#12: Influencer Nicol Concilio Gets a Breast Reduction
This week, influencer Nicol Concilio tells all and shares about her breast reduction procedure performed by Dr. Barrett and his amazing staff! People might assume that having large breasts on small frame is a blessing but that’s not always the case. Nicol gives us a glimpse of why this was a real problem and explains different situations she’d deal with day to day.
You are listening to The Natural Plastic Surgeon Podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Barrett, Board-Certified Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon located right here in Beverly Hills. I specialize in cosmetic surgery of the face, nose, breast and body. This podcast is dedicated to those deciding if plastic surgery is right for them and revealing all the latest beauty secrets. New episodes premiering every Monday at 10 am. Let’s get started.
On this episode of The Natural Plastic Surgeon…
Dr. Barrett:...said my, my happiest patients, I do all kinds of surgeries, but my happiest patients are my breast reduction patients and I think I told you that.
Nicol Concilio: You did. And I can see why now, especially.
Dr. Barrett: Well that's great. I mean just functional and aesthetically it's just, it's a home run and a Grand Slam.
Dr. Barrett:...CBD sometimes.
Nicol Concilio: Yes.
Dr. Barrett:...and, and some THC…
Nicol Concilio: Yeah the edibles, yeah.
Dr. Barrett: I think that, you know what, I'm okay with that, with my patients.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:...and I think, I'm a, I know that there's a lot of...not so much about THC yet...but the CBD has been really shown to reduce pain.
Nicol Concilio: Oh yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Without being addictive and it has all kind of positive effects.
Nicol Concilio: Absolutely. Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:...first thing you thought of when you woke up. Did anything, like, crazy? So, a lot of people think about that. Like, did you get any, like, weird thoughts of, like, cookies or pizza? Or anything like that?
Nicol Concilio: When I first woke up I, honestly, was I, my third, my first thought was, oh my god, am I waking up during surgery?
Dr. Barrett: Oh.
Nicol Concilio: I was, like, really scared of, like, waking up during surgery, because I watch too many conspiracy theories. I do it to myself, okay.
Dr. Barrett: Oh my god, that’s horrible.
01:30 TODAY’S GUEST NICOL CONCILIO HAS HAD A BREAST REDUCTION
Dr. Barrett: So, we're here and we have our special guest, Nicol Concilio.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: I love that name. It’s such a great name. Nicol Concilio. She's at…you are, you are such a great person, great personality. You just had breast reduction surgery. Five weeks ago, four weeks ago...
Nicol Concilio: Four weeks ago.
Dr. Barrett: Almost five weeks ago. And you look fantastic.
Nicol Concilio: Thank you. I feel fantastic.
Dr. Barrett: Thank you for being on The Natural Plastic Surgeon Podcast.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, I'm so excited to be here. I love my podcast. So it's fun being here.
Dr. Barrett: All right. Well, cool. Well, you know, we want it...we've got…Today's a really special episode because breast, breast reduction operation is a very common, commonly performed procedure. A lot of women are really scared about getting this procedure done.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And I wanted to kind of tap into what some of, you know, because you didn't get this right away, you know, you had big breasts, and these are a problem for you. And I think a lot of women have some of the same problems that you had, and they're scared to do anything about it. So what were some of your fears? Let's just hop right into it. Was...
02:29 NICOL’S FEARS
Nicol Concilio: So I think the biggest thing was, I was worried that people were going to be, like, why? People pay to get bigger boobs, you know what I mean? And for me, I was more worried about people not understanding how much it affects my everyday life. Especially because I would get so many heat rashes and, like, chafing, like, that was my biggest problem. And then the neck pain, the back pain, and I have scoliosis on top of having big breasts.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: So that was just awful. And I mean, even four weeks post-op I feel like a weight has been lifted, literally, in the front and the back.
Dr. Barrett: That's…
Nicol Concilio: It's crazy.
Dr. Barrett: Incredible.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
03:10 BREAST REDUCTION AND WEIGHT LOSS
Dr. Barrett: You know, it's important...you know, Nicol, you work out, you’re fit, you’re healthy. It’s, it’s not like...I get a lot of people that are, like, oh, you just have to lose weight, right?
Nicol Concilio: No, it's so, oh my god. You know someone asked me that the other day ‘cause I was in Victoria Secret and I know it's a little bit too early to get fitted.
Dr. Barrett: That’s great, I’m, like, should she be doing that?
Nicol Concilio: But I was like, I need, I just had breast reduction surgery. And the woman there was like, oh, you couldn't just lose weight?
Dr. Barrett: She said that to you?
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: You’re there in her store. And she said you couldn't just lose weight…
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, but you know what? It's okay. Because a lot of people think that it's a weight thing, but it really isn't. Because even when I was the skinniest and the fittest I ever had been, they still were, it, well into the double Ds. And then when we had our procedure, I think my left was a triple D and then my right was an F.
Dr. Barrett: And you're tiny.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. I'm only five feet tall.
Dr. Barrett: And so, it’s like...you carry, had to carry that around...
Nicol Concilio: All the time. Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: So I mean, let, let's dive into...So you, so you mentioned you had neck pain, back pain, like, you know what else could you not do? What were your limitations?
04:12 NICOL’S LIMITATIONS
Nicol Concilio: Honestly this is gonna sound very, like, corny but just even wearing everyday clothes was a struggle for me. Especially, you know, being an influencer and going on brand trips and, like, everybody's wearing cute little tops and then here I am. I feel like I look like an X-rated videographer, performer. You know what I mean?
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: Like, I just didn't feel comfortable. That was the biggest thing. And I found I was compromising my posture a bit to kind of hide the boobs and not have them sticking out as much.
Dr. Barrett: Did your mom always get on you when you were growing up?
Nicol Concilio: Yes. And my grandma. She would be, like sit up straight!
Dr. Barrett: Your grandmother.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, Dr...
Dr. Barrett: So Concilio, is that Italian?
Nicol Concilio: It is.
Dr. Barrett: I'm picturing, like, I'm picturing, like, your Italian grandmother. Like, Nicol, watch your posture.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, yeah, yeah she would always be, like, statazit!
Dr. Barrett: It’s, like, Mom, it's my boobs!
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. Literally.
Dr. Barrett: What, what would she say?
Nicol Concilio: Statazit, like, you know…
Dr. Barrett: Statazit.
Nicol Concilio: Like, you know, cut it out, like, get, get it in order, kind of...
Dr. Barrett: We did cut it out. We totally cut it out.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, we literally cut it out.
Dr. Barrett: Oh my goodness, wow. All right. And then what?
05:10 NICOL HAD TO WEAR PADDED BRAS SINCE FIFTH GRADE
Nicol Concilio: And then, well, I was just gonna say that I've been having to wear a padded bra since I was in fifth grade. So I was like 10 years old.
Dr. Barrett: Oh my god. Wow.
Nicol Concilio: So I've had these puppies. I mean, obviously, I didn't have, like, triple D's at, at, in fifth grade.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, right. But you knew you were different at that point.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, I knew that, like, you know, I had to wear bra. And, like, I had to, like, kind of start having to shave my legs a little bit. You know what I mean? I was kinda like…
Dr. Barrett: Wait so what did the legs have to do with it?
