Plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Brown focuses on health in his own and his patients’ lives. The entrepreneur has been a prominent member of the Scottsdale cosmetic surgery community since he founded the practice in 2009.
He owns and operates his own practice, which is at Scottsdale Road and Shea Boulevard.
He is the only plastic surgeon at Brown Plastic Surgery. Brown noted that working alone can be challenging, but often, other plastic surgeons have inflated egos.
Remaining grounded and approachable is important to him.
“You’ve got to have a good bedside manner, and you need to be a skilled surgeon,” Brown said.
“I think that’s something that’s changed in surgery a lot today. You used to hear people say all the time, ‘I don’t care if my surgeon’s a jerk, just as long as they’re a good surgeon.’ I think today, people really demand that you have a good bedside manner, and you’re good in the operating room.”
He works with a staff of five, including a patient coordinator, office manager, medical assistant, nurse injector and chief operating officer.
Originally from Atlanta, Brown earned his medical degree from Chicago Medical School and completed his residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Brown said his focus on plastic surgery evolved over time.
“Before I went to medical school, I was an orderly in the OR in Atlanta at one of the hospitals. That’s where my interest in surgery grew from. I really didn’t know that plastic surgery was what I was going to be interested in until I was in general surgery,” Brown said.
“So, I’m double board certified. I did a full general surgery training program first. I did five years of general surgery with a year of research, and then after that I decided to go into plastic surgery. So after I did general surgery, I did another two-year residency in plastic surgery to certify in that.”
His wife, Alexis, went to NSU for dental hygiene school.
They were living in Nebraska and were looking to move somewhere warm.
They came to visit friends, and soon after, they moved to Arizona and Richard established his practice.
For about 10 years, he was focused more on reconstructive procedures. These days, he tends to do mainly cosmetic procedures.
Brown hopes to improve the lives of his patients through procedures such as breast augmentations and reductions, tummy tucks, liposuction, Brazilian butt lifts and arm and thigh lifts.
Educating his patients is important to him. He gives new patients a copy of his 2019 book “The Real Beauty Bible: Navigating Your Journey Through Plastic Surgery.”
“I wrote that book basically for people who have not embarked on having a plastic surgery procedure, whether it’s cosmetic or reconstructive. That book walks people through the whole process, what they should be thinking about before, which procedures to choose, how do they know what’s right for them, what it’s going to be like living in your new body and recovery,” Richard said.
He works with his patients to choose procedures that are the best fit for them.
“I’m just one of those guys that cares about the whole patient. If someone doesn’t need surgery, I don’t want to do it because surgery is not without risk…I want people to get good results and do it for the right reasons,” Richard said.
He said there are a lot of non-board-certified surgeons doing plastic surgeries nowadays. He often helps patients who have had botched procedures.
Brown tries to educate patients so they make informed decisions about plastic surgery.
Brown also teaches and engages with others through social media channels, where he shares information about holistic well-being and cosmetic surgery procedures.
He shares regularly across various platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.
Dr. Richard Brown with his wife, Alexis Brown, and twin sons, Grahm and Brody Brown.
On TikTok, he is known under the moniker “The Real TikTok Doc.”
“I just started making posts there, and they didn’t really have any restrictions. So, I could show surgery, and I could show what I was doing in the OR. I started posting all kinds of stuff, and my page just grew exponentially. I grew it to over 7 million followers, and it just happened organically. Eventually TikTok shut down the graphic content, and everything slowed down…. My content changed from talking a lot about plastic surgery to more nutrition, motivation, debunking misinformation in my industry,” Richard said.
Brown aims to highlight the significance of a healthy lifestyle to others.
“I like to talk about nutrition. I like to talk about exercise. I’m the kind of plastic surgeon who tells people, ‘Look, plastic surgery should be your last resort. I think that you should maximize your lifestyle and your meal plan, and those are the things that you should be working on first.’ I do all of those things myself, so I like to educate and to preach that stuff to everyone else,” Richard said.
He explained that through social media, others can get to know him on a more personal level.
“It was a way to connect with patients. It was a way for me to show people that I’m just a normal guy. I would show my life, hiking, exercising and my family, and then I would talk about medicine, answer questions and show procedures. I like to educate and teach, and I just thought that that would be a cool way to reach more people… I’m very different than a lot of surgeons you’ll ever meet. I’m a pretty chill, laid back guy. I grew up in Georgia. That’s who I am,” Richard said.
Patients frequently come to him through referrals or after discovering him on social media.
He works with people from various parts of the country. He mentioned that he often encounters young mothers who have recently given birth and are interested in “Mommy Makeover” procedures.
In his own life, staying healthy is important to Richard. He hikes, does CrossFit and practices jiu-jitsu.
He mentioned that being healthy benefited him when he experienced a freak accident with his grill last summer.
“My grill blew up last summer. It exploded, and I suffered really deep, second-degree burns to both of my legs from the knee down. It took me out for three weeks. I was in the burn unit for a couple of days,” Richard said.
“When we trained, we worked in the burn unit…It was really weird being on the other side of it. Luckily, I only suffered injuries to my legs. I didn’t suffer any functional deficits at all, outside of the burns to my skin. Within two or three weeks, with a lot of dressing changes and care, things healed up beautifully. That was a scary moment. The tank didn’t blow up. If the tank had blown, I’d probably be dead.”
He said that he reacted quickly when the accident happened.
“I looked down, saw my legs and just immediately went to get into the swimming pool to cool off my legs. If you let the heat continue, they continue to burn. That was because of my burn training that I knew to do that,” Richard said.
Scottsdale cosmetic surgeon Dr. Richard Brown with his team.
During his healing process, he underwent hyperbaric treatments and received IV vitamin drips.
“I was doing all the things I knew how to do to get my body to heal. Within a couple of weeks, everything healed. They had me doing some physical therapy at home. Really what it boiled down to was as painful as it was, I was just getting up and walking. I was back in the gym three weeks later. I’m a fit guy. I walked into this injury pretty healthy and fit, and that had a lot to do with my rapid recovery… I was depressed for the first probably five or six days, but somewhere around seven or eight, I just flipped the switch and said, ‘Look, enough sulking. It’s time to heal.’ Mindset is everything. Your mind controls your body,” Richard said.
He shared his recovery journey on social media, believing it was important for his followers to witness both the highs and lows of his experience.
“It’s just who I am. It’s part of what social media is…I think it’s really important to humanize ourselves to other people… I enjoy social media for the ability to be real, be ethical, show people who I am and just be a normal guy to everybody so that people don’t feel intimidated to do something I’ve done,” Richard said.
Richard and Alexis both strongly in giving back to the community.
The surgeon has performed pro bono work over the years.
When a family couldn’t afford a gynecomastia procedure, he performed the surgery for free.
He has contributed to raising breast cancer awareness through the “Don’t Be a Chump! Check for a Lump!” initiative.
He and Alexis are involved with the Gentry Foundation for Autism.
“They raise money for kids who can’t afford to have the testing required to obtain a diagnosis. Early detection is vital,” Brown said.
Brown said this cause is especially important to them because their 15-year-old twin boys are on the spectrum.
“Joe and Sarah Gentry headed up their therapy when they were younger. My wife said, ‘Hey, I want to be a part of this. I want to help other parents.’ We just want other people to be able to talk to us and ask us anything,” Brown said.