24 South 1100 East, Suite 301
Salt Lake City, Utah 84102
Salt Lake City, Utah 84102
Phone: 801.355.3404
Dr. Barr performs facial reconstructive surgery to help individuals overcome anomalies that have occurred do to circumstances beyond their control such as skin cancer of the head and neck, traumatic injuries or congenital deformities.
Dr. Barr repairs facial cancer defects that have been created using the Mohs technique. Mohs micrographic surgery is a surgical technique in which skin cancer is removed. Tiny layers of tissue are removed around the cancer and examined under the microscope in an incremental manner in order to ensure complete removal of the cancer while preserving as much of the surrounding skin as possible.
After the skin cancer has been completely removed, a defect remains in the skin. This defect can be quite disfiguring, but reconstructive surgery may be performed immediately after the skin cancer has been removed. Dr. Barr specializes in carefully reconstructing facial tissues to restore a more natural appearance.
Dr. Barr corrects facial fractures and/or facial lacerations, commonly suffered during motor vehicle accidents, fights, domestic violence, athletic events and animal bites. Traumatic facial fractures frequently involve the jawbone, cheekbone, the eye socket, or the brow and require realignment of the bone segments and fixation for proper healing. Traumatic facial lacerations can cause scarring, facial nerve damage and injury to other structures in the head and neck. Dr. Barr specializes in repairing these traumatic injuries in order to reestablish more normal contour and function.
When the skin is in the process of recovering from an injury, whether the result of an accident, surgery, a burn, or acne, scarring may occur. Once a scar forms, it is permanent but may be made less visible or relocated surgically.
With very few exceptions most people are self-conscious about facial scars. If you've wondered how facial scar revision could improve your appearance, your self-confidence, or your level of facial functioning, you need to know how scar revision works and what you can expect from this procedure. Dr. Barr can improve the appearance of the scar either by disguising it, relocating it, or minimizing its prominence. Skin color and type, age, and the type of scarring, are all important factors that must be part of the discussion prior to surgery.
Different types of scars respond to different plastic surgery techniques. Timing of surgery is another important choice, with an interval that allows the body enough time to heal fully. Because scars are highly individualistic and the patient's attitude toward scars is so personal, maximum improvement in facial scars may require more than one procedure, and more than one technique may be employed.
The facial nerve can be damaged by trauma, surgery or disease. The facial nerve controls all of the movements of facial expression and when injured, paralysis of the face results in drooping and asymmetry. In addition to causing facial distortion, loss of function also may occur. Inability to close the eye properly can leave the eye vulnerable to irritation and damage. Dr. Barr can utilize various reconstructive methods with the goal of improving facial disfigurement.
Otoplasty is the medical term for the surgical correction of protruding ears. Protruding or unnatural appearing ears are typically caused by an underdevelopment or overdevelopment of specific parts of the ear. Most otoplasty procedures are performed between ages four to fourteen. An early age of correction is recommended in order to avoid the social embarrassment and ridicule placed on patients with ear deformities. The procedures to correct protruding ears are well established and can be performed by Dr. Barr in an outpatient basis. The procedure involves incisions placed behind the ears, leaving them unrecognizable after healing is completed. The dramatic change and quick recovery has placed otoplasty procedures among the highest in patient satisfaction of all cosmetic procedures.
Microtia is congenital underdevelopment of the external ear and is classified according to the severity of deformity. Sometimes, there is an associated deformity of the middle and inner ear structures, which may also be surgically corrected. A CT scan of the temporal bones (ears) may be obtained prior to the onset of the first surgery in order to visualize the anatomy of the outer, middle and inner ear especially in cases where both sides are affected. Surgical correction of microtia is performed before any middle ear surgery and is created by using a cartilaginous framework fashioned from rib cartilage. Subsequent surgeries are performed at 3 month intervals to create an ear lobe and a crease behind the new ear. Dr. Barr usually starts operating on a child at about age six or seven at which time there is adequate development of the rib cartilage to be used for the reconstruction.
Dr. Lucy Barr is one of only a few female cosmetic surgeons performing facial reconstructive surgery in Salt Lake City, Utah. Learn more about Dr. Barr