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Minnesota surgeons divided on buccal fat pad removal
Plastic surgery centers across the Twin Cities have seen an influx of requests for buccal fat pad removal, but not all will perform the procedure.
BURNSVILLE, Minn. — Corinne Carrasco said she has been self-conscious of her “round” cheeks her entire life. The 31-year-old makes YouTube videos for her 18,000 subscribers from her home in Plymouth. She said it’s been her biggest insecurity.
“I always struggled with my chubby cheeks,” Carrasco said. “No matter how much weight I lose, I always had this fat in my cheeks.”
So last year the plastic surgeon Carrasco sees for her routine Botox and jawline filler, Dr. Karan Chopra, recommended she look into buccal fat pad surgery. The procedure removes a portion of cheek fat through an incision in the mouth.
Carrasco researched the procedure and felt it would help her achieve a more contoured look. The low recovery time and ease of the surgery (performed in under an hour) also interested her, so in August she scheduled the appointment in Burnsville for January of this year.
A month before her surgery, she saw the surgery begin to trend on social media. TikTokers began sharing their experiences with the procedure, including celebrities like Chrissy Teigen.
Data from Google Trends shows searches for “buccal fat” and “buccal fat removal” spiked the week of Dec. 11 and though the search is tapering off, it still remains at more-than-double the search interest it maintained for most of 2022.
“It just felt like I was the first one… ahead of the game,” Carrasco said.
Dr. Chopra, who had already been performing the surgery regularly, said his office received an influx of calls requesting the procedure around the same time.
“Patients are requesting it more commonly because they’re more aware of it with social media influencers, TikTokers, and celebrities who are coming out and talking about the procedure that they’ve had,” Dr. Chopra said. “When they show me pictures of what they want to look like, they’ll often show me a reel, or a TikTok, or an Instagram post or something like that.”
But just as the demand for the procedure surged, so did the controversy surrounding it. Even though the surgery only recently started to trend, Dr. Chopra said Carrasco’s years-long desire to have slimmer cheeks made her a good candidate.
“Most commonly, patients are coming in seeking a buccal fat removal because they either think they have “chipmunk cheeks” or when they smile, they have excess fullness in the lower face,” Dr. Chopra said. “The third, is usually a patient who doesn’t have chubby cheeks, but just want their cheekbones to be accentuated.”
However, many plastic surgeons say that the last point is the very reason they’re against performing the procedure.
Dr. Matthew Camp, CEO of Echelon Surgical Specialists in Edina and Minnetonka, said he has a “philosophical problem” with the surgery. Even though he, too, has received a surge in requests for the surgery, he won’t perform it.
“That fat pad is there for a reason: it adds volume to the face,” Dr. Camp said. “Part of the appearance of a youthful, healthy face, is roundness of the cheek. And if you chisel the fat out, you get this sort of gaunt, chiseled appearance that looks somewhat haggard.”
Dr. Camp, who also serves as an assistant professor of plastic surgery at Mayo Clinic, said in his 11 years of practice, he’s spent a lot of his time trying to restore fat to the face, not take it away.
“It’s a look that most people don’t benefit from in the long-run, because having a round cheek makes you look youthful, and you need that as you get older,” he said. “As you get older, that fat atrophies on its own. And that’s what makes old people look old.”
Physicians, divided over the surgery, have also taken to Tiktok. Dr. Ellen Gendler, an NYC-based cosmetic dermatologist, posted a video to TikTok calling the surgery “the dumbest trend” she’s seen in a long time.
While plastic surgeon Dr. Mike Nayak, of St. Louis, said in his own TikTok if he “judiciously” removes a portion of buccal fat, it will improve facial balance and maintain a desired long-term effect.
Dr. Chopra said he’s aware of the concerns but believes the procedure is misunderstood by most.
“The key with a successful buccal fat pad procedure is not to remove it entirely, but rather to sculpt it and look for the aesthetic endpoints we have in mind with careful, preoperative planning,” Dr. Chopra said. “The reason is because if you overdo it, it’s very difficult to replace this specialized fat.”
Carrasco won’t see her full results until around six weeks or more, according to Dr. Chopra, but she’s excited to “be more confident overall.” She already posted a vlog about her experience and in the video, encouraged her viewers (especially younger ones) to carefully research any body modifications before proceeding.
“Trends change, and the procedure that you’re gonna get done does not, so you really gotta think about what you want for yourself, for your happiness, and not what’s trending,” she said.
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Two years ago, the memorial was built in Wayzata to commemorate the 9/11 victims, including Minnesotan Gordy Aamouth, Jr.
WAYZATA, Minn. — Twenty three years ago, the world changed when two planes crashed into the World Trade Centers. Twenty three years ago, thousands of families lives’ changed learning they lost a loved one, including the Aamoth family in Minnesota.
Gordon Aamoth, Jr. was working on the 104th floor of the South Tower at Sandler O’Neill & Partners as an investment banker. He was 32 years old.
“I was driving down to St. Paul where I was working and heard it on the radio that the first plane hit. Obviously that was a shock to everybody. My mind was racing with what tower is he in, then shortly after the second plane hit. I turned around and drove home,” Erik Aamoth, Gordon little brother said.
It’s been a long journey of healing for the Aamoth family. The support of the community has helped them remember Gordy. The Blake School named their stadium after him. Two years ago, a 9/11 memorial was built in his honor in Wayzata.
