Center, and that's where we have our nurse practitioner, our pa, who focus on the non-surgical options such as Botox, fillers, Morpheus, and Ave for cellulite treatment.
Eva Sheie (01:29):
All good things. When you set out to go into practice by yourself, did you imagine, were you planning to bring in others or did you think you would stay alone for a while?
Dr. Earle (01:40):
Yeah, actually that was my idea from the get go. I always loved working with other teams, other surgeons. Before I opened up Pure, I was actually in academics, so I was at Cleveland Clinic, Florida for about five years. There I was doing mostly reconstruction and we did a lot of breast reconstruction. We would do these complex cases called free flaps where if you're doing the case on your own, it could easily take 10 or 12 hours, very long extensive cases. So while we were there, me and my partner at the time, we developed a two team approach and we were able to cut the time by almost half. So we were doing these big long cases in about six hours, which was incredible. But I've always liked working in teams. So that's kind of the original concept from the beginning. Of course, you have to build it up a bit, but I always, the thought was always to have a few more surgeons with us working together.
Eva Sheie (02:33):
Would you describe yourself as an extrovert or an introvert?
Dr. Earle (02:37):
So that's a great question. For the most part, I think I'm an introvert, so I do like to sometimes spend time in my own thoughts and reading and things of that nature. And I think one of the definitions of introvert versus extrovert is where you get your energy from. And so I think I do get a lot of my energy being in my own space, but at the same time, I believe a lot in being a team player. And I think when you look at it from the practice point of view, I think we gain a lot more from working with other people from that point of view. I'm not sure if that's necessarily extrovert, but I'd definitely like to be surrounded by a great, great team of players.
Eva Sheie (03:17):
Another pattern I notice among surgeons is they all, for the most part tend to be lifelong learners. And I'm curious, what are you trying to learn right now? Is there anything that you're digging deep into?
Dr. Earle (03:29):
Yes, I think I would. Well, first of all, I agree with that, definitely lifelong learners and when you have your own practice and your doctor or surgeon, but also I think I would consider myself an entrepreneur. So there's two kind of main categories of learning. One of course is medical and some like say for example, just recently I went down to Columbia to learn about what we call total definer, high definition lipo from the godfather of HD lipo himself, Dr. Alfredo, which is a terrific learning experience and something that's definitely going to take our practice to the next level. And then on the other hand, I love reading about basically entrepreneurship, business models, marketing and things of that nature. And then also I like reading a lot about self-improvement. So for example, the last two books I read are from David Goggins, not sure if you've heard about him, but he's got a great book called Can't Hurt Me, and it just talks about his life. But it talks a lot about perseverance and grit, which I believe a lot. That's kind of what takes people to the next level. And then in terms of the business, I'm reading a book by Alex osi, who is an entrepreneur. He made his living based on gyms and taking those to the next level, but he's grown quite a ways from there. And so I like to put all these things together.
Eva Sheie (04:47):
It's almost like you read at night and then you get to practice in the lab. I'm using air quotes during the day. You have a business to apply these things too, which is really exciting. Yeah,
Dr. Earle (04:58):
Yeah, that's exactly correct. So you don't always meet your goals, but I like to try to read about a book a month. So my goal, and this is the kind of person I want, I am ever since high school, but I'm like, okay, I want to read a book a month. Every book is roughly about 300 pages. You take most books, they're going to be around that. So if I read 10 pages a night, I'll have a book a month. And that's what I try to do just before going to bed.
Eva Sheie (05:23):
Someone told me in high school if I slept one less hour a night at the end of two weeks, I would have an entire extra day. I just remember being like,
Dr. Earle (05:32):
Wow, did that sink in?
Eva Sheie (05:34):
But I like sleeping so much.
Dr. Earle (05:36):
There you go.
Eva Sheie (05:39):
But he was right. It was very influential. What can your patients expect from coming to see you for the first time?
Dr. Earle (05:50):
So first of all, a lot of our patients are coming from out of town. So I would say easily 70, 80% of our patients come from out of state. So we really receive patients from all over the US but also Canada and internationally. We've had patients from Europe, a lot of patients coming from London and the uk. And I think there's two primary reasons why I'm involved in social media. As you may know, have a pretty strong following on Instagram, but we also do TikTok and Facebook. And the two primary reasons for that are number one, patient education. Because I think the more educated the patient is, the better the outcomes and actually the safer the whole journey is for the patient in the long run. But really number two is so that they can get to know me and they can get to know the practice as well.
