The hottest accessory for high-flyers? Their doctors. Reality star and Kardashian best friend Jonathan Cheban bragged to Refinery29 recently that A-list New Yorkers have a network of health specialists “that normal people don’t know about.” “There are people with a billion dollars that have no idea about these doctors,” Cheban told The Post. “It’s not about having money to get in — it’s about stature.” Whether patients are having these elective procedures for the right reasons is up for debate. Take Gina Graziano, 29, who sought out dermatologist Dr. Marina Peredo’s Futura Fit — a device that uses an electric current to increase muscle tone, along with high-frequency ultrasound to help melt fat — after hearing “that one of her celebrity clients eats croissants while he [is treated].” Even Peredo, who has a secret VIP entrance at her Upper East Side office, admitted, “I call it lazy-person exercise.” Over the past nine months, Graziano, a Brooklynite who works in ad sales, has had six sessions on her thighs, stomach and upper arms. She’ll indulge in a touch-up “before I have to be in a tight dress.” “Our patients achieve 1½ to 3 inches reduction in circumference,” Dr. Peredo said. While Graziano hasn’t lost inches, she said her clothes “fit better.” ‘I don’t want to go to general medical doctors. These people do special techniques.’ When Jamie Foxx and model Karolina Kurkova need to straighten out, they see chiropractor Dr. Patrick Kerr, who uses an Atlas Orthogonal machine to improve spine alignment. He estimates that there are only 200 of the devices in the US. “It’s definitely people in the know who see me,” said the doctor. The machine sends a vibration just under a patient’s ear, “shifting the head under the first bone [of the spine], the atlas bone,” Kerr said. “Once you get that into position, the rest of the spine aligns.” But Dr. Eli Bryk, Chief of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital, warns that there is a paucity of peer-reviewed scientific studies validating the usefulness of techniques like Atlas Orthogonal. “It hasn’t been around that long so we don’t know if patients . . . feel better because the percussion actually soothes the muscles or because it really achieves what the chiropractor is claiming it does,” said Dr. Bryk. When it comes to suffering for fashion, ladies who lunch will only go so far. So they turn to Dr. Suzanne Levine for “Pillows for the Feet.” The Park Avenue podiatrist, who counts Padma Lakshmi and Anna Wintour as fans, injects Sculptra, an anti-aging solution, into feet to revitalize natural padding — easing the pain of those 6-inch Louboutins. “I have [celebrities] that come in for touch-ups right before the Emmys and Academy Awards,” said Levine. “A lot of socialites do it before benefit season . . . You don’t see anybody walking around those parties in sensible-looking shoes!” (In 2014, The Post reported on documents indicating that Levine billed $178,900 to fix a patient’s two hammertoes, a procedure that often costs just $3,000. When the patient mistakenly received a check from the health insurer for $175,098.80, Dr. Levine’s then-office manager said there had been an error. “I knew nothing about it,” Levine said last week. “The staff that dealt with that is no longer here.”) Some New Yorkers are so hell-bent on getting the most exclusive treatments, they’ll actually spend thousands to fly in Gabriella Piccirilli. The Toronto reflexologist practices clavitherapy, using needle-like metal “sticks” to stimulate circulation, and diagnose problem areas without puncturing the skin. “I press the sticks against the surface of the skin and different reactions will happen based off the state of the nerve,” said Piccirilli. Adele Reising — Gwyneth Paltrow and Julian Schnabel’s acupuncturist of choice — Googled the therapy and said “It looks like an acupuncture knock-off . . . like something we do for kids called ‘A Needleless Needle,’ which is shaped like an acupuncture needle, but it’s bigger and doesn’t puncture the skin. I’ve never used it on adults much,” she says. (Picirilli said the two treatments are “totally different,” with clavitheraphy using nerve receptors on the surface of the skin as opposed to the body’s meridian points.) Cheban and others are willing to fork over $250 an hour — plus airfare, transportation and lodging when Picirilli comes to NYC. “I don’t want to go to general medical doctors. These people do special techniques,” Cheban — who recently launched a meal-delivery service, Prepped Delivery — said of his band of healers. “It’s a luxury, because it’s very expensive. But it’s a necessity.”
Podiatrist-to-the-stars Dr Suzanne Levine, recommends Sculptra for people looking to give their tired feet a lift. Levine, who is frequented by TV presenter Padma Lakshmi and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, said she uses the non-surgical facelift treatment to "revitalise natural padding" in celebrities' feet, with the awards and benefit seasons proving to be the most popular times of the year.