Episodes

A well-done facelift should hold for 10 to 12 years, sometimes 15 — but only if a surgeon steers a patient toward the right depth from the start. Here's how four surgeons actually make that call. Dr. John Smoot has a two-second move he runs in nearly every consultation: he tugs the skin back near a patient's temple and watches what happens next. If it bunches or pleats, a short-scar mini lift won't hold — full stop, no matter how badly someone wants the smaller procedure. Dr. Johan Brahme breaks...

The number on the scale went down, so why does everything still feel soft, loose, and unfinished? Monique Ramsey curates the best moments from conversations with the LJCSC team to answer the question that lands in consultations almost every day. Janelle Robinson, who leads the practice and has used the medication herself, explains who's actually showing up for the medical weight loss program at LJCSC — and it's not people with 50 pounds to lose. Dr. Gerald Haas educates us about what the medical...

For a lot of women, the most intimidating part of a cosmetic procedure isn't the operating room. It's the money, and the quiet worry that asking about it makes you look like you can't afford it. LJCSC built its whole intake process around taking that fear off the table long before you walk through the door. Janelle Robinson returns to show how the LJC team takes the mystery out of the price from the very first phone call. Ballpark pricing is published online and quoted right over the phone, so y...

There's a reason a lean, sculpted chest can still carry a stubborn bit of fullness right behind the nipple — and it's the one spot a thousand reps will never flatten. Dr. Hector Salazar-Reyes explains why glandular breast tissue in men sits exactly where it's hardest to hide, and why building up the muscle around it can make it stand out even more. Across the conversation with hostess Monique Ramsey, Dr. Salazar walks through the “polo shirt test” that tells most men whether they're a candidate,...

A woman walks into the office holding her phone, points at a stranger’s before-and-after, and says she doesn’t want that result. Dr. Luke Swistun’s answer is almost always the same: that isn’t you. The photo shows someone with different tissue, different proportions, and usually a different surgery — none of which predicts where her own breasts will settle. Dr. Swistun is the explant expert at La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre, and women fly into San Diego from all over to see him. With hostess M...

Around 48 to 72 hours after surgery, swelling peaks, the anesthesia haze lifts, and a lot of women look in the mirror and feel like they've made a mistake. Dr. Diana Breister has been in plastic surgery long enough to know that feeling almost never means what people think it means. Most of the time, it's not regret — it's chaos. Dr. Breister, who came to La Jolla Cosmetic after years of reconstructive work at City of Hope, walks Monique through what's actually happening between day one and day f...

At ten or eleven years old, Dr. Hector Salazar watched his grandmother step off a plane looking dramatically younger than she had a month earlier. She had quietly traveled out of town for cosmetic surgery, healed through the swelling and bruising in private, and come home presentable. That moment redirected a kid who, a few years earlier, had been caping the family dog like a bullfighter — toward seventeen years of training that would make him a board-certified plastic surgeon. Monique talks wit...

Dr. Diana Breister, a board-certified plastic surgeon who has done mommy makeovers in San Diego for over twenty years, joins us to talk about everything that happens after the six-week post-op visit. You can do planks, but no crunches for at least a year. The rectus muscles she stitches back together during a tummy tuck stay hyperactive long after the skin looks healed, and trying to fire them up too early can send them straight into spasm. Scars are still maturing for up to two years. Future pr...

Six months after her breast implants came out, a young woman handed Dr. Luke Swistun a full, untouched bottle of Xanax — the same prescription she had been burning through at three to four pills a day before the explant. Stories like hers are why Monique Ramsey is marking 230 episodes and five years of the La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast by going back to the archive. Monique counts down one moment from each of the five LJCSC surgeons — Dr. Johan Brahme on why a brow lift feminizes women but makes men ...

When breast implant illness support groups started telling each other to ask their plastic surgeon for an “en bloc capsulectomy,” they were borrowing a term from cancer surgery — and asking for something most surgeons knew was impossible. The plastic surgery community didn’t correct them. They listened, and then they renamed it. Dr. Luke Swistun walks hostess Monique Ramsey through the Breast Surgery Collaborative Community Consensus and the four types of capsulectomy that came out of it: total ...

Most patients walk into a breast augmentation consultation hoping to leave with answers. Ella walked in with research, reference photos, and a clear vision — and then made the deliberate decision to trust her plastic surgeon’s judgment in the operating room. Born and raised on Oahu and a self-described petite, very active person, Ella spent over a year researching plastic surgeons in Hawaii and San Diego before booking a consultation at La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre with Dr. Hector Salazar-Re...

