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Dr. Elbert Vaca, MD - Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in Boca Raton, Florida

Dr. Elbert Vaca, MD

Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

Boca Raton, Florida
● Taking New Patients
NPI: 1669743860· License: ME143202 (FL) verify
Industry payments (2024): $2,583 across 10 payments (what this means)
5(45 ratings)

About

Dr. Elbert Vaca is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon practicing in Boca Raton, Florida, with training from Johns Hopkins and Northwestern. He specializes in aesthetic plastic surgery of the face, breast, and body, with a particular focus on facelifts, rhinoplasty, and eye procedures. Dr. Vaca believes a subtle transformation can make a remarkable difference, aiming for patients to feel refreshed and younger while still looking completely like themselves. His philosophy for facial rejuvenation is about restoring youthful anatomy and definition, preserving each patient's unique features rather than changing how they look. Every surgical plan is tailored to the individual patient, their anatomy, and their goals. He emphasizes patient education, helping individuals understand their options, realistic outcomes, and recovery. For facelifts, he prioritizes thoughtful incision placement, meticulous closure, and preservation of natural anatomy to achieve unnoticeable scars and natural results. He considers brow lifts and upper blepharoplasty a synergistic combination to restore a youthful, brighter appearance without an operated look. Dr. Vaca advises against facial thread-lifts, noting their short-lived effects, ineffectiveness, and potential for permanent complications.

Connect with Dr. Elbert Vaca on Social Media

Specialties

  • Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

Procedures & Services

Services offered by this practice

Questions, Answers, and Information Directly from Dr. Elbert Vaca

Sourced directly from Dr. Elbert Vaca's social posts and replies.

What specific concerns can Dr. Vaca address with rhinoplasty?
Dr. Vaca's rhinoplasty procedure can correct a droopy nasal tip, address or eliminate a dorsal hump, and achieve a straight nose with balanced nostril proportions.
What is Dr. Vaca's opinion on facial thread-lifts?
Dr. Vaca has a negative view of facial thread-lifts and recommends against them. He states their effect is short-lived at best, they do not work because tissue layers are not properly suspended, and they quickly pull through tissues. Potential complications can be permanent, including leaving behind scar tissue, infection, and damage to facial nerves. Furthermore, thread-lifts do not build collagen and can complicate future surgery.
What is Dr. Vaca's approach to facelift scarring and natural results?
Dr. Vaca believes the ideal facelift scars are unnoticeable. Achieving well-concealed, natural-looking facelift results requires meticulous planning, finesse, and attention to small details, including thoughtful incision placement, meticulous closure, and preservation of the natural anatomy of the ear and lateral cheek. This ensures scars fade beautifully and become virtually imperceptible.
What are the benefits of combining a brow lift with an upper blepharoplasty?
Dr. Vaca considers a brow lift and upper eyelid surgery a 'perfect combination' and one of his favorites, as they work synergistically. This combination can restore a more youthful, proportional, and brighter appearance to the upper face without an 'operated look'. Specifically, a brow lift can restore a softer, more youthful, feminine brow contour, improve upper eyelid hooding, and enhance brow symmetry. An upper blepharoplasty further improves eyelid hooding, reveals a more elegant upper eyelid space, and can improve eyelid symmetry, particularly for naturally more hooded sides.
How does Dr. Vaca combine procedures for a comprehensive facial refresh?
Dr. Vaca often combines procedures like face & necklift, facial fat grafting, and lip lift for a comprehensive yet natural facial refresh. Face & necklifts restore definition to the jawline, upper neck, and midface while maintaining natural features. Lip lifts are carefully customized, with combinations like subnasal and corner lip lifts used to improve symmetry and balance. Precision facial fat grafting can be performed to the upper, mid, and lower face to enhance surgical results, particularly restoring volume around the upper and lower eyelids to soften the eyes, improve symmetry, and contribute to a more harmonious, rejuvenated appearance.
When is the right time for a facelift and what factors influence results?
Dr. Vaca states that no one 'needs' a facelift, and deciding if and when it's right is a very personal decision, as there is no 'perfect age' or universal timeline. The right time is when a patient's concerns, goals, and comfort level align. While a facelift is often the most effective option for improving jowling, neck laxity, and jawline definition, patients should understand that tissue quality and skin elasticity are critical factors outside the surgeon’s control. Patients with better tissue quality (often associated with younger age) tend to achieve more predictable and longer-lasting results, emphasizing that tissue quality plays a major role in the final outcome.
What can a lower blepharoplasty achieve?
A lower blepharoplasty can reduce protruding fat bulges and, when combined with fat grafting, can soften lower eyelids by restoring cheek volume and support to fill under-eye hollows, improving cheek volume and projection.
What is the typical recovery and results timeline for Dr. Vaca's surgeries?
While surgical results will continue to refine and evolve over many months, initial observations for procedures like rhinoplasty can be seen as early as 2 months post-surgery. For other facial procedures, results are often shown around 3 months after surgery, with scars continuing to fade beautifully over time.
What are the benefits of combining face & necklift, buccal fat reduction, and upper blepharoplasty?
This combination of procedures can restore definition, brighten the eyes, and refresh the overall appearance, enhancing facial symmetry. Dr. Vaca customizes these procedures, for example, removing a greater amount of skin and medial orbital fat from one upper eyelid during blepharoplasty, or removing more buccal fat from one cheek during buccal fat reduction, to achieve balanced results.

