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June 22, 2023

Gregory Greco, MD - Plastic & General Surgeon in New Jersey & New York City

Gregory Greco, MD - Plastic & General Surgeon in New Jersey & New York City

Over two decades into his career, plastic surgeon Dr. Gregory Greco takes pride in the fact that he’s become an integral part of so many people’s lives, helping patients look and feel their best over the years.

Every patient who walks through his...

Over two decades into his career, plastic surgeon Dr. Gregory Greco takes pride in the fact that he’s become an integral part of so many people’s lives, helping patients look and feel their best over the years.

Every patient who walks through his doors gets 100% of his practice for as long as they need it, and he helps patients feel comfortable enough to reach out with questions or concerns at any time of day without feeling like they’re bothering him.

Serving as the current president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, patient advocacy and education are at the center of Dr. Greco’s efforts.

At both his Red Bank, New Jersey, and New York City offices, his team goes the extra mile for patients at every part of their experience. To ensure people feel confident choosing him, he offers every patient the opportunity to speak to his past patients and find out why they chose him.

To learn more about Dr. Gregory Greco

Follow Dr. Greco on Instagram

Check out the first podcast Dr. Greco every listened to, “My Dad Wrote a Porno”

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.

Transcript

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. Good afternoon, welcome to Meet the Doctor. Today my guest is Dr. Greg Greco. He's a plastic surgeon in New Jersey, and it's my honor to have him here today. Welcome, Dr. Greco.

Dr. Greco (00:43):
Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. And I'm, uh, looking forward to our conversation.

Eva Sheie (00:48):
I like to always start by saying, tell us about yourself. And everyone chooses to start that in a different place. So I'm curious to hear where you will take us.

Dr. Greco (00:58):
<laugh>. Oh God. Like therapy start? Yes. <laugh>. Well, let's start with the basics. My name is Gregory Greco and I'm a board certified plastic surgeon. I'm also a board certified general surgeon. And my practice, I have two practices, one that is in Red Bank, New Jersey, which I've been for my entire career, and also one on Central Park South in, uh, New York City. And practice-wise, we're about maybe a little under an hour apart, and I work out of both offices, but my predominant office is in, uh, New Jersey where I happened to also run a residency program, a general surgical residency program, and have been involved in medical education my entire career. My practice is predominantly cosmetic surgery with a focus on some implant-based breast reconstruction as well, but majority is, uh, face and body cosmetic surgery.

Eva Sheie (01:51):
What do you like to do when you're driving back and forth between the two practices?

Dr. Greco (01:56):
Oh gosh. Well, I love traffic <laugh>, so <laugh>, you know, I, I, there's a couple of things. It's interesting. It's a really good question. You know, certainly I am a, an NPR addict, so I, I listen to a fair amount of talk radio and I'm all over the dial, but I've, I've started getting into podcasts and, and I'm not saying this just because, you know, we're, we're taping a podcast, but, you know, there's a lot of escapism that I find in podcasts, which has really been just fascinating. And also it's just so informative. So depending on the mood, depending on the day, depending on what's happening, I can usually find something to either make me laugh or just kind of inform me.

Eva Sheie (02:37):
So you're an NPR addict. What is your favorite thing to listen to on NPR?

Dr. Greco (02:43):
Oh gosh. I mean, I love, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. I have to say that, you know, for pure escapism, uh, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is, is always informative, but there's a lot, you know, depending, you know, I start my day between five and five 30 in the morning, so there's always so much different on, so depending on either the five to five 30 commute is usually to the gym. And then the post gym commute is usually just starting with, you know, news hour and then, then the commute, once I finish my hospital rounds and doing whatever I have to do at the hospital, then I'm off to the office and that's usually the BBC portion of it. So, so I get a good mix in the morning, you know, depending on where I'm going. So

Eva Sheie (03:23):
It always gives you a lot to think about.

Dr. Greco (03:25):
Yes.

Eva Sheie (03:26):
And then even things to share with other people during the day, it just comes in handy.

Dr. Greco (03:30):
Oh absolutely. That's a good way tos at least stay somewhat informed when I can't get to a, a newspaper.

Eva Sheie (03:37):
I totally agree. And I love it too. I don't know if we'd have podcasting without nNPR. It's like they, they were the original podcast creators and it was just the radio.

Dr. Greco (03:47):
Yeah, no exact, exactly right. And I think that because we can now get this, you know, these contained snippets, it's so great and, and I think that people have figured out how to distill information into these little, I don't wanna call 'em sound bites cuz they're more in sound bites, but I'll tell you an embarrassingly, my first podcast I ever listened to was My Dad Wrote a Porno <laugh>, and it's absolutely hysterical. Someone had recommended it and like, was taking a long trip. I'm like, you know what? And it was the, the satellite service wasn't working, the radio service wasn't working in the car. So, so we had just, I had downloaded it and this was years ago and it's absolutely hysterical. And it became a TV show as well. It was, uh, either produced on Netflix or something. It's absolutely, it's just laugh out loud funny. And, um, anyway, so that was my, my first embarrassing podcast.

Eva Sheie (04:39):
We'll put that in the show notes. <laugh>, you've had an interesting year. You didn't mention this when I asked you to tell us about yourself, but I know that you're the President of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons right now, which for patients is not really something that they, maybe, I don't know that they care that much about that, but it's a big job and it's a lot of work. So what has that been like for you?

Dr. Greco (05:05):
You know, for being President of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, A, it's such an honor because first off, we are the world's largest plastic surgery organized society. You know, we're, we're the, the country's largest society that represents board certified plastic surgeons, and we have 50 member countries throughout the world. You know, I I say it's a huge honor because it's an elected position. So I'm grateful to be trusted as the leader of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. And you wanna leave your, your mark and, and leave the society in a better place. And the, the great thing about this is I'm working with so many bright and talented surgeons throughout the country, and I'm meeting so many people throughout the world who are incredibly talented. It's just, you know, just the opportunity for educational exchange. Just the, the social aspect of it is certainly fascinating culturally, the differences in plastic surgery throughout the, the world, it's been really fascinating. And, and like I said, I hopefully will advance the needle a little bit and help the public stay informed about the latest greatest as far as plastic surgery goes. And moreover, the importance of board certified plastic surgeons and patient safety, which is, you know, where organized plastic surgery really kind of comes together in order to protect the public from so much that's out there. So, and that's, you know, I think the proudest part of being a leader of organized plastic surgery,

Eva Sheie (06:44):
It sounds like there's an element of that work that is about advocating for patients.

