Author: John Cotey

When a patient walks out of Bella MedSpa, one of owner Yvette Suarez, M.D.’s hopes is that no one can tell that the patient just walked out of a medspa.

She’d rather hear that her clients were complimented for having better skin, fewer wrinkles and a fresher look, maybe even mistaken for changing their hair color or benefiting from an extra few hours of sleep.

“It’s not, I know what you had done,’’ says Dr. Suarez, “because if they say that, it probably wasn’t a good job.”

Dr. Suarez says that everyone at Bella MedSpa (which is located next to Nutrition S’Mart on Bruce B. Downs Blvd., just south of S.R. 56 and the Shops at Wiregrass mall), takes great pride in being part of making their patients not only look better, but feel better, without using techniques that create harsh or jolting transformations.

While a plethora of services for one’s face and body, inside and out, are offered for men and women at Bella MedSpa, Suarez says her most popular services are non-surgical procedures performed with BOTOX and cosmetic dermal fillers, which help reduce lines and wrinkles. Dr. Suarez says it’s all about incremental improvements, via carefully prescribed programs designed to reverse many of the effects of aging.

“Who says now at the age of 40, you have to feel 80, when we have something to make us feel better?,” Dr. Suarez says. “Would you not want to feel like you were 30 again, when you’re 50? Most of us would.”

New Tampa’s Karen Mohn has been a Bella MedSpa client for more than five years, and has indulged in a number of services. She says she always appreciates the experience, starting with a staff she describes as warm and friendly, to the gentle touch of Dr. Suarez, who has produced a number of subtle changes that Mohn approves of, and — just as important — that no one else is struck by.

“I’m in a few ladies’ groups that meet monthly, and those who know I had something done always compliment me,’’ Mohn said. “But in general, those who don’t know will comment of how beautiful my skin looks, and ask how I keep it so nice.”

It’s simple, she says — “I take advantage of technology.”

Dr. Suarez and a staff of 13 help administer that technology at Bella MedSpa, which has roughly 11,000 clients, which speaks to the growing popularity of nonsurgical cosmetic enhancements. She began her practice in 2005, in the Summergate Professional Park behind Sam’s Club, before relocating Bella to its current location in 2011, because she needed more space.

As a child, Dr. Suarez says she always knew she’d be a doctor, because every time someone got hurt in the family, she was one doing the fixing up.

“I think I told my mother when I was in eighth grade that I was going to be a doctor when I grew up. That, or a pilot,’’ she says, laughing.

Either way, Dr. Suarez says she knew she wanted to do something to help people. She attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ,  and earned her M.D. degree in 2000 from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark.

She completed a residency program at the Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando. Since her residency, she worked for seven years as a Pediatric Emergency Physician in Tampa, four years as an Urgent Care Physician and six years as a Cosmetic Physician.

“I always loved orthodontics, I loved putting joints back in, loved putting in chest tubes, things that can make people feel better immediately,’’ Suarez said. “Fixing someone is the best thing.”

But, Suarez also says she was interested in a field that allowed her to spend more time with her patients, as well as more time with her husband, Bella MedSpa CEO David Singletary, and their children.

“Before, it was get them stable, get them treated, get them out,’’ Dr. Suarez says. “Here, you get to know them, they talk to you about all their problems. I find it very touching that you really have the time you don’t in most insurance-based practices. I’m blessed to have that luxury.”

Dr. Suarez says she never stopped learning, and is certified to provide all of the services available at Bella MedSpa. She is the regional instructor for a number of companies that make the products she uses, and also teaches other physicians the skills for Lipo Body Sculpting.

She says she has been training the past two years for Allergan, which lists BOTOX, Juvederm and Kybella among its many products, to train other physicians and practitioners so they can get certified, too.

Most common at Bella MedSpa are the injectables, such as BOTOX and dermal fillers. Because there are many varieties — for example, there are five different kinds of Juvederm — Dr. Suarez says it’s important to keep clients educated on which filler, and how much of it, is best for them.