(06:37)
And so that way it's not as scary for them when they're coming from another state or another country because they know about me, they know what I like, what I don't like, what my demeanor is and what's important to me. And the number one thing, of course, is patient safety. And we're very well known, especially down here in South Florida as being one of the safest clinics in Florida as one of the pioneers with ultrasound guided BBLs and many, many other safety measures that we have. But the second part is our goal is to try to attain is what we call unreasonable hospitality. We want our patients to come in and feel like they're already part of our community, part of the Pure family. And so what are they going to expect? They're going to expect people who know who they are, they're going to expect friendly faces, they're going to expect smiles, they, and of course seamless communication and education and support every single step of the way.
Eva Sheie (07:35):
I'm glad you brought up BBLs because you're right in the middle of BBL Central.
Dr. Earle (07:40):
That's right.
Eva Sheie (07:40):
Because Miami's known for it, but it's also unfortunately become known as the place where the bad ones have happened. And so in the middle of that, what has that experience been like for you as a surgeon who is not doing dangerous things?
Dr. Earle (07:57):
So unfortunately, what you're saying is absolutely true. So Miami's probably where the most BBLs are done, certainly in the nation, perhaps the world, but unfortunately also is when there's been a lot of bad outcomes, a lot of mortality due to this procedure. And so it's still being said in a lot of the media that this is the most dangerous aesthetic procedure that we can do, which honestly today, 2023, I don't think that's true and certainly doesn't have to be that way. So I've been working on this problem, if you will, since 2019, and that's when I first flew out to California to do my first ultrasound course. And when I brought back ultrasound guided BBLs and started doing those in my practice, since then, I've done probably roughly about 3000 BBLs in my career, but about 2000 of those under ultrasound guidance since 2019. And I can tell you that we're turning a blind procedure to one where you can now actually see, and so you have this imaging technology, you can see exactly where your canula is, and as long as you have that canula in that safe space, the chances of a fat embolism, which is what causes the bad outcome and potential death are very, very low.
(09:14)
And so along with all the other measures that we have at Pure have really increased the safety profile of this procedure. And whereas if you looked at the studies back in 2017, they would've told you that the mortality rate for BBL is approximately one in 3000, which was way, way too high. More recent studies have now demonstrated that it's about one in 15 to 20,000, which is on par with other aesthetic procedures such as a tummy tuck. And if you narrowed down that data to look at ultrasound guided BBLs, that's probably much, much less than that. To the point that as you may know now, it's a law here in Florida, so all BBLs in Florida have to be done under ultrasound imaging.
Eva Sheie (09:56):
Do you have a sense for what kind of effort and by whom the law was able to be changed? Who was behind getting that put in place in Florida? I imagine that was a huge effort by a lot of people.
Dr. Earle (10:10):
Yes, so there are quite a few people involved, and of course a few people from the Florida Board of Medicine as well. So Papino is probably one of the first person to really be doing the ultrasound guidance and talking about it, and he's been doing it for probably about nine years now. And then Kim and Olio Garcia is another surgeon down here who are also behind some of these efforts as well as the Florida Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Eva Sheie (10:36):
You mentioned earlier that people come in and you want them to feel like part of the family, and certainly that's not something you can do by yourself. So will you tell us about your team and the people that you have around you?
Dr. Earle (10:50):
Yes, I would love to. So when you talk about that, you really actually, before you start with the patient, you have to start with your staff and we like to say happy staff, happy patients. So really the primary focus in terms of having that community, your family feel is that we, me, and when I say we, I'm talking about me and my wife Mikela because we're a team, or of course we're married, but we're teams in the business in the clinic as well. She's actually the CEO of the practice, and she's been with me pretty much from day one. And so we've always had this concept of wanting to create a community with our staff. So of course we want to treat everyone well. We want to make sure they're well compensated for the work that they do, but we want, essentially, when it boils down to we want people to be happy coming to work.
