Locations
Office
Beverly Hills, CA
My office hours
Thursday: 9:00am - 5:00pm
Show moreInsurances accepted
Aetna
Anthem BlueCross BlueShield
Medicare
No Value
Tricare
UnitedHealthcare
Office
San Diego, CA
About
Bio
I grew up in Midwestern Ohio and attended Medical School in Ohio. I then studied general surgery and hand surgery prior to pursuing a career in plastic and reconstructive surgery. I was fortunate to train under one of the "founding fathers" of plastic surgery, Dr. Ian Jackson, prior to joining a multidisciplinary group in Los Angeles. I then assumed the practice of a retiring plastic surgeon in San Diego. The majority of my practice involves breast reconstruction, cosmetic surgery, and post bariatric body contouring. I also treat traumatic needs and hand injuries in the emergency department. I am committed to patient satisfaction. Most of our practice is driven by direct referral. We strive to treat others as though they were our own family.
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
Hand Surgery
Licenses
United States: California
Doctor Q&A
48 Answers
1 Agree
The number of answers this doctor has agreed with.
A male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Congrats : Congrats on the weight loss. This type of procedure is one of the fastest growing in plastic surgery. Pain largely depends on the region of skin tig... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Cheek : Cheek augmentation can indeed be performed without surgery. Cheek implants are used, but they can be complicated by extrusion or displacement. Fille... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 28-year-old male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
There : There are two common rhinoplasty approaches: open and closed. All surgeries leave scars. When well-performed, scars should be fine, imperceptible, ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
The : The suspected mechanisms of breast implant rupture are: damage during implantation, the chemical degradation of the implant’s shell, blunt chest tr... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
When : When considering a facelift, please see a board certified plastic surgeon. There are many good options. Some poor options include "skin-only" faceli... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 26-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Otitis externa: If you pull the tragus, and there is tenderness, this may imply an otitis externa infection. This may indicate swimmers ear. Swimmers ear is an infe... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.2k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Thumb pain is common: Thumb problems can be simple or complex. the joint at the base of the thumb is known as a saddle joint. The joint at the base of the thumb is commo... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 25-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Stretch marks: Hyperpigmentation is simply a sign of inflammation. In the setting of rapid weight gain that may be associated with pregnancy or simply weight gain, ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Tummy tuck surgery: Yes and no. If your navel demonstrates intertrigo (redness due to excess skin), then this surgery may help. If redness or infection is unrelated to ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsReviewed >2 years agoMerged
A 23-year-old male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Losing weight: Avoiding a tummy tuck with weight loss is possible. The younger you are, the more likely the skin will retract with weight loss. If you have not had... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Laser hair removal: Laser hair removal will more likely cause pain that itching. Pain is generally present with application of laser, however, it will quickly resolve. ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 31-year-old male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Hyperpigmentation: Dark spots from acne or other skin irritation are a manifestation of inflammation. These dark spots sometimes resolves when the inflammation or skin ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 19-year-old male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Pustule or carbuncle: This pimple is likely simply a pustule or carbuncle. It will likely resolve when pus is extruded. Simply keep your face clean. It helps to cleanse ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 18-year-old male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Scar improvement: Scar improvement can be achieved, but it takes patience. An overnight improvement is simply impossible. There is no clinical evidence to support Med... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Hidradenitis suppurativa: You may have hidradenitis suppurativa. This is a chronic infection affecting the apocrine sweat glands. Apocrine glands are found in the armpits, br... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 19-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Hand surgery: This is a complex question. Recovery depends on the surgery and the problem. Hand fractures require approximately 6 weeks for recovery. Tendons may... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 47-year-old member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Nevus excisiom: Moles are known as nevi to doctors. Nevi can be regular or irregular, and can rarely evolve into melanoma. These are often removed under local anest... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 38-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Sorry : Sorry about your issue here. I am not familiar with your medicaid policy. I do accept medicare here in california. It is ironic, though, that the g... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Most, : Most, if not all surgeries will leave a scar. This unfortunately includes the mini tummy tuck. A mini tummy tuck addresses fat and skin laxity below... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Endermologie : Endermologie has lost popularity among plastic surgeons because smoothing of cellulite is temporary. No fat is removed. Unfortunately, liposuction i... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 38-year-old male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Not : Not all tendon lacerations require surgery. I hope that your insurance status played no role in the care that you received. If a tendon is more than... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 28-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
There : There are a few options to fill the gluteal region. The most well known is a gluteal implant procedure. Gluteal implants are similar to breast impla... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
