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Top 3 Plastic Surgeons

An independent publication on aesthetic and plastic surgery

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The Lead · Procedure Deep-Dive

Banana Roll Liposuction: Why the Fat Under the Buttock Is Holding It Up, Why Taking It Can Make the Crease Longer, and When the Fold Is Skin Rather Than Fat

The banana roll, the curved fold of fat just below the buttock crease, is one of the smallest areas in body contouring and one of the easiest to ruin. It sits on a line where the skin is tied down to the pelvis, it helps hold the buttock up, and the most famous version of it is the one a previous liposuction created. Here is what the roll is and what it is not, why the crease beneath the buttock is a structure rather than a shadow, how a conservative operation is planned, what goes wrong when it is not, and what the lift, the graft, and the cleared device each actually fix.

September 19, 2026

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By The Editorial Desk

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17 min

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A man in his forties with short dark hair and a greying beard, wearing a plain grey crewneck sweater and dark trousers, seated on a worn wooden stool with his hands clasped, in a bare room with a weathered plaster wall beside a tall window

Procedure Deep-Dive

Synkinesis and Facial Reanimation After Bell's Palsy: Why the Face That Came Back Moves Wrong, Why Botox Is the Main Treatment, and When Surgery Can Rebuild a Smile

Most people with Bell's palsy recover, and most of them recover well. A meaningful minority recover movement that is miswired: the eye squeezes shut when they smile, the neck tightens when they blink, the cheek feels locked. That is synkinesis, and it is a different problem from paralysis, with different treatments. This piece covers why the facial nerve regrows into the wrong muscles, what a grading scale is actually measuring, why small doses of botulinum toxin and a facial physical therapist do most of the work, what selective neurolysis and myectomy add, how nerve transfers and the gracilis muscle transfer restore a smile when the face never came back at all, why the eye is the first priority in every case, and why a cosmetic surgeon who has not trained in facial nerve work should not be the first stop.

September 19, 2026 · 16 min

A woman in her fifties with short grey hair, wearing a plain oatmeal knit cardigan and dark trousers, seated on a worn wooden chair in a bare room with a weathered plaster wall, looking calmly toward a tall window in soft daylight

Procedure Deep-Dive

Xanthelasma and Syringoma: Why the Yellow Patches and Tiny Bumps on the Eyelids Keep Coming Back, Why One of Them Is a Reason to See an Internist, and Why the Eyelid Is the Worst Place on the Body to Burn Something Off

Two small, harmless growths account for a large share of the eyelid spots people ask a surgeon to remove. Xanthelasma is a soft yellow plaque of cholesterol-laden cells, usually at the inner corner of the upper lid. Syringoma is a cluster of firm, skin-colored bumps, usually on the lower lid, made of tiny sweat ducts. Both are benign, both are cosmetic complaints in most people, and both have a reputation for returning after removal. This piece covers what each one actually is, why a yellow eyelid plaque is worth a blood test and possibly a conversation about the heart, how excision, laser, and acid compare, why recurrence is the rule rather than the exception, which lookalikes need a biopsy, and why the eyelid punishes the careless treatment more than any other patch of skin.

September 19, 2026 · 13 min

The City Guides

Top surgeons, city by city.

Short, considered editorial picks for the cities where aesthetic medicine has the highest concentration of practitioners doing distinct work. We add a city when we have done the reporting, not before.

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§ 01 · Editorial Standards

Choosing a plastic surgeon is among the few decisions that cannot be appealed. It deserves real reporting, not advertising dressed as a recommendation.

Top 3 Plastic Surgeons is an independent publication covering aesthetic and plastic surgery: the procedures, the advances in technique, and the surgeons doing the most considered work in the field. We report on it. We do not sell placement within it.

We do not accept paid placement, and we do not rank by advertising spend or by the volume of five-star reviews a practice can solicit. Our reporting draws on board records, peer interviews, outcomes data, and direct patient testimony, revisited as the field changes.

§ 05 · The Letter

One letter, every Sunday.

Each issue carries one new surgeon profile, one dispatch from the reporting desk, and an editor's note on whatever question we could not stop thinking about that week. No sponsors. No partner content. No reason to exist except the subject.

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