Keeping America Beautiful, One Patient at a Time
While Fifth Avenue plastic surgeon Dr. Barry Weintraub is known for helping people look and feel better, his personalized care and techniques go more than skin deep. The key to high quality aesthetic surgery is, according to Dr. Weintraub, to look improved, but untouched.
This board-certified plastic surgeon who was born and raised in New York attended Cornell School of Medicine where he also completed his Plastic Surgical Residency. He equated his passion for aesthetic surgery with going to art class. “For me, plastic surgery is the only field that combines artwork and medical science in such an elegant way.”
Known for his less-is-more aesthetic, Dr. Weintraub specializes in the face, eyes, nose, and neck. “Operating ‘above the clavicles’ performing a facelift, rhinoplasty or eyelid lift is more detailed, complex, and requires pinpoint precision as compared to body surgery such as liposuction, breast surgery and tummy tucks, where the structures are larger – although I enjoy performing these procedures as well.” To this point, Dr. Weintraub has pioneered his own technique for scarless gynecomastia surgery (the reduction of excess male breast tissue) using basket cannulas that remove the glandular tissue via a tiny aperture located in the armpit.
“The endpoint of superior aesthetic surgery is to make patients resemble their best photographs, so they look like a better version of themselves, but are still clearly recognizable. I don’t believe in a single standard of beauty: there is beauty in individuality. The key to successful surgery is to not leave any telltale signs that surgery has taken place. One must respect the natural anatomical landmarks that define the aesthetic of a ‘natural’ face, nose, eyes, or neck. This is especially true when it comes to facelifting. Satyr ears, for example, occur when the earlobes are set too low, or the earlobes themselves are obliterated. Such subpar results are carefully avoided. This also goes for a pulled-too-tight facelift, where an individual can look like an overfilled pumpkin in a wind tunnel, which is not a quality result.”
According to Dr. Weintraub, surgery should be slow and deliberate, and all aspects of the process should be pleasant. He imports relaxing fragrances from Capri to lightly scent his office, and
chandeliers hang in his treatment rooms. While enjoying views of Central Park, patients are educated about the process and are soothed by Dr. Weintraub’s calm and gentle manner. When it comes time for surgery itself, his fully licensed and accredited operating room and outpatient facility are the utmost in high-quality instrumentation and technology. With a parking garage in the building and a private entrance, patients can have surgery with total anonymity. The opposite of a factory, Dr. Weintraub performs a maximum of two smaller surgeries, or one large case – such as a facelift – per day. “Factories are great for producing the same thing over and over,” he says, “but for individualized results, deliberately focused and unrushed time is required.”
Dr. Weintraub employs a triplanar, hybrid facelift that is the fusion of three separate “planes” (layers) of the face, including the deep plane, the SMAS (submuscular aponeurotic system) layer, and the top layer of the skin itself (the subcutaneous layer). He explains that each plane must be addressed since each needs a different degree of tension to suspend it, counteracting the gravitation pull that causes the face to fall forward and down over time, creating deep nasolabial folds, marionette lines, jowls, obscuration of the jawline, and excess skin of the neck which some patients call a “turkey waddle.”
The first two areas that have a tendency to show signs of aging for men and women are the eyes and the neck. With the eyes, excess skin can hide the eye, and can smear mascara and eye makeup. Sought out for his surgery to preserve the natural shape of the upper eye, Dr. Weintraub places the incision below the blink crease so no telltale marks can be seen. For the lower eyelids, bags can appear that no amount of topical creams, serums, or non-invasive treatments can cure. He removes the excess fat causing the bags via a hidden incision in the pink part of the eyelid while the patient is sleeping comfortably with corneal guards in place. Any excess crinkly lower-eyelid skin is treated with a pixelated Erbium laser, obviating the need for any visible incisions in the lower-lash area.
When it comes to the neck, for men, a business shirt and tie can accentuate excess skin and can obscure the jawline. Women might start reaching for scarves or turtlenecks to hide the issue. “The important aspects of neck lifting involve careful dissection and removal of unwanted skin and fat, as well as sturdy SMAS support. The jawline should be sharp, and the neck, snug. Wounds are painstakingly sewn under loupe (5x human vision) magnification, producing the finest and thinnest incisions possible that I hide in the crease behind each ear.”
Refinement of the nose is another of Dr. Weintraub’s passions. Not only does he perform a tremendous amount of teen rhinoplasties, primary rhinoplasties, and complex revision rhinoplasties, he states that, “The nasal profile is often overlooked when it comes to making patients appear younger. There is often unwanted width and a dorsal hump. As we age, the nose has a tendency to become bulbous and downturned, and any indication of this adds years to one’s face. The goal is not an upturned nose where the nostrils can be easily seen, but often a neat, straight line without a plunging tip, particularly upon smiling.”
For Dr. Weintraub’s rhinoplasty surgeries, he says that patients have gotten more educated over the years. “Patients are becoming quite informed about the tip-defining points and what a nose should look like. The tip should be at a 91-93-degree angle between the upper lip and the nose.”
While some patients discover Dr. Weintraub through online searches or social media, he believes the best source of referral is by word of mouth, both by referring physicians and happy patients. “One of the greatest compliments is when a parent I’ve operated on brings their son or daughter for surgery. There is no greater honor, and I am always so flattered by this gesture.”
During his thorough consultations, he listens carefully and allots plenty of time for discussion. “When patients come to me for a consultation, I ask them to look in a mirror and point to what they would like improved. It is not for me to tell them what they need because nobody needs plastic surgery; my services are only a want. Ultimately, it is the patient who will wake up with the result, and every patient has a different idea of what attractiveness is.”
The good doctor also advises potential plastic surgery candidates to seek surgeons certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, which was established in 1937. He warns that there are now multiple surgical boards and various subspecialties creating their own boards, which sometimes causes confusion about qualifications and correct certifications.
Whatever beautifying procedure patients seek, one thing is for sure: Dr. Weintraub takes patient care to a whole new – and personal – level. “My staff books my consultations on the 60- minute timeslot, so there is always time to discuss the procedure(s) thoroughly. My consultations only end when all pertinent photographs have been reviewed, and my patients run out of questions.”
This specialized plastic surgeon, who uses the latest innovations and was even honored by Newsweek as one of the top plastic surgeons in the country, has also noticed a new phenomenon: approximately 25%-30% of his practice is comprised of male patients. Dr. Weintraub stated that male facelifts are much more common than they were ten years ago.
Dr. Weintraub, who in addition offers less-invasive procedures as well such as Botox, fillers, laser resurfacing, radio-frequency microneedling, bio-identical-hormone therapy, as well as
HydraFacials and peels, has created a full line of skincare products to aid in his patients’ aesthetic improvement. In addition, many patients from overseas and out of town stay at the nearby Plaza or Pierre hotels and receive a discounted rate, where Dr. Weintraub is known to make house calls to ensure his patients are healing well. His carefully curated staff of overnight nurses provide care to patients from abroad, as well for those locally who wish to experience the ultimate in pampering.
Dr. Barry Weintraub, who is just as famed in his field as the celebrities and royals he has cared for, treats each patient in his own – and very specialized – way.