From Dr. Elbert Vaca's Instagram

@elbertvaca.md

Recent photos posted by @elbertvaca.md, Dr. Elbert Vaca's own Instagram account. Each image opens the original post on Instagram.

Images © Dr. Elbert Vaca / @elbertvaca.md, shown here with a link to the original post. If you are the account owner and want an image removed, contact [email protected].

Patient Experience

Dr. Elbert Vaca Review Summary

5
Dr. Vaca has consistently excellent ratings, averaging 5 out of 5 stars across multiple platforms. Patients rave about his skills and bedside manner.

Ratings from Other Platforms

care.healthline.com

5 out of 5

Based on 33 reviews

View on care.healthline.com

Google Reviews

5 out of 5

Based on 57 reviews

View on Google Reviews
Dr. Elbert Vaca, MD - Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in Boca Raton, Florida

Main Office

660 Glades Rd STE 210, Boca Raton, Florida

(561) 393-9898

Industry Payments

Federal law (the Physician Payments Sunshine Act) requires drug and medical-device companies to report anything of value they give to a physician — consulting and speaking fees, research funding, travel, royalties, and even meals. Medicare publishes all of it in a public database called Open Payments. We show it here so you don't have to go looking for it.

Total received (2024)

$2,583

Payments

10

Compared to peers

Moderate

Dr. Elbert Vaca received $2,583 across 10 payments in 2024. That is higher than about 71% of the physicians here who received any industry payment. Most of it was categorised as travel and lodging, and the largest single payer was ABBVIE INC..

What this means for your care

  • A disclosed payment is a business relationship, not evidence of wrongdoing, and it says nothing on its own about the quality of your care.
  • Most payments are small. Across the physicians listed on NavMDs, the single most common category is food and beverage at industry-sponsored talks.
  • Larger consulting, speaking or royalty payments mean an ongoing financial relationship with a company whose products your doctor may use or recommend. That is worth knowing about, and it is reasonable to ask about.
  • A fair question to ask: “Do you have a financial relationship with the maker of the implant, filler or device you're recommending — and what alternatives did you consider?”

Source: CMS Open Payments, the federal database created by the Sunshine Act. View the full record on CMS Open Payments ↗

Insurance Information

Please contact Dr. Elbert Vaca's office directly for information about accepted insurance plans.

Phone: (561) 393-9898

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Location & Contact Information

Main Office

660 Glades Rd STE 210

Boca Raton, Florida 33431

Office Information

Phone: (561) 393-9898

Where does Dr. Elbert Vaca practice?

Doctor's Office

Main Office (Primary)

660 Glades Rd STE 210, Boca Raton, Florida 33431

(18 reviews)

Hospital Affiliations

Reconstructive Surgery Residency. Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Help improve our data. Confirm if Dr. Elbert Vaca is affiliated with Reconstructive Surgery Residency. Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Education & Experience

Education

Johns Hopkins School Of Medicine
Johns Hopkins University School Of Medicine
Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Certifications & Licenses

Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you make an appointment with Dr. Elbert Vaca online?
The provided information doesn't confirm online booking availability. It's best to contact the office directly at (561) 393-9898 or visit elbertvacamd.com for appointment scheduling.
Does Dr. Elbert Vaca offer telehealth?
The provided information does not indicate whether Dr. Vaca offers telehealth services. Contacting the office directly is recommended for inquiries about telehealth options.
What do patients have to say about Dr. Elbert Vaca?
Patients consistently praise Dr. Vaca for his exceptional skills, attention to detail, natural-looking results, and excellent bedside manner. Many describe him as the best in the field, highlighting his perfectionism and ability to put patients at ease.
What areas of care does Dr. Elbert Vaca cater to?
Dr. Vaca specializes in aesthetic plastic surgery, focusing on the face, breast, and body. His expertise includes procedures such as facelifts, rhinoplasty (nose jobs), breast augmentation, and body contouring procedures like abdominal etching and mommy makeovers. He emphasizes patient education, believing his job is to help patients understand their options, what each procedure can realistically achieve, and what is involved in the recovery process. The most important step is having an honest conversation about concerns and exploring options to achieve goals, with every surgical plan tailored to the individual patient, their anatomy, and their goals.