(11:36)
I mean, that's really the type of atmosphere that we have. And you can see that of course if you were there, but you can see that through a lot of our social media as channels as well, because we want want to show that, we want to demonstrate that to the patients. So we have a terrific set of staff. We started with perhaps in 2018, 20 19, we have maybe three to four people, and now we're about 30 staff members in total, anywhere from or to the clinic side to the administrative side, and of course social media as well. We got our social media manager right here in the room who's actually an excellent part of the team as well, capturing all this. But having said that, that's where we start. And so we make sure that the staff is well taken care of, we make sure that they're happy and therefore they can bring that energy to the patients when they come in.
Eva Sheie (12:24):
Do you see that show up in places like your patient reviews that people say things like it was the whole team, or
Dr. Earle (12:32):
Yes.
Eva Sheie (12:32):
They make comments like that?
Dr. Earle (12:34):
Yeah, it's awesome. We see that a lot and every time I see that it's just, I'm so proud of the team. I know that everything that we're doing is working because it's not just about coming in, having a surgery and going home. It's about having the patient become a part of the community and people will, this is a famous quote, but I truly believe that people will certainly forget what you said and they may even forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. And I think that's what we try to bring to the experience as patients come in through peer plastic surgery,
Eva Sheie (13:09):
Words to live by. With all these patients coming from out of town, what kinds of things do you do to make their experience really comfortable?
Dr. Earle (13:20):
So first of all, we want to make it as easy for them as possible. And I think, so we try to put everything together so that they have options in terms of what to do before, during, and after surgery. Surgery is not, once again, it's not just about the procedure itself, but there's a lot that goes into it in terms of preparation. And then your post-op care, which is, I'd say just important to surgery itself. So we do a lot in terms of their education, but then of course we try to help them with their stay. So we're partnered with the hotel, the AC hotel, and so that eliminates them having to try to find a place to stay in Miami. Also, before surgery, we've partnered with a group called Make it Pop, Make It Pop provides a lot of information in terms of the things that go around surgery.
(14:10)
So we're talking about mental and emotional health, we're talking about nutrition, and then of course lymphatic massages and fajas and all these things that the patient has to figure out as well. And so they provide a ton of information for the patients so they know exactly where to go and how to take care of these things. And then for the post-op, we also have a post-op care team that's going to help the patients as well. So while we do always recommend that the patient bring someone that they know, a caregiver with them, we also on top of that, then provide a team that's going to help take care of them, especially in the first 48 hours, which are the most potentially scary for the patient and the most critical. So put all that entire package together to make it easier for them and to make it more comfortable such that this journey, which can be very, very scary and daunting at times, becomes something that's more exciting because they have all of this kind of in place.
Eva Sheie (15:08):
How available are you when something goes wrong in that sort of first couple of days to week after surgery?
Dr. Earle (15:16):
So either myself or one of my team members is available 24 7. So I mean, during the day, of course we're all there, but then nights, weekends, holidays, and we have someone that's on call and our call service available at all times. And me, myself, honestly, I'm available for everyone at any time too. So why might not be the person specifically on call if they then have a question? I'm always available as well.
Eva Sheie (15:45):
How often do you get woken up in the middle of the night?
Dr. Earle (15:48):
Fortunately, nowadays, not too often because of everything else that we've done, you put in the work at the beginning so that things then run smoothly throughout and towards the end. And so that helps a lot. So lemme just give you an example. Say after a big lipo case, right, the first 24 hours, you're going to be draining a ton of fluid and that fluid is going to look red and it's going to be messy, and it's going to look very scary. And if you're a patient, if you've never heard of this before and you see that you're going to freak out and you're going to start calling. But we put in all that education upfront, we show, well, we have a ton of videos that we've produced ourselves that we give to the patients beforehand as well. It's kind of like, have you read what to expect when you're expecting those books? Well, it's somewhat similar, but in terms of specifically the surgeries that we're doing.
Eva Sheie (16:41):
It's an app now, and they tell you, your baby's the size of a cantaloupe, your baby's the size of a head of broccoli.
