Dr. Obeng Proved Skeptics Wrong by Fully Removing the Gorilla Glue From Tessica Brown's Hair

You'd have to be living under a rock to not have even remotely heard of the remarkable story in which Louisiana resident Tessica Brown used Gorilla Glue accidentally as a hair product, effectively solidifying her entire scalp and causing a national frenzy about the best way to remove the binding agent.

Now, thanks to Dr. Michael Obeng of Beverly Hills, Tessica has come out the other side of the harrowing procedure to remove the powerful chemical compound from her hair. So, how exactly did Dr. Obeng manage to take out a substance that many other medical professionals felt would be nearly impossible to? Beyond that, who actually is the prolific plastic surgeon, and what else has he accomplished? Here's an analysis of the famed doctor's life and work.

The harrowing procedure, which would have cost upwards of $12,500 to perform, was done entirely for free by Dr. Obeng, who in a matter of hours was able to remove virtually all of the industrial-strength adhesive from Tessica's scalp.

In an interview with TMZ, Dr.Obeng said, "Initially I thought it was a joke, but my office said, 'Hey, can you remove Gorilla Glue from somebody’s scalp?' I said of course. I looked up the compound… and we figure out the science, how to break it down." Thanks to Obeng's quick wits to reverse-engineer the glue, a revolutionary step was made in the story that has been developing over the last few weeks as Tessica's presence on social media grew and her story became more widespread.

During the procedure, Tessica was placed under light anesthesia while Dr. Obeng worked for four hours to remove the glue from her scalp. His recipe for the glue-removal concoction is fairly simple, but genius nonetheless. Combining medical-grade adhesive remover, aloe vera, olive oil, and acetone, Obeng was able to create a solvent that stripped the glue from her scalp without further harming the hair or skin. When Tessica finally awoke and saw his results, she was both overjoyed and thankful.

Dr. Michael K. Obeng is an accomplished plastic surgeon based out of Beverly Hills. Born in Ghana in 1973, Obeng was interested in medicine from a young age. At only 20 years old, he immigrated to the U.S. with only $200 to his name to enroll at Midwestern State University with a goal of studying chemistry.

Upon finishing his initial studies, Obeng furthered his education through an M.D. at the University of Texas Medical School and then went on to receive a fellowship to Harvard Medical School. In 2015, Obeng and his wife, Veronika Obeng, took part in the E! reality show Second Wives Club. By 2016, however, their working relationship with the network fizzled out and the surgeon filed an injunction to stop the network from airing any episodes that featured him, his wife, or their children.

In 2018, Obeng became nationally recognized for being the first surgeon to successfully perform forehead reduction surgery. Only a year later, he made headlines once again for successfully performing rib removal surgery on Justin Jedlica, aka "the human Ken doll."