Training and board certification
Source for all rows: source
| Stage | Detail |
|---|---|
| College | Bachelor of Science in Biology, St. John's University, Minnesota, 1988 |
| Medical school | M.D., University of Minnesota School of Medicine |
| Residency | General surgery, University of Minnesota |
| Plastic surgery | University of Minnesota, 1996-1999 |
- Board certification as printed: "Board-Certified by the American Board of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (2000, 2010, 2020)."
- Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota Department of Surgery, 2000-2019.
- In private practice since 1999. Edina Plastic Surgery announced him as its newest partner (source).
- Nearly twenty medical mission trips to Central and South America, mainly Peru, for cleft lip and palate surgery.
Eyelid surgery work
- Upper blepharoplasty. In his own words on the practice blog, the incision is made where the new crease will form, excess skin and fat are removed or manipulated, and fine sutures close the crease (blepharoplasty age article).
- Lower blepharoplasty. He describes an incision just beneath the lash line extending to the crow's feet, a transconjunctival approach inside the lower lid for fat pads without skin removal, and a skin pinch added to the transconjunctival approach to help prevent ectropion.
- He states he has recommended upper lid surgery for patients in their 20s with inherited heavy upper lids.
- The practice eyelid page states the surgeons often remove little fat and focus on fat preservation and redraping into the tear trough and lid-cheek junction. Surgery is outpatient, under local anesthesia with sedation or light general anesthesia (source).
- The practice offers four approaches: upper, lower, combined, and eyelid lift with other facial procedures (source).
- Brow lift. The practice page describes endoscopic (three to five incisions behind the hairline), open and temporal brow lifts (source).
Gallery: the practice gallery is shared by all six surgeons and filters cases by surgeon and procedure; it has no separate page for Dr. Kobienia's eyelid cases.
Other procedures
The group offers facelift, neck lift, rhinoplasty, ear surgery, breast and body surgery, and a medical skincare salon, Skin Artisans. Dr. Kobienia has performed breast reconstruction for hundreds of breast cancer patients, per his interview page.
Insurance and cost
The practice states it focuses on cosmetic blepharoplasty; patients seeking a purely functional blepharoplasty billed through insurance are directed to a board-certified ophthalmologist (source). The site publishes no eyelid surgery prices.
Recovery
- Swelling and bruising resolve in one or two weeks for most patients; ice packs for the first 24 to 48 hours.
- Lubricating drops for at least the first one or two weeks.
- No strenuous activity for two weeks; most return to work after seven to 10 days.
- Full recovery may take six to eight weeks, with further improvement for six months.
- Brow lift: back to work within seven to 10 days (source).