It should come as no surprise that Hannah Vargas, M.D. had always wanted to be a doctor. She grew up in a family where the medical profession was the rule rather than the exception. Her father is an orthopedic surgeon, her older sister, a pathologist, and her younger sister an anesthesiologist. Her father practices in Vermont, where Dr. Vargas grew up, and both of her sisters practice in Boston. While excelling in math and science, Dr. Vargas also had a special gift in studio art: this talent she explored further in her college years when she majored in biopsychology. Dr. Vargas explains, “I always knew that I wanted to be a surgeon, and plastic surgery is the perfect blend of the two fields that I love; medicine and art.” After extensive training in Head and Neck Surgery (including a prestigious one-year fellowship in Head and Neck Pathology at the University of California, San Francisco), she turned her attention to facial plastic surgery. She has now become one of the few board certified surgeons specializing in only facial plastic surgeries in the city. “Focusing on the face and neck alone allows me to gather an incredible experience that I just could not obtain if I was also doing body work.”
Dr. Vargas is now the Director of the Center for Facial Plastic Surgery and The Rejuvenation Center located on the Olathe Medical Center Campus. Her faculty includes a board certified anesthesiologist, a fully accredited surgery center and a nursing staff with extensive training in facial surgery. Her expertise ranges from skin care/acne issues to laser treatments, all the way to facial fillers and surgery. “Different people have different needs. Injectables are great, but they are not the answer for everyone.” She feels fortunate that her training allows her to offer the best treatment for a particular problem and not just one or two options.
Dr. Vargas believes that successful facial and reconstructive plastic surgery is the result of a good rapport between the patient and the surgeon. She says that during the consulting stages before surgery is performed, trust based on realistic expectations and exacting medical expertise is developed. “Over and over in our field products, lasers, and procedures have come and then gone.” Patients need someone who can weed through the advertisements and pseudoscience. Dr. Vargas will recommend and perform procedures that are safe and effective and predictable. During the preliminary consultation, besides examining your facial structure and taking your medical history, Dr. Vargas will discuss your mental and emotional attitudes towards surgery. If your expectations are not realistic, the surgery will not be successful no matter what is done. To achieve the look you want, it may take more than one type of procedure and you need to make sure that you discuss all of your options with your surgeon.
Dr. Vargas is a physician, as well as a surgeon, and she is interested in her patients’ overall health. Weight, smoking, allergies, exercise, and lack of sleep are just a few of the problems that Dr. Vargas tackles with her patients. “You just can’t look your best unless we control some of these factors.” As we start to feel better physically, we start to feel younger and we want to look as young as we feel. That is one of the major reason why facial plastic procedures have continued to rise and that facelifts have become the third most desired facial plastic surgical procedure.
In her practice, Dr. Vargas performs many different head and neck surgeries. Besides cosmetic surgery, she does head and neck reconstructive surgery, head and neck cancer surgery, as well as skin cancer surgery. Reconstructive surgery is primarily done to repair the damage done by some type of accident. In some cases, surgery has been required to repair the damage done in a domestic abuse situation.
“It was my patients that had been the victims of domestic abuse that really touch my heart”, said Dr. Vargas. She continued, “The damage done was so much deeper than the physical scars they had. The abuse had scarred their self-esteem and confidence as well as their faces. Every time they looked in the mirror, they were reminded of the past abuse that they had suffered.” She noted that 75% of women who are in an abusive relationship receive battering to their face and head area.
Because of her experience working with domestic abuse patients, Dr. Vargas, a member of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, became involved with the Face-To-Face Outreach Program. Through surgery, counseling, and support, and no charge to the patient, the programs staff is helping victims break out of the cycle of abuse and enhance their self-esteem and begin to rebuild their lives.
The last few years have been one of many changes. Dr. Vargas has now settled into her life here in Kansas after moving from New York five years ago. Besides being a practicing surgeon, she is married to an eye surgeon and is the mother of three children. When I asked Dr. Vargas if she had any outside activities or hobbies, she just laughed. These days, her life outside of practicing medicine, is fixing up her house and being a wife and mother. Right now while her children are young, spending time with them is a top priority. “It helps having a husband who is also a surgeon because he understands what my life away from my home is like”, said Dr. Vargas. While the move from the East Coast to Kansas was a major one, it has been a happy one. Even though she left all of her family on the East Coast, her husband’s family has welcomed her. She states that the more she gets to know her new home, the better she likes it.
If you have been thinking about having plastic surgery or a cosmetic procedure, you may want to give Dr. Vargas a call and find out about plastic surgery from a woman’s perspective. She can be reached at the Center for Facial Plastic Surgery at (913) 764-3857.