Dr. Greco (06:50):
Yes, I think the patient advocacy portion is almost in the forefront because it's very confusing now in the past, people, the population in general has an inherent trust in doctors and physicians because, you know, you've gone through a lot to become what you've become. But the problem with plastic surgery is that there is some deceptive marketing out there. The word plastic surgery versus cosmetic surgery is confusing. And the general public just presumes that the person advertising or the person they're watching on Instagram is in fact qualified to be doing what they're doing. And trying to help people navigate that and advocating for patients to make sure that they do their homework and they truly understand that their physician is qualified to be performing the surgery that they're performing and that, you know, they're moreover following all the standards of safety. Whether it's a, in a nationally accredited operating room or a licensed operating room, depending on where you practice, you know, there's so much that goes into your procedure deciding to go have a procedure. So we wanna make sure that patients have the best experience possible.

Eva Sheie (08:10):
I think we just as humans, without medical degrees, fall into, um, using what we do know to make decisions and, and because we can't, we don't have the skills or the knowledge to make decisions about quality the way that you would about each other. And so I remember learning this sort of the hard way, like visiting an office and the, the outside doors were filthy and I thought this must be a terrible doctor. But then thinking about it later, like, you can't really judge someone's skill by the condition of the front door. So what kinds of elements do you think we as non-doctors can look for to get closer to the answer to the question about quality?

Dr. Greco (08:51):
So it's a complicated question, right? It as opaque is that front door sometimes. So the answer about quality when it comes to trying to understand your physician's qualifications, there are several things that are absolute. You can just very easily verify your physician's credentials through the particular board or agency of your state. So you can go to the ABMS, the American Board of Medical Specialties and understand what their board certification is. Then you can look on that board and determine that your patient, that your physician is in fact board certified and maintains their board certification. There's a physician database and you can understand whether they've been sued. Not that that necessarily means they're not a good doctor because lawsuits don't necessarily mean that your doctor's, it has nothing to do with competence sometimes, unfortunately. So I don't necessarily know that I would use that as a litmus test to go to a doctor or not.

(09:52):
The other things are patient reviews. I think that, you know, they're fairly honest and I think that most of us are, we know how to navigate through reviews, whether it's for the place you're gonna grab a pizza or the place you're going to buy a dishwasher. And I think that we can navigate physician reviews similarly. So, you know, if your doctor has predominantly five star reviews and then there's a one, and then you look deeper and there's another one. I mean, there may be one-offs, if you will, but if they're consistent, then then I think it's says something. And sometimes they may, something, say something about the office staff more than the physician. However, you know, I think it's the total experience that you're looking for because regardless of what type of physician you're going to, you're going consciously, and it has to be an experience. It's the entire experience from the preoperative or the, the first visit, whatever it's for, until you're dismissed from care. So there's a lot that encompasses that experience and I think that you have to have a comfort with your physician from the moment you meet and the office staff.

Eva Sheie (11:03):
That's absolutely true. And the key driver of choosing a surgeon is actually the surgeon made me feel comfortable. So when we're in the moment at the consultation, if you make me feel comfortable, that's the the factor that's gonna have the most influence on my decision to move forward.

Dr. Greco (11:22):
But I can, I can also make you feel comfortable because I'm a nice guy and doesn't mean that I have quality results. So the other thing that I always offer all patients, number one, in plastic surgery, it's easy. Their befores and afters and, and normally they don't lie. The other thing is I offer every patient the opportunity to speak to my patients, you know, and I tell everybody, you can speak to one or you can speak to a hundred patients, whatever it takes for you to feel comfortable, listen to or hear it from my patients, not from me. Uh, because I think that they can share, you know, very truthful information about what made them make the decision, what was the impetus to walk in our front door and have whatever surgery they may have had or procedure, whether it was non-surgical. And I think that's very helpful. And it's also, there's nothing to hide. You know, I think I've been in practice for 22 years and there's more than enough information in the community about who I am, what I represent as a physician. I think my, my ethics and my morals. So I think, you know, I don't want to say it speaks for itself, but it's certainly I'm not, I'm not hiding anything from anybody. I think everybody gets very truthful answers during their consultations.

Eva Sheie (12:39):
There's another one factor that I like that's similar to those, which is, if you ask your doctor for a second consultation, the answer should always be yes to that.

Dr. Greco (12:50):
Of course,

Eva Sheie (12:50):
And if you don't get a yes to that question, that's kind of a red flag.

Dr. Greco (12:55):
You know, my, my job is to inform my patients and let them make a qualified, educated decision to proceed forward, because we're doing a lot together. And you have to trust me, I have to also trust you because there's a lot that goes into the postoperative experience and the intraoperative the preoperative experience. And it requires that the whole team, meaning all of my nurses, my, my receptionist, my, my medical assistants, that were all working together for your outcome. And everybody needs to participate. So I've had patients I've seen for a decade before they've gotten on an operating room table, you know, that, you know, they come in once a year for the same consult and you just do the consult again, and, and one day they'll, they'll move forward. So again, you have to be comfortable. I'm not your, your gallbladder doesn't have to come out. We're not in that business. So, so it's different. And this is just purely elective surgery for the most part. So I need patients to be comfortable or it's not gonna be the right experience,

Eva Sheie (14:03):
Although I bet you could take their gallbladder out because you're trained in both general surgery.

Dr. Greco (14:08):
I could and I've taken out hundreds <laugh>

Eva Sheie (14:12):
Along with feeling comfortable. And it's clear you're a very patient person with your patients. What else can people expect from you when they come to see you?

Dr. Greco (14:25):
You know, I, I think the one thing that everybody gets is a hundred percent of me and my practice. I think the one thing that people have to understand is you're never gonna get a machine. You're never gonna get a recording. There's a real person answering the phone every time you call this office. There's no voicemail, it doesn't exist. So you're not going to a voice box mailbox, you're getting a call back from a human.

Eva Sheie (14:52):
Even at night?

Dr. Greco (14:54):
That you're getting a call from me at midnight. Absolutely. So, and that's what you're getting. You're getting me and you're getting all of me. So, and, and for however long it takes, you know, and I think I, it's really important because we understand that patients, we want you to feel comfortable to bring any concerns to us. Because I think what happens is that when you have a physician experience, especially when it comes to having surgery and, and it doesn't matter what surgery it is, you have to feel comfortable that if you're having a concern, a question, especially with cosmetic surgery, most people have never had cosmetic surgery. You know, it's something that it's their first foray and they just don't know if what's happening is normal because, you know, we took them from being healthy, we made them sick to make them healthy again, right?

(15:45):
So the surgical process. So I need people to be able to bring any concerns to me without feeling like they're bothering me because we know what they're thinking, that everything went terribly wrong. <laugh>, the swelling is distorting them. We've heard it all. So I wanna be able to have those conversations with my patients and I want them to feel comfortable voicing any concerns that they have about their procedure or about possible something that a, actually may be harmful to them. So that's what they're getting, they're getting 100% of this practice for as long as they need it.

Eva Sheie (16:23):
Is there a particular area of the body or the face that you focus on?