05:36 NICOL HIT PUBERTY EARLY
Nicol Concilio: No. Well just, like, that I was going through puberty, like, so much faster.
Dr. Barrett: Oh, so puberty actually came early for you?
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, it came so early for me.
Dr. Barrett: It wasn't just…it wasn't just breast development.
Nicol Concilio: No, it was, like, almost everything. But the breast development was the huge, like, number one thing that I noticed. And other people would notice.
Dr. Barrett: I actually just shaved my legs for the first time this weekend.
Nicol Concilio: You did? Why?
Dr. Barrett: I had a, I did, I race.
Nicol Concilio: Oh your race! Your race.
06:00 DR. BARRETT DID AN IRONMAN
Dr. Barrett: I had a, yeah, I had an Iron Man. And you supposedly, if you're on the, somebody, you know, maybe some of the listeners can chime in. But supposedly if you should get rid of the hair off of your legs, you can go faster because you’re more aerodynamic...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, that's what Michael Phelps does.
Dr. Barrett: Is that, okay?
Nicol Concilio: You’re just like him.
Dr. Barrett: Well he’s a, he's a swimmer. But so it didn't make sense to me because he had a wetsuit, and so anyway, I realized, like, five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes into the shower, I'm, like, this is hard work. So I was, like, if you had to start in the fifth grade.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And you had big boobs and so…
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: I wanna...respect.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. Thank you.
Dr. Barrett: It’s difficult.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. Well, respect to you. Because now I'm, like, feeling amazing. I feel so confident. I feel so happy shopping for clothes. I used to hate shopping because nothing would fit me right. And now I'm just so happy. I'm so excited.
Dr. Barrett: Well, all right. Well, I want to hear about that.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: So you went to Victoria's Secret and you had the hater. She was like, why didn't you just lose weight? So what happened? What was your, so you're four weeks out the best reduction surgery, and you're not fully healed yet?
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: There’s still a little swelling. So tell me how the bra sizing went.
06:59 NICOL HAD A BRA SIZING
Nicol Concilio: So it was really, really...I was so happy because I know that they’re still a little bit swollen now.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: And I got measured as a 32C, which is exactly what I believe I told you.
Dr. Barrett: Amazing.
Nicol Concilio: The first time I met you, I was like I want 32Cs.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, when we met during the consultation kind of estimated...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Because your breasts were very different.
Nicol Concilio: So different.
Dr. Barrett: Your right was much bigger than your left and so we estimated the amount of gram size that we could take on.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
07:26 NICOL HAD LIPOSUCTION TOO
Dr. Barrett: And you're smaller overall. So we had to, kind of like, do measurements and fine-tune that and I'm glad that that really worked out. But we also combined that with liposuction too.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Which the liposuction swelling tends to last a lot longer than the breast reduction swelling.
Nicol Concilio: Oh really? Okay.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah so some of the stuff in your armpit and stuff like that, that might throw off your breast measurements just a little bit.
Nicol Concilio: Oh interesting. Okay.
Dr. Barrett: In terms of your, like, 36 versus 34, you know?
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: So you're, you’re 36.
Nicol Concilio: 32.
Dr. Barrett: 32.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, I'm tiny.
Dr. Barrett: Yes, that's awesome.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, but no.
Dr. Barrett: Okay.
Nicol Concilio: And I also even just the side boobage is so much better. I feel like nothing's really spilling out the side. Where I feel like sometimes I would, like, lay down and I would have to be, like, moving my boob, like, inwards. You know what I mean?
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: Because they just go to the side.
Dr. Barrett: Right. That's not...I mean, you're too young for that.
Nicol Concilio: It’s not comfortable.
Dr. Barrett: No. I can't, I don't have breasts, so I don't know what it's like. But I will tell you this, like, my, my happiest patients, I do all kinds of surgeries, but my happiest patients are my breast reduction patients and I think I told you that.
Nicol Concilio: You did. And I can see why now, especially.
Dr. Barrett: Well that's great. I mean just functional and aesthetically it's just, it's a home run...a Grand Slam, really.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, no, it was awesome.
Dr. Barrett: Well, good. So I mean, I…we could talk for hours about this.
Nicol Concilio: I know.
Dr. Barrett: But we have some really good questions from some of your actual followers.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. I’m so excited.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. And by the way, you guys if you don't follow Nicol already, you should definitely follow her. What, what's the best way for people to follow you?
08:54 THE BEST WAY TO FOLLOW NICOL IS ON INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE
Nicol Concilio: Probably, just like, you know, Instagram search or YouTube. I’m on both platforms.
Dr. Barrett: Okay, how would they find...how would someone find you on Instagram?
Nicol Concilio: Just typing in my name. And Nicol doesn't have the “e” in it. So just N-I-C-O-L.
Dr. Barrett: Okay.
Nicol Concilio: And then my last name.
Dr. Barrett: Concilio.
Nicol Concilio: Concilio, yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Yes, Nicol Concilio and you'll find it and she'll…actually you share so much about your story.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And so you can kind of see photos of like, I saw some photos of the…was that this weekend when you had the new clothes on?
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. Yeah, I had...
Dr. Barrett: You looked beautiful.
Nicol Concilio: Thank you. It was honestly…I can't even explain, like, I, I was telling everybody. Because everybody always asks me, you know, how is it? Are you happy? Honestly, it is the best decision I've ever made in my life. And it was the best, like, money ever spent.
Dr. Barrett: The best? Well, good. I mean, it's, it's like, it's your body. It's your health. And it's like, I'm, I’m so happy that it worked out for you. I want to, kind of, go into some of these questions because some of them will, kind of, will, will, kind of, go through, kind of, the order of things. And one person asked--Lexi B01--she said, how was it, going under anesthesia?
10:00 WHAT ANESTHESIA WAS LIKE
Nicol Concilio: So that was what I was most nervous for. And honestly, I can't remember anything. So it just, like, I, the only thing I remember is them telling me I was getting, the anesthesiologist telling me that I was gonna get something to relax. And then the next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room. So it really wasn't a big deal at all. I totally freaked myself out more than I needed to.
Dr. Barrett: It's, it's you know, it's, it's a first-time...because this was, like, your major first operation.
Nicol Concilio: Oh, yeah, my first time even ever going under. So I was definitely really nervous.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. And I, I get people with that…they come in...and what I know about the whole situation, and I know about all these other complications that can happen, but the thing that people are most focused about is actually the least problematic, right?
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Anesthesia is extremely safe. You’re more likely to get in a plane crash or car crash or struck by lightning in your lifetime. That's what I always tell people and...
Nicol Concilio: I know you told me that.
Dr. Barrett: It’s extremely safe. Yeah, and you, you just kind of have to...it's hard though. It's just, like, it's unknown. You have to wrap your head around it. You know, it's just like anytime you do something new for the first time it's...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: It's extremely nerve-wracking.
Nicol Concilio: Absolutely.
Dr. Barrett: What were some things that you did to help calm yourself down?
