An Interview with Edward M. Zimmerman, M.D.
Edward M. Zimmerman, M.D. is a world-renowned cosmetic surgeon with years of experience providing aesthetic care to both men and women. It is Dr. Zimmerman’s focus on male health and enhancement however that really sets him apart. I had the opportunity to sit down with him to discuss the many ways that he assists men with looking and feeling their best.
Stephanie Shehan: Tell us about your background.
Dr. Zimmerman: I was raised in the Washington DC area—the only child of Jewish parents. My father served in the Air Force and later transitioned into finance, with a specific focus on banking, mergers, and acquisitions. My mother was a staff aide to a U.S. senator and held a master's degree in modern art. She served as a docent at a prominent art gallery and the Walter Reed Medical Museum. I was blessed with their combined love for music, theater, gardening, and art, as well as an innate curiosity about how mechanical and natural elements interacted, disassembled, and could be reassembled to function better, longer, and in new ways. Like many kids, I played piano and other instruments, took French, and played kickball.
However, my interest in mechanics and science started at a very young age. In junior high and high school, I worked after school at a local bike shop, building racing bikes, mowing lawns and painting kitchens for neighbors. I had a preceptorship at the National Bureau of Standards, where I collaborated with PhDs on mass spectrometry and gas chromatography for a baseline study of the environmental impact of the Alaskan pipeline. I also designed and built a functional air cushion vehicle, which was later donated to the H.B. Owens Science Museum in Maryland.
When I moved to Baltimore and went to Johns Hopkins University, I was away from home for the first time. I learned a lot while living in the dorms, participating in JV fencing and the student co-op, running sound in the quad, and singing and playing guitar at open mic nights in the Rathskeller. I was a small fish in a much bigger pond of intellectually gifted, driven, accomplished, competitive students, swimming in a C-curve academic experience where nearly everyone was declared or secretly pre-med. I not only managed to survive, but also graduated with departmental honors in Biology, and subsequently earned an accelerated Master's degree in Physiology from Georgetown University. The following year, I was admitted to the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, where I completed my MD and performed prosections under the guidance of Richard Snell, the Director of the Anatomy Department (who literally wrote the book). Following that, I completed a residency in Family Medicine at a program in Beaver, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. I was thrilled to care for my patient panel of all ages and learn about inpatient and outpatient procedures from specialists who were excited to teach. By my second year of residency, I was moonlighting in three different emergency rooms, soaking up experience and knowledge like a sponge. I graduated and was awarded the STFM Resident Teaching Award for my year. I joined the residency faculty, helped found the multispecialty private office, and continue to excel in surgical procedures and devices. In the early 1990s, I introduced the first CO2 laser for primary care procedures to Western Pennsylvania. It was used for resection of lumps, bumps, external hemorrhoids, vasectomies, ingrown toenails, skin cancers, and treatment of stasis ulcers. One day, a patient asked me to remove a benign skin lesion with the CO2 laser that was not covered by his insurance. That small cash transaction was the "ah-ha" moment that allowed me to transition to care for patients without being encumbered by bureaucracy and insurance companies. The rest is history.
Over time, my focus changed. I served as faculty for the National Procedures Institute for over a decade, became a Diplomate of the American Board of Laser Surgery and Cosmetic Surgery, and joined the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, the American College of Phlebology, and the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, among other professional organizations. I have been active as a faculty member, examiner, and at the board level for state, national, and international organizations, where I have had the honor of serving for over 25 years.
SS: What helped you pave the way to male enhancement?
Dr. Z: I was one of the first 25 U.S. physicians to travel to Colombia for hands-on training in High-Definition liposculpting with Alfredo Hoyos and Ron Broadway in the early 2000s. Part of the curriculum involves utilizing fat as a structural and regenerative graft to accentuate and sculpt specific parts of the body beyond what Mother Nature provided for that individual. Facial fat grafting, "natural" breast augmentation, what later became the BBL, and male girth enhancement, as well as sculpting muscles from the forehead to the feet, have become a passion. Not all patients have sufficient quantities and quality of fat to undergo male girth enhancement, or they do not want to deal with the recovery of a donor site. Athletes and smokers are generally not good candidates for fat grafting. Other materials, including FDA-approved fillers for facial use, could be adopted for use "off-label." Consequently, new instruments and techniques were developed to make this a reality. The HapPenis procedure is one that I created and have perfected over the last two decades. The methods are proprietary, and the name is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
SS: What is it about male enhancement and overall men's health that you would like everyone to know?
Dr. Z: The goal for humankind is to add functional health span to our increasing lifespan. Part of this involves limiting toxins and increasing antioxidants in our environment and diet, improving exercise, sleep, and work-life balance, and replacing hormones, supplements, and cofactors that we need as we age. We feel and perform better when our physicality aligns with our intellectual and spiritual functions. Regenerative medicine of all types aids this. Cosmetic enhancements for men include hair restoration, revolumizing face, neck, chest, arms, sometimes the buttocks, and often the penis and testes. The presentation of the male reproductive organ appears to be directly tied to the male psyche, spirit, and abilities to thrive in work and life. We are fortunate to live in an era where medical and cosmetic advancements can enable us to enhance the shapes and contours that Mother Nature endowed us with at birth.
SS: What are the most common issues that you see coming through your office?
Dr. Z: Some of the most significant issues that present repeatedly are the lack of knowledge, expectations, and appropriate vocabulary that surround male and female sexuality, anatomy, and function, which have little to no scientific basis. Patients are often relieved to discover how frequently other patients share their concerns in these "taboo" areas of knowledge.
SS: Where do you see men's health and wellness going in the years to come?
Dr. Z: As the myths and misconceptions of human sexuality are discarded and big Pharma/government-biased, economically driven dogma and restrictions are lifted in the regenerative sciences, more people will have access to affordable care, wellness, and physique.
SS: Why should our readers come to see you?
Dr. Z: There is currently no educational pathway or medical board that encompasses regenerative medicine in the complex interplay of the physical, hormonal, and spiritual aspects of male health from puberty to old age. You are your own best advocate in this arena. Insurance companies do not care and cover little of the services that truly evaluate and optimize your health span. The best one can do is to choose to work with physicians like me, who have decades of experience, research, passion, compassion, integrity, and honesty. We surround ourselves with like-minded peers and staff who continue to push the boundaries of what we can accomplish together. We educate, explore, enhance, and MacGyver techniques and technologies together in ways that no one has done before.
Like I say about pickles, "Bring me your Man-Parts, I can help.” The puns, double entendres, dad jokes, and occasional sarcasm are included at no extra charge!
