Patient Info

Yes, the cost is $50 and that is applied towards the cost of any surgery Dr. Wilder does for you. He does a very comprehensive consultation.

A consultation with Dr. Wilder includes a physical exam, where he will give you a lot of information! He will tell you if you are a good candidate, give you pros and cons of any procedure you are considering and answer any questions you may have. Pictures will be taken and then you will visit with our Patient Coordinator to go over the fee quote and answer any other questions you might have. If you would like to schedule your surgery, she will have the surgery schedule ready to accommodate you.

Usually, we say to allow an hour. This could run a little longer if you decide to go ahead and schedule your surgery while you are here.

Absolutely! Bringing your significant other is very helpful. You will be getting a lot of information and if they are with you to hear that information firsthand, it is much easier to plan. It is more difficult to go home and explain everything to someone that was not present. A good friend is another option! Two sets of ears are always better than one. Others may think of questions that you don’t.

If time allows, we will mail you paperwork for you to fill out and bring to the consultation with you. If time does not allow for you to receive the paperwork, or if you simply prefer to download it, you may go to drwilder.com and click on “Our Practice” and then “Patient Forms”. Filling the forms out ahead of time and bringing them to the consultation makes the time allotted for you go much smoother and efficiently.

Yes. His clinic days are all day on Tuesdays and Wednesday mornings.

Yes, his surgery days are all day on Monday and Thursday as well as Wednesday afternoons.

That depends on the time of the year. The most popular months of the year for any cosmetic surgeon are November, December and January. For that reason, those surgery dates fill up in advance. Other times of the year, it could be as little as a couple of weeks.

Many patients do that even before they come for a consultation if they are certain that they want to move forward with our practice. To hold a surgery date, a patient must give a $200 non-refundable deposit, which is applied to Dr. Wilder’s fee.

We do not offer “in office financing” but there are 2 options we offer. The first one is Care Credit. We take Care Credit for Dr. Wilder’s portion, but the surgery center does not. Therefore, if you use Care Credit, you’d need to come up with the rest of the cost of the surgery another way. The second option we offer is Prosper Healthcare Lending. You can finance the entire amount minus the deposit. They would deposit that amount into your bank account and you then would disperse where you need to.

In most instances we can give you an estimate for surgery. If it is a combination of procedures, we can give what each is separately, but want you to know that Dr. Wilder will give a discount on his fee for additional procedures so the cost will be less once he sees you and knows exactly what to quote. Also, there are procedures such as a tummy tuck that are not “straight forward”. There are several types of tummy tucks and Dr. Wilder would need to examine you to determine what type you would best benefit from to know exactly what to quote you. In the case of liposuction, many offices quote this procedure by the body part, but Dr. Wilder feels that it is more fair to his patients for him to quote by time. When he examines you, he will be able to estimate the time he would need in the operating room and we quote accordingly.

That totally depends on the patient. Many do and we encourage that! You want to make sure that you are with the surgeon you feel the most comfortable with as well as their staff. We are blessed with an established practice that has patients who refer their family and friends to Dr. Wilder and feel very strongly that he is the only surgeon to go to. For that reason, many of our consultations come only to us and go ahead and schedule. Again, it is an individual decision and there is no right or wrong answer.

The term “recovery” is tricky. For most of our procedures, you will have a 3-week restriction of not raising your blood pressure or heart rate and no lifting greater than 10 pounds. However, that doesn’t mean that you are “down’” for 3 weeks. For instance, many of our procedures are done on a Thursday and the patient is back to work or normal life by Monday. A full tummy tuck with muscle involvement would double that 3 weeks of restrictions to 6 weeks.

Most of our surgery cases are done at Westlake Hills Surgery Center. They are located right next door to APSI. Dr. Wilder has credentials at Westlake Medical Center, Arise, Bailey Square as well as the larger hospitals like Seton and St. David’s.

Yes, we use Elite Suites for our overnight stay patients. Facelifts, Tummy Tucks and any surgery cases that are longer than 4 ½ hours stay there. Elite Suites is located off Cuernavaca, about 6 miles from our office and the surgery center. They transport the patient there after the surgery and when the patient stays 2 nights, they include transportation back to our office for their post-op visit.