11:08 WHAT NICOL DID TO CALM HERSELF BEFORE SURGERY
Nicol Concilio: Well, I do have clinical anxiety. And I've been really open and candid about that with my followers. So for me, like, a lot of what I do is just deep breathing exercises, which is actually something that even you recommended to me recently.
Dr. Barrett: Okay good.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: I taught you 4-7-8.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Which, which, that’s not my technique. That is actually Dr., Dr. Weil, he actually described that, and a lot of people use that.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, I do lots of, like, breathing and meditation. And I also, you know, I really like my crystals.
Dr. Barrett: I want to…tell me what breathing...what's your go-to breathing technique?
11:40 BEST BREATHING TECHNIQUE TO RELAX
Nicol Concilio: Honestly, I just do really deep breaths in, and then let it out as hard as I can, kind of like, letting or, getting rid of that stress, letting go of all my worries and all that. That's, like, my favorite one to do.
Dr. Barrett: Okay.
Nicol Concilio: But I've been trying the 4-7-8. Right? That’s what it is?
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, yeah.
Nicol Concilio: I've been trying that. And it's definitely effective as well.
Dr. Barrett: Well, you know, there's a, there's a lot about breathing techniques, there's different ones for different things. The 4-7-8 is, is mainly good to, kind of, help lower your, your heart rate.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: So...because when you hold your breath, your heart rate drops down a little bit, and you feel more...but I like the one that you mentioned where you just kind of breathe it all out.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: You just, like, expel it. Yeah, I’m gonna try that one.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And then tell me about meditation.
12:21 NICOL TALKS ABOUT MEDITATION
Nicol Concilio: So I really like to listen to, like, soothing sounds, like whether it be an ocean or, like, little birds chirping or whatever. I'll just go on YouTube and type in, like, you know, meditation music and stuff. And I'll just listen to that and try to find, like, my little happy place, as corny as that sounds. But…
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: It's helped me out so much, especially just, like, living the lifestyle that I do. I feel like it's very non stop, like, going all the time. And I'm sure you're like that too. As a dad, and as a doctor, as a surgeon, you know? So just finding ways to, like, calm down and being, like, one with yourself is so important.
Dr. Barrett: Absolutely. I actually just took a meditation class.
Nicol Concilio: Oh, you did?
Dr. Barrett: I did. Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: Did you like it?
Dr. Barrett: Well, yeah. Before I was trying, like, meditation for stuff I found online and stuff...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:...was like, I'm, like, am I doing this right?
Nicol Concilio: I know. That's, that's my biggest thing was, like, I don't think I'm doing this right. I don't think I'm doing this right. And then I did one guided meditation...
Dr. Barrett: Oh, cool.
Nicol Concilio:...with a group.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: And then I was like, okay, I know what I'm doing.
Dr. Barrett: Okay. Yeah, so I, I recommend that.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, absolutely.
Dr. Barrett: Just, like, just to, kind of, like, make sure, you know, you're doing it right. So yeah, I took, took a meditation class, it’s called Transcendental Meditation. It’s, kind of, one of those more established ones.
Nicol Concilio: Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And, and I do it, like, twice a day and just, I totally feel way more relaxed.
Nicol Concilio: Oh, my god. It's, it's, like, the best prescription out there. You know?
Dr. Barrett: It is. Right? And you don’t have to pop a pill. Or like, there are some medications for some things out there, I get it. But like, the more, you know, if you can do things on your own without having to do that, that's great.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, absolutely. And, kind of, learning that you're in control, too…
Dr. Barrett: Right.
Nicol Concilio:...like you're able to calm yourself down.
Dr. Barrett: Right.
Nicol Concilio:...is kind of a big thing for me. Because I used to not know how to calm myself down. And now, like, maturing, getting, like, older, living on my own, like, all those kinds of things…
Dr. Barrett: I know but that’s also almost, like, more stress.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Right? Especially with the amount of stuff that you do.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: It’s like, you almost, you have to like, you have to do this stuff.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, it's so…like, self-care is so important. And I think a lot of people forget that.
Dr. Barrett: Totally.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
14:15 NICOL TALKS ABOUT HER CRYSTALS
Dr. Barrett: All right, now about the crystals.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. My crystals.
Dr. Barrett: I wanna know, like, is, do you have more than one?
Nicol Concilio: Oh my god, I have so many. But I don't really like to show them off that much.
Dr. Barrett: Okay, it’s like a personal thing?
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, well, because...okay, this is like crazy, crazy talk. You're gonna think I'm a lunatic.
Dr. Barrett: I don’t think. I don’t, trust me, I listened to a podcast yesterday about grounding. And I'm like, I'm walking around barefoot in my yard in the morning. I’m serious.
Nicol Concilio: No, but that's, like, actually a thing. My boyfriend does that a lot.
Dr. Barrett: Oh, what?
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, he'll, like, walk around barefoot in the front yard. Yeah, totally.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: But, so the thing with crystals is that there's supposed to be, like, a very personal connection, like, between you and the crystal. You're not really supposed to, like, show them off because people...if they know what they're doing, can put, like, bad vibes onto your crystal and then your bad…and then that crystal’s in your house.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: And then you're having the bad vibes.
Dr. Barrett: Right, right.
Nicol Concilio: So, I try to keep most of my crystals private, unless my, like, this is...I sound like a lunatic.
Dr. Barrett: No, you don’t.
Nicol Concilio: Unless my energy healer, who, her name is Sally. She's incredible. Unless if she, like, protects them, then I won't, like, show them off to my audience.
Dr. Barrett: Okay.
Nicol Concilio: But my favorite thing to recommend to people is amethyst because it's very protective of just, like, your energy, in general. And it brings a lot of, like, calmness to, like, your environment and your energy. And also black tourmaline wards away a lot of negativity. So if there's anybody listening that wants to get away from negative vibes, those are the two…
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, I think that's everybody.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: So, all right, so black tourmaline.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: That, you actually brought black tourmaline to your surgery.
Nicol Concilio: I did. Yeah, I did.
Dr. Barrett: And you shared that with me.
Nicol Concilio: I did because, you know why, ‘cause I had my healer protect it.
Dr. Barrett: Okay.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: I definitely wasn't gonna cast bad vibes on it.
Nicol Concilio: No, I know.
Dr. Barrett: I actually loved that. We actually kept it in the...it was with you the whole time.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: In this surgery center, this room, for your operation.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. It was in here.
Dr. Barrett: And as soon as you went to recovery we gave it to you too. So…
Nicol Concilio: I know I know. And you guys will have to stay tuned for the video of me after recovery because it's hilarious.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, you did so well. So I, you know what, let's, how about we move on to the next question. What was the hardest part about recovery?
16:20 HARDEST PART OF RECOVERY
Nicol Concilio: I think for me…
Dr. Barrett: This is from Audstort.
Nicol Concilio: For me, I think just mentally, having to ask for help, because I'm a very independent person. And it was really hard for me to be like, hey, can you get me this? Or hey, can you get this down for me? Or hey, can you do this for me? Or hey, I need help getting out of bed.
Dr. Barrett: Well, can you reach stuff normally?
Nicol Concilio: No, I can't, to begin with. So yeah…
Dr. Barrett: Okay right. So what's the difference?
