Considering CoolSculpting? Don't just take what you read on the internet as gospel. Hear from a real live patient! In the podcast below, you'll hear from Nancy, a CoolSculpting patient that was very skeptical but now a true believer!

Nancy discusses how she was bothered with her lower abdomen and flanks and didn't really want liposuction. So she decided to try CoolSculpting and since she was so pleased with the results, got a second round of treatment to her upper abdomen. Now she feels like her abdomen is flatter and smoother without any ripples that may occur with liposuction.

While not everyone will have the same doctor or recovery, her insights are very helpful. She was very pleased with the "natural" improvement in her contours over 6 weeks even though she could see the results as early as 3 weeks. Listen below to her experience in this installment of our POP podcast series.

To check pricing on CoolSculpting from a doctor near you, click here. And to see the show notes for this podcast, click here.

Listen to more of the BuildMyBod Health Podcast by clicking here. And if you have an interesting story to tell and want to be a part of the BuildMyBod Health podcast, email us at pr@buildmybod.com

After seeing a patient for one procedure or another and after going through all of the details, they often ask to speak to a patient that went through the same journey. Breast augmentation is no different. Finding a former breast augmentation patient to speak to a new patient is not difficult. But you do worry it's an inconvenient request for your former patient. That's no longer a concern...introducing podcasts with former patients to educate future patients!

In this BuildMyBod Health podcast, we speak with a former breast augmentation patient, "Janet." Patients can hear about her concerns and goals for breast augmentation. She discusses the night before surgery and the last thing she remembers before "going under!"

While not everyone will have the same doctor or recovery, her insights are very helpful. A few pearls of wisdom are to do your research and don't price shop and most importantly, don't go too big! Listen to this interview with a breast augmentation patient on the BuildMyBod Health podcast.

To check pricing on a breast augmentation from a doctor near you, click here.

Listen to more of the BuildMyBod Health Podcast by clicking here. And if you have an interesting story to tell and want to be a part of the BuildMyBod Health podcast, email us at pr@buildmybod.com

Photography isn't just for selfies! A very interesting field within photography is medical photography and of personal interest to me is the before and after photos of cosmetic surgery patients. It's not a matter of just pointing and shooting.

Before and after photos, to get them right, takes real skill. In this episode of the BuildMyBod Health podcast, we speak to Pat Shoda, a professional photographer with the Cleveland Clinic. She details the important aspects of taking good before and after photos and why it's so important.

For example, if you're doing a lower eyelid operation to fix the dark circles, you can't have before and after photos with a flash because this can camouflage the extent of the dark circles. Similarly, you want to avoid the flash during the 'before' photo and a flash for the 'after' photo because you can't be sure what has improved the dark circles - surgery or the flash.

This is important to plastic surgeons to practice their skill well but it's important for the consumer as well so they are informed, discerning individuals when evaluating the quality of a surgeon's work on their website.

Pat has been at the Cleveland Clinic for over 30 years and is a wealth of knowledge. Check out the podcast below for pearls of wisdom regarding medical photography but also vacation photography!

For more information or questions about photography, you can find Pat Shoda on LinkedIn - just search Pat Shoda. Or send her a message through the comments sections on our show notes page at www.buildmybod.com/blog.

Listen to more of the BuildMyBod Health Podcast by clicking here. And if you have an interesting story to tell and want to be a part of the BuildMyBod Health podcast, email us at pr@buildmybod.com

Do you know anyone with Bell's Palsy? It's an unusual question but this sudden onset of paralysis/droop to one side of the face affects 40,000 Americans every year. It's believed to be caused by the same herpes virus that causes a cold sore.

In 85% of patients that get Bell's Palsy, the facial paralysis will resolve on its own without any treatment within three months. The other 15% will have lingering nerve issues and asymmetry to the face. And that's where Jackie Diels come in! In our podcast with Jackie, an occupational therapist, she discusses how she treats patients with synkinesis, an abnormal rewiring of the facial muscles after Bell's Palsy.

Hear how she teaches patients to "turn off" the abnormal movements through facial retraining. She sees most of her patients via Skype these days because people seek her out for help from across the country. After listening to her in this podcast, you'll understand why she's so popular. Through the use of metaphors and analogies, she has an incredibly clear way of teaching the patient how to improve their facial symmetry and smile.

For more information or questions about Bell's Palsy or facial retraining, email Jackie at jackiediels@facialretraining.com or send her a message through the comments sections on our show notes page at www.buildmybod.com/blog.