Dr. Earle (16:49):
There you go. Alright, well we've taken kind of that concept, but we've whittled it down to multiple videos, specific to each procedure. And so then the patients will receive these videos as they move along the journey. So you have the pre-op video, then the day of surgery video, then day one, et cetera, et cetera. So we walk them through. So we're holding their hand throughout with all this content that we're providing for them. And so that honestly makes patients feel a lot more comfortable, which means that they're safe and there's less phone calls at night.
Eva Sheie (17:25):
So we know you're known for BBLs and you do a lot of those. What other things are you known for?
Dr. Earle (17:33):
So our top, or at least me personally, my top three are certainly liposuction, B B L, and then breast surgery. So that's pretty much any breast breast reduction, breast lift, breast augmentation, breast lift with implants, and then the combination the mommy makeovers, which is a breast procedure with a tummy tuck. Those are probably my top three procedures, but we're seeing two other procedures you would call 'em that are growing quite significantly. Now with me personally, one is the reversal of the BBL. Okay, so a few years ago people were doing BBLs and they were getting very large exaggerated hips or exaggerated buttocks. There was this thing called the vixen look, which was tiny waist and very large hips and very large buttock.
Eva Sheie (18:20):
I saw it at the airport yesterday.
Dr. Earle (18:21):
You did? Right. And it was like a trend at the time. But the downside to that is that it's typically not long lasting and it doesn't fit the frame of the patient.
(18:30)
So my style has always been what I like to call unnaturally enhanced, meaning you want to tailor the procedure to that specific patient and their underlying frame, and you want to make sure that it's all the contours are smooth and that you can safely go from the back into the waist, back out to the hips and down to the thighs in a nice smooth fashion. So I think when you do it that way, then it could be basically a lifelong procedure because once those fat cells take, they take for life. But now we start seeing a lot here at Pure, what we call the BBL reversal, people that want to get back to that more enhanced natural look as opposed to what we sometimes call an ant booty or something like that. So we'll come and we'll shrink down the hips a bit, we'll make the smooth contour, reduce the volume, but these are actually technically challenging procedures.
(19:21)
Not a lot of people are doing it, but it's one thing that we are, and I think we're doing very, very well at it, and it's definitely growing. And then the next thing is, and I mentioned it earlier, I took that course with Dr. Oros down in Columbia with what we call a total define or high definition. And that is also one of the procedures that's growing tremendously here at Pure, where we're really going for that athletic look, right? So now it's not just only about the shape, but we're bringing out kind of the musculature, and we're not talking simply about ab etching, we're talking about the musculature, yes, in the abdomen, but not just the muscles in the front, the oblique muscles as well. And then doing high definition to the back to the arms, pretty much taking the patient as a whole and creating that athletic look from the front and the back for men and women as well.
(20:13)
And there's one thing that they're doing a lot right now in Colombia, and I think it started originally in Brazil, which is called U Graft. They're actually placing fat into certain muscles to increase the volume of that muscle. And I haven't really seen that in the us and it's something that I'm bringing back here to the US and to Miami. And that's when you use, again, ultrasound guidance, but you're now placing the fat into certain muscles and most common for men being biceps, the deltoid and the chest, the pectoralis muscles to help bulk up those muscles and really create that athletic look.
Eva Sheie (20:48):
Without going to the gym.
Dr. Earle (20:49):
Well, no. So here's the big fallacy. The best combination is what I call all three. So gym, nutrition, and surgery. When you combine all of those three, that's when you see truly outstanding results. They each compliment each other. So you may be going to the gym, and this happens a lot with both men and women, but there are going to be certain areas that are just resistant, whether it's genetics or whatnot. For a lot of women, especially after pregnancy, you can have of course your muscle separation, muscle weakness. You can kill yourself in the gym doing abs and crunches, and it's not going to fix that. There's also certain pockets of fat which are just very, very resistant to change. And so that's where surgery comes in to help those areas. But if you do surgery alone, then don't take care of your nutrition, don't go to the gym afterwards. You'll have a great result for a year. But what's going to happen after that? The whole point is what we want to create long lasting, enhanced natural results, and that's where everything comes in. So if you're going to be a pure total definer HD patient, it's a commitment to, of course, the surgery and the post-op care, but of course, changing your lifestyle and having that nutritional support as well as your exercise program.
Eva Sheie (22:17):
So was this idea of moving fat to other places besides the butt sort of an extension of the BBL, if we can do it here, can we do it in other places?
