Dr. Steven Harris
Plastic Surgery
Washington, DC
39 years experience male
Locations
Office
About
SpecialtiesDoctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.
Doctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.
Plastic Surgery
Cosmetic Surgery
Languages spoken
English
Doctor Q&A
193 Answers
22 Agrees
The number of answers this doctor has agreed with.
A 40-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Scary thought!: Any laser powerful enough to help would be powerful enough to hurt you, especially your eyes! leave this to a licensed professional! (it really does w... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Tummy tuck?: Some tightening of skin will occur naturally after weight loss or pregnancy; in younger patients more than in older patients. If this is not enough, t... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 30-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Yes!: Any changing mole needs checking. It could save your life.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Open sores: True diabetic ulcers occur on the shins, usually. Often, people refer to neuropathic ulcers as "diabetic ulcers." these occur on the weight-bearing ar... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 49-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Surgical excision: Only one way is known and that is surgical removal of the excess skin. Many areas can be treated, but not all at once. Typically, we begin with the ar... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Absolutely!: It shrinks the blood vessels in the septum which slowly melts away allowing the bridge to collapse, essentially destroying the shape of the nose and t... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Lung reinflation: Chest tubes are inserted to reinflate the lung after surgery or injury has caused them to deflate. They can also be used to drain fluid or pus from ar... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years agoMerged
A female asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
IV there?: It is hard to be sure without examining you, but if I had to guess, I would say it is a little bit of leftover damage following placement of an IV or ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
610 viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
"picker's nodules": These are inflamed bumps that are the result of a vicious cycle: they itch or burn and the patient scratches or picks at them and this causes more itc... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 29-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Skin lump, infection: A sebaceous cyst is a firm round nodule deep in the skin which results from accumulated oil (or sebum). This is usually due to a minor injury to the s... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 18-year-old male asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Moist is better: For superficial wounds (burns/scrapes that don't go all the way through the skin) keeping the wound moist results in faster healing. Don't confuse "ti... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 29-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Needs good exam: This "wound" should be evaluated promptly by someone with experience in treating leg ulcers. It may be a skin cancer (easily cured by simple surgery),... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 25-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Good helmet lesson!: Unsightly only, not contagious! caused by injuries to ears, usually when not wearing head gear, during wrestling or boxing. Not caused by bike or skat... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Couldn't hurt: Obtaining more than one surgeon's opinion can be helpful in difficult or unusual cases, or if the first sugeon's opinion does not make sense to you. G... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 48-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Probably not: I would not expect much improvement with this product.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 44-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Definitely!: Facelifts ( not mini-facelifts) usually include lifting the neck so as to tighten and smooth neck muscle and skin. Prominent "cords" (platysma muscle ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Yes: The goal of the surgeon is to leave them in inconspicuous areas and to try to make them as short and narrow as possible, with no suture marks (dots on... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Texture: Actinic keratoses, which are pre-malignant skin lesions caused by exposure to ultraviolet light (sun or tanning bed) , have a characteristic "scratchy... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Absolutely: Unfortunately, the only other way involves traditional weight loss by getting the patient to exercise to burn more calories than the patient is taking... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 29-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Surgical removal: The excess skin can be removed from the face and neck, breasts, arms, abdomen, buttocks and thighs. How many of these areas can be safely addressed at... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 20-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
No: Sorry, but, to my knowledge, there is no way to prevent breast growth other than maintaining your normal weight. Breast reduction surgery may be an op... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 39-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
No, but: Are you asking if insurance will pay for a tummy tuck at a certain bmi? If so the answer is definitely "no." insurance never pays for a tummy tuck. If... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Varies enormously!: In my opinion, the best candidates for facelifts look older than their chronological age (40 years old, but look 50, for example). The next best candi... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6.1k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Silvadene (silver sulfadiazine) cream: This has been used since at least the 1940's and works very, very well. Apply it once a day after washing the area gently with soap and water, and app... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Maybe: Without knowing more about the wound, it is very difficult to say with certainty. Often, white tissue in the base of a wound is slough, which is dead ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 34-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Sun, bad luck: Melanoma can result from exposure to ultraviolet light (sun, tanning beds) or from spontaneous conversion of a long-standing mole. Rarely, people get ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Yes: Yes, under the microscope. Unfortunately, eye melanoma is often not discovered as early and the results of treatment may not be as good in this locati... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 27-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Usually not: This is the major reason we try to get women to wait until their family is complete to undergo breast reduction. Some times this is not possible, as t... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 27-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Yes, temporarily: Often, nipple sensitivity is increased initially. This can be way too much, at first. Within few weeks, this subsides toward normal. Unfortunately, br... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A female asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Of course not: Not sure what you mean by "total numbness," but long lasting numbness of the central area of your abdomen just above the incision is normal. Hard to u... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
