Rib remodeling: Plastic surgery trend hitting the Valley

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - A Scottsdale plastic surgeon is one of the first to offer a new procedure called rib remodeling, and one Valley woman who got the procedure is speaking out about her experience. 

What we know:

"You're basically scoring it till you get through that cortex," Dr. Oren Tessler said.

Dr. Tessler at Defyne Plastic Surgery in Scottsdale described the new type of procedure he performed on her. Rib modeling is a plastic surgery trend that changes the shape of the ribs to create an hourglass waist.

"It's not a big deflection that is required, sometimes just a little deflection you can get 2 to 5 inches narrowing of the waist," Dr. Tessler said.

How It Works:

It starts with a small needle that leaves no scar.

"It uses high-frequency vibrations in order to be able to score that bone until there is enough ability to manually deflect it," Dr. Tessler said.

After the ribs are moved, the patient wakes up and wears a corset for at least two months while the ribs heal in their new position.

"You're not reducing their ability to protect you, you're not affecting your ability to breathe, it doesn't hurt anyone long term, it's just that little bit in the deflection has a huge difference in the aesthetic," Dr. Tessler said.

Local perspective:

The patient said she loves how she looks now, but the recovery is serious.

"It's painful, it really is. It's a procedure for somebody that's really 100% so focused on the outcome and what they're going to look like that they're just going to suck it up and deal with it," Adriena said.

Just a few months later, she's fully recovered.

What Experts Are Saying:

"It's big psychologically and it's big psychically to put your body through something like that," psychotherapist and author Lesley Koeppel said.

Koeppel said in a world of social media and so-called looksmaxxing, she would want to know the reason why a patient wants the procedure.

"You have to think about the psychological and emotional factors that should be thoughtfully considered before you go through something like that," Koeppel said.

Dr. Tessler said it's safe, and despite a big public reaction, he said it's a rather straightforward procedure.

"It's no different than someone who had a rib fracture or bad rib bruise from a sporting event, in fact this is more controlled," Dr. Tessler said.

Dig deeper:

It's that big online reaction that makes this patient want to conceal her true identity, but she said the before and after results speak for themselves.

"I feel completely normal, completely fine, my waist is just smaller," Adriena said. "If you have the means to do it and you have something that's bothering you and you want to fix it and make it better, why not? Why not? Just let people live their lives and let people do what they want to do and I'm happy, I'm super happy.'

What's next:

Dr. Tessler said they're working to speed up the recovery time so it doesn't take two to three months by using tools to heal the bones quicker.