Dr. Greco (16:30):
I think the specialty as far as the practice goes, you know, I, I do a lot of post baby contouring, if you will, mommy makeover. So, you know, breast and body after pregnancies. And it's interesting, I probably have a bimodal distribution as far as my surgery and my practice. It's the mommy makeover and then it's the, the next, the facelift population. So kind of maybe a decade and a half to two decades apart. And then, so it's breast and body and then face eyes for the, that next two generations later. I'll be kind.

Eva Sheie (17:04):
And so if you've been going in practice for 22 years, do you have a lot of patients who start with the mommy makeover and then return for the facelift?

Dr. Greco (17:12):
We have an awful lot of 'em, which is really nice to see. So yes, that's the other thing that we, you know, I think one of the things that as a practice, one of the great things is to see the continuity of the longitudinal care that we actually see with our patient population. I think as an educator, I have medical students and I have residents and they're really shocked when they see us in the room with a patient that we've been seeing for 5, 10, 15, 20 years, that we know everything about their lives. Because we see our patients, whether it's for injectables, we're seeing 'em every, you know, four to six months. Uh, you know, we see them more than they're internists. So you become an integral part of so many people's lives and you know, you are their first phone call when something goes wrong. If they need medical care, you know, they know that they can turn to this office and we're gonna direct them in the right direction.

(18:06):
You know, I, I've unfortunately gotten phone calls from people in parking lots after they've left their doctor and gotten a terrible diagnosis. You know, what do I do next? And it's an honor to know that, you know, they trust me to direct them. But you know, it's also unfortunate that they couldn't have that conversation with their own doctor. So, but like I said, I think the surprising thing is that people don't realize that the plastic surgeon is not just the temporary walk in the door walk out and we kind of have this long-term relationship with so many of our patients, which is just wonderful.

Eva Sheie (18:39):
I think you just figured out what's wrong with most of medicine right there.

Dr. Greco (18:44):
Completely.

Eva Sheie (18:46):
Those of us who work with you and are honored to work with plastic surgeons every day, we also go out into the world and say, why isn't all of medicine like plastic surgery? It should be, it should be better. You know, we should have relationships at least.

Dr. Greco (19:02):
I think if you've had the probable unfortunate circumstance in your life, either with a loved one or personally, and you've been through the healthcare system, you understand how confusing it is to navigate if you've, you know, I personally have had to do it for a loved one and as a physician and even with the nurses in my office coordinating care and, and trying to put all the pieces together, it was complicated. So for the average layman out there, it's really complicated. So we understand that and it's one of the reasons I think that we try to really go the extra mile for our patients regardless, you know, what it's about. Whether it's about preoperative pats, getting their blood work done, making sure, you know, if we need to call a lab, if we need to call an internist office, whatever we need to do, cuz we understand it's complicated and it's not easy anymore. You know, we wait on those phones as long as the patients do in order to get through to their, their physician's offices to get preoperative clearance.

Eva Sheie (20:06):
Well, we've certainly gone down a rabbit hole.

Dr. Greco (20:08):
<laugh>, <laugh>.

Eva Sheie (20:10):
Um, what other problems can we solve for the world today? Let's see, I've sort of noticed since I started doing this podcast that when I ask this question, doctors really fall into one of two buckets. So either when I say, when did you know you were gonna be a doctor? The answer is usually either, I never didn't know. I've known my whole life since I was a little tiny kid that I was gonna be a doctor. Or something really unusual happened that made them pivot. So, and in those stories they're usually very successful at something else and then they hit a wall and then they pivot into being, becoming a doctor. So now that I've built it up too much, I wanna ask you the question.

Dr. Greco (20:59):
Right, it was when my TV series got canceled. <laugh>?

Eva Sheie (21:01):
Oh, you were a famous TV star. <laugh>

Dr. Greco (21:04):
<laugh> Exactly. No, I was always gonna be a vet, so I always wanted to be a vet. And so it kind of propelled me in that direction. So in high school I started working for a vet and it was great because it was a real mom and pop shop, so it was kind of the everything vet, you know, he was like the country doctor vet, if you will. And it just kind of also really modeled what kind of almost what what I am now as a physician. It was that same type of, you know, the, the patients who've been there or the clients who've been there with their pets for years and years, you know, multiple animals later and just, you know, you, you were always their resource. And anyway, so he kind of con convinced <laugh>, he convinced me not to go into veterinary medicine.

(21:47):
He's like, listen, I love this and I know you love it, but this was many years ago, but he's like, you gotta week and $300 to get anything better <laugh>. So, you know, so he was being facetious obviously, but it kind of compelled me into at least medicine and it was great cuz I, I'm there at 16, 17 years old at least getting to watch in the operating room and then getting to take care of these animals. So I knew that I loved medicine. I know that didn't bother me. It didn't gross me out. And then in college I kind of gravitated towards becoming a doctor. So I went in as pre-med and the rest is history. And plastic surgery, during medical school, I had the great fortune of meeting one of my mentors in plastic surgery and he was just a, a again, another gentleman and, uh, just a real true, I wanna say gentleman and a scholar because he did the same thing, you know, as a private practice. His patients really loved him and he was just, once again, just, just did everything right. You know, you don't have to know that something's wrong, but you certainly can recognize it, but you know when things are right and I think that's, you know, me and my naivete at the time, I, I didn't know anything about plastic surgery. I just knew that I wanted to emulate this person. As far as, you know, their qualities and the way that they interacted with their patients,

Eva Sheie (23:14):
Are either of them still around?

Dr. Greco (23:17):
So the one, the plastic surgeon is still around. His name is Joe Reichman and I, I will say it out loud. And the other gentleman, his name is William Herbald. He died, uh, recently, maybe about two years ago. But I've always had the opportunity to thank them and just, uh, appreciate them.

Eva Sheie (23:34):
Did you become an animal lover too?

Dr. Greco (23:37):
Oh yeah. Always have animals. Just always tons of animals. Dog. two dogs right now, two little rescues. Just Eric and Hoot,

Eva Sheie (23:45):
<laugh> Hoot, the dog, not Hoot, the owl?

Dr. Greco (23:49):
Hoot the dog from Texas. She's from McAllen, Texas.

Eva Sheie (23:52):
Oh that's cute.

Dr. Greco (23:53):
I got her during Covid. She's about four, they're both about four years old. Eric's from Puerto Rico and Hoot's from Texas.

Eva Sheie (24:00):
<laugh> There's no animals to rescue in, in New Jersey, so

Dr. Greco (24:05):
That's right.

Eva Sheie (24:07):
All over the place. Yeah. So you're like the country plastic surgeon. I think that's,

Dr. Greco (24:11):
I suppose.

Eva Sheie (24:13):
What do you like to do away from work? I suppose this year it's, you're just doing ASPS but.