Listen to more of the BuildMyBod Health Podcast by clicking here. And if you have an interesting story to tell and want to be a part of the BuildMyBod Health podcast, email us at pr@buildmybod.com

Have you ever wondered how children cope with being in a hospital due to their own illness or because of a parent's sickness? Coming out of an emotionally and possibly physically traumatic experience relatively unscathed is due to the work of a child life specialist. Our guest today on the BuildMyBod Health podcast, Rakhi Kreymerman, is a child life specialist that has worked at Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Rakhi moved to the US from India when she was 12 years old. I challenge you to hear an accent in her voice! In her interview, she discusses her path to choosing and becoming a child life specialist due to experiences in her own life.

Hear her stories of difficult situations between patients and parents. For example, how do you handle a situation wherein the child is dying but the parent requests that you don't tell them? It's not an easy answer. While many of the cases that she worked on may be the typical "bread and butter" situations, she accepted the challenge of working with kids with illness or grieving over a sick parent.

Not to rest for even a second, Rakhi has moved on to becoming a certified children's yoga instructor. Don't think being a child life specialist and a yoga instructor have anything in common? Listen to the podcast below and the connection will become very clear.

Check out this photo of Rakhi teaching children's yoga in North Carolina! For more information, email her at kidsyoganc@gmail.com or send her a message through the comments sections on www.buildmybod.com/blog.

Listen to more of the BuildMyBod Health Podcast by clicking here. And if you have an interesting story to tell and want to be a part of the BuildMyBod Health podcast, email us at pr@buildmybod.com

In this BuildMyBod Health podcast, we talk to the President of the Medical Tourism Association (MTA), Renee-Marie Stephano. She was first exposed to medical tourism while working for a company in 2004 that provided destination healthcare. From there, she saw a need to better connect consumers and healthcare providers in other countries. Thus, the birth of the trade organization, the Medical Tourism Association!

She discusses the importance of accreditation for facilities and providers alike in other countries. While they don't get involved in the actual care of the patient, they do assist the consumer in finding the best fit for their needs. They encourage the potential patient to find a board certified doctor that received their US or European certification regardless of what country they're practicing in now.

The conversation gets a little heated during the discussion regarding follow up care for the patient when they return to their country of origin. Dr. Kaplan and Renee disagree on the extent of the problem patients have when a complication occurs upon their return home. A healthy disagreement makes for a better, more entertaining conversation!

While many stakeholders in the US are fearful of medical tourism for financial and safety reasons, the Medical Tourism Association (MTA) is trying to connect consumers to accredited healthcare facilities and providers throughout the world. In other words, medical tourism is here to stay...and while it may have been the wild west in the past, the MTA is bringing civility to the industry.

Read Dr. Kaplan's article on lead generation for medical tourism websites that was published on the MTA site here. And of course, listen to the podcast below featuring Renee-Marie Stephano, President of the Medical Tourism Association.

Listen to more of the BuildMyBod Health Podcast by clicking here. For more information on the Medical Tourism Association, click here.

Famous and skin care don't always mix but when it comes to the creators of Proactiv and Rodan + Fields, Drs. Kathy Fields and Kate Rodan are as famous as they come! In this BuildMyBod Health podcast, we talk to Dr. Kathy Fields, and what a great conversation it is.

They didn't start out being successful but over five years, they created Proactiv and brought it to market. You'll hear how Drs. Rodan and Fields met, why they developed a product for acne and what made Proactiv unique.

After the success of Proactiv, the two dermatologists moved on to the treatment of a wider spectrum of skincare issues with the Rodan + Fields prestige skincare line. In addition to acne, the Rodan + Fields family of products treats all aspects of anti-aging. Dr. Fields tells their story of resilience, rebirth and commitment to a product they believed in.

Enjoy a conversation with Dr. Kathy Fields on the BuildMyBod Health podcast below.

For more information, check out their website here and contact a Rodan + Fields consultant to order your products here! From treating puffy lower eyelids while you sleep to   the reduction of wrinkles, Rodan + Fields has it all.

Listen to more of the BuildMyBod Health Podcast by clicking here.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Kasey Baldwin Thompson, a nurse practitioner in Rayville, Louisiana. She's married to one of our previous guests, Addison Thompson. You can hear his interview on the BuildMyBod Health podcast here. But Kasey is her own person and very accomplished in her own right.

Not only has she gone through the rigorous training to become a nurse practitioner, she's evolved into an unlikely role of IT (information technology) expert as part of her job in Delhi, Louisiana! It wasn't part of her original plan but it just shows how when you're smart, you can acclimate to any role.

Aside from her professional responsibilities, she's also a mother of two. It's especially sweet to hear her talk about how delayed she is on her way to work in the morning because she can't quit kissing her kids goodbye! But maybe the only thing harder than raising two children with her husband is implementing ICD-10 into the electronic documentation system at work! Listen to the podcast below to understand what she's up against!

Listen to more of the BuildMyBod Health Podcast by clicking here.