How to Ensure Your Plastic Surgery is Safe
Your appearance is how you display your personality to the world. So you don’t want to take any chances when you choose to enhance your appearance with plastic surgery. You need to be sure that your plastic surgery is safe. Here are some of the questions to ask and things to look out for when choosing a safe plastic surgeon.
Is Your Plastic Surgeon Board Certified?
The first step to narrow your search between the hundreds of medical practices in any city is to look for those who are certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Do you want someone who has performed your procedure once or twice or someone who has taken the initiative to seek out the proper certification and expertise to put your mind at ease?
Do Your Research
To ensure that your plastic surgery is safe, do some research. You can start by asking your physician for recommendations, and by looking around on the plastic surgeon’s website. If they had extensive biographies that describe their experience and qualifications, you can be confident in the care you’ll receive. Also, look for lots of before and after photos that show the same kind of results that you’re looking for. Make sure to read reviews, but beware of doctors that only have good reviews, because they might not be genuine. A mix of reviews isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because this proves that the reviews that are good are most likely honest. Make sure your plastic surgeon has hospital privileges, as this is an extra precaution that ensures that your plastic surgery is safe.
Get information about your recovery and additional treatment after your Plastic Surgery
Make sure your plastic surgeon explains in detail what you can expect after your treatment. You don’t want someone who says “everything will be fine” and move on. Any operation has risks during and after the procedure, and it’s in your best interest to have a plastic surgeon who will be straightforward with you. Understanding the recovery process and what to expect especially in the first 24-48 hours is crucial to your safety. Every surgical recovery is unique, and your surgeon should explain in detail what to expect and how to get in touch with his or her staff if necessary.
Get additional opinions from relevant professionals, if you want or feel that it’s necessary. This is your body, and you’re in charge. Choosing a plastic surgeon is a very personal decision. Selecting a plastic surgeon is an interview process, and sometimes 2 or 3 consultations with different surgeons are necessary to find one that meets your needs and makes you feel comfortable.
Breast surgery
Women may seek breast surgery to improve their body shape. Mammoplasty procedures may include:
Breast augmentation, or enlargement, traditionally performed using saline or silicone gel prosthetics, and now occasionally with fat grafting.
It may be carried out if the woman feels her breasts are too small, if one breast is larger than the other, or if the breasts have changed after pregnancy or breastfeeding. Some older women opt for this treatment when the breasts being to droop due to the skin losing elasticity.
In some women, a breast enlargement can boost self-esteem and improve their feelings about their sexuality. In some, however, existing problems remain. This is why women are encouraged to undergo counseling first.
Breast reduction can help provide relief from physical discomfort, while the aim of augmentation more often relates to appearance. Breast reduction may also reduce the risk of breast cancer in women who are at high risk of the disease.
Mastopexy, or a breast lift, involves removing skin and glandular tissue to make the breasts smaller and rearranging the remaining tissue to make the breast appear lifted.
Depending on how much volume a patient has lost or desires, mastopexy can be combined with an implant. While it is similar to a breast reduction, which removes a much greater amount of tissue, mastopexy is not usually covered by major insurance carriers as it is not deemed medically necessary.
Male breast reduction treats gynecomastia, an enlargement of the mammary tissue in men. It may be done by liposuction or with various scar patterns, often hidden around the nipple and areola.
Tips for choosing a plastic surgeon
If you are considering plastic surgery, you have some decisions to make. While many people spend a lot of time thinking about the procedure and the potential results, there is something much more important to consider. That is the choice of the right plastic surgeon. Not every physician is qualified or experienced in every procedure and choosing the right plastic surgeon isn’t as simple as getting a referral. Referrals and internet research can give you a place to start but as a potential plastic surgery patient, you have a lot at stake – your safety and your appearance. You need to carefully evaluate the surgeon before you make the choice.
You want the plastic surgeon you choose to be better than good; he or she should be great – a proven expert. When making this critical choice, you should ask yourself a few questions…
- Does my surgeon have the expertise required to safely perform the surgical procedure?
- Does the physician have the experience with this type of procedure?
- Has he or she produced exceptional results for other patients on a regular basis?
If the surgeon you are evaluating has all three qualities, you may have a winner.
Ask Where Surgical Procedures are Performed
If you are considering surgery, check out the facility where it would occur. It should meet high standards for safety, and have life-saving equipment available at all times. The facility should be certified by the Joint Commission, the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities or the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care.
Make Sure Your Surgeon Has Hospital Privileges
Make sure a surgeon has hospital privileges to perform cosmetic or plastic surgery procedures in a hospital facility, even if the procedure is being performed in an outpatient facility. Hospitals provide another form of review to ensure that physicians have the necessary education and training to perform the procedure safely.
Ask About Follow-Up Care
Your surgeon should guide you through recovery. Ask about follow-up visits after surgery, how complications are handled and what the doctor’s policies are should surgical revisions be necessary.
Know What Your Insurance Covers
Cosmetic surgery is very rarely covered by health insurance, so you will likely pay the entire cost out-of-pocket. Some reconstructive plastic surgeries to fix issues such as congenital defects or severe burns are partially or completely covered by health insurance. In California, state law mandates that treatment for breast cancer include coverage for post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. Contact the surgeon’s office to verify acceptance of your particular plan.
Safety and beauty go together
Undergoing plastic surgery is a unique decision. What makes one feel beautiful might vary from person to person.
Although body satisfaction is truly individual, everyone deserves a plastic surgeon who understands your intentions and also puts your safety first.
Board-certified plastic surgeon and host of the podcast “The Holistic Plastic Surgery Show,” Dr. Anthony Youn, MD, considers his work as enhancements and not answers to deeper issues. “[If they think a facelift will make them happy], then I stop them there because really you can enhance your life with these types of changes, but you can’t take a life that is unhappy and make it happy by getting a cosmetic procedure.”
That’s why he always suggests getting a second opinion from another plastic surgeon before getting cosmetic surgery done.
“You’re dealing with invasive procedures and just because [a doctor will perform a surgery] doesn’t mean it’s safe,” he points out. And Youn does have a point.
Evidence of malpractice in this field Trusted Sourceis often a result of an individual doctor who’s either negligent, doesn’t inform their patients properly, or fails to diagnose an injury.
So how do you know a doctor is right for you?
Fact is, search hard enough and anyone can find a doctor who’s willing to do the most skeptical or difficult of surgeries. What you should look for is a doctor who’s willing to say no.