Dr. Greco (24:19):
Yeah, this year's been a lot of travel, but you know, I'm a scuba diver, scuba diving, boating, you know, kind of all water related activity. And also living in New York City as well as in New Jersey. New York City, culturally is just wonderful. So, you know, going and there's just so much to do. It's, you can't get bored in New York City.

Eva Sheie (24:40):
No, definitely not.

Dr. Greco (24:42):
Travel is, you know, one of the luxuries, you know, having to explore the planet is truly amazing. And, and one of the great things is that scuba diving brings you all over the world. There's so many amazing dive sites throughout the world that are so isolated and they just bring you into the far reaches of the globe. And seeing the planet underwater is absolutely one of the most beautiful things you can do.

Eva Sheie (25:07):
Okay, so three travel questions. Where's the last place you went? Where's the next place you're going? And then what is your favorite place to scuba dive?

Dr. Greco (25:17):
The last place I went was interesting was Dubai, which was about three weeks ago. Uh, but the real last place was San Francisco, which was about a week ago. The next place I'm going is Connecticut <laugh>. And then after that to Whistler out in, um, British Columbia, which would be the, the four days later. And the most fascinating place I ever dove, uh, it's kind of a tie, so for different reasons. Number one is Palau, which is this tiny little island, one degree north of the equator. And its just a, it's so hard to get to and it's the entire island is a marine preserve. And, uh, a lot of the, uh, World War II was fought in that area. Um, so it's just fascinating because there's so much marine life. There's no coral bleaching, so it's so hard to get to that, you know, we haven't destroyed it yet, so. And the other is The Galapagos, which I, it was my last trip before Covid and seeing the Galapagos underwater for a week straight was fascinating.

Eva Sheie (26:21):
How do you get to Palau?

Dr. Greco (26:23):
A lot of planes, uh, <laugh>, it was, um, about 22 hours of flying and you go, go from, you know, the states to one of the Asian countries, then you have to go to a small, some place called Truck and then you go to Palau and, um,

Eva Sheie (26:40):
Sounds like a long day, but worth it when you get there.

Dr. Greco (26:42):
It was worth it. It was absolutely worth it.

Eva Sheie (26:45):
Well, if someone's listening today and they don't already know where you are or how to find you, where should they look for more information about you?

Dr. Greco (26:56):
Thanks for that. Um, there's plenty of places you can look online at our website, www Dr. Gregory greco.com. You can find us on Instagram at Dr. Gregory Greco. We're also on Facebook at, gosh, I, I think I'm just Dr. Gregory Greco on Facebook as well. <laugh>, so, and Google works as well. And, uh, 732-842-3737.

Eva Sheie (27:20):
I'll make sure we put all those links in the show notes. Thank you so much Dr. Greco.

Dr. Greco (27:25):
Thanks. It was a pleasure talking to you.

Eva Sheie (27:31):
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.

 



















 






























































June 22, 2023



Brandyn Dunn, MD - Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon in Newport Beach, California









Brandyn Dunn, MD - Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon in Newport Beach, California












Patients seek Dr. Brandyn Dunn’s expertise for rhinoplasty, skin cancer reconstruction, facial trauma, facial aging surgeries, and non-surgical facial rejuvenation. With a background in head and neck surgery, Dr. Brandyn Dunn uses his deep...




























Patients seek Dr. Brandyn Dunn’s expertise for rhinoplasty, skin cancer reconstruction, facial trauma, facial aging surgeries, and non-surgical facial rejuvenation. With a background in head and neck surgery, Dr. Brandyn Dunn uses his deep understanding of the complexities of facial anatomy to deliver exceptional results for both his cosmetic and reconstructive patients.

Practicing in Newport Beach, California, alongside a team of physicians, Dr. Dunn applies newer, more advanced approaches to the full gamut of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. One of his favorite advanced techniques is the “deep neck lift,” in which he gives confidence to people who never had a sharp jawline.

With expertise in a wide variety of both surgical and nonsurgical treatments, Dr. Dunn helps patients postpone surgery for as long as possible, but once it’s time, he loves resetting the clock with a face lift.

To learn more about Dr. Brandyn Dunn


Follow Dr. Dunn 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.













Transcript




















































































June 22, 2023



Brandyn Dunn, MD - Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon in Newport Beach, California









Brandyn Dunn, MD - Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon in Newport Beach, California












Patients seek Dr. Brandyn Dunn’s expertise for rhinoplasty, skin cancer reconstruction, facial trauma, facial aging surgeries, and non-surgical facial rejuvenation. With a background in head and neck surgery, Dr. Brandyn Dunn uses his deep...




























Patients seek Dr. Brandyn Dunn’s expertise for rhinoplasty, skin cancer reconstruction, facial trauma, facial aging surgeries, and non-surgical facial rejuvenation. With a background in head and neck surgery, Dr. Brandyn Dunn uses his deep understanding of the complexities of facial anatomy to deliver exceptional results for both his cosmetic and reconstructive patients.

Practicing in Newport Beach, California, alongside a team of physicians, Dr. Dunn applies newer, more advanced approaches to the full gamut of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. One of his favorite advanced techniques is the “deep neck lift,” in which he gives confidence to people who never had a sharp jawline.

With expertise in a wide variety of both surgical and nonsurgical treatments, Dr. Dunn helps patients postpone surgery for as long as possible, but once it’s time, he loves resetting the clock with a face lift.

To learn more about Dr. Brandyn Dunn


Follow Dr. Dunn 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.













Transcript




















































































June 22, 2023



Brandyn Dunn, MD - Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon in Newport Beach, California









Brandyn Dunn, MD - Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon in Newport Beach, California












Patients seek Dr. Brandyn Dunn’s expertise for rhinoplasty, skin cancer reconstruction, facial trauma, facial aging surgeries, and non-surgical facial rejuvenation. With a background in head and neck surgery, Dr. Brandyn Dunn uses his deep...




























Patients seek Dr. Brandyn Dunn’s expertise for rhinoplasty, skin cancer reconstruction, facial trauma, facial aging surgeries, and non-surgical facial rejuvenation. With a background in head and neck surgery, Dr. Brandyn Dunn uses his deep understanding of the complexities of facial anatomy to deliver exceptional results for both his cosmetic and reconstructive patients.

Practicing in Newport Beach, California, alongside a team of physicians, Dr. Dunn applies newer, more advanced approaches to the full gamut of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. One of his favorite advanced techniques is the “deep neck lift,” in which he gives confidence to people who never had a sharp jawline.

With expertise in a wide variety of both surgical and nonsurgical treatments, Dr. Dunn helps patients postpone surgery for as long as possible, but once it’s time, he loves resetting the clock with a face lift.

To learn more about Dr. Brandyn Dunn


Follow Dr. Dunn 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.













