Lawrence Hospital Surgeon Sets Up Shop in Tuckahoe

TUCKAHOE, N.Y. – Dr. Michael Kerin, the director of surgery at Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville, has expanded his practice in Tuckahoe, bringing several new, state-of-the-art procedures with him.

Kerin, a general surgeon, has opened an office specializing in medical aesthetical procedures. The staff members hosted a grand opening celebration Friday at their location on Main Street.

“We’re looking for anyone who seeks an aesthetic perspective as far as treatment, but don’t want to completely commit to a plastic surgeon,” said Angelo Ricanor, Kerin’s personal assistant. “All of the services we are offering can get done in a day’s recovery time, maybe a weekend at most.”

A unique aspect of Kerin’s practice will be the CoolSculpting procedure, a noninvasive fat-reduction technology. The machine is based on a study out of Harvard Medical School that found that freezing fat to a certain point allows it to break down naturally in the body without harming other tissues.

CoolSculpting is called a lunchtime procedure, because you can get it done during lunch and there’s no recovery time. Patients will notice a 15 percent to 25 percent decrease in fat, according to Kerin's office.

“It’s a cutting-edge technology” Ricanor said. “Everyone is trying to get their hands on it. It’s a revolutionary treatment. It’s noninvasive. It’s not for people who are obese. Post-operation, there will be a little bruising and redness, that’s all. It takes about an hour. It’s for those hard areas that you can’t get rid of no matter how hard you work.”

Kerin will also specialize in treating veins, using new techniques and equipment to treat ailments such as spider and varicose veins.

According to Kerin, Veinwave is a technique used to eliminate spider veins on the legs and fine-thread veins using thermocoagulation. It’s a painless, minimally invasive procedure with near instant results. Veins disappear immediately, and the discomfort experienced is said to be incomparably better than other procedures.

“We saw this as an opportunity to provide the community with something that’s state-of-the-art. It’s less invasive but more effective as far as vein treatment goes,” Ricanor said. “He’s the only person in the area who does CoolSculpting. There’s a place in Scarsdale that is strictly medical spa aesthetics, but we feel it’s better to have a background in surgery as well as medical aesthetics.”

The new practice will also offer a treatment for varicose veins called Venefit. Kerin uses ClosureFast catheters to treat the damaged veins. The catheter is an “endovenous radiofrequency ablation” device designed to heat, shrink and close diseased veins in about three minutes. The catheter is inserted into the vein through a tiny incision below the knee, and gives 20-second bursts of radiofrequency energy, causing the vessel to shrink around the catheter and become less painful.

“This is a tremendous technological leap beyond vein stripping, the traumatic surgery we previously used to remove varicose veins,” Kerin said in a press release. “It is enormously gratifying to provide a patient with a resolution to a medical issue they may have struggled with for decades.”

Ricanor said the new office is for smaller procedures that can be performed outside of Lawrence Hospital. All are designed for a quick recovery.

“The office is strictly for minimally invasive procedures, not for any of his abdominal surgeries,” he said. “The vein care, the CoolSculpting and anything he can’t do at the hospital will be done here.”

Pricing is to be set by consultations between the doctor and patient. Larger areas or more severe maladies will cost more, while smaller, simpler procedures will cost less. To get the new practice off the ground, Kerin and his office are temporarily offering free consultations.

“During the consult, we will develop a fee schedule and a treatment plan so patients can know how much they are responsible for financially,” Ricanor said. “We’re going to charge less for just love handles as opposed to the whole abdominal area. It all depends on the consult.”

"CoolSculpting" is a trademark of Zeltiq Aethetics Inc. More information is available on the CoolSculpting website.

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