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Top 3 Plastic Surgeons

An independent publication on aesthetic and plastic surgery

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A woman around thirty with dark, wavy, shoulder-length hair, wearing a cream knit sweater, seated beside a tall window with her hands clasped beneath her chin, smiling softly with her lips closed

The Lead · Procedure Deep-Dive

Lip Tie in Adults and Cosmetic Lip Work: What a Tight Upper Lip Frenulum Actually Does, When It Matters for a Gap Between the Front Teeth or a Gummy Smile, How It Fits Around Lip Filler, a Lip Flip, or a Lip Lift, and Why Adult Tongue-Tie Release Is Oversold

The small fold of tissue that connects the upper lip to the gum has become a social media villain, blamed for gummy smiles, thin upper lips, gaps between the front teeth, and even a weak jaw. Here is what the labial frenulum is, what a tight or low one can and cannot cause in an adult, when removing it is reasonable and who should do it, how it fits around lip filler, a lip flip, a lip lift, and chin surgery, and why the case for releasing an adult tongue-tie to fix sleep, posture, or jaw shape is much thinner than its marketing.

October 28, 2026

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By The Editorial Desk

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18 min

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A woman around thirty with dark shoulder-length hair, wearing a cream cable-knit sweater, seated at a wooden table beside a window and looking down at an old family photograph held in both hands

Procedure Deep-Dive

Family History of Breast Cancer, BRCA, and Cosmetic Breast Surgery: Who Should Have Genetic Testing First, How Implants and Lifts Change Screening, What Atypia and Tamoxifen Mean for Timing, and How to Plan Around a Possible Risk-Reducing Mastectomy

Breast augmentation, lifts, and reductions do not cause breast cancer, but a strong family history, a BRCA variant, or a high-risk biopsy result changes almost everything else about the plan: the order of operations, the imaging before and after, the medications that need pausing, and whether a cosmetic operation now will make a later mastectomy harder. Here is who should see a genetic counselor before booking, how implants and scars affect mammography and MRI, what atypical hyperplasia and LCIS mean for elective surgery, and how carriers can plan cosmetic breast surgery around a decision they may face in a few years.

October 28, 2026 · 19 min

A woman in her early sixties with short silver hair, wearing a loose navy knit sweater and pale trousers, standing beside a tall window in a bare, softly lit room, one hand raised toward the glass as she looks out

Procedure Deep-Dive

Hip and Knee Replacement and Cosmetic Surgery: How Long to Wait After a New Joint, Why a Skin Infection Matters More When There Is a Prosthesis, What Hip Precautions Mean on the Operating Table, and When Liposuction or a Thigh Lift Near the Joint Makes Sense

Joint replacement is now one of the commonest operations in the age group booking tummy tucks, thigh lifts, and facelifts, and many patients lose weight to qualify for a new hip or knee and then want the loose skin dealt with. Here is how long to wait after an arthroplasty before an elective cosmetic operation, why a wound infection anywhere on the body matters more with a metal joint in place, what antibiotics are and are not needed, how blood clot risk stacks up, what hip precautions mean for positioning under anesthesia, and when liposuction, a thigh lift, or a panniculectomy near a replaced joint is reasonable.

October 28, 2026 · 19 min

A woman around thirty with tousled shoulder-length dark hair, wearing a loose oatmeal V-neck knit sweater, seated on a gray sofa beside a bright window with one hand resting at her collarbone, gazing thoughtfully toward the light

Procedure Deep-Dive

Mastitis, Breast Abscesses, and Breast Surgery: How Lactational, Periductal, and Granulomatous Mastitis Differ, Why a Red Breast That Will Not Settle Gets a Biopsy, and When an Augmentation, Lift, or Reduction Can Safely Follow

Mastitis is one word for at least three different problems: the inflamed breast of breastfeeding, the recurring abscess behind the nipple that is closely tied to smoking, and a rare, stubborn inflammation called granulomatous mastitis that can look exactly like cancer. Each one changes the plan for cosmetic breast surgery in a different way. Here is how they differ, what changed in the advice on breastfeeding mastitis, why a red breast that does not respond to antibiotics is investigated rather than treated again, how long to wait before an augmentation, lift, or reduction, and what happens when mastitis appears in a breast that already has an implant.

October 27, 2026 · 17 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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