Transcript




















































































June 22, 2023



Brandyn Dunn, MD - Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon in Newport Beach, California









Brandyn Dunn, MD - Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon in Newport Beach, California












Patients seek Dr. Brandyn Dunn’s expertise for rhinoplasty, skin cancer reconstruction, facial trauma, facial aging surgeries, and non-surgical facial rejuvenation. With a background in head and neck surgery, Dr. Brandyn Dunn uses his deep...




























Patients seek Dr. Brandyn Dunn’s expertise for rhinoplasty, skin cancer reconstruction, facial trauma, facial aging surgeries, and non-surgical facial rejuvenation. With a background in head and neck surgery, Dr. Brandyn Dunn uses his deep understanding of the complexities of facial anatomy to deliver exceptional results for both his cosmetic and reconstructive patients.

Practicing in Newport Beach, California, alongside a team of physicians, Dr. Dunn applies newer, more advanced approaches to the full gamut of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. One of his favorite advanced techniques is the “deep neck lift,” in which he gives confidence to people who never had a sharp jawline.

With expertise in a wide variety of both surgical and nonsurgical treatments, Dr. Dunn helps patients postpone surgery for as long as possible, but once it’s time, he loves resetting the clock with a face lift.

To learn more about Dr. Brandyn Dunn


Follow Dr. Dunn 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.













Transcript




















































































June 22, 2023



Brandyn Dunn, MD - Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon in Newport Beach, California









Brandyn Dunn, MD - Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon in Newport Beach, California












Patients seek Dr. Brandyn Dunn’s expertise for rhinoplasty, skin cancer reconstruction, facial trauma, facial aging surgeries, and non-surgical facial rejuvenation. With a background in head and neck surgery, Dr. Brandyn Dunn uses his deep...




























Patients seek Dr. Brandyn Dunn’s expertise for rhinoplasty, skin cancer reconstruction, facial trauma, facial aging surgeries, and non-surgical facial rejuvenation. With a background in head and neck surgery, Dr. Brandyn Dunn uses his deep understanding of the complexities of facial anatomy to deliver exceptional results for both his cosmetic and reconstructive patients.

Practicing in Newport Beach, California, alongside a team of physicians, Dr. Dunn applies newer, more advanced approaches to the full gamut of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. One of his favorite advanced techniques is the “deep neck lift,” in which he gives confidence to people who never had a sharp jawline.

With expertise in a wide variety of both surgical and nonsurgical treatments, Dr. Dunn helps patients postpone surgery for as long as possible, but once it’s time, he loves resetting the clock with a face lift.

To learn more about Dr. Brandyn Dunn


Follow Dr. Dunn 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.













Transcript

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. Today on Meet the Doctor, my guest is Brandyn Dunn. He's a facial plastic surgeon in Newport Beach, California. And you're the only one there, right Dr. Dunn? 


Dr. Dunn (00:41):
Exactly. No one else in sight <laugh>. 


Eva Sheie (00:45):
Uh, I think that might be the most competitive part of California. What do you think? 


Dr. Dunn (00:51):
Uh, I would like to say so, uh, at least it feels like that sometimes, but you know, I think we're probably competing with Beverly Hills as well. 


Eva Sheie (00:59):
Yep. I would say that's fair. So let's start by, maybe just give us a little bit about yourself first. 


Dr. Dunn (01:06):
Of course. So thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. This is a great avenue for, uh, to kind of connect with our patients, so thank you. 


Eva Sheie (01:14):
You're welcome. 


Dr. Dunn (01:15):
So my name's Brandyn Dunn and I'm a facial plastics and reconstructive surgeon. I was born and raised, actually in Hawaii and did my otolaryngology head and neck surgery training at the University of California, Irvine, which is kind of where I set my roots, uh, here in Orange County. And so met my now wife at the time. And so I, I did fellowship at the University of Kansas in the Midwest, a really busy robust facial plastics program, did many, many cases and then came back to Newport Beach to set up my roots. And I joined a practice doing the full gamut of facial plastics and reconstructive surgery. 


Eva Sheie (01:53):
And that's a pretty large group you're in, isn't it? 


Dr. Dunn (01:55):
It is, yeah. So we have a, we have two other facial plastic surgeons, uh, an oculoplastic surgeon and I believe four most dermatologists. So it's a really nice place to kinda hang my shingle. And there's a lot of collaboration and a lot of opportunities to work with other physicians, bounce ideas off of people, and, um, and also get a lot of skin cancer reconstruction. 


Eva Sheie (02:21):
I think sometimes when people are researching and they land on a big group like that, it feels a little bit intimidating. Like if I call, how am I gonna know which doctor's the right one for me? And so I'm curious how you handle that with all those doctors there and so many good choices for us to make. 


Dr. Dunn (02:38):
Definitely. So, yeah, I mean, the people I work with are incredible, so I can only speak very highly of them. But I will say the one thing that I bring to the table is kind of a, a newer, more advanced techniques in, uh, a lot of the surgeries that I most recently learned. And so I think that someone that can obviously relate with the patients, I've got a little bit more time to kind of spend with all of my patients and get to know them, hear their story, hear their concerns, and really connect with them. And then, you know, the other thing is, is like I said, I, I have, I have all of the new techniques and tools to be able to kind of utilize them to, to be able to give my patients the best results. 


Eva Sheie (03:22):
So is it safe for me to assume that some people are referred to you from other places, they're being sent to you because they have skin cancer or they, they have a, an injury or something that requires reconstruction? If we divide them into two groups, what kinds of patients do you see that are referred to you? And then maybe tell us what kinds of cosmetic patients find you and what do they find you for? 


Dr. Dunn (03:45):
Of course. So the ones that are referred to me are most often facial trauma and skin cancer reconstruction. So there are several dermatologists, obviously in our practice and also out in the community that refer skin cancer patients. So, you know, I, I really enjoy these types of patients because I get an opportunity to, you know, if the timing goes really well, which oftentimes it does, at least at this practice, I get a meet them before the skin cancer is actually removed. So I get to talk about my planned reconstruction. I get to explain what the healing process looks like. I get to answer a lot of their questions and concerns and kind of give them an idea of what things are gonna look like moving forward. So, and that's before they've had the surgery, it's a lot more difficult when they've had the skin cancer removed. 


(04:31)
They have this really large defect or hole somewhere, you know, in a very vital situation. And, and then now we're kind of having to kind of clean everything up. So I find that really helpful. And those are, those are a lot of the patients I see these days. And so that's one subset set that's referred to me. And another one is also facial injuries. So any sort of nasal bone fractures on the sports teams or, you know, lacerations from a dog bite or any kind of, you know, injuries after a motor vehicle accident, cheek bone fractures or forehead fractures or eye fractures. I, I treat those as well. And so those are the ones that are, tend, tend to be referred to me. And then there's the other subset of patients, like you're talking about, which are the ones that kind of find me either online or from my social media or for my Google. Those are the ones that come, I'd say most often it's for cosmetic surgery. I'd say the most common is rhinoplasty. You know, I, I do have my background in otolaryngology head and neck surgery. And so all I did was do surgery in the face. And so I feel very comfortable with that. And I've been doing nasal surgery for, for many, many years now. And so I feel like that's kind of where they, they find me first and then the slowly growing practice of aging face patients as well. 