These : These two neurotoxins are very similar, but are different brands. Based upon my experience, Dysport takes action more immediately whereas Botox takes... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 32-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Swollen lymph nodes: Lymph nodes often swell in response to infection or inflammation. These gland may feel tender behind the ear or beneath the angle of the mandible. Y... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 31-year-old male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Healing wound: This abscess cavity will heal by "secondary intention". This means that the wound will heal on its own without stitches. Healing time depends upon t... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 18-year-old male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Weight loss: In my opinion, people often focus too much on diet supplements when considering weight loss. There is far too little emphasis on activity. Even a br... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 33-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Malar rash: Melasma is a very common patchy brown, tan, or blue-gray facial skin discoloration, usually seen in women in the reproductive years. It typically appe... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Cyst on nose: There is possibly a permanent solution to this problem. It is important to know the location and history of the cyst. If it a simply a sebaceous cys... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 39-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Subungual hematoma: When a nail is crushed or injured, sometimes a hematoma (blood collection) forms beneath the nail. This can cause pressure on the nail sterile or ger... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 16-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Skin infections: The skin infection cause depends upon where it is located. These infections can be related to recurrent staph aureus, or may be related to certain sw... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 63-year-old male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Sore skin: The issue you describe may be consistent with shingles. This rash tends to begin as pain in a dermatome. A dermatome is a region of the skin that is... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 48-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Ritalin (methylphenidate) : Ritalin side effects include:
nervousness and insomnia are the most common adverse reactions but are usually controlled by reducing dosage and omittin... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Breast : Breast behavior following explantation of implants depends on your age, skin elasticity, breast size, implant size, and length of time implants have b... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 28-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Sorry : Sorry it took so long to answer this question. The treatment options for this region depend largely on two things, skin tone and lipodystrophy (exces... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 28-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Swelling : Swelling following a major surgery can last for 6 or more months following surgery. I usually use 6 months as a cutoff. It is unusual for swelling t... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Numbness : Numbness and tingling can be caused by an array of issues. Long-standing diabetes can cause what is known as a polyneuropathy.This can cause numbness... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
You : You will likely receive occupational thereapy after your cast and hardware is removed. A great occupational therapist can really improve the long ter... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Preschool : Preschool age is roughly appropriate for otoplasty. Most surgeons wait until a child is at least 5. This is true for a few reasons
1. The psycholog... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 38-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Abdominoplasty: 3000 may not actually pay for a well executed tummy tuck. I think the lease expensive I have seen for a plastic surgeon to perform this surgery is in ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Dilators?: When you indicate stretching a piercing, it is assumed that you may be talking about dilators in your earlobes? or other regions? Skin around a stret... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 17-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Doctor thoughts: I wanted to become a doctor from childhood. When I grew up, a doctor was among the most respected of members in the community. I loved biology and wa... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Acne scarring: A scab is a natural band aid. Our instincts often drive us to remove a scab or "pick a scab". With time, if there is any blood or oozing, a scab wil... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Wound contimination: The diameter & depth of a wound help to gauge healing. Antifreeze & even motor oil in small wounds will not significantly impair healing. Ide... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 47-year-old member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Nasolabial folds: Nasolabial folds may be exaggerated in the morning by sleeping on your side or sleeping prone (on your abdomen).- The things that may help to improve... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 23-year-old female asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Hirsuitism: Female facial hair growth can be due to hormonal imbalance or other underlying issues, or it can be a simple variant of what is normal. It would be p... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 19-year-old male asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Deca durabolin: This anabolic steroid is generally illicitly used for muscle building. While it may be tempting to help build fast muscle, over the long run, this me... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.4k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 44-year-old member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
Scar revision: Generally, a hypertrophic (thick) scar is excised. This means that it is removed by cutting it out with a scalpel. The dermis (deep skin) this then ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
3.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A member asked:

Dr. Jason Hessanswered
Plastic Surgery 22 years experience
It : It is important to realize that Botox is not a permanent. I generally takes about 4 days for its effects to take action. It lasts for approximately ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.4k 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.
7
Recommendations
38
Thank you notes
Jan 4, 2015
I am very grateful for specialist like yourself! Sound advice priceless! Who said the best things in life aren't free?
Dr. Povilas Vitenas
Nov 27, 2012
Nov 27, 2012
HealthTap member
Thank you, your answer was very helpful! Thank you for helping me figure out what I am feeling.
HealthTap member
Thank you, your answer was very helpful! Really thorough and gave a concise view. Thank you.
HealthTap member
Thank you, your quick reply made me feel good!
Education & Training
Medical/Graduate school
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine
Graduated 2001MD
Awards
Medical Honor Society, Alpha Omega Alpha
Affiliations
American Medical Association
San Diego County Medical Society
California Medical Association
Publications
Vascular Anomalies in Children
Axillary osmidrosis in Apert syndrome: management with an arthroscopic shaver technique.
Post-traumatic osteomyelitis of the clavicle: A case report and review of literature.
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