Mansher Singh, MD - Plastic Surgeon in New York City

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 to Meet the Doctor. My guest today is Mansher Singh. He's a plastic surgeon in New York City. Tell us a little bit about yourself, Dr. Singh.

Dr. Singh (00:41):
Okay, so I come from a family of doctors. My granddad used to joke that he wants a soccer team full of doctors. I was 11th in my family to go to medical school, so it was a big celebration. Now we have Ben's friend. My cousins went to med school too. My parents are doctors, my everyone I know is a doctor. But I grew up watching my parents. Uh, they're both surgeons dedicating their life to the patients and uh, how much they cared. And I think that's something that just got ingrained and uh, I knew I always wanted to be a surgeon and once I got induced to plastic surgery, it's just a totally different surgery. I think a good way to put it, I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow because every case is different. Every facelift is different. It doesn't matter how many you do. It's still very much fun and very challenging and it's very exciting.

Eva Sheie (01:40):
When someone comes to see you for the first time, what should they expect from that visit?

Dr. Singh (01:45):
So what I tell my patients are there two things they need to figure out. They need to commit to the surgery, they need to commit to the surgeon. I'm in New York in Upper East Side. It's probably the busiest, most competitive market. And the reason I bring that up is I have so many colleagues who are super talented, who are so amazing and the fact that you came to see me, that just means so much. So I try to live up to that. I do my best. I give my 110% to every patient. I sit down, take my time, explain them, address their concern, make a plan together. I never try to quote unquote sell the surgery. We just come up with a plan together and then we go from there.

Eva Sheie (02:37):
You said it really well. It's the busiest, most competitive, maybe Beverly Hills, couple other places, not many are like where you are in the Upper East Side. And so a lot of doctors in these markets tend to super specialize. Is that something that you're doing?

Dr. Singh (02:55):
Absolutely. So anyone who knows me would know how passionate I'm about facelift. That's something I love to do and that's something I've been doing lots and lots of them. And, uh, I do deep plane facelift and uh, so what I tell my patients is there are very few surgeons who do awake facelift and there are very few surgeons who do real deep plane facelift. And there are very, very, very few surgeons who do awake deep plane facelift. Uh, that's something I have, uh, really honed my skills. And uh, it comes out really good. It's a thing of beauty when it all comes together. We do do IV sedation facelift, but twilight and anesthesia as well. But I think that's something that I really enjoy and, uh, patients like it too.

Eva Sheie (03:41):
What are the benefits of, uh, an awake facelift for the patient?

Dr. Singh (03:45):
So there are many benefits to it, in my opinion. As a surgeon, I like it because, uh, I can tell my patients to extend their neck so they're looking really up. I can go down in their neck, I can make a better, easier, it's easier for me when I'm on the sides. Then they turn their head a certain way, the patients are actively involved in the surgery. And I think just getting that participation from the patient makes a difference. But if you're not having IV sedation, if you're not having all the additional medication that you get with anesthesia, I do think it makes your recovery a bit easier. You're not as groggy. Now let me clarify, the chances of you not waking up from anesthesia is literally zero. I've had 30,000 cases I've been around to see there was zero patient who didn't wake up. So if that's your concern, that's never gonna happen. But more common, you'd be less groggy, your recovery would be easier. And I do think your swelling is less, your nausea is less. So overall, you literally, what I tell my patients, you walk into the OR and you walk outside the OR by yourself. So your recovery is so much better.

Eva Sheie (04:52):
Is that the only procedure that you do awake?

Dr. Singh (04:55):
No, I do lots of awake procedures. So blepharoplasty or upper blepharoplasty, lower facial fat transfer, chin and neck liposculpting, uh, they're a bunch of body cases that I do as well, but they are more with anesthesia, mostly lots of face cases. I do think doing it awake, it's a bit challenging. There's a bit of a learning curve, but once you kind of hone it, it's uh, beautiful.

Eva Sheie (05:18):
The neck is challenging for a lot of people.

Dr. Singh (05:21):
It can be, but you know, so when I say awake, it's not like, oh, let's just go do the surgery. You do get medicated and we give you oral sedation, we give you few pills. So what I say, like you are happy drunk without the hangover. So you're in the or you are in a happy space, you are sedated. We ask what music you like. We play your choice of music and I still numb you. So I use, uh, tumescent or I say dilute lidocaine because, uh, so it's not exactly tumescent solution, which is what we use normally for liposuction, but it's a dilute local anesthesia. So by the time you are numb. So there are a few things that we use and uh, I do think that, uh, really does a trick. Now, uh, let me also talk about the deep plane facelift. And I think there has been lots of interest.

