Contrary to what popular shows such as “NipTuck” and “Dr. 90210” would have us believe about plastic surgeons being the cavalier high rollers of the medicine world, the reality is that only the top ten percentile of med students make it through the highly intensive training to even enter this highly competitive field. Needless to say, with all the cosmetic surgeons competing for business today, it’s becoming more and more difficult to discern between everyone claiming to be the “best” at what they do.
What immediately distinguishes Dr. Ronan from the rest is that he’s been officially voted as the “Best of the Bay Plastic Surgeon” consecutively for the last few years and perhaps even more impressive is that even his own colleagues and competitors selected him for “Super Doctors of the SF Bay Area” title as well.
But even if the fancy titles don’t impress you, or the fact that he’s a board certified surgeon licensed to practice in not one but three different states, Dr. Ronan’s Blackhawk Plastic Surgery practice is certainly impressive enough to be drawing patients from countries all over the world.
An accredited surgery center he founded in 2001, Dr. Ronan and his exclusive team have been using the latest technology and the most advanced treatment options to remain one step ahead of their competitors, as well as score among the highest in the nation for the Plastic Surgery In-Service exam.
Dr. Ronan also explains that perhaps the most important factor contributing to the Blackhawk Plastic Surgery’s success is their transparent approach with their patients. “A lot of people will tell patients what they want to hear simply to keep them from walking out the door and taking their money elsewhere. We’re straightforward and honest about the pros and cons of procedures, and we educate our patients about the many different treatment options we offer, and let them make an informed decision about their own treatment plan. Of course we’re there to assist in determining the best course of action, but we ultimately want our patients to do what feels most comfortable for them,” he says.
While most of us would surely agree that we should ultimately be the one to determine what procedure will be performed on our body, many of us would also like to know what a plastic surgeon’s position is when a patient wants something that isn’t best for them .¨ like Michael Jackson’s case for example. Dr. Ronan explains that those situations are rare exceptions and perhaps the biggest misconception about the everyday reality of cosmetic surgery. In fact 99% of patients request completely normal procedures and have very reasonable expectations about their desired outcome. However, Dr. Ronan also says that doctors in his field often find themselves in other difficult predicaments, more typically with the breast augmentation patient that has some drooping, even if they didn’t have kids.
“Many surgeons will cut the chest muscle of a patient with mild to moderate drooping and slide the implant down into the droopy breast,” he explains. “Cutting the muscle destroys the support system that resists gravity.
Essentially, you are putting a weight into a breast that is drooping and by definition can’t hold even itself up, let alone the implant.
This is done because the lift adds scar and cost.
Who wants to pay more and have more scar?”
I would rather risk losing their business, then perform a procedure that I see being more problematic than beneficial to a patient,” Dr. Ronan says.
He warns that the consequence for many who choose this route is a bottom-out appearance and likely even more drooping.
“The implant needs to go onto the chest in the right position, not half on the chest and half on the abdomen.
If the breast isn’t over the implant, then we need to do a lift to get it there.
This leads to a much better and long-lasting result”, he adds.
He says that some patients don’t want to hear this and will choose to go elsewhere and have their muscles cut and a low implant, then he’ll see them back a few years later wondering why their breasts look so bad.
“Fortunately, I see so many of these patients that we’re very good at making the correction, even though it’s complicated.”
PRP Facelift is yet another example of the more advanced techniques that has made Dr. Ronan renowned for being a trailblazer in cosmetic surgery. He explains that this newer procedure greatly minimizes the swelling, bruising and downtime, which means that patients at one week look like they used to at three! The Blackhawk Plastic Surgery center uses this type of cutting edge technology to improve all cosmetic surgery procedures across the board and their patients are seeing tremendous benefits with much shorter recovery times, less risk, less scar, and less pigmentation changes.
While Dr. Ronan certainly enjoys the continuing success of his 6500 square foot facility and has tremendous appreciation for his top-notch team that makes it all run like clock-work, he explains that the most rewarding part of his job is improving the lives of people with truly devastating conditions. The accomplishment he is most proud of is serving on the board of directors for “Operation Kids” and considers it his greatest privilege to participate in their foreign missions to countries such as Guatemala and repair cleft lips, palates, burns, and other congenital deformities of children who would otherwise continue to suffer.
Dr. Ronan has also devoted much of his time to coaching youth football and lacrosse.
After years of success and multiple championships, he’s being rewarded with the ultimate job of coaching high school football this fall.
To find out more about Dr. Ronan and the Black Hawk Plastic Surgery Center, go directly to their website.
By Jana Ritter