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, exactly. But no, I think just, like, if you're an independent person, like how I am, it was a very, like, humbling experience. Like, being, like, wow. You don't realize how much you take for granted, like, your everyday body. You know?
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, right.
Nicol Concilio: And then honestly the surgery itself was a breeze for me. I had, like, no pain. I didn't have to take any of the painkillers, or anything that you prescribed...
Dr. Barrett: Awesome.
Nicol Concilio:...as far as pain management goes, and I was so happy about that.
Dr. Barrett: And you do, and you do CBD sometimes and, and, and some THC.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah the edibles, yeah.
Dr. Barrett: I think that, you know what, I'm okay with that, with my patients.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
17:23 CBD AND THC FOR PAIN RELIEF
Dr. Barrett:...and I think, I'm a, I know that there's a lot of...not so much about THC yet...but the CBD has been really shown to reduce pain.
Nicol Concilio: Oh yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Without being addictive, and it has all kind of positive effects.
Nicol Concilio: Absolutely. Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, I think you know what I'm okay with that with my patients.
Nicol Concilio: Absolutely. Yeah, so I've been doing lots of that CBD stuff too. And the Arnica tea.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. Arnica tea? Oh, I haven’t done that yet.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, the Arn...right? That's what, that's what I ordered from Amazon. I think I got it right. Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Really? Okay. All right. Because we have pills. It's like a, you know, but I, I need to check that out, you gotta show me that.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah Amazon.
Dr. Barrett: Arnica tea, all right cool, I’ll check that out. All right. And so it, the hardest part for you was really just, kind of, relying on other people during that time.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, and just, like, taking it easy. Because I'm not used to that, you know. I’m always moving around, doing things...
Dr. Barrett: Right.
Nicol Concilio: But yeah, those two very, very simple, easy things to, as far as recovery goes. You know? Not anything...I was barely in any pain. I was, honestly, like, I'm just itchy, I'm very itchy right now.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah I know. So, I, I, yeah. Well the reason why, so all right, so I want to talk about your surgery a little bit...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: So, you know what, if we could actually get her operative note? If you want to bring that up. And, and, and the main reason why is we took off differential amounts...
18:38 NICOL GOT DIFFERENT SIZED IMPLANTS
Nicol Concilio: Yes, I remember exactly what it was.
Dr. Barrett: Oh, you do?
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. Left was 155, and the right was 275.
Dr. Barrett: Okay, then nevermind. We don't need to bring her operative notes. So I mean, that was a 100-gram difference.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: So we started on the smaller side first.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
18:53 VERTICAL BREAST REDUCTION
Dr. Barrett: And I wanted to get that perfect. We do our, we do a vertical breast lift, I'm sorry, vertical breast reduction. This is a technique that is described and basically created by a female doctor in Canada named Elizabeth Hall-Findlay. And she's kind of a pioneer when it comes to breast res, breast, breast surgery and the reason why that this operation is so awesome is that you don't need an anchor pattern. So...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: It, it is an incision around the areola, and then a single line that goes down. That's what you see on the outside. But what you don't see on the inside is how the breast is held together. And she was very creative and, and really smart with these internal suturing techniques. Basically the, the old school way of doing a breast reduction is the anchor pattern, where you have the incision around the areola, down, and then a horizontal, horizontal line on the bottom. So on the surface, you already have more scarring, but on the inside, most of the breast mass is kept lower. So you get the saggy square, boxy-looking breast.
Nicol Concilio: Oh, I didn’t even know that.
Dr. Barrett: Yes. So it works. It's been tried and tested, but it looks…I mean, the reason why it's there is because it was one of the first techniques. And it’s safe but it, in terms of your final result, it, it doesn't treat the breast as a three-dimensional structure. It treats it as a two-dimensional structure. It looks good on a square piece of paper but it doesn't look good on your body, right? Your breast actually, as you know, goes into your armpit.
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: It's like a, it's a, it's a dynamic structure. So, Betsy Findlay, Betsy Hall-Findlay, she, she came up with this technique where the mass is on the top and you remove the bottom and then you, kind of, suture everything up on the inside. So instead of being a skin brassiere operation, it's an internal suturing technique that lifts the whole breast up. So that way your breasts are going to be perky and long-lasting and looking much, way more natural.
Nicol Concilio: Oh, I see, I didn't even know that because I was like, I wonder how he does the lift?
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, well, that's…Yeah, so that, that's the lifting component.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And, and we combined liposuction with it, so you don't need that horizontal scar. So...
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett:...it’s just a far, and I give her so much credit for, and she's actually helped me out and sent me videos. And I went to learn from her and so…
Nicol Concilio: That's incredible. And I applaud that so much, because, you know, as a doctor, sometimes...and even for me, as a makeup artist, like, sometimes it's easy to get stuck in your own ways.
Dr. Barrett: Right.
Nicol Concilio: But to, like, venture out and try new techniques is really cool. And that, like, shows to me even as a patient that you're willing to do what's best for your patients.
Dr. Barrett: Absolutely.
Nicol Concilio: You know?
Dr. Barrett: I want, yeah, I mean everything I'm trying to perfect--and breast reduction is one of those that I'm constantly trying to perfect--because it's, it's can make such a big difference in terms of scarring and the longevity of the results and the symmetry. So anyway, so we're gonna have a whole, actually have a whole solo episode talking about, yeah, talking about breast reduction, and all the different things.
Nicol Concilio: Oh cool.
Dr. Barrett: So you guys can tune into that one. We’ll give you a link to that. But so we started on your left breast. We did our liposuction on that side. We took out, we went in and we did a little extra bonus.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. Thank you. I wish it, kind of, slipped and went to my stomach too.
Dr. Barrett: Well, you know. You know where to find us.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: But yeah, because we don't want stuff hanging over the, the bra strap.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And so we finished the left side and then went to the right side. And the right side was a challenge because it was just way bigger. And so...
Nicol Concilio: Was it...like, did you know it was that big? Because I didn't even know it was that big.
22:05 BREAST ASYMMETRY
Dr. Barrett: I didn’t, I didn’t appreciate how much size difference there was until I went in there. And I'm taking out, and it, and it's, you know, you measure twice, cut once. And so I took a conservative amount, and then I kept taking smaller pieces. Because I didn't want to take out too much. Because once you take it out, you can't put it back in.
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: So we dialed that in, we did our liposuction, and then we actually Tailor-tacked it together and we had a lot of excess skin that we still had to fine-tune.
Nicol Concilio: Gotcha.
Dr. Barrett: So we, we revised that about two or three times and it all came together beautifully. Like, you had the best on table result, as you saw from the video.
Nicol Concilio: Oh thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that video was so cool.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. But some things happened with your recovery. So you had, so, so, so breast reduction, it’s a major operation and one of the...
Nicol Concilio: And you know what, I'm just gonna chime in really quick if you don't mind.
Dr. Barrett: Sure.
Nicol Concilio: A lot of people were asking me, you know, why I wasn't healing as fast as those who had breast, like, augmentations.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: And I kept telling them, you know, it's a totally different procedure…
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, it’s a four-hour operation.