(06:09)
And as patients come to me asking for deep plane facelift and really warms my heart because I do believe the results with deep plane facelift are at a totally, totally different level, how do I know that? I used to do traditional facelift and then I started doing deep plane facelift. And in my hands I can totally, totally see the results, the longevity of it, the outcome of it. It looks really natural. The way I explain it to my patients is if you have to move a rug in the room, the rug is stuck to the floor underneath. So the traditional facelift, what I was doing or what most people do, you cut a small part of the rug and you try to pull it together, it works, but the rug is still stuck to the floor. With deep plane facelift, I go under that rug, I release that rug from the floor. Now the whole rug is free and then I can pull it however I need to, however I want to. And that literally sets you back 20 years and the results are natural because the, the pull the vector is it sets you back in a way, like it gets you back to where you were like 20 years ago.

Eva Sheie (07:16):
Has anyone ever chosen music that you just couldn't stand?

Dr. Singh (07:21):
No. 

Eva Sheie (07:21):
No. <laugh>

Dr. Singh (07:22):
I love music. And if anything, I love that because I get introduced to so many different artists and so many different genres that I personally would not listen. But it's like, you know what, this is actually very cool. So I don't want the patient to say like, Hey, I'll listen to whatever you listen to because, uh, I think that's fun because I like my music. But when patients use their music, many times I learn. So I, I know lots of Afro beats. I learn, I know, I didn't know who Bad Bunny is, don't judge me. Uh, he's a very famous artist in Espanol, great music. So one patient was like, Hey, I wanna listen to Bad Bunny. I was like, what? Uh, when listened to him and he's playing him Coachella, he's dating, uh, Kendall Jenner. So. 

Eva Sheie (08:05):
No kidding? 

Dr. Singh (08:06):
He's a big deal. And then I got introduces to him and, uh, I like him now I listen to him even without my patient.

Eva Sheie (08:13):
<laugh>. They're like, your, your personal Spotify recommendations. That's so cool. <laugh> What are the challenges that you face on a daily basis trying to make it in New York City? Or, and maybe because you look so young, I'm kind of assuming that you're, that you're at the beginning of your career or the middle.

Dr. Singh (08:37):
Beginning. Beginning. But I'll tell you this. Uh, last year I did more than 400 surgeries, 400 cases. Um, and I've been told I'm there I should have been 10 years from now. So. 

Eva Sheie (08:49):
This is true. 

Dr. Singh (08:50):
The reason I think that's the case, and I'm being very honest, I've had patients, I did their tummy tuck, then I did their facelift. I had patients, I operate on them, then I operate on their best friend, operate on their sister, operate on their mom. I stand by my results. I am very proud of my results. But I think, I think the difference is the aftercare. So every patient I operate, they have my personal number. I call every patients the night of surgery or the day after. I'm at aesthetic meeting right now, this is Saturday, but still, every patient I operate this week, I'll find time to call them, check up on them.

(09:28)
By the time it's three weeks, we become friends. We have talked, we have exchanged so many texts, phone calls, video message. They are very comfortable reaching out to me. And it helps me because I now have very good sense of their journey. I have very good sense of how their recovery is, and I use that. So when I tell, like, I get more from my patients than what my patients get from me, because every patient's journey is unique, but you kind of have a very good sense. So when my next patient tells me on day two, like, Hey, this is how I feel. I was like, guess what? The patient before you who had a surgery a week ago felt exactly that. So I do think that aftercare is very important and that's something I cannot overemphasize. And I do think if you put your head down, do your work, honesty yourself and treat your patients how you want to be treated, it all works out. So I really believe in that.

Eva Sheie (10:22):
Is there anything happening, I mean, you're, you're at the aesthetic meeting this weekend, which is always a ton of learning in a short amount of time. Have you picked up anything or seen anything that you're particularly excited about?

