He's performed untold nose jobs, breast augmentations, full-body transformations, and even labiaplasties on social media with his patients' permission.
But it was a flaccid penis that got his account deleted, he says.
"It didn't occur to me that Snapchat would have any more of a problem with penis enhancements than they would with labiaplasties," Salzhauer tells New Times.Yesterday I became the first plastic surgeon to perform a penis augmentation with the new FDA cleared Penuma penis implant. With the patient’s consent, the surgery was broadcast on Snapchat. My Snapchat account was permanently deleted 8 hours later.
— Dr. Miami (@TheRealDrMiami) October 25, 2019
The surgeon has caused his share of controversy over the years. He's written a children's book about plastic surgery and gotten in trouble with the Anti-Defamation League for commissioning a music video called "Jewcan Sam, a Nose Job Love Song."
Yesterday, Salzhauer performed his first penis enlargement, in his Bay Harbor Islands office. He hyped up his social media audience for weeks prior to the procedure and documented the surgery on his Snapchat story. Twitter turned out with the comments.
Salzhauer says his account was permanently deleted about eight hours after the operation. He considers it a double standard that Snapchat has permitted his videos of female bodies under the knife but deleted his account when he posted videos of a male patient under the influence of general anesthesia.
"One penis and boom," he says. "Almost five years I’m posting women's bodies all day long and they're fine and dandy, but post the male anatomy and suddenly it's beyond the pale."
Snapchat's community guidelines on sexually explicit content say accounts that promote or distribute pornographic content are prohibited from the platform. But other forms of nonsexual nudity, such as breastfeeding, are not considered pornographic and are permitted. Salzhauer argues that a medical procedure isn't sexy.
"There's not much sexual about a flaccid penis," Salzhauer says.
Snapchat did not respond to a request for comment from New Times.
Salzhauer says about 97 percent of his clients are women, but he regularly receives inquiries from men about penis enhancement. He claims there's a huge demand for the procedure but says there were no particularly good options until recently.
Dr. James Elist, a Beverly Hills urologist, pioneered and patented a penis implant made of soft, medical-grade silicone that adds length and girth for men dissatisfied with their size. The implant, called Penuma, is FDA-cleared for commercial use.
Salzhauer trained with Elist in Beverly Hills and posted a video on YouTube of the penis enlargement procedure.
Dr. Miami's first patient, a man in his 40s, had three inches of length and three-and-a-half inches of girth before the surgery. The implant gave him two extra inches of length and an extra inch of circumference.
Salzhauer saw his patient for a post-op visit today and says the man's enlarged member "looks great."
Some 125 people have contacted Salzhauer's office to request the penis-augmenting procedure, but the surgeon won't be filling up his appointment book with the surgery just yet. Dr. Miami wants to keep a close eye on his first patient, any side effects, and his healing "before we open the floodgates."
"There's no shortage of people who want it," he says.