Nicol Concilio: And I personally feel like the breast reduction, and the lift, and the liposuction I got, like, that's extensive. You know, we were in there for three and a half, or you were in there for three and a half hours,
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, it was four hours.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. Yeah. So I think that's another thing. Just if anybody's listening, you know, if you have friends that had breast implants, it's very different than having an implant.
Dr. Barrett: Totally.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: An implant comes out of a box.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: You make a pock...I mean, I spent a lot of time doing breast augmentation too, don’t get me wrong.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, you and your Breasts by Barrett. They're amazing.
23:37 NIPPLE NECROSIS
Dr. Barrett: Thank you. Thank you. But yeah, it's a different operation. And there, there's not as much that can go wrong. So, one of the things that happens is you're basically, you're disconnecting blood supply to the breast tissue because we're moving it up. We’re not actually taking the nipple or breast tissue off. We're, kind of, removing segments, and those segments contain valuable blood supply to the nipple and the areola. And that's one of the biggest risks from breast reduction is actually losing your whole areola. It’s called nipple necrosis, I know. And it happens in big reductions, kind of like yours, especially on the right side. We had a little bit of, we had a little bit of skin necrosis.
Nicol Concilio: Slight, yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Just on that bottom part of the areola. And you were freaking out.
Nicol Concilio: I, oh, my God, I'm still so sorry, to this day.
Dr. Barrett: That’s okay.
Nicol Concilio: But yeah, you guys, I was really nervous. Because, like, especially if you Google and I know, don't Google, I know. But there wasn't anything popping up for what I had. So I was really nervous.
Dr. Barrett: Really, you couldn’t find anything?
Nicol Concilio: No, I couldn't. And that's why...because everything I saw was all extreme versions of necrosis. You know, it wasn't like how…
Dr. Barrett: Which is horrible.
Nicol Concilio: Right, it wasn't how, like, we just had that top little layer that had to come off, type of thing.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. Right.
Nicol Concilio: So...but I'm so glad everything's--knock on wood--looking good, right?
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. It is.
Nicol Concilio: You think? I’m nervous. I’m still nervous.
Dr. Barrett: No, it's looking good. I mean, it's just a small little, like, I would say...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:...a dime-sized area.
Nicol Concilio: Oh, yeah.
Dr. Barrett:...that's just, that's just taking a little bit longer to heal. You know, a lot of people ask me, you know, people, people try to find doctors or get their surgeries done elsewhere for cheap, you know, and...
Nicol Concilio: And that's so stupid. For better lack of words.
25:20 TRAVELING FOR SURGERY
Dr. Barrett: It is, because it's, like, if something like this happens and you have to travel, like, overseas to get it looked at…it’s just, like, you want a doctor that is local or available, that can, you know, that knows what they’re doing.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Especially a board-certified doctor that knows how to, kind of, kind of handle the situation.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, exactly. And even like, you guys, Dr. Barrett was calling me on, like, a Sunday night, like, reassuring me that I was okay. So, you know, he really cares about his patients, and I appreciate that, especially because I'm anxiety-ridden.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: So you can only imagine how I was.
Dr. Barrett: It's okay. It's, you know, it's like if you don't get complicated, I mean, like, I've seen horrible things. And, and I've been very lucky. I'm very careful with my surgeries. I don't, I don't have too many issues.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: But you know, the best thing to do in these situations is, is just to, to reassure people and, like, kind of, explain to them.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And have, you know, good communication. Because if you, if you're nervous, and you know, it's just, like, if you start to go on the Internet, it’s, you can go down a rabbit hole of, of craziness.
Nicol Concilio: Oh forget it. Yeah, And then, you know, one question my followers had for you…
Dr. Barrett: Yes.
Nicol Concilio:...was that they are wondering why I didn't have to wear a bra after surgery?
26:29 WHY NICOL DIDN’T WEAR A BRA AFTER SURGERY
Dr. Barrett: That's a great question and it, kind of, ties into nipple necrosis.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: So, the whole idea of a Surgi-bra, you know, some of the recent breast surgeons, some of the leading breast surgeons, past 10 years, have questioned, why do we really use the Surgi-bra? I think women are used to wearing bras and so when they wake up from surgery, they're used to having a special garment. And so it got entrenched into our traditions of always using a Surgi-bra. So I actually am, me and a couple of the leading breast surgeons--Dr. Teitelbaum is one of them--he's another breast surgeon here in LA. We started not using them because we realized that your risk of necrosis, nipple necrosis goes up. Because if you think about if you put a tight bra on the outside and you've just compromised, internally, blood supply, you, you're now compressing, it's like falling asleep on your arm…
Nicol Concilio: Like, cutting off circulation or something.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. You’re cutting off circulation in your arm. And you wake up and your arm’s, like, asleep.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah yeah yeah.
Dr. Barrett: It bounces back. But if you do that, to, like, a surgically compromised area, you're gonna delay wound healing. So I found that I get much faster healing and less risk of nipple necrosis. Actually, I really, I've never gotten a full nipple necrosis, but partial necrosis, incisional problems, stuff like that. Way less incidence of that without using a surgical bra. So even though you see a lot of surgeons out there recommending that for their patients, that's fine…
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: But ones that don't recommend it, they probably have a good reason.
Nicol Concilio: Right. Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: So for, for my breast reductions, a use loose-fitting sports bra or t-shirt. That’s all...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, and I just did t-shirts and tank tops. A lot of people were really mesmerized by the tank tops I was wearing after surgery, which I don't get why ‘cause they're Amazon basic men’s...
Dr. Barrett: Okay.
Nicol Concilio: They, that's what they were.
Dr. Barrett: Really?
Nicol Concilio: Yeah yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Okay. Nice. You’re all about Amazon.
Nicol Concilio: You wouldn’t believe the amount of DMs. “Girl where's that tank top, link that tank top.” I'm, like, really?
Dr. Barrett: That’s, that’s fantastic…
Nicol Concilio: But, let me look ‘because I have some more...
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. You have some questions too.
Nicol Concilio:...questions on my phone.
28:24 NICOL’S FIRST THOUGHT WHEN SHE WOKE UP
Dr. Barrett: Well here's one I wanted…it, it was just, right when you, it’s, this is from CloudGM22: first thing you thought of when you woke up. Did anything, like, crazy? So, a lot of people think about that. Like, did you get any, like, weird thoughts of, like, cookies or pizza? Or anything like that?
Nicol Concilio: When I first woke up I, honestly, was I, my third, my first thought was, oh my god, am I waking up during surgery?
Dr. Barrett: Oh.
Nicol Concilio: I was, like, really scared of, like, waking up during surgery, because I watch too many conspiracy theories. I do it to myself, okay.
Dr. Barrett: Oh my god, that’s horrible.
Nicol Concilio: I do to myself.
Dr. Barrett: You know what helps? If you go to, if you go into the OR--the surgery room--with really positive thoughts.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. No, absolutely.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, I think you were a little nervous. So like...
Nicol Concilio: I was so nervous.
Dr. Barrett: It’s like when you go to bed if you, if you, like, project positive thoughts before you go to sleep, you’ll have pleasant dreams.
