COURTESY DR. THEODORE NYAME

Dr. Theodore Nyame of Charlotte, who immigrated to the U.S. when he was 8 years old, is listed as one of the nation's top plastic surgeons by the medical publication Castle Connolly Top Doctors.

Dr. Theodore Nyame sat behind his desk wearing a gray suit, degrees from Cornell University and Harvard University hanging on the wall.

The 39-year-old plastic surgeon from Ghana is listed as one of the 2022 Top Plastic Surgeons by the medical publication Castle Connolly Top Doctors. In 2019 and 2021, he was also listed as a top doctor in Charlotte.

Academic excellence has always been at the forefront of his mind.

“I've been laser focused,” said Nyame, who works at Charlotte Plastic Surgery. “I originally grew up in Ghana, West Africa in a small little town with no running water. The moment I came to the U.S. my parents looked at my brother (Quincy) and said we want one lawyer, one doctor—choose. And we’ve always just kind of been on this academic quest to just improve ourselves intellectually.”

At Charlotte Plastic Surgery, Nyame does procedures such as tummy tucks, breast lifts, and liposuctions.

In 1983, when he was 8 years old, Nyame’s family moved to Bronx, N.Y., for a better life and better opportunities. The transition to American culture was rocky at first with him and his brother having to learn English and adjust to living in a big city with “muddy snow” and lots of traffic.

“I had visions of the streets being paved with gold, and I just thought food would be everywhere. The biggest Wonderland you could have imagined,” Nyame said.

Even though he grew up in the Bronx in the ‘80s, a time which to some deemed a bad place to live in, Nyame said it was the “beginning of infinite opportunities” for his family.

“Some people would look at growing up in the South Bronx and go ‘well, you know, that's kind of a hard place to grow and you may not be able to achieve everything’ and kind of make excuses,” he said. “But for somebody in a small village in West Africa, the opportunity to just even be in the United States is all they would need. I look back at that all the time and I think ‘wow, that was really the beginning of our lives.’”

Throughout childhood, Nyame and older brother Quincy worked diligently to graduate at the top of their classes on every level of education, often with a friendly sibling rivalry to see who could achieve the highest accolades. Quincy is now a brain surgeon in Guam.

Nyame soon developed a passion for medicine with the vision to improve the quality of life for patients all over the world. Growing up in Ghana and noticing the lack of reconstructive treatments available to treat complex injuries, he settled on cosmetic surgery.  

In 2001, Nyame attended Cornell University, graduating magna cum laude before going off to medical school. In 2005, he attended Harvard Medical School to complete plastic surgery training. He also completed an aesthetic fellowship in Queensland, Australia at Gold Coast University Hospital.

Nyame’s passion soon led to him going on an international tour traveling around the world from Norway to Australia to teach about the latest techniques and technologies in reconstructive surgery.

“One of the things I loved about (plastic surgery) was just being able to have this sort of impact,” Nyame said. “Because where I grew up in Ghana, if somebody had this sort of injury, they would have an amputation. The ability to just kind of reshape and restore people was really one of the things that drew me to the field.”

Black women and cosmetic surgery
Breast lifts are the most common procedures women come in for along with liposuctions, and tummy tucks at Charlotte Plastic Surgery. There are also procedures for men available, with most males coming in for liposuction.

There has been a recent trend in Black women going in for Brazilian Butt Lifts most likely because of celebrity influencers like Jennifer Lopez and Cardi B and social media influencers.

In the past decade, cosmetic surgeries have steadily increased within the Black community as women underwent surgeries such as breast augmentation and rhinoplasty, as well as botox injections. A quarter of all cosmetic surgeries were performed on Blacks, Asians, or Hispanics, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

The ASPA reported that Black patients seeking nose reshaping may want to shrink the size of their nose to achieve a “harmonious balance with other facial features” but not in order to look more European.

Blacks make up 8% of all reconstructive surgeries with 78% from whites and 8% in Hispanics. Women make up 93% of all cosmetic patients with 8% from men, and yet the field remains a predominantly male dominated field according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

While cosmetic surgery is more commonplace, mistakes are made, with the majority because of an inexperienced doctor, according to Nyame. He recalled saving the life of a Charlotte woman who traveled to the Dominican Republic for cosmetic surgery that landed her in the hospital.

“She was getting ready for her wedding and went to the Dominican Republic for basically cheap cosmetic surgery and came back in septic shock,” Nyame explained. “Basically, potentially being intubated on a respirator and stuck in the emergency room and it was kind of a tragedy, but I was able to save her and eventually reconstruct her.”
A safe cosmetic surgery with pleasing results comes down to choosing an experienced board-certified surgeon.

“Board certification is probably one of the most important things you can look for,'' Nyame said.

Plastic surgery is designed to heal and restore patients back to their original appearance after small or major changes to their body. For instance, following a car accident, weight gain, aging, or after childbirth, in which a mother may have excess fat that may have formed over the abdominal area.

Nyame’s patients have traveled from across the U.S., Germany, the Middle East, and the Dominican Republic for reconstructive procedures. With an backlog of patients awaiting surgery, his schedule is booked through September.

Colleague Dr. Jack Scheuer said Nyame is committed to his patients and ensures to put them first.

“He's one of the most dedicated surgeons I've ever worked with or been around,” Scheuer said. “He has a big heart. And he's super dedicated to his job and his patients are always his number one priority. I’d gladly let him operate on me or my family.”

Dr. Sandy Charles, Nyame’s wife and a cardiologist at Novant Health, said she is “immensely proud” of her husband.

“He came to this country when he was like 7 or 8 years old and couldn't even speak the language and lived in the Bronx,” she said. “And to get from that to where he is having so many things that could have blocked his path is really wonderful. (By) him having immigrant parents and coming from an inner city, you really realize the power of education, higher education, and good support.”

Charles and Nyame have been married seven years and have two children, Nicole, 5, and Nathan, 4. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family – for instance, teaching Nicole how to solve algebraic expressions. He also does youth outreach to inspire future plastic surgeons.

“I am living my dream,” he said.  “And now the next question comes down to what is going to be the impact and the legacy on my community, specifically when it comes to Charlotte, so my goals are to aspire, you know, other young men who may be interested in this field to aspire to this. And then for a child who may not have the resources to get a quality education, to use this new site that I've got to teach and show ways of equalizing the playing field so that any child capable has an opportunity.”

Aaliyah Bowden, who covers health at The Post, is a Report For America corps member.

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