Sometime within the last two – three weeks, someone vandalized that memorial. They stole an artifact that from ground zero, a piece of glass from the towers.
“I was sad. It’s disappointing because this is a community asset. It’s important to the community. It’s not just about our family,” Erik said. “That piece of glass is very, very rare and almost impossible to replace. So, we are really hopeful it can be returned.”
The Wayzata Police Department is offering a $1,000 reward for the safe return of the piece of glass. Adding, they won’t ask any questions.
If you have any information to where the artifact might be, call Wayzata Police.
Gov. Tim Walz joined volunteers in a 9/11 Day of Service event at Wilkins Auditorium.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Hundreds of volunteers gathered in Roy Wilkins Auditorium in Saint Paul to pack meals as part of a 9/11 Day of Service event, for the Cross Services food shelf in the Northwest Metro and Second Harvest Heartland, which is handling distribution of the food.
“Food insecurity in Minnesota continues to rise so events like this are critical, especially the holiday season is just around the corner so we think of the extra budget strain on families in the community this is coming at a great time,” Anne Laskey of Second Harvest Heartland told KARE.
Among the meal packers was Governor Tim Walz, just back from a vice presidential campaign stop in Arizona. He thanked volunteers on the packing line for spending part of their day helping to feed people.
Minutes earlier, he spoke to the whole room about the significance of public service on 9/11.
“It may have not lasted as long as we’d liked, but there was a moment around shared values. There was a moment of unity about caring for one another,” Gov. Walz told the crowd. “It’s in the times of need that we become our very best. It’s in the time of trauma that we rise to the occasion, and so thank you all for being here today.”
Volunteers also heard from Cindy McGinty, a board member with the 9/11 Day organization. McGinty, who lives in Massachusetts, lost her husband Mike in the North Tower during the attack. She talked of an acquaintance who owned a landscaping company who started mowing her lawn for free after the attack and kept doing it until she moved away eight years later.
“The terrorists thought they could tear us apart,” she said. “But what they really did was they brought us together, and that’s what 9/11 is really about.”
The goal for AmeriCorps volunteers and others who filled the auditorium was to create and pack 230,000 oatmeal instant breakfast meals.
“They approached us at AmeriCorps and said, ‘We need help finding more people to help. We need to pack a lot of boxes.’ So, we were proud to partner with them and find AmeriCorps members to help out today,” Julia Quanrud of the nonprofit Serve MN told KARE. “It is a real need. We know in Minnesota families are struggling. And, so, to come together like this and support organizations like Second Harvest heartland is a really incredible thing to do.”
A look back at Dr. Michael McGee’s testimony has already altered the results of four different cases spanning decades.
SAINT PAUL, Minn — Back in 2006 in Douglas County, Michael Hansen was convicted of killing his infant daughter based in part by the testimony of Ramsey County Medical Examiner Michael McGee, who ruled her death a homicide.
That conviction was overturned in 2011 after a judge found McGee gave false testimony. McGee, who testified in counties all over the state for decades, defended himself.
“I didn’t give incorrect testimony. I gave correct testimony to the best of my ability of what we knew then and I still think its true,” McGee told KARE 11 News in 2011.
But McGee’s medical findings and testimony raised alarms in other cases too. In Kandiohi County, Thomas Rhodes was released from prison last year after the state’s Conviction Review Unit determined McGee was unreliable.
“Dr. McGee’s testimony was pivotal in that case,” said Carrie Sperling, director of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Conviction Review Unit. “Not one of the ten experts found evidence that would have supported Dr. McGee’s conclusion in that case that Jane Rhodes death was the result of a homicide.”
And before that, in 2021, a federal judge changed the death penalty for Alphonso Rodriguez in the 2003 murder of Dru Sjodin to life in prison.
“The judge characterized the testimony of our medical examiner as false and misleading,” said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi.
That judge’s ruling caused Ramsey County Attorney John Choi to order a full review of McGee’s cases.
And now, the nonprofit group conducting the review for Choi’s office has found seven cases to scrutinize further with a panel of out-of-state medical examiners.
“In these seven cases, the cause and manner of death was at issue,” said Kristine Hamann from Prosecutors Center for Excellence, the nonprofit group hired by Choi to conduct the independent review. “I do want to caution that simply because there is seven cases, we have rendered no opinion about whether those cases are good, bad or indifferent, we are not there yet.”
Hamann says the final phase of review will involve a panel of three medical experts.
“None of them are from Minnesota, none of them know Dr. McGee,” Hamann said. “They are three highly respected medical examiners from three different parts of the nation. Each of them will review all seven cases and they will talk about them together and reach a decision.”
When the review is finished, Choi says he is prepared to dismiss charges and release people from prison if that is the recommendation he receives.
“I think everything is on the table. Whatever justice requires us to do,” Choi said.
Minnesota Attorney General Review
So far, all four cases that have been altered due to Dr. McGee’s conclusions or testimony stemmed from crimes that took place outside of Ramsey County.
That’s why the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office is also now expanding it’s review of cases statewide in which he was a witness.
Sperling said the first phase of that process has turned up at least 11 cases where more review is required.
“We will be consulting with independent medical experts to determine whether McGee’s testimony and opinions were accurate and appropriate,” Sperling said. “Although we can’t predict the outcome, I think we do expect that very few, if any, of these convictions will be affected by this review. Simply because, in the vast majority of homicide cases, the cause and manner of death is obvious and not really contested.”
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