“I’ve been to a place that used two syringes, or two vials, one on each side,’’ Mohn says. “All they cared about was selling the product.”

At Bella MedSpa, Mohn says one vial of the product was used, and it was carefully administered over a wider area. “Her staff is concerned and interested in you, and that’s more important to them than selling product.’’

It also helps patients avoid looking like Hollywood caricatures. While someone like Kylie Kardashian can drive in customers — “When she had her lips done, I think we had every young girl coming in wanting their lips done,” Dr. Suarez says — many clients want the exact opposite effect.

“I start slowly and work our way up instead of injecting tons of stuff right away, because I like a natural flow,’’ Dr. Suarez says. “They really like it as opposed to all at one time.”

Suarez says that Florida is one of the top states for injectables.

Vampire Facials?

Another recent trend, given a second life by the Kardashians, is a Vampire Facial, or facelift. It involves drawing a client’s blood and using a centrifuge to isolate the Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), which is then infused back into the skin to stimulate collagen production. Suarez says Bella MedSpa probably administers at least one Vampire Facial a day. “It’s been going on for a long time, but obviously once you hear that one of the movie stars or a famous person does it, you’ll notice it,’’ she says.

She adds that the second most popular procedure at Bella MedSpa is liposculpting, which thanks to technology is not only better, but is no longer performed under general anesthesia; conscious sedation is used instead.

“We get to change the shape of someone, not just remove the fat,’’ Dr. Suarez says.

Facial treatments also are popular, she says. Bella MedSpa’s licensed aestheticians perform facials, chemical peels, eyelash extensions, eyebrow microblading, dermaplaning, microneedling and more.

Bella MedSpa also offers Liquivida IV Therapy which, in just 30-45 minutes, delivers vitamins, minerals and amino acids directly into the body’s bloodstream via an intravenous drip. A variety of vitamin drip combinations that serve specific purposes are available, as are medical weight loss programs.

The Fountain Of Youth?

Hormone Replacement Therapy is another treatment growing in popularity. For women, Dr. Suarez says that estrogen and progesterone deficiencies brought on by menopause can be controlled with Bio-Indentical replacements.

For younger men, Suarez says that testosterone levels should be around 800, but by the time men turn 40 or 50, that number can be closer to 400. Low testosterone can lead to decreased libido (sex drive), disturbed sleep, moodiness, loss of muscle mass and fatigue. Testosterone replacement with bio-identical Hormones can help reverse all those effects and Dr. Suarez says many of her male clients come in weekly for injections, while others have pellets surgically inserted in the buttocks area.

“We have a tremendous amount of male patients here,’’ says Dr. Suarez, who estimates that nearly 50 percent of her clients are men. She says most are fighting what she calls the “Couch Potato Syndrome”: once they get home and sit on the couch, they can’t get back up. She says that testosterone treatments can fix that.

“When I ask them if they have problems with focus, with memory, with energy and fatigue, or if they’re not getting the same results when going to the gym, they can relate,’’ she says. “That’s when you know. They think testosterone is just libido. Well, that’s a great thing to fix, but it’s not the only issue it can correct.”

Another popular choice of her male clientele is Kybella, an injectable that reduces the fat below a chin, or “double chin.” Dr. Suarez says that men are first bothered by that second chin because many wear shirts and ties that amplify it. At least half the clients receiving Kybella injections at Bella MedSpa are men, filling the waiting room many mornings.

“I had a woman walk in and look around and saw all these guys, and she looks at me, and I just said, “Yep, times are changing,’’’ Dr. Suarez says.

She adds that virtually all of her clients share common goals when they come to Bella MedSpa — to look better, and feel better. Dr. Suarez says she and her staff are always looking for ways to oblige them.

“My best day is when I treat a patient, and they get up and they hug me and say, ‘Thank you, I love coming to see you,’” she says. “That feeling that you really made a change is so much fun.”

Bella MedSpa is located at 1821 BBD Blvd. (between S.R. 56 and County Line Rd.) and is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday.

For free consultations and more information, call (813) 929-1500 or visit BellaTampa.com.