849 viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
For the right reason: Certainly it is "OK," if done on the right patient by the right doctor for the right reasons! The right patients are mature (not old) and have thought... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 51-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Depth!: Dermaplaning: scraping the skin with a scalpel blade held perpendicular to the skin so as to remove dead layers only. Microdermabrasion: a rotating bu... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
"minor"=self-healing: Obviously, the important word here is "minor." whoever told you the fractures were "minor" would be the best person to answer this question, as they h... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 44-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Type of cancer?: 3 common types: basal cell, squamous cell and melanoma. No one would recommend ignoring melanoma. Squamous cell can spread to lymph nodes and beyond s... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 52-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Not true!: For centuries some "children and adults did ok…". The rest died horrible deaths of tetanus or lost limbs to terrible infections. As long as y... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Least serious skin c: Basal cell cancer (bcc) is a very common type of skin cancer which is usually caused by sun exposure. There are several kinds, all of which are cured ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 47-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Massage / revision: I would begin with aggressive massage using cocoa butter or mederma. If twice a day massage over a month or two does not improve the scar enough to su... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Usually: There are exceptions, but not many. Welders get them under the chin, for example, where the uv light thrown off by the torch strikes unprotected skin.... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 28-year-old male asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Certainly, but why?: A pretty good study has shown them to be equivalently effective, so why use both? Save your money and just use the vitamin e.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 52-year-old male asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Electrodessication: In my experience, these clumps of overactive oil glands are best treated with electrodessication. The area is numbed with local anesthetic and then th... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Abdominoplasty!: The only real answer here (after triplets) is abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). This can remove the extra skin, but more importantly, repair the stretched ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 50-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Stop smiling :): You can't "get rid" of them but you can improve them. Avoid U.V. light and tobacco. Use prouducts that gently peel the skin, like Retin A (tretinoin).... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Help her stay off it: Hard to cover in 400 letters! stay off sore (no sitting, if true tail bone; no lying on back if at sacrum (top of "crack")) good nutrition, with incre... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Cool compresses: First degree burns are like sunburns. The skin is red but there are no blisters. Cool compresses are all that is needed. Second degree burns have blis... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 47-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Depends on depth!: Wounds need evaluation and repair if they go all the way through the skin and are of any significant length. If the yellow fat is showing or you can't... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.1k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Sun and smoking: The three likeliest causes are too much sun (or tanning bed), smoking or other tobacco use, and overactive forehead muscles (the ones that raise your ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 39-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Fairly: The diaphragm, itself, can be injured without deadly consequences. However, since it is located literally in the center of the body, (immediately next... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.1k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 22-year-old female asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
After wound healing: Sometimes, after stitches are removed the wound is still not healed completely. If there are scabs or any drainage, apply Bacitracin ointment or vasel... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.1k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 21-year-old male asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
No and yes.: "Tags" under the tongue are not normal and certainly could be a sign of human papilloma virus infection. An oral surgeon can inject one or two with lo... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.1k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 44-year-old member asked:

Dr. Steven Harrisanswered
Plastic Surgery 39 years experience
Surgery!: I am going to assume you mean the organ "stomach" and not just the area of the body "stomach." A gunshot wound to the stomach would be repaired in the... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
TestimonialsRecommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.
Recommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.
4
Recommendations
298
Thank you notes
HealthTap member
Mar 8, 2012
been trying to figure out what degree of bur is it for a while. this guy just answered in the first sentance
HealthTap member
Mar 30, 2015
Dr. Harris is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
Mar 31, 2015
Dr. Harris is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
Your answer was very helpful! Thanks :) thank you very much, you made things so much easier to understand.
HealthTap member
it popped open yesterday (5days after). no redness,nothing. i guess everything is ok:). thanks buddy
HealthTap member
Thank you, your answer was very helpful! Thank you I will if it doesn't get better
Education & Training
Medical/Graduate school
Duke University School of Medicine, NC
Graduated 1984MD
Awards
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