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: But if you go to sleep, like, anxious and worried about something.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: You’ll start having bad dreams about that stuff.
29:25 NICOL THOUGHT HER DOGS WERE IN THE OFFICE AFTER SURGERY
Nicol Concilio: Absolutely. But then, after that, after I realized it was over, I was looking for my dogs. And I was convinced that they were here and you were, like, hiding them from me.
Dr. Barrett: I was. We actually had your dogs and we were hiding them. We like dogs.
Nicol Concilio: So I have a follower here. Her name is Eva Wayne.
Dr. Barrett: Okay.
Nicol Concilio: And this is more of a question, I guess, for you, like, what you would do. ‘Cause she just had a reduction. And she said her nipples are uneven ten months post-reduction. Is there anything that can be done about it? Or is that, kind of, what--it just happened?
29:43 NIPPLE ASYMMETRY AFTER A REDUCTION
Dr. Barrett: Well, it's tough. It's tough. You know, it's, there's a lot of information we don't know. We don't understand what, you know, what happened with the surgery. Was it, was it an anchor pattern? What kind of, what kind of reduction was it?
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. We don’t know any of those details.
Dr. Barrett: How, how much asymmetry did she have before? Did she gain or lose weight prior to or after the operation? Yeah, I mean, a lot of things can be done with nipple asymmetry. I’d probably have to, like, see her in consultation.
Nicol Concilio: Right, of course.
Dr. Barrett: My recommendation is, hey, pop back to your, your plastic surgeon. Yeah. And just see, see what, see what happened. But there's always ways. You know, it's like, a lot of people think the operation has to be perfect the very first time. And when you're dealing with very complicated situations, like breast reductions or breast revisions, sometimes you get 90% of the work done, but then you have about 10% of things you might need to touch up.
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: And that's okay. You can do...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:...little minor things to just correct them. So I just think it's important if you’re having real asymmetry, remember: breasts are sisters, not twins.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, same with eyebrows.
Dr. Barrett: Yes. So it, like, they're never going to look 100% identical, and so you, kind of, have to, like, how far off is it?
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: If it’s really crazy, go talk to your plastic surgeon. But if it's a little bit off, you know, most people have asymmetric breasts and it actually looks normal.
Nicol Concilio: Right. And I think it's, like, cool for them not to be perfect.
Dr. Barrett: Right.
Nicol Concilio: You know, it makes you feel a little bit more real and not like it was picked out of a book or something like that, you know? And then the other question that I was getting a lot of is in regards to breastfeeding.
Dr. Barrett: Yes.
Nicol Concilio: Everybody is so concerned about that. And was wondering, you know, what the rate is, like, of success from breastfeeding after reduction and stuff like that.
31:26 BREASTFEEDING AFTER A BREAST REDUCTION
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. So breast, breastfeeding is very important. And I try to encourage breastfeeding because it's, it's...
Nicol Concilio: Absolutely, I agree.
Dr. Barrett:...a lot of, a lot of studies have shown that it's, it’s really beneficial, beneficial for children. But when you're faced with really big breasts, and you know, distortion to your body, and your, your daily living every single day, there's some trade-offs, you know? And so, breast reduction, statistically, according..I mean, there's been a lot of studies on breastfeeding and breast reduction.
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: The consensus is, it’s about a 40% inability, 40% decreased ability to breastfeed. So, four out of ten women who get a breast reduction have significant difficulty breastfeeding.
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: Now, we have to understand that there's a certain percentage of women who can't breastfeed...
Nicol Concilio: To begin with.
Dr. Barrett:...and they had no breast surgery. Right?
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: Right. So just because you had breast surgery doesn't necessarily, that doesn't automatically, like, mean that's the reason why.
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: So, so yeah, you're looking at, we are removing some glandular tissue. But if you're starting with a lot of breast tissue to begin with, guess what? That's your factory, right? So you know, there's a lot of women with really tiny breasts that can breastfeed just fine.
Nicol Concilio: Absolutely. Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: So it's, like, you, you still…if you do the operation right, you're leaving in, you're leaving in significant portions that should be able to work just fine.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. And for me, I'm 26 years old. I'm not even thinking about having kids for, like, another ten years.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, I hear...so, I get that all the time. But I know like a lot of women may, do get kids and...
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett:...and you know, so I always try to limit the dissection of my operation. So that I preserve the anatomic structure of the ducts. And that's why we actually had another question.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
32:59 IS NIPPLE REDUCTION RISKY
Dr. Barrett:...from Melissa, Melissa does makeup--MelDoesMakeup--and she says is nipple reduction a risky thing to get? Is it something that often goes wrong? So it's a little off-topic because it's talking about the nipple specifically.
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: And that's an area I don't mess with if you're planning on maybe breastfeeding. Because that's, that's like, that's like the top of the pyramid in terms of your breastfeeding area.
Nicol Concilio: Gotcha. Okay.
Dr. Barrett: So everything channels through your nipple. So if you want to do inverted nipple repair, if you want to do nipple reduction, those are, those are areas that you may want to hold off on until you are completely sure you don't want to do breastfeeding. If it's important to you.
Nicol Concilio: Right. Right.
Dr. Barrett: If it’s, if breastfeeding isn't important to you then that's fine.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: But...
Nicol Concilio: For me, it was more important to just feel comfortable and not really worry about something that I don't even have yet. You know?
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: So I, I mean...
Dr. Barrett: Self-care.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, exactly. It, kind of, goes back to self-care.
33:50 STRETCHING AND SAGGING BREASTS AFTER BABY
Dr. Barrett: Let's see, if I get a breast reduction/lift and have another baby--I breastfeed--will they stretch and sag even more since they have less skin and tissue than the first time? Or maybe a better way to ask is should I wait till I'm done having kids? So this is from Carrie Mae. And, you know, there's never really a good time to do your breast surgery.
Nicol Concilio: Right.
Dr. Barrett: I think if, if it really bothers you, and you want the better-looking breasts then, then go for it. But if you're planning on having children in the next six months, I would say maybe...
Nicol Concilio: Maybe not.
Dr. Barrett:...delay. But it depends, because she talks about breast reduction and lift. If she just needs a straightforward lift, that's one thing. But if she actually needs a real reduction, it just depends on her symptoms. Her profile photo...she looks...I don't know, I can't really tell. But that's her.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Maybe she has very large boobs. I don't know.
Nicol Concilio: It's crazy how many women have messaged me saying that by me sharing my surgery has made them more confident to go out and get...
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio:...surgery for reduction and lifts and all that stuff. And it makes me feel so good that we were able to, like, successfully share it. ‘Cause that was my goal from day one, you know? Because I've always been a really open book about everything I do and get done in my life. ‘Cause I feel like there's no point in trying to hide it because if you can help one person out there, that's all that really matters, so…
Dr. Barrett: Chances are if you're going through the struggle or you have the concern, then someone else is.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And, and not only that, but, you know, plastic surgery has been, like, a taboo subject and...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And people are, like, they try to hide it and, and then, you know, they don't want to talk about it. But when you share, when you shared this experience, I mean we were, we put everything out there.