Eva Sheie (05:52):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, do you do any non-surgical stuff? 


Dr. Dunn (05:55):
I do. So I do Botox and filler, and we'll do, uh, skin resurfacing treatments like, uh, CO2 laser or V beam for discoloration on the face. And also we'll do dermabrasion and microneedling. 


Eva Sheie (06:11):
I always like to explore the idea of having a facial plastic surgeon do your Botox and your filler, because I think people make mistakes in this area a lot. And luckily it's, it's reversible or it just doesn't take very long, for that, if you make a mistake, doesn't take a long time for it to go away. But would you maybe speak to the advantage of having a facial plastic surgeon look at you for Botox and do that versus maybe going to, to a shopping center? 


Dr. Dunn (06:40):
Yeah.<laugh>, I see where you're going. Um, <laugh>. So yeah, I, I mean, I think that's, it's huge. I, and I don't think patients necessarily understand that because I, I think Botox and filler is really becoming a commodity and, you know, you can go anywhere and get it. And, and I think most people generally do a pretty good job. And so as long as you do enough, you, most people do pretty well. I will say that, you know, the advantages are the level of precision that I guess i, I have developed with time. You know, like I said, I, I've spent years and years dissecting and doing surgery in the face. And so understanding the different layers of the face and the complexity of the face and where the muscles sit and where the fat pads sit and where the bone is and understanding those things are really difficult to learn in, you know, a weekend course or some kind of training that, you know, one of the filler or Botox companies or neuromodulator companies come and teach you in your office. 


(07:40)
And so I'd say that's one of the things. So understanding the complexity of the anatomy and really studying the patients and seeing how muscles move and seeing where, where you can kind of blend things and help with shadowing. And then the other thing is, is being able to deal with things if complications occur. And, and I think, you know, if you've seen and you understand healing and you understand the potential risk, you can, someone that knows how to manage these has protocols in place to be able to manage these things effectively and quickly and identifying them quickly and effectively are really gonna allow for the results to be that much better and safer. 


Eva Sheie (08:20):
Would you hypothetically see somebody who went somewhere else and had a bad experience? Could they come to you and ask you for help? 


Dr. Dunn (08:28):
Definitely. Yeah. That happens often. Yeah. 


Eva Sheie (08:31):
I think it's hard to imagine getting a bad treatment and then going back to that person again to try to fix it. And I, I hope that we don't find ourselves in those places, but when we do, I always try to help people know what to do. Like what is the best move if something does happen to you? And so here's another weird hypothetical. Let's say you have a two year old who likes to headbutt and one day they finally connect <laugh> 


Dr. Dunn (09:03):
All this time they've been trying <laugh> 


Eva Sheie (09:06):
<laugh>. It happened to my sister. 


Dr. Dunn (09:09):
Oh no. 


Eva Sheie (09:10):
It was a famous Thanksgiving. Yes.


Dr. Dunn (09:12):
Of course. 


Eva Sheie (09:13):
And I, I've always sort of wondered, like in the back of my mind, if my nose ever got broken, who would I even call? 


Dr. Dunn (09:20):
Yeah. 


Eva Sheie (09:21):
And so you sort of need to, like, if, I mean, I guess if you're like me, you save things in your phone like, you know, rhinoplasty, emergency <laugh>. 


Dr. Dunn (09:31):
Exactly. 


Eva Sheie (09:33):
Can people call you if they find themselves in the ER with, uh, an injury to their face or their nose? 


Dr. Dunn (09:40):
Oh, definitely. And that's, I mean, I, I see, I see nasal fractures quite a bit and you know, oftentimes if you treat them early, you actually can save yourself from a surgery in the future. And the thing is, is really treating it early and getting in with the right people early and not delaying that. Not to give, you know, medical advice, but you definitely want, you know, in the first couple weeks you really want to be seen by a specialist. And I would vouch for, you know, anyone that does rhinoplasty surgery, whether it's a plastic surgeon or a facial plastic surgeon, but you definitely wanna see a specialist. And if it's not treated early, then those individuals at least can be kind of set in a trajectory so that if you needed a procedure down the line, you can kind of have that scheduled and figured out 


Eva Sheie (10:24):
How much time do you have really, if you've been injured, you don't have to call like in the middle of the night, but 


Dr. Dunn (10:29):
Please don't, no <laugh>, I'm just kidding. <laugh>. No, no, no. You can call in the middle of the night. But I, I'd say I like to see my, see most of my patients one week after the injury. You either see it in the first couple hours, which is very uncommon to be able to get in contact with someone first couple hours or within the first week by the end of the first week. And, and the reason that is, is because it allows for enough time the swelling to go down and for you to see what kind of deformity is actually there. So, you know, occasionally when the swelling goes down, things look good and you don't need to do anything. But if you do need to do something, I generally like to do it within two to three week window after the injury has occurred. 


Eva Sheie (11:08):
If you're in the ER, then is it best to just say, let's do nothing? 


Dr. Dunn (11:12):
Unless a specialist has come and seen you? I would say yes. 


Eva Sheie (11:16):
Yeah. Don't let the ER doc just bump, bump it back. 


Dr. Dunn (11:20):
I would <laugh> as tempting as it is, I would avoid that. Yeah. 


Eva Sheie (11:25):
It's not like relocating your shoulder. 


Dr. Dunn (11:28):
No, no, it's 


Eva Sheie (11:29):
Okay. Got it.


Dr. Dunn (11:29):
Yeah. <laugh> 


Eva Sheie (11:30):
<laugh>, This is good advice. 


Dr. Dunn (11:31):
There's a little bit more finesse than that. Yeah. 


Eva Sheie (11:33):
Okay. 


Dr. Dunn (11:34):
Than just pulling very hard <laugh>. 


Eva Sheie (11:37):
Let's go back to skin cancer for a moment. And I wanna hit on something that I think you could go a little deeper on there around the team. So is skin cancer the kind of surgery where someone removes it and then you're in the same or at the same time you're there to reconstruct? Or does it happen at two different times? 


Dr. Dunn (12:00):
That's a good question. And that can be extremely confusing for patients coming in. So it depends on the office that's doing it. So skin cancer is removed typically by a dermatologist or a Mohs dermatologist depending on the type of cancer. And so, like I said, we have four Mohs dermatologists in our practice. And so if someone comes in and they don't have a dermatologist or they're referred from a dermatologist, we can do it here. And so skin cancer, I, I'll give you the two scenarios or actually it, it can be done in an outside office and they can have the skin cancer removed in the outside office and then they come to our office for the reconstruction. But typically the skin cancer is removed under local anesthesia. So you're awake, they're just numbing up the area and they're removing the skin cancer. They sometimes have to do multiple stages depending on how advanced the cancer is. 


