Dr. Jennifer Walden offers unique service

When Dr. Jennifer Walden isn't enjoying the "one tiny minute of free time" she has to spend with friends and family members, the plastic surgeon takes pleasure in her work.

"It's relaxing, and I find myself very at home and at peace in the operating room," she said.

After making the decision to move herself and her 2-year-old twin sons from Manhattan to Austin, where she grew up, Walden opened her own practice in the Westlake Medical Center in December 2011.

Despite employing only three full-time staff members, partnerships with Arise Surgery Consultants, an operating room company, and Westlake Anesthesia Group enable Walden to manage her practice.

Walden has her own operating room as well as different treatment, consultation and recovery rooms, allowing Walden to perform all surgeries and procedures in-office. The office received accreditation from the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities, which Walden said is the highest accrediting body for office surgery in the nation.

"Because of that, I can have the privacy for my patients and the convenience of an office operating suite, with the standards and the safety as if you were going to a surgery facility in a hospital," Walden said.

Focusing solely on cosmetic plastic surgery, Walden said the most popular services at her office are breast augmentations, facelifts and rhinoplasty, or nasal reshaping surgeries. In addition, nonsurgical procedures such as Botox and Venus Freeze treatments, which reduce fat and tighten skin in isolated areas, are also popular among her patients, she said.

Walden is also the only plastic surgeon in Austin who utilizes the Vectra 3-D imaging system. The machine takes pictures of a patient simultaneously from three different angles. The images are then transferred to a computer program and can be modified to show patients what they will look like with certain treatments, such as nose reshaping or breast augmentation.

"It alleviates anxiety, it helps confidence-building and it also helps surgery planning from my standpoint," Walden said.

Walden began using the imaging system in October. The system is just one way that helps Walden garner more satisfaction for the job she loves.

"You can change someone's life in a matter of hours," Walden said. "You can make someone look so much better. You can improve upon their form according to their expectations and their own anatomy. You can really help them."

One year in

In her first year of business, Dr. Jennifer Walden saw more than 850 patients in her 3,780-square-foot office.

Procedures offered (prices vary)

• Breast augmentation: $6,000
• Rhinoplasty: $7,000–$8,000
• Facelift: $9,000–$10,000
• Tummy tuck: $8,000
• Botox: $325–$1,000 depending on number of areas injected
• Venus Freeze: $800–$1,500 for a package of six to eight treatements

Austin Plastic Surgery, 5656 Bee Caves Road, Ste. E201, Austin, 512-328-4100, www.drjenniferwalden.com, Twitter: @drjenwalden