How To Choose A Cosmetic Surgeon

Cosmetic surgery is not something that you should rush into. After all, the cosmetic surgeon you choose to operate on you will be making changes to your body that could be permanent.

So you really want to be absolutely sure that your surgeon is capable of doing the job well and to a high standard if you want your surgery to go smoothly and without any problems.

If you don’t get the right plastic surgeon for your procedure, you may end up with a result that you are not entirely happy with, or worse, could suffer from a serious complication that affects your health or leaves you looking disfigured.

The reality is however, that you are unlikely to find a good cosmetic surgeon unless you do a bit of groundwork first, and in this article, we will show you how to do that so that you will know what to look for in a plastic surgeon and how to choose the best surgeon for the procedure that you want to have done.

How To Find The Best Cosmetic Surgeon

When looking for a cosmetic surgeon you will likely have many surgeons which you can choose from. The difficulty lies in sorting out all these surgeons down to a select few.

Once you have a few surgeons narrowed down, you can then make a decision about who will be your cosmetic surgeon based on your available choices.

This is a far easier way to choose a good cosmetic surgeon, because you will be choosing from a smaller group that has been selected from a larger group.

This means that the people you will be selecting from will already have been deemed to be of high quality, and therefore, selecting one of these people is vastly going to increase your chances of getting a good end result.

So lets now have a look at how you can start to narrow down potential cosmetic surgeons and then how to select the best one for you.

1 – Pre-Qualifying Plastic Surgeons

The first stage of finding and choosing a good cosmetic surgeon involves making a fairly broad sweep of all the cosmetic surgery companies and cosmetic surgeons available to you.

First, find out what cosmetic surgery companies offer the procedure you want. This can include both cosmetic surgery companies in the country you live in, and those abroad if you are thinking of having cosmetic surgery in a different country to that in which you currently live.

Once you know what cosmetic surgery companies offer the procedure you want, the next stage is to find out about the cosmetic surgeons who will be performing the procedure.

Some cosmetic surgery companies will provide information about their surgeons online, whilst others require that you phone them.

For all the plastic surgeons that you look at, you want to find out whether they are board certified, what sort of training they have received, their qualifications, and how many times they have performed the procedure you want to have done.

Board certification is important because it means that a cosmetic surgeon has undergone specialist training to ensure that they produce results to a high standard and can perform a procedure safely. Board certification should be considered a bare minimum qualification for any plastic surgeon that you choose.

You can find out if a surgeon is board certified by looking at the major cosmetic or plastic surgery society in your country.

In the UK, you can find this here at the The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.

In the USA, you can find this here at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Narrowing Down The List

After doing a bit of research online you should now have a list of potential cosmetic surgeons who seem to be well qualified and practice the procedure that you want to have done.

With this selection of surgeons the next step is to narrow the list down and choose 3-5 cosmetic surgeons who you would like to book a consultation with. One way to do this is via a recommendation from a friend or family member.

If you know someone who has actually been operated on by a cosmetic surgeon and received good results, then you may seriously want to consider going with that surgeon as you will be able to find out first hand what they are like and what you can expect from them.

Unfortunately however, most people don’t know someone who has had cosmetic surgery and so can’t get a personal opinion on what a particular surgeon is like.

Well actually this isn’t entirely true, because the Internet can be a great way to find the opinions of people who have had cosmetic surgery.

There are many cosmetic surgery forums for example where you can find such opinions, and it is certainly worth looking at the experiences people have had with different cosmetic surgeons when you are trying to narrow down your list of potential surgeons.

It is important however, to use the information you gain from others as a guide only and do not let someone  else’s experience make up your mind for you as to who you should go with.

The reason for this is that even though you may be told that a particular person is the best cosmetic surgeon in your country, they may not be the best at the procedure you are looking to have done.

So use all the information available to you, but make sure that you make up your own mind as to who to go with.

If you want