Dr. Earle (22:30):
Yes, and it's an extension of that and an evolution of that. And also of course, it involves a lot of science and a lot of learning. So like we just said before, when you're transferring fat to the buttock area, you want to avoid the muscle at all costs because if you put fat into or deep to the muscle, that's when you're going to have a potentially fatal pulmonary fat embolus. But what we've learned is that the gluteus muscle is actually a little bit the exception to the rule. That is the one muscle you do not want to put fat in. And that's why we use the ultrasound guidance to make sure that we're above that muscle and we're just between the muscle and the skin in that safe space. But there are other muscles which are amenable to putting some fat into it, much less volumes that you would in the buttock, but you can put fat into these muscles.
(23:19)
And it's safe in the sense that the risk of a fat embolism is very, very, very low. And it all has to do with how the muscle works and the vascular supply to that muscle. So this is not all done in the vacuum, of course, it involves a lot of research starting from cadaveric type research all the way to, of course, mining the data for the cases that have been done. So we found that you can actually place fat, say in the pectoralis or chest muscles or the deltoid or the bicep, and that can be done in a very, very safe manner. And now that these procedures are growing, we're actually seeing research when you take these patients, you put fat into some of these muscles, and then they go out and they do the nutrition and the exercise work that they find it easier to define these muscles in the future. And that's something that we still have to work with, but I think it has to do with stem cells and things of that nature.
Eva Sheie (24:10):
That was my first thought that there's properties of fat that are magical.
Dr. Earle (24:16):
Right. And you can kind of take that from, say for example, fat in the face. A lot of the most well-known facelift surgeons out there, they're not just doing a facelift, of course, that's the workhorse, but they're placing fat in the face strategically in different areas. And that has taken the results to a whole other level because the fat does have these properties that help the skin, along with of course, removing the excess skin and tightening the skin, but the fat risk towards the volume to the face. And it has these properties that basically rejuvenates the skin. And so we're seeing some things kind of similar to that when we place it into these certain muscle groups.
Eva Sheie (24:58):
This is really exciting stuff. There's a lot of interesting trends emerging from where we were to where we are going. And I've seen two people this year get a skinny B B L, and both of them told me they didn't have to even do the weird thing where you can't sit on your butt for however long. And I thought, this is progress. This is actually turning into something I don't think is as ridiculous as it maybe was, at least what the media made it seem like.
Dr. Earle (25:27):
Yeah. So we have our own version of the skinny BBL, we call it the South beach butt lift or the So BBL, which is, it is for the lower B M I patient. It has a few differences from your traditional B B L. Again, innovations we're talking about. One is much, much lower number of incisions. So we make minimal incisions, and there's actually none in the entire back. And so you have less incisions all in very hidden locations such that if the patient is wearing a small swimsuit, they're out on South Beach, you won't be able to see any points there. Exactly. And then of course, the other one is the style that enhanced natural look that I'm saying that you got to base the surgery on their underlying foundation to make sure everything looks like it belongs, it just enhanced. And then third, of course, we just talked about the ultrasound guidance for safety, but at least for my patients, I still ask 'em not to sit for the first six weeks because I just want to give, especially if you're limited as to how much fat you can transfer, I just want to give that fat the absolute best chance of surviving and taking so that they have a better result in the longterm.
Eva Sheie (26:34):
So when you go to the beach, I bet you see different things than the rest of us.
Dr. Earle (26:40):
I mean, even if you're not trying, right, you're there reading your book, you look and you can tell who's had work done, who hasn't. But I think the best work are the ones where I'm really struggling. So if I'm struggling, then that means that they had a great, great procedure.
Eva Sheie (26:56):
It's too bad you can't ask. That'd be kind of a little creepy, maybe
Dr. Earle (27:00):
A little bit.
Eva Sheie (27:02):
Do you ever see your own patients on the beach?
Dr. Earle (27:05):
I have. Well, here in Florida, and yeah, I've seen our own patients anywhere from the Miami airport to the C V S, the corner of my house to the beach itself. And a lot of times they'll recognize me, they're like, Hey, Dr. Earle how you doing? And sometimes I'll just recognize them and I'll just let 'em be and see how happy they are.
