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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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On the eve of a big holiday event in downtown Northfield, someone cut down a tree in the center of town. It wasn’t down for long.
NORTHFIELD, Minn. — On the morning of the annual Winter Walk event in downtown Northfield, the brightly colored Christmas tree at the center of it all was in shambles.
“I got a text from one of the city streets guys saying the Grinch has been downtown and took out a tree,” said Jane Bartho, president of the Northfield Chamber of Commerce and Tourism. “I’m like, are you sure the wind didn’t take it out?”
After seeing a photo of the tree, Bartho had a definitive answer to her question.
Jane Bartho: “Yeah, clearly it was not the wind. It looked like a chainsaw took it off. You could see a path where somebody dragged the tree across the street.”
Kent Erdahl: “So you see the path and then you think, ‘Okay, it is the Grinch.’
Bartho: “It was the Grinch because who else? Who else would do it? I just can’t imagine. I cannot imagine who… who would have done that.”
But dwelling in ‘who?’ville wasn’t an option for Bartho, not with a event just hours away, which would draw thousands of people into downtown.
“Honestly, most of my focus yesterday was about the event,” she said.
Though the city crew was able to trim the base of the tree and get it upright again, the decorations were in disrepair.
“I mean, even the lights were cut,” Bartho said.
“Yeah, they cut the lights,” said Zandra Bornhauser, who was part of the team with Home Town Credit Union who sponsored the tree and had decorated it. “So we had to redecorate it fully, pretty much.”
“We were just shocked,” said Kurt Halverson, who helped with the tree repair. “It was just hard to understand who would take the effort on such a cold night to come down here in such a public space and cut down something that’s just meant to be a symbol of good and cheer.”
Thanks to their quick work, the team of helpers made sure that Grinch didn’t rob anyone of that cheer. The tree was back shining bright by the time the festival began Thursday night.
“It was magical,” Bartho said.
“It was so inspiring to see how everybody rallied around to wish us good luck in re-setting up the tree,” Halverson said. “It really did bring the community closer together on such a cold evening.”
As for the cold-hearted grinch, Bartho says they’re still checking security cameras and asking around.
“To see if anybody was looking out,” she said. “If anybody saw anything.”
And if they are eventually identified?
Bartho: “Maybe the punishment would have to be to decorate the tree every year in this frigid weather.”
Erdahl: “If you’re going to keep with the theme, you’ve got to invite them down and sing with them, right? You’ve got to warm that cold heart.”
Bartho: “At the end, yeah, his heart was warmed by the people in his life, so maybe the punishment would be to come down and have hot chocolate, feel the Christmas spirit and never do that again.”
Almost 80 percent reported that they have less than a year before they face financial distress.
MINNESOTA, USA — Despite Give to the Max Day breaking donation records, nonprofits tell us they still need help to keep up the demand for their services.
According to a recent survey by the Council of Nonprofits, 73 percent of Minnesota organizations reported they have grown programs and services to meet the demands of Minnesotans.
Almost 80 percent reported that they have less than a year before they face financial distress.
Open Arms is a nonprofit that delivers food to critically ill people. It said December is a crucial month for donations, because they will make decisions on their programs and services for the next year.
“Wages and the cost of ingredients have gone up 30% since the end of COVID or the end of the COVID years, and so that is really, really hard on all nonprofits,” said CEO Leah Hébert Welles. “And then the second thing, government funds have dried up.”
“It’s almost kind of like the way that the tide works and a big body of water where there is still significant need, but that wave of resources from 2020 has backed up, and the need for nonprofits is still right there,” said Jake Blumberg, the executive director of GiveMN, the organization in charge of Give to the Max Day.
Blumberg says 30% of donations for nonprofits happen in the last six weeks of the year.
“We have to make really hard decisions about what we can do next year, how many more people we can help, how many more staff we can hire,” said Welles,
To consider donation or volunteering to Open Arms of Minensota, click here.
To explore more nonprofits, visit GiveMN.org.
According to the report, the BPPD said Andre Lane has been missing since 11 a.m. this morning.
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — The Brooklyn Park Police Department is asking for the public to help find a missing man who has Alzheimer’s.
According to the alert, the BPPD said 57-year-old Andre Lane has been missing since 2 p.m. this afternoon.
He stands at 5’9″ and weighs roughly 250 pounds. Lane suffers from Alzheimer’s and dementia and may not be able to take care of himself, said the BPPD.
Lane was last seen wearing grayish-blue Levi’s jacket, black hat, black sweatpants, a gray long sleeve t-shirt and black Jordan shoes, according to the report.
Officials believe Lane left his residence, near the 6600 block of Tessman Terrace, on foot. The BPPD is asking people who live near Tessman Farm Road/85th Avenue North to check yards and properties.
Anyone who sees Lane is asked to contact the Brooklyn Park Police Department at 763-493-8222.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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