The temperatures outside are still barely above freezing—some days, not even that high—so it can be hard to even picture the hot and sunny days that are just around the corner. Even so, bathing suit season is almost here and it’s time to start thinking about how to get in shape for bikinis and beaches.
There are, of course, the traditional routes for reshaping one’s body, but sometimes exercising for hours upon hours each week, or even cutting hundreds of calories from one’s diet, isn’t enough. Such individuals often find it beneficial to turn to a professional for help.
Dr. Edward S. Kole, medical director of Kole Plastic Surgery Center, is one such professional. Dr. Kole has been helping patients at his Southampton practice achieve sleeker physiques for nearly 20 years.
Dr. Kole explains that nearly everyone has the same number of fat cells as adults as they did at the time of puberty. Although this might seem remarkable, these fat cells grow and shrink over time, but remain essentially the same in number. (Only when a person reaches a weight that is double—or more—their ideal weight do these fat cells divide, thus doubling in number.) This is one reason many people have areas such as love handles, muffintops, saddlebags, and bra and arm fat that persist in spite of changes in diet and exercise.
Dr. Kole offers a gamut of treatments to combat such stubborn areas that range from noninvasive procedures that take as little as an hour to surgeries performed in his private, state-of-the-art surgical center.
One of the newest methods at Dr. Kole’s disposal is CoolSculpting, an FDA-approved means of nonsurgically addressing stubborn fat areas to help patients achieve shapelier forms. During CoolSculpting, a vacuum machine pulls a discrete fat bulge between two cooling plates. These plates are set to a temperature that will not harm skin or muscle but which will freeze fat “to the consistency of water ice,” effectively killing the frozen fat cells. Once this process of apoptosis occurs, the dead fat cells are metabolized and eliminated from the body as waste, and patients begin to see results in less than a month.
“CoolSculpting removes a number of fat cells without surgery, without pain and without requiring anesthesia,” Dr. Kole explains, adding that because the procedure is nonsurgical there is no recovery period required. The CoolSculpting procedure can also be performed multiple times for greater results.
A procedure called Smartlipo also benefits patients looking for a little help in reshaping their bodies. This minimally invasive procedure is performed under local anesthetic and utilizes a very fine laser fiber that is “about the width of the lead in a pencil,” Dr. Kole explains. During this procedure, fat cells are broken up under the skin with a laser. These residual dead fat cells and oils are then removed using cannulas that are between 2.4 millimeters (1/10-inch) and 3 millimeters (1/8-inch) wide.
Smartlipo usually requires no sutures and has minimal recovery time. “You’re back to work in a day or two,” Dr. Kole says. Areas such as the abdominals, arms and neck often see good results with this treatment. As with CoolSculpting, fat is permanently gone; Smartlipo, however, can be of greater benefit to patients who have more fat to be removed. It has also proven effective for people who plan to use CoolSculpting to address more than one area of body fat, but who also want instant results with minimal recovery time, Dr. Kole explains.
Other minimally invasive procedures Dr. Kole performs include PrecisionTx and Cellulaze. PrecisionTx utilizes a tool that is even smaller than the liposuction laser fiber to not only remove fat but also tighten skin from underneath, which makes this means of contouring excellent for areas including the neck and arms. Cellulaze also utilizes a special laser that uses a frequency of energy, but rather than fat cells, Cellulaze addresses hard-to-treat cellulite to “get rid of bumps and tighten skin by cutting cellulite attachments,” Dr. Kole explains.
For individuals looking to have the most significant contouring performed, Dr. Kole also offers traditional liposuction. Patients undergoing this procedure can either be sedated or fully put to sleep.
“Liposuction allows me do larger areas because I can do more sculpting,” Dr. Kole says. “I can actually ‘cut a six-pack’ or scrape the fat from muscles.”
Dr. Kole notes that he can also remove far larger volumes of fat—up to five liters at a time—during liposuction. The procedure can be performed utilizing a variety of means, too, employing the use of tools such as traditional or power-assisted cannulas or ultrasonic technology that utilizes sound waves to disrupt fat.
In addition to body contouring, Dr. Kole has a great deal of experience performing procedures including breast lifts, augmentations and reductions; rhinoplasty (surgery on the nose); blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery); otoplasty (ear surgery); neck and brow lifts; chin implants; and skin rejuvenation utilizing products such as Dysport and Botox.
Dr. Kole graduated with honors from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1991, and he has performed thousands of procedures since he started his practice in 1998. He is certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery in both general and plastic and reconstructive surgery, though he limits his practice to plastic and reconstructive surgery.
In addition to possessing these credentials, Dr. Kole has owned and operated his own private ambulatory surgery center for 10 years. He is the sole surgeon with the privilege to utilize the center, which is licensed and regularly inspected by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. This ensures patients experience the utmost privacy and personalized care therein. “I am, to my knowledge, the only plastic surgeon that has his own licensed surgical center, that only he uses, in the entire state,” he says.
Such a facility affords Dr. Kole’s patients a number of unique benefits. “It is significantly less expensive than a hospital, and light-years more private,” he says. “We have a board-certified anesthesiologist, a one-to-one ratio of nurses to patients and a 0.0 percent infection rate.”
Dr. Edward S. Kole
Kole Plastic Surgery Center
1003 Street Road
Southampton, PA 18966
215-354-1010 | www.koleplasticsurgery.com
To schedule a private complimentary consultation with Dr. Kole, call 215-354-1010.
Photograph by Allure West Studios