Eva Sheie (27:27):
Yeah. Let's talk about who you are away from work. So what do you like to do when you're not thinking about work or at work?
Dr. Earle (27:39):
So I mentioned my wife, Mikela, and we have three kids. So our daughter, she's 15, going on 21 or 22 I believe. And then we have twin boys that are 14. So when I'm not at work, really try to spend time with them. We love spending time as a family and we have a place out on the keys. And so whenever we get a chance, we try to go out there and try to kind of disconnect and relax. And one of my favorite activities out there is paddle boarding. And so I have our dog, she's an Australian shepherd named Roxy. She loves to go out on the paddleboard with me. So she'll hop on the front end of the paddleboard there and we'll go out for 30 minutes or an hour, and she loves to just kind of chill out on the front of the paddleboard there, watching the waves and the birds go by. Very relaxing actually.
Eva Sheie (28:35):
Do you leave your phone behind for that?
Dr. Earle (28:36):
Definitely, yeah. It's a good time to disconnect and the rest of the time, I like to encourage my kids when they're afterschool activities, for example, the boys, they do. So I like to take them. I am the one who kind of takes them there and watches and see how they grow and brings them back throughout the week as well.
Eva Sheie (28:59):
Are they competitive or are they pretty chill overall?
Dr. Earle (29:02):
I would say they're pretty chill while the boys have that twin energy so they can kind of communicate with each other as somehow without even speaking or looking at each other, which is quite incredible. And my daughter, she's pretty chill overall, but what she loves to do is to sing. And so she's part of, there's a band basically called here School of Rock, where they're train kids in terms of singing voice lessons, but also guitar and everything else. And so from that, they form a band and they do a little mini concert at the end of each of the trainings, I guess. And so she loves that and it's really, really exciting. It's great to see that she's really into nineties rock, and so a lot of the songs that we used to listen back when we were younger, like Bon Jovi and Guns N Roses and things like that.
Eva Sheie (29:53):
That's awesome. Mine love Eye of the Tiger, and they want to listen to it every day.
Dr. Earle (29:57):
Oh yeah.
Eva Sheie (29:58):
Yeah. That's good stuff. That's what it's all about. For anyone who's listening today, if they want to reach out and find out more about you, where should they look or where should they go to do that?
Dr. Earle (30:11):
Yeah, so we're definitely, I think social media is definitely one of the places there can go. So if you go to Instagram, they can go to dr dot, Alex dot Earle on ig. And then same, we're also on TikTok, Dr. Alex Earle. They can go to our website as well, which is pure plastic surgery.com. And for people that are considering to be our patients, currently, our patients or what we call the vets, those that have had surgery with already, we have a very strong community on Facebook, which is called the Earles Pearls community, which has over 11,000 members. And they can go there to learn, not only to just learn about us and the practice, but also to get in touch with us other patients that have gone through the process and learn from there as well, and have essentially an internal support group for the journey that they're about to go through.
Eva Sheie (31:04):
And who moderates that group?
Dr. Earle (31:07):
Mostly me.
Eva Sheie (31:10):
Wow. Yeah. That's unusual.
Dr. Earle (31:13):
Yeah, so that's where I spend a lot of time. Of course, Willie who's here, he's also very much into all of our social media. He's our community manager, so he takes care of a lot of our, because these are my own accounts, but then pure plastic surgery as an account, as well as Dr. Vidal and Dr. Wegerif as well. So we have multiple accounts that Willie's in charge of there, making sure that everything's running smoothly as well.
Eva Sheie (31:39):
It's an important job.
Dr. Earle (31:41):
For sure.
Eva Sheie (31:42):
Thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us today. I really appreciate it.
Dr. Earle (31:46):
Alright, awesome. This has been great. So thank you so much for having me. I truly, truly appreciated.
Eva Sheie (31:54):
If you are considering making an appointment or are on your way to meet this doctor, be sure to let them know you heard them on the Meet the Doctor podcast. Check the show notes for links including the doctor's website and Instagram to learn more. Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who'd like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book your free recording session at Meet the Doctor podcast.com. Meet the Doctor is Made with Love in Austin, Texas and is a production of The Axis, T H E A X I S.io.