Well, he trained with one of the surgeons that invented the breast implant and for that reason, he does do a lot of breast procedures and enjoys those. However, he would be bored if that was all he did. He really enjoys doing Rhinoplasty. He has also developed quite a following for any of his facial procedures, whether that be a Blepharoplasty (eyelid lift) or a Facelift due to his results looking so natural. He enjoys combination body procedures, or “mommy makeovers”, that usually includes a tummy tuck with a breast surgery and sometimes liposuction.

Dr. Wilder typically prefers to use a smooth, round silicone gel implant by Mentor. Although our office offers both silicone and saline implants, Dr. Wilder feels that the silicone implant is by far more superior. The silicone implant is engineered to look and feel more like breast tissue. Dr. Wilder does not use the “gummy bear” implants because of how firm they feel and for quite some time they only came as a textured implant, which has recently been the subject of a study, regarding a rare type of Lymphoma.

Dr. Wilder prefers that the size selection process be done with clinical photos, (that we will provide to you) where you will select one you like how the look in the “after” photo and then bookends, one that is slightly “too small” and one that is slightly “too large”. These will be reviewed and finalized at your pre-op appointment, which is typically two weeks prior to your surgery.

The FDA requires that you be at least 22 years old to be qualified to receive silicone gel implants. There are certain situations that someone who is younger than 22 years of old could qualify. Until that age, a patient would only be able to receive saline implants if they do not qualify. At the patient’s consultation, Dr. Wilder would determine if a patient qualifies for the silicone gel implants.

The manufacturer of the implants states that a patient should expect the implants to last eight to ten years. That being said, Dr. Wilder’s philosophy is that the only reason to change implants is if you are having an issue. The reasons that we see patients changing their implants are:

1. Weight changes that can change breast volume (causing a patient to desire smaller or larger breasts).
2. Capsular Contraction (if the scar capsule around the implant tightens which makes it look and feel hard).
3. Deflation of a saline implant (will deflate like a tire and go flat).
4. Progressive sagging or drooping, detracting from the appearance.

DISCLAIMER: We frequently get calls that a patient has a silicone gel implant, it has ruptured, and they have been told it needs to be replaced. That is not necessarily true. The first step would be to come in for a consultation and discuss your options.

That depends totally on the procedure. For straight forward breast surgery, Dr. Wilder does not use drains. For abdominoplasty (tummy tucks), there are drains that usually remain for seven days. Facelifts require drains for one to two days before they are removed.

Unfortunately, we are not on any insurance list. If you are doing a procedure such as a breast reduction or upper blepharoplasty (eyelid lift), and you think your insurance might cover it, we recommend that you first contact your insurance company to see if it is a “covered procedure”. If it is, then ask what the out of network deductible and co-insurance would be. We would be out of network. Based on that information, if you choose to still see Dr. Wilder, we will be happy to see you and can do a letter for you to turn in to your insurance company, and they would pay anything directly back to you. We only provide you with the letter. In the case of upper eyelids (blepharoplasty), most insurance companies will require that you see an Ophthalmologist to get a “field of vision” test done to confirm that the procedure is medically needed.

A facelift will normally last 6-10 years. Unfortunately, we cannot stop gravity.

The best time to do a facelift is when the sagging skin justifies it and before it is “too late.” Skin elasticity really deteriorates after age 65. It is very individual. The best thing to do is have a consultation if you think you are ready.

There is really not a “right age” for plastic surgery. Treatments such as otoplasty (pinning of ears), rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, and liposuction tend to be more common for younger patients, while older patients may be more likely to seek procedures such as an eyelid lift, browlift, or facelift.

Earning board certification is one of the many ways a surgeon can prove his or her skills and knowledge. Each certifying board has different requirements and measures a physician’s education and experience in their chosen fields. Dr. Wilder became board certified as a Diplomate of the American Board of Surgery (General Surgery) and a Diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

The doctor you choose should be certified by the “American Board of Plastic Surgery.” That is the only plastic/cosmetic “board” recognized by ABMS, the “American Board of Medical Specialties”.

Legally, any medical doctor is permitted to do any surgery. For example, there is not law that says an ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) doctor can’t perform a facelift. Board certification provides assurance that a doctor has undergone formal training in the fundamentals of surgery. A plastic surgeon cannot earn board certification without completing at least five to seven years of residency training.