(12:48)
And then at that point, then your, your care is transitioned over to myself. And so when the care comes over to me, depending on the location and depending on the size of the defect, I do it either under local anesthesia as well, or I do it in an operating room setting where I have an anesthesiologist that can do twilight sedation. And so it's a gentle sedation, kind of like a colonoscopy or an endoscopy where you're just in a twilight sleep and that allows for you to be comfortable and for me to have the time to be able to do the complex repair. So yeah, that's, that's the general process that, you know, we like to do it in an ideal situation. It happens in one day, in one sitting, but occasionally it will be a stage thing where someone will have it removed and then a couple days later we'll do the reconstruction. But ideally we kind of get it in and get it out of the way for each patient so that they can move on with their lives. 


Eva Sheie (13:44):
Is there a good place to see photos of this kind of work? 


Dr. Dunn (13:47):
Definitely. I like to highlight, you know, my cosmetic surgery as well as my reconstructive surgery on my social media and on my website. So, uh, 


Eva Sheie (13:56):
I did notice this, your Instagram is very educational. 


Dr. Dunn (14:00):
Oh, thank you. 


Eva Sheie (14:00):
And there's a lot of, there's a lot of explanation that you give in there that is unusual and I, it stood out because I thought it was really helpful to the audience. 


Dr. Dunn (14:09):
Thank you. Yeah, I try to spend time educating outside of the clinic and the consult experience too, so thank you. 


Eva Sheie (14:17):
I think it stands out when you can tell that someone enjoys teaching and that's what it looked like to me. 


Dr. Dunn (14:24):
Yeah, I do. I really do. 


Eva Sheie (14:27):
Well, let's go to aesthetics cuz that's really, uh, a much happier topic than skin cancer or getting smashed in the face by a two year old. 


Dr. Dunn (14:35):
Yeah. 


Eva Sheie (14:37):
How do you approach an aging face? And maybe one way to, to break it down if, if you like this idea is to kind of go by the decade. So I'm in my twenties, I'm in my thirties, I'm in my forties, if that makes sense. Let's maybe approach it that way.


Dr. Dunn (14:52):
Yeah, of course. So I'll do younger, middle aged, and then older, the older population. So yeah, I think that's a good idea. So for my younger patients, I obviously, for every single one of my patients, I do a full global assessment. I look at all of the components of their face and I see how things have changed. And I will say that the one thing about age is that, you know, everyone asks when is the time to have a facelift? And there's not really, it, it's really more on the physical exam findings that I see and that, that bothers you. That ultimately kind of makes me decide whether we want to have surgery or not. So, but let's start with, um, kind of the younger patients. So the younger patients can, it's really about prevention at that point. And so Botox and fillers are kind of, and skincare are really the big things that I talk about for a lot of those patients. 


(15:45)
And that helps to kind of allow for them to age more gracefully and kind of help them kind of delay a potential surgical procedure later, or at least make the results of a surgical procedure that much better later on in life. The other thing that I will say about younger patients, that's kind of become a lot more popular and I think the results are absolutely incredible, are getting a neckline that I think wasn't necessarily possible before. And that's because of a modern advancement in techniques. And so that's one of the things that I do and I really enjoy doing because I think giving this confidence back to individuals that never really had a sharp etched neck and jawline is awesome. And, um, I like to call it a deep neck lift and sometimes you need a chin implant to kind of enhance that as well, but it really gives the chin and jawline as well as the neck such an incredible shape and contour. So that's the younger population. 


Eva Sheie (16:40):
Does that neck lift that you're doing have a, a name or is it just, 


Dr. Dunn (16:45):
I haven't come up with a name yet, but I'm, I am, I'm in the market for that. But it, for me right now, it's, it is, it is a deep neck lift. It really is what it, what I do. Um,  And so I, I basically get access to the deeper tissues. I, I contour them and removed if they need to be removed or kind of shaved them down or tighten them up and then I allow the skin to lay over that and that allows for kind of the re draping and that improvement in their neck contour and shape. And so then the next, I'd say the next kind of stage is, is the individuals that start to have early signs of aging and the most common size of aging that I look for. And these are the individuals that ultimately are kind of leaning towards more of the surgical need. 


(17:28)
And this is jowling and neck laxity, platysmal banding, neck laxity, submental or fullness under the chin. You know, individuals that have these signs, if they're early, you know, they can sometimes be camouflaged with filler or fat grafting, but early signs of tend to do well with filler and fat grafting, but, you know, face a facelift or, or surgical procedures can really also make the results pretty incredible. So I will say that the facelift for these patients helps to kind of reset the clock. It gives them a more refreshed look. It helps to address the jowling and uh, the neck laxity and it really addresses mostly the lower face. And so that's the lower face and neck lift. It helps to kind of enhance that area. 


Eva Sheie (18:20):
Maybe a bit of a side question, but are you starting to see more people who've lost a lot of weight in your area? 


Dr. Dunn (18:26):
Yes. Ozempic. 


Eva Sheie (18:28):
Yeah. <laugh>. Yeah. <laugh>, I don't like to use a lot of buzz words, but yes, I was talking about the, that effect. Um, you know, when you, when you lose a lot of volume quickly, you,  I don't know anyone who's unhappy about that happening, <laugh>, but it might make you look older than you do sooner than you wanted it to <laugh>. 


Dr. Dunn (18:48):
Exactly. Yeah. I mean, bariatric surgery and medications now are causing weight to come off rapidly. And so yeah, those are definitely things that we're seeing where it causes, you know, individuals that wouldn't necessarily have these signs of aging as prominent and it, it makes it a little bit more prominent. And so yeah, those are patients that are coming in as well. 


Eva Sheie (19:12):
Have you started to think about how you might intervene earlier with somebody who's on that track of losing weight so that maybe the, you know, if you lost it all within a year that you wouldn't end up looking 20 years old or a year from now? 


Dr. Dunn (19:26):
<laugh>. Yeah. <laugh>. 


Eva Sheie (19:26):
What could you do between now and then if you know that you're on this path? 


Dr. Dunn (19:31):
That's tough. I, you know, one of the things that I will say is that a facelift, it holds up pretty well for a lot of things, but significant weight changes it doesn't do as well. So I generally say, you know, greater than 15 or 20 pound weight changes up or down, it really will test the facelift. And so, you know, if you're in the middle, I'm not sure there's gonna be, you know, besides non-surgical options, I would say surgical is probably, it'd be better to wait to do surgery until you fully lost all of that weight. But non-surgical as such, as like a thread lift or filler or fat grafting, those can potentially be helpful to camouflage along the way as you're losing weight. 


