Artisan Aesthetics Plastic Surgery & Laser Center Celebrates Eight Years!

An artisan is defined as a worker in a skilled trade, especially one whose craft involves making things by hand, which is fitting for Artisan Aesthetics Plastic Surgery & Laser Center in Tampa Palms, where Stan Castor, M.D., carefully hand-crafts your image by combining his years of expertise and the latest in technology.

Located in the Tampa Palms Professional Center off of Commerce Park Blvd. in Tampa Palms (north of USAA Insurance), Artisan Aesthetics was founded by Dr. Castor in 2007, after he left the practice he previously worked for in Lakeland.

He actually has been practicing plastic surgery in the Tampa Bay area for the past 16 years and offers facial cosmetic surgery, breast augmentation, body contouring surgery, liposuction, laser treatments, dermal fillers, facial treatments and peels, cellulite reductions and the recently popular “mommy makeover.”

“When I left Lakeland and moved to Tampa, I looked for the area where there was the least amount of plastic surgeons,” Dr. Castor explains. “It ended up being the Tampa Palms, New Tampa and Wesley Chapel area.”

Dr. Castor explains that the number of plastic surgeons was very saturated near South Tampa, Downtown and the Westchase area, but at the time there were only two plastic surgeons in New Tampa. “Northern Hillsborough was the fastest growing area of the county, so I thought that would be the best area to get a practice up and running,” he says.

A Zephyrhills native, Dr. Castor graduated Cum Laude from Florida Southern College in Lakeland with a B.S. degree in Biology in 1987 and earned his M.D. degree from the prestigious University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia in 1992. He completed a five-year internship and residency in General Surgery at Emory University Hospitals in Atlanta, GA, in 1997, before taking on two years of intensive training in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at the renowned Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, OH, which he finished in 1999. That same year, he also completed a cosmetic surgery fellowship with world-renowned plastic surgeons, Drs. Thomas J. Baker and James M. Stuzin in Miami, FL, a fellowship only offered to two plastic surgeons each year.

Dr. Castor is Board-certified in Plastic Surgery by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, the only plastic surgery board recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. He also is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

He says that the majority — about 90 percent — of his patients are female and that most of the men who come in to Artisan Aesthetics are looking for liposuction for their chest or abs.

“My three most common procedures for women are breast implants, liposuction and tummy tucks,” Dr. Castor says. “I do a lot of body cosmetic surgery, although I also do face lifts, eyelid lifts and some noses.”

However, what Dr. Castor says has become increasingly popular among his patients are combination procedures, such as the so-called “mommy makeover.” He explains that the procedure is tailored to women who are finished having children and want to alter the effects that childbearing has had upon their bodies.

“Many women, after they’re done having children, want their breasts lifted, their stretch marks reduced and some liposuction on their hips and sides,” Dr. Castor says, adding that the “Brazilian Butt Lift” cosmetic procedure also is very popular.

“It’s basically a fat transfer,” he says. “In that procedure, we take fat from where you don’t want it, such as the stomach or love handles, and move it into the buttocks to lift, enlarge and reshape it. It helps women who want more of a curvy figure.”

Combining Art & Technology

Dr. Castor also employs the latest in cosmetic procedure technology to help provide the best possible experience for his patients. For example, at Artisan Aesthetics, patients can take advantage of the GPSLipo® Laser LipoControl™ by Osyris, an FDA-approved body-shaping treatment for removing unwanted fat. Dr. Castor says GPSLipo®, which uses the LipoControl™ laser, is the safest and most precise laser lipo or liposuction procedure available for removing fat and tightening your skin.

He says the procedure uses thermal energy in the form of a heat-generating laser to actually liquefy unwanted body fat and then remove the liquid fat, all in one easy procedure, adding that the entire procedure can be done in one session on a number of different areas of the body, including the abdomen, waist (e.g., “love handles”), hips and thighs, buttocks, back of arms, knees, ankles and even under the chin.

In addition to removing unwanted fat, Dr. Castor says that the heat generated by the LipoControl™ laser causes the skin in the treated area to contract, resulting in firmer, smoother skin. He notes that this skin tightening actually continues to improve for a period of up to four months, depending upon the unique chemistry of each patient’s body.

Dr. Castor says he also uses the VASER LipoSelection®  liposuction procedure.

“VASER uses sound waves to melt fat so that patients aren’t bruised and swollen afterward,” Dr. Castor says. “These procedures liquefy the fat which then can be sucked out with a tube. It allows for a much quicker recovery time. The procedures are much more gentle than traditional liposuction and we are able to use a local anaesthetic. Since we don’t have to put patients to sleep, they don’t come out of the procedure groggy, there’s no additional risk and the procedure itself is less expensive.”

Over the years, Dr. Castor has built a reputation for himself through the work he’s done with his patients, so much so that the Consumer Research Council (a Washington D.C.-based research organization that provides guides to consumers about professionals in different industries) named him in the 2010 Guide to America’s Top Surgeons, and he has appeared in the Guide every year since.

One Artisan Aesthetics patient named Arrie credits Dr. Castor with providing a pleasant surgery experience when she had breast augmentation and liposuction done last January.

“My experience with these procedures was extremely pleasurable,” Arrie says. “Dr. Castor’s bedside manner was kind and pleasant. The surgery and follow-up appointments were nice and they made me feel like everyone cared about how my surgery turned out. My overall experience was wonderful. I would highly recommend Dr. Castor to everyone.”

Dr. Castor explains that Arrie isn’t alone in her feelings about the practice, because, at Artisan Aesthetics, “patients are never just numbers. Our office is not a factory,” he says. “I don’t use a nurse practitioner or a physician’s assistant for most procedures. Some doctors delegate care to assistants. Here, you’re going to see me, and only me.”

Artisan Aesthetics Plastic Surgery & Laser Center is located at 5383 Primrose Lake Cir. in Tampa Palms and is open Mon.-Fri., 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. For more info, please visit ArtisanPlasticSurgeryCenter.com or call 971-2000.