Filler is an easy first step — quick, pretty much reversible, affordable. But there’s a moment patients know well: you’ve been filling the same area for years, and something still isn’t quite right. Dr. Kiersten Riedler, facial plastic surgeon at La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre who operates and injects, walks us through the three most common filler-versus-surgery conversations she has in the consult room — chin implants, rhinoplasty revisions, and tear troughs, where filler and fat transfer eac...

Nearly four years ago, Janelle woke up from breast explant surgery, placed her hands on her chest, and felt free for the first time in 22 years. She's back to share what life looks like on the other side: not just the physical recovery, but the emotional unraveling that came with it. A divorce, a new body, a whole new wardrobe, and a complete reimagining of what confidence even means. Hear how Janelle went from daily naps and mystery joint pain to “vibrating really high” at almost 48. Listen for...

After his César Awards appearance, the internet decided Jim Carrey might be a clone and honestly, the reaction wasn't totally unwarranted. Dr. Johan Brahme, a San Diego plastic surgeon who has helped well over one thousand people refresh their appearance with a facelift, walks us through what actually changed, what worked, and where things went a step too far. Find out why brow lift surgery on men almost always backfires, what a facelift can realistically do for the aging male face, and why the ...

Bigger isn’t always better, and women are realizing it after living with breast implants. San Diego plastic surgeon Dr. Luke Swistun talks about the shift toward smaller, more natural-looking breasts. Everyone on social media is calling them “yoga...

Lipo or tummy tuck—how do you know which one you need? San Diego plastic surgeon Dr. Hector Salazar and Monique talk through the difference between liposuction and a tummy tuck, and why the right choice isn’t always obvious. Skin quality, muscle...

More than half of people who travel abroad for cosmetic surgery end up needing additional medical care when they return home. Monique and Hannah discuss the hidden risks of medical tourism, from missing post-operative care and limited follow-up to the financial fallout when complications happen back in the U.S. They also talk about why social media is driving more people to consider surgery overseas, what most people underestimate about recovery, and why researching your surgeon, your facility, ...

Dr. Salazar returns to share how HD Lipo has evolved over the last five years and why realistic expectations are just as important as technology. Learn about HD Lipo recovery timelines, the importance of compression, how long it takes to see results, and why choosing an experienced plastic surgeon is critical for outcomes that look natural. From candidate selection to long-term maintenance, hear Dr. Salazar’s honest look at what HD lipo can and can’t do. Links Read more about San Diego plastic s...

One in seven Americans plans to use a GLP-1 by 2026—and it’s already changing plastic surgery. Monique talks with Janelle, COO of La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre, about how GLP-1 medications are reshaping weight loss, surgical planning, and...

Why does breast implant removal sometimes cost as much—or more—than getting implants in the first place? It sounds backwards… until you hear what actually goes into explant surgery. Explant surgery isn’t just about removing implants; it’s often about correcting the changes implants cause over time. While simple removal can be straightforward, adding capsule removal requires far more precision and time. San Diego plastic surgeon Dr. Luke Swistun explains what happens to the breasts after implants...

Surgery doesn’t end when the procedure is over—and that’s the part most people don’t hear enough about. San Diego plastic surgeon Dr. Hector Salazar explains why what happens after can be just as important as the surgery itself. Follow-up visits are a critical part of healing safely and confidently, not just a formality. He walks through what to expect during recovery, why open communication with your surgeon matters, and which warning signs should never be brushed off. Dr. Salazar shares how to...

You get a full pre-op booklet and a nurse walks you through every detail, but when surgery day is getting close, it’s easy for things to go in one ear and out the other. To help make sense of it all, Jocelyn, one of our trusted LVNs, walks through the parts patients tend to skim: stopping certain meds, what anesthesia does to your body, why you need a responsible adult after surgery, and how simple things like pets, sleep position, and meal prep can make or break your recovery. You’ll also learn...

Meet Jocelyn, a clinical nurse at La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre who helps guide patients through surgery and recovery. With more than 16 years of experience, Jocelyn has a calming, confident presence that instantly puts people at ease. From pre-op prep to post-op check-ins, she’s right there making sure you feel safe, supported, and truly heard. Before joining LJCSC, she worked in compliance overseeing dozens of clinics, but she quickly realized her heart belongs at the bedside, building real...

Are Motiva breast implants living up to the hype? When San Diego plastic surgeon Dr. Diana Breister first started using them, they were brand new to her. Now that they’ve become part of her regular go-to, she’s back to share the results. She talks about what makes Motiva implants different, from their softer, more natural feel to the innovative Monobloc technology that helps them move and settle more like real breast tissue. Hear how patients are responding so far, how she chooses between Motiva...