Nicol Concilio: Oh god yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Have you guys haven't seen, if you guys haven't seen this, the video that, that we put out there, it's, I don't think we do, did we actually put the video out?
Nicol Concilio: You, so, it's not up on my channel yet. My editor has it. But it’s on your guys' highlights on Instagram.
Dr. Barrett: Okay, all right, so we have a highlight, but we actually…so Nicol, you’ve got to subscribe to her YouTube.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: So you can check this out. She's going to put out, like, a major video just, kind of, showing everything.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And I, I think that was really key, because if you looked at some of your metrics in terms of your social following and your views…
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And, and more importantly, what happened on Reddit? Didn't something happen?
36:04 TRENDING ON REDDIT
Nicol Concilio: Oh my gosh, so, yeah. So I had no idea because I'm not a big, like, Reddit person. I don't really use it that much. But we were, like, number one trending that, the day that I got surgery. And usually, on Reddit, people aren't talking very nice, but this was all very positive. Which I was shocked.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, I mean, it’s because you put, you put this sincere vulnerability out there.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. It’s, that's very true.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: I'm saying, that, that warms my heart because at least we know the world is not... the world is a good place.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: You know they didn’t, they didn’t try to beat you up over it.
Nicol Concilio: No, absolutely. And it's cool to, like, kind of, break the stigma about plastic surgery. Because I feel like everybody's, like, oh, you don't talk about it. You don't ever admit what you had done, or you don't do this. And I'm just like, oh, I got this done. And I'm walking around and showing them off. And...
Dr. Barrett: Right.
Nicol Concilio: I'm, like, texting everybody, you want to see my boobs? Like, so excited about it.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. Well, that's amazing.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: You know, what advice, what advice, I mean, kinda, you're not fully done yet. You, we have a lot of healing left to do.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And I know you're complaining about your tapes, and that's all about my scar management.
Nicol Concilio: Sorry. They’re just so itchy.
Dr. Barrett: It’s for your own good. It’s for your own good.
Nicol Concilio: I know, I know.
37:15 POSTOPERATIVE PROTOCOL
Dr. Barrett: I’m your, your Italian grandmother. And, I forget what she said. But anyways, so, no the, what we do for our all our best reductions. We tape the incisions for six weeks.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And then we do the Skinuva scar gel or silicon-based scar gel for three months afterwards.
Nicol Concilio: I can't wait for that.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: That's gonna be fun.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. So then, then you…but you have to do it twice a day.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And that's really key because the breast shape, everything was perfect, but we don't want to, we don't want to see scars.
Nicol Concilio: No, absolutely. Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And then after that, you could do laser or micro-needling if it's still prominent, but…
Nicol Concilio: And you offer those, those services here, right?
Dr. Barrett: We do.
Nicol Concilio: That's cool. Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, we have, like, I hate scars. I, you know...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. What about stretch marks?
37:45 STRETCH MARKS
Dr. Barrett: Stretch marks are challenging…
Nicol Concilio: Because I know, like, for me, I had really bad stretch marks. They are not nearly as bad as what they used to be after the reduction.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: But I'm just curious, like...
Dr. Barrett: Yeah so, so there's different things you can do for stretch marks. Sometimes you can do a laser...so the stretch…when a stretch mark happens, the dermis kind of tears.
Nicol Concilio: Oh, okay.
Dr. Barrett: And what happens is you get a tear in between and it bleeds in a little bit and then you get collagen, a type of collagen that is forming scar tissues, that fills in the space. Even though it never came through the skin...
Nicol Concilio: Oh.
Dr. Barrett:...it happens deep down.
Nicol Concilio: Interesting. I didn't know that.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, so that's, that's why you see a stretch mark--it’s different colors. Because it's different types of collagen. So your normal skin has about four different types of collagen in it. But then scar tissue has, like, a single type of collagen in it. So it’s, it looks one color and the rest of your skin doesn’t. Plus it doesn't have any elastin or anything else in it that keeps it flexible. So then you start to see little grooves of, like, tightness in the scar tissue, but not so much tightness in the regular skin. It's probably more information than you need, but...
Nicol Concilio: No but I love it.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, so the way that you treat it is you're trying to blend it in with their surrounding skin. So the best way to do that is multiple treatments of micro-needling or a very deep penetrating CO2 laser like a Lumenis UltraPulse, which we can do.
Nicol Concilio: Oh wow. Okay.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. And your goal is to, kind of, camouflage it at that time.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: ‘Cause you can't really get it out. So you’re, you're trying to, kind of, blend it in so that that stark white line that you have...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:...you want to kind of, like, fade it. So it's like you're taking a little rubber eraser and rubbing on the edges.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, just erase the edges. Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. So it kind of blends in nicely.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, absolutely.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. So yeah, we have that option, but you want to generally wait about, you know, at least three to six months before you start.
Nicol Concilio: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, I don't want to mess up any of the healing.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. But good. We got off track but I was gonna ask, what is it, what would you recommend to someone who's thinking about...what's your advice? For someone who’s thinking about getting a breast augmentation.
39:34 NICOL SHARES HER ADVICE
Nicol Concilio: So I think if, if you're thinking about it, in general, that you should do it.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. Okay.
Nicol Concilio: Because, I feel...I don't know, I'm always, I'm such a go-getter. And whenever I get a thought in my mind, I have to at least explore the option of it. So I recommend if it's even just a thought to you, like, it costs nothing to go get a consultation and to talk to a doctor. And if you're in LA to come see Dr. Barrett, you know? Of course. And just, just know, anybody listening out there, how much happier I am and how much, just, excited I am to, like, wear clothes and go out to events and, like, feel comfortable in my own skin and not feel like I'm an X-rated, you know, celebrity. I keep saying that but it’s so true. It's so true. Like, I honestly...I mean, I had, when I was 13 years old, I was in Myrtle Beach vacationing with my family.
Dr. Barrett: That's on the East Coast.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, uh huh. I grew up...
Dr. Barrett: That’s South Carolina.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, I'm a born and raised New Yorker.
Dr. Barrett: Oh okay. You went to Myrtle Beach.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. So we went to Myrtle Beach a lot. Like, as a family, family trips.
Dr. Barrett: ‘Cause I, I grew up in Virginia, and that's kind of where some people in Virginia would go, go on holiday.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, yeah. And I remember I'll never forget this. There was someone there that had claimed that they had worked for Playboy and wanted me, they had seen me in a bathing suit on the beach, and we're trying to, like, talk to me about it. And my mom was like, she’s 13.
Dr. Barrett: How old were you? Oh my god.
Nicol Concilio: Like, leave her alone. And then, right then in there, I kind of knew in my mind, I was like, I gotta get rid of these things. And that was 13. And now I'm 26.
Dr. Barrett: Oh my gosh.
Nicol Concilio: So that's a long time of having these bad boys.
Dr. Barrett: Well, yeah, they're gone now.
Nicol Concilio: They're gone now. Yeah. RIP.
41:26 DO YOUR RESEARCH
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. Well, yeah, I mean, I think that's great advice. You know, it’s a lot, I think that, you know, my advice, and you can listen to the solo episode is, is do your research.
Nicol Concilio: Absolutely.