Eva Sheie (20:17):
Thank you for saying thread lift. I think if you're of a certain age, you might already know that the thread lift has kind of a history of being controversial,  at least in its early iterations. So I'm talking about 10, 15 years ago and then it went, it kind of fell out of favor, but for the last few years it's been back and it's been very successful. Are you seeing people have really good results from threads now? 


Dr. Dunn (20:46):
So I don't, I don't do threads, but I, I know a lot of med spas that, that I work with and talk to that are doing threads and they, they do incredible things. I think their, their results are incredible. I'd say the biggest thing when it comes to a thread lift is just that the expectations are set. Realizing that there's a, a limitation and the longevity is finite. You know, there's, but I think if you're, if you understand this, I think it's an incredibly strong tool that that can be used to, to kind of camouflage and help with some of this early, early signs of aging. 


Eva Sheie (21:25):
How often do you see complications show up from threads? 


Dr. Dunn (21:28):
I don't see a lot. Um, and that could just be, 


Eva Sheie (21:30):
That's good.


Dr. Dunn (21:30):
Yeah. I personally don't see a lot. They may just not be coming to me, but I, I personally haven't seen a lot. 


Eva Sheie (21:37):
Yeah. Well an end of one <laugh> is more than an end of zero. 


Dr. Dunn (21:45):
Yeah, exactly. 


Eva Sheie (21:47):
Okay, well we've gone through your practice approach to patients. I think we have a really good sense of what you do on any given day and it sounds really varied and interesting and that you're helping a lot of people. I'm curious about you, especially away from the office and I, I also am curious about growing up in Hawaii, cuz you said that at the very beginning. 


Dr. Dunn (22:12):
Yeah. 


Eva Sheie (22:12):
So which island and what do people usually ask you about growing up in Hawaii? 


Dr. Dunn (22:17):
Yeah. I'd say that's, you know, the most interesting quality <laugh> when someone asks what's what's the most interesting it's like from Hawaii. No, I, I loved it. I, I went to, I went to high school out there, medical school and I got my master's out there and so I spent a lot of time out there and I grew up on Oahu and the first question that everyone always asks is, do you surf? And the answer to that is not well, but I do <laugh> <laugh> so I do what I can. And then being in Southern California, they asked me, do you still surf? And I was like, no, same. But you know, for me, Hawaii was really my exposure to the outdoor life. So I'm extremely active. I like to go outside and hike. I like to be in the water. I enjoy just being out in nature. But my big thing is when I'm looking for exercise and I've got a short amount of time I go on a run. Uh, but when I've got a long amount of time, I, I go for a hike. Um, and so there's a lot of options here in at least Southern California. And so I've kind of explored a lot of those. 


Eva Sheie (23:21):
I had a whole another Hawaii and I lost it. And so it was your training that took you away from Hawaii? 


Dr. Dunn (23:28):
Yeah. So 


Eva Sheie (23:29):
Eventually you had to go somewhere else? 


Dr. Dunn (23:31):
Exactly. <laugh>, yeah. After, after medical school in Hawaii, I moved to Southern California and came to University of California Irvine for residency. 


Eva Sheie (23:43):
Wait, what medical school is in Hawaii? 


Dr. Dunn (23:45):
It's called Johnny Burns School of Medicine. 


Eva Sheie (23:48):
That doesn't even sound real.


Dr. Dunn (23:49):
It doesn't <laugh>. I mean the, the other part about it is from the classroom where we did, you know, the first two years of our lectures you could see diamond head Waikiki and the ocean and it was, uh, it didn't feel real. A lot of times you kinda have to pinch yourself. 


Eva Sheie (24:07):
It probably didn't feel like you should be in a classroom like, what am I doing in here when I could be out there? 


Dr. Dunn (24:12):
Exactly. 


Eva Sheie (24:12):
But on the other hand, I could see how it'd make you like really sure that this is what you wanna do. Cuz if you could be outside instead. Yeah, yeah. I like that. 


Dr. Dunn (24:23):
One of the things about Hawaii that I, I do wanna mention that I thought was kind of neat, what brought me to this career was I had a mentor in Hawaii who was a facial plastic surgeon. He was previously at Cleveland Clinic and then moved out to Hawaii. He was actually involved in one of the first face transplants in the US, and so that was pretty, that was pretty incredible. And so he was an unbelievable mentor. And the thing that got me interested in facial plastics was there was a case that skin cancer reconstruction case, and he asked myself a medical student, a resident, and a f and he had a fellow at the time, how would we reconstruct this? He gave us the, the basic principles of reconstructive surgery and he said, come up with something based on these basic principles. And it really, that idea of solving problems and realizing that three people with three different experiences, three different exposures can come up with different, although reasonable ways of reconstructing something is what facial plastic surgery is. And I think, you know, the beauty of reconstructive surgery and even aesthetic surgery is like it's your, your surgeon and myself has a way of approaching this and can develop a plan based on our exposure and experience and our understanding of anatomy and, and come up with a, a beautiful and and, and reasonable answer. And so it was that experience that really kind of led me to this field, which was, um, just kind of unique. So I wanted to share that. 


Eva Sheie (25:56):
Um, what's your favorite place to get away and go outside in Newport Beach or in the area that you live now? 


Dr. Dunn (26:04):
Corona del Mar, which is a small city just south of Newport Beach, actually, I think it's within, technically within Newport Beach, but I think it is, there's a spot over there that has a, a view of sun, the sunset in the water that just kind of takes me to, uh, my special place. Yeah. 


Eva Sheie (26:23):
Have you ever lived anywhere cold ?


Dr. Dunn (26:25):
Kansas 


Eva Sheie (26:26):
And, oh, just Kansas.<laugh>


Dr. Dunn (26:28):
And that was enough <laugh> one year. I 


Eva Sheie (26:33):
You're pretty landlocked there. 


Dr. Dunn (26:34):
Yeah, 


Eva Sheie (26:35):
Yeah, 


Dr. Dunn (26:37):
Yeah. I realized I needed to be by the ocean. Definitely. 


Eva Sheie (26:42):
If we're listening today and we wanna find out more about you, where should we look? 


Dr. Dunn (26:47):
You can find me online, you can find me on my website@brandyndunnmd.com or at the practice that I'm at, which is Appearance Center of Newport Beach. You can also find me on Google and also on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok at Dr. Brandyn Dunn. 


Eva Sheie (27:04):
And your name is spelled a little bit different, so It is, we should point out that.


Dr. Dunn (27:09):
It's Brandyn, b r a n d y n. Last name is Dunn, d u n n. 


Eva Sheie (27:15):
Thank you for sharing yourself with us today. Dr. Dunn has been a privilege getting to know you. 


Dr. Dunn (27:20):
Thank you for the opportunity. 


Eva Sheie (27:25):
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.