The La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Podcast - With San Diego’s Most Loved Plastic Surgeons

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'...

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 LJ...

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 t...

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 Rams...

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...

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 reconstruc...

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...

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...

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...

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 Surg...

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 Sa...

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 cons...

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 Jan...

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...

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 boobs” or “ballerina boobs.” Hear why more women are choosing to remove their implants, what they want instead, and how you can still get shape and volu...

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 separation, and deeper layers like fascia all play a role in what will give you the result you want. They get into body contouring scars, recovery, why “l...

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 overse...

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 D...

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 long-term results.  Janelle shares her personal experience using low-dose GLP-1s for maintenance, and why they can make weight management feel more sustainabl...

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...

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...

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 simpl...

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 ov...

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 m...

Fat might not be the first thing you think of when it comes to looking younger, but in the world of facial rejuvenation, it’s basically gold. According to Dr. Johan Brahme, it’s one of the most powerful tools we have for restoring youthful volume in a way that looks soft, natural, and unmistakably you. He explains what areas of your body he takes the fat from, why your own fat is such a valuable r...