Dr. Barrett: Find a local board-certified plastic surgeon or if there's nobody local…
Nicol Concilio: Or go to Dr. Barrett.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, we, we have people that fly out all the time. You just go...
Nicol Concilio: Oh that's so cool.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, from all across the world, actually.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Do your research. Look at, look at their doctor’s reviews online. Yelp is really big here in Los Angeles and they don't lie. You can't really get rid of bad reviews.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And so, you know, I've got, I'm very blessed with very positive patients that shared their experiences.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: And then look at their before and afters. And, and look and see, hey, is this the kind of aesthetic I'm looking for? Do they do the lollipop technique versus the anchor pattern? You know, those are, those are some things with breast reduction specifically that I think are really important.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, I feel like I didn't even really do as much research as I should have.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: And I totally just trusted you. Just based off of, like, everything about you.
Dr. Barrett: How did you find me by the way?
42:21 HOW NICOL FOUND DR. BARRETT
Nicol Concilio: I found you. Well, I had followed you a while ago before, like, other influencers had even come to you.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: And I was, like, wow, this guy looks like he knows what he's doing.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: And I knew I was going to have to eventually get a reduction. So I just, like, always kind of kept you on the back of my mind and like, all that stuff. And then recently, like, back in July, I think I messaged your Instagram and I was, like, I gotta just do this. I can't do it anymore. It was, like, really hot one day in the valley. And I was sitting out by the pool and I was, like, I can't have these anymore.
Dr. Barrett: Thank god for global warming.
Nicol Concilio: No, but seriously, like, your work speaks for itself and I cannot even say enough how grateful I am for your surgery and how well you guys have taken care of me. And just you're, you're amazing. You really are and you're a Leo, and I know Leo's are really good with, like, knives and stuff which is, like, weird to, like, say but…
Dr. Barrett: Yeah.
Nicol Concilio: Aren't you, like, a triple Leo?
43:18 DR. BARRETT IS A LEO
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, like, third house of...
Nicol Concilio: You’re, like, the Leoest Leo that could ever Leo.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, you can’t get anymore, it’s, like, got all the houses aligned for my Leo. So yeah...
Nicol Concilio: I'm a fire sign too. I'm a so, Sagittarius and Leo’s are both fire signs.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. So it’s just, lots of energy and...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:...and, and directed towards helping people. And so, that's what I'm really passionate about.
Nicol Concilio: And I'm telling you guys, if you decide to come to Dr. Barrett, you will be so happy. You will be so happy and so, just, thrilled. And the office is beautiful, too.
Dr. Barrett: Well, thank you. Yeah, we, we’re, I mean, we get really excited, the whole team here we're like...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, everyone here is amazing.
Dr. Barrett: It, it’s not just because you're an influencer. We, honestly, we treat everybody the same.
Nicol Concilio: No, I know, I know. I see it.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah. I call, I call a lot of my patients on the weekend and, or at nighttime and it’s, they're not influencers and it's, we treat everybody the same. And we genuinely care about people. I mean, we’re taking body, people's lives in our hands.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, absolutely.
Dr. Barrett: And their bodies. And it's just, like, when I first opened my practice, I told myself, I said, you know, we're not selling used cars.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: At work, you know, it's...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah
Dr. Barrett:...like, we're here to improve people's bodies. And these are people's bodies, and they have to live with the results and the, and the things that we do every single day. So I was like, look, I'm just gonna take as much time as I can, and get the results as best I can, and, and, kind of, walk them through the process and make the whole thing easy. Because...
Nicol Concilio: Absolutely.
Dr. Barrett: That's, I mean, that's what I would want. And...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:...so it's like the golden rule. You know, you try to treat other people how you'd want to be treated. So...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah. And you're like the coolest doctor. Not every doctor I meet is, like, you know, personable and, like, outgoing and, like, comforts well. So you're really good at that as well.
Dr. Barrett: Thanks. I try to, you know, all my friends, and when I was in college, they would go to study in the library and I would, I would really try and study too. But then I’d also try to have friends and do fun stuff, you know? And I think that, kind of, benefited me and that I can, kind of, you know, I, kind of, developed communication skils.
Nicol Concilio: Right? Of course.
Dr. Barrett: Versus, like, being in a book all the time.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah, yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Which is great. You gotta study the books too.
Nicol Concilio: No absolutely. But I'm a very, like, outgoing person and, like ,very loud person. So I always look for people that, kind of, match my energy. And when I first met you, I was like, oh, cool, he knows how to talk. We're good. You know?
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, no, absolutely. It says, you gotta have a…that's the other thing about finding a good plastic surgeon is…
Nicol Concilio: You gotta vibe with them.
Dr. Barrett: You gotta have a good vibe. You gotta be on the same page.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: You know, it’s, like, are we on the same page in terms of, like, what my expectations are, what my goals are? Because if you're not, like, he could be the best surgeon, or she could be the best surgeon in the world, but you're not gonna get the result that you want.
Nicol Concilio: Right. Right.
Dr. Barrett: Because you guys are having a miscommunication. So...
Nicol Concilio: Yeah.
Dr. Barrett: Really important.
Nicol Concilio: Definitely.
Dr. Barrett: Good. Well, Nicol, anything else you want to add or tell people about breast reduction or plastic surgery or...
45:55 NICOL CAN’T WAIT TO GET BACK TO THE GYM
Nicol Concilio: I mean, I just can't wait to, like, put these puppies to the test, and really go hard in the gym, you know? I just can't wait.
Dr. Barrett: Well, they're not a muscles, you know, they’re just breasts...
Nicol Concilio: I know, but, like, just running and doing more, like, cardio, because that was something that I wasn't really able to do very much. And just, just because it hurt, you know, it didn't feel good. And I just can't wait to do that. And I'm just so excited. Like, I, I just, I can't even explain how happy I am from the surgery.
Dr. Barrett: Amazing. Well, Nicol, we, I mean, I'm truly grateful to have you as a patient.
Nicol Concilio: Oh, I'm grateful.
Dr. Barrett: Yeah, you're so amazing. And thank you for being here. Thank you for being on the podcast.
Nicol Concilio: Yeah thank you for having me. It was so fun. You guys have to follow Dr. Barrett. He's amazing. And if you're looking for a good doctor in the Los Angeles area, or even if you're in New York or across the country, I highly recommend him. He is so amazing and his work speaks for itself on his Instagram.
Dr. Barrett: Nicol, thank you so much.
Nicol Concilio: You’re welcome.
Dr. Barrett: You guys, don't forget to follow Nicol. She has really, I've been following her recently, and I’m just thrilled by her stories. Nicol Concilio on Instagram. Okay, thanks so much.
Nicol Concilio: Thank you.
Dr. Barrett: You're welcome.
Thank you for tuning into our podcast. If you liked today's podcast, don't forget to share rate, review and subscribe. Join us every Monday at 10 am for upcoming episodes. Also, find out if plastic surgery is right for you by using our virtual consultation at DrDanielBarrett.com/virtual-consultation. See you soon.
Here’s the link to the episode discussed in this podcast: Everything You Need to Know About Breast Reduction.