Our
Approach
Why the practice is called Edition, and the three tests every procedure has to pass before we offer it.
The technical skill to perform an operation well, and the eye to make the result beautiful, are the foundation of cosmetic surgery. They take years to develop, and not every surgeon has them. But they are not the whole job.
I also think of my role as the editor of a manuscript, or the curator of a gallery. That is where the name Edition comes from. Plastic surgery produces an enormous amount of raw material every year: new techniques, devices, threads, injectables and add-ons, each arriving with confident marketing. My job is to work through that material, ruthlessly eliminate what does not work, and bring forward the best of what the field has learned.
An editor's most important word is no. Every procedure we offer has had to pass three tests first.
It Has to Work
The procedure has to work, and it has to work predictably and consistently.
A treatment that gives one patient a good result and the next patient nothing is not a treatment I can recommend, because I cannot tell you in advance which patient you will be. Predictable means I can describe the likely result before we start. Consistent means that result holds up across many patients and over time, not only in a manufacturer's launch photos.
It Has to Be Safe
The procedure has to be safe.
Every operation and every treatment carries risk, and no honest surgeon will tell you otherwise. The question is whether the risks are well understood, kept as low as they can be, and reasonable in light of what the procedure delivers. Something too new to have a track record has not yet answered that question.
It Has to Be Worth
What It Costs
The procedure has to deliver its benefits at a price that is reasonable value for what it achieves.
Cost includes more than the fee. It includes your recovery time, your time away from work and family, and the chance you will need more treatment later. A procedure that works and is safe can still fail this test if a simpler, proven option delivers the same benefit for less.
What You Won't
Find Here
Anyone who knows this practice knows we have never been the office offering the laser of the moment, the newest skin-tightening device, or the latest product promising to build collagen. Those treatments did not meet our criteria. Quite frankly, most new introductions in plastic surgery in any given year fail the first test, and so they are never offered here.
What we do offer are procedures that have proven themselves over time to give patients a meaningful, high-value benefit. That also shapes the conversation in your consultation: if something you have read about is not worth doing, you will hear that, and why. For an example of this kind of evaluation, read my take on the internal bra for breast lifts.
This approach rests on the values described in our Core Principles.
Start with
a Consultation
Meet Dr. Schwartz, ask your questions, and decide afterwards. There is no obligation.