Dr. Singh (10:35):
Yeah, I was, uh, it's funny you mentioned, uh, I was, um, at this talk yesterday, I do lots of facelift and uh, fat transfer to face and there was one angle I was doing for the facial fat transfer, and I personally felt like I was having a little bit of a irregularity, lumpiness with that angle. So I just stopped doing that. And then when I was listening to this talk yesterday, that's exactly what that person was saying. And he's a very well, very renowned surgeon. And that was like a eureka moment as like, okay, you know, it's, it just comes together. It kind of validates what you were thinking. Uh, but also it's a great place to exchange ideas, learn from each other, and, um, just grow.

Eva Sheie (11:22):
Learning is, I think the greatest thing about aesthetics in general is that it just keeps going and it never stops. 

Dr. Singh (11:29):
Absolutely. 

Eva Sheie (11:30):
And that even if you're not a doctor, the rest of us are all still learning too. And that's what makes it so exciting. So take us back in time a little bit and tell us about your training and your education and what that looked like.

Dr. Singh (11:45):
So, uh, I was born and raised in India. I went to medical school in New Delhi. And uh, I'm a big city guy. I love the vibe, the energy. That's why New York, the med school I went to is probably, that's my biggest achievement till this day because there's 70,000 kids who apply and they take 34. So the odds are one in 2000. And to this day, that's probably my biggest achievement, maybe the rest of my life that will be my biggest achievement. We came here, uh, five of us best friends from medical school. We came here in 2006 for quote unquote a summer research elective at Johns Hopkins. But really we just wanted to check out New York. We just wanted to have a good time in the US.

Eva Sheie (12:29):
Were you surprised how far it was from Baltimore to New York?

Dr. Singh (12:32):
Not really. We used Google.

Eva Sheie (12:34):
Well, India's large. <laugh>

Dr. Singh (12:35):
India's large. Yeah. But, uh, we had such a good time and I was like, this is where I'm gonna be. So we all moved here. So I did my general surgery training at Harvard, uh, medical school. Then I went plastic surgery at Johns Hopkins full circle. And the only part of my job search when I started looking for job, the only part that was non-negotiable was moving to New York. I was like, I don't care what I do, but I wanna be in New York. Secretly, deep down, I always wanted to do facelifts, but as I said, it's probably the most competitive market and you can't really pick what you do. But like I said, if your heart is at the right place and you just keep doing what you good, you keep at it, it works out. So now I'm in New York, the best place on earth. You can agree, disagree, but I just said that. And, uh, doing the surgery that I love the most so I can be more thankful.

Eva Sheie (13:29):
There used to be, uh, sort of a marketing trope that you should never let a young doctor do your face lift. Do you agree or disagree? I know you're gonna disagree.

Dr. Singh (13:38):
Uh, it's not so much about agreeing or disagreeing. You know what my patients tell me like, Hey, you look so young and I've been told to wear glasses to make me look old or, but so what I, this is what I tell them. Like let's say there's a surgeon who has been in practice for 30 years and he does one facelift a month. So he does like 12 a year, and I did 114 facelifts last year. In May, I'm doing 15 facelifts. So the right question to ask, in my opinion, and this applies to me, to any surgeon, how many facelifts you did in past six months, how many facelifts you did or past 12 months, show me your reviews. Show me your before, after. I don't have a 10 year follow up, but the results kind of like at six months or year, you see what you get is what you get.

(14:27)
That's it. And I have some very good one year follow-up results. So in my opinion, the right question to ask is how many you do, how many have done in past six months? Or how many have done over past year show me or before, after. And I think social media online has made it a very level playing field. You don't have to have really lots of gray hair. You don't have to be 60 years old to, for patients to take you seriously. I think again, you know, if you treat them how you want to be treated as a patient, if you put your head down, work hard, my patients do question, they have exactly same questions, but when I explain them like that, I can literally see them, the transition from being a bit skeptical to be like, Hey, makes total sense. I'm totally on board. When do we do the surgery?

Eva Sheie (15:14):
We do not have medical educations as consumers, so we have to make decisions based on the things we do understand. Sometimes that those things are not fair. They're things like, um, the, the door was dirty when I came in for my consultation, or, um, the person on the phone was mean to me. And none of that represents your surgical skill. But that's the challenge really for, for us is, is finding that middle ground. And I completely agree with you that social media has been a great equalizer and photography I think is probably the first best proxy for the information we need when, when we're trying to make a decision. So you just hit on something I'm really passionate about, which is, is helping people make great decisions and photography is key in that.

Dr. Singh (16:02):
Absolutely. And you know, I take, uh, patient feedback very, very seriously. I'll give you an example. So, uh, I'm very busy in the sense that I operate every day. So I started operating six in the morning, and then we had consults starting 4:00 PM our surgery, we were running a little bit behind. So by the time I was done, it was 5:00 PM and I had five patients waiting. And I try never to rush a patient, but I got a patient in for a consult. I started by, Hey, I'm so sorry, I apologize. And my phone was blowing up because I get lots of text messages from the patient. I always respond to them. So I was getting so many text messages and while I was talking to the patient, I responded to a text message. And then there is a Facebook group, and I don't know if I should be saying this or not, but I have patients who tell me about all of this, and I have some patients who are so kind, they are my cheerleaders.

(16:58)
And so someone asks like, Hey, how is doctor Singh for this procedure? And then my patients were like, Hey, he's, he's great. He's good. Love him, love him, love him. And then she wrote on that thread, he seemed a bit disengaged. He was responding to text message while talking to me. And even though I know the circumstances, but I don't think it's fair to the patient, and I totally see where she is coming from. So I learn a lot. And I think the idea is you can just minimize a patient concern. You can always learn from it. So the idea that the patient is never wrong, for most part, for most part I think that's true. Even they're complaining or if they're upset, you can't just minimize it and just be like, they're crazy or I don't like, so you to put yourself in their shoes, that that patient was waiting for an hour and then she probably didn't get the kind of service that we strive for.

Eva Sheie (17:58):
Sometimes when you have tons of positive comments, it's actually a double-edged sword because when you don't meet that standard that they read about from all their friends and all the reviewers, then they're expecting something in it. When it doesn't happen, they can be disappointed. So, absolutely. I'm sure you called her and apologized.

Dr. Singh (18:15):
I did. I reached out to her. Yeah. And I, I told her because I was honestly disappointed with myself and I told her the same thing, like, Hey, I'm sorry you should book your surgery with the surgeon you are fully committed and you're very comfortable. And that may not be me based on our interaction. So yes, I was not happy with me.

Eva Sheie (18:39):
It's the best behavior reinforcement though, because you probably have never done it again.

Dr. Singh (18:43):
Yes, and probably it never even crossed my mind. So sometimes it hurts, it sucks, uh, negative comment or negative feedback, but as long as it's constructive in the long run, you will come out ahead.

Eva Sheie (18:57):
I'd be more worried about you if you didn't react to negative feedback.

Dr. Singh (19:01):
Absolutely.

Eva Sheie (19:01):
Yeah. What do you do for fun? <laugh>? Other than work.

Dr. Singh (19:05):
Don't have much time, but no, I travel a lot. So I've been to 49 countries, six continents, Antarctica. I need to find a two week block because I can't find a trip less than two weeks. Travel is more fun, not just because of traveling, it's, I love culture, different culture, different food. People are essentially the same, doesn't matter which continent of its country, but just to get to know people from different country, different background, different culture. To me that's the most fun part about traveling. I don't stay in fancy five star hotel when I travel, I consciously do Airbnbs because the experience that I get, like that's the most authentic way to travel in my opinion. So I love to travel and on a daily basis, I do run. So my office is literally across the Central park, my busiest days. I need to clear my head. I go for a five mile run and I post it. So people who follow me, they know that I operate and I run.

Eva Sheie (20:06):
Where should we follow you?

Dr. Singh (20:08):
So Dr. Manssher Singh, that's my Instagram account. I have my website, mansher singh md.com. I have my YouTube channel, Google Mansher Singh MD and your, and you'll find lots of links and uh, you can find me there. You can call us at (332) 261-9445.

Eva Sheie (20:26):
Thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us and, and your enthusiasm. This is really a privilege. 

Dr. Singh (20:31):
Uh, one small snippet that I would like to share. 

Eva Sheie (20:35):
Please. 

Dr. Singh (20:37):
Like you said, there's so many talented colleagues within a block from where I work. The fact that you chose me over them, that means everything to me. And I do my very, very best. I'm thinking surgery, I'm thinking about you 24/7. I'm not exaggerating. So just thank you for believing in me. Thank you for trusting me, and I take that very seriously.

Eva Sheie (21:04):
Well said. Thank you.

Dr. Singh (21:05):
Thank you.

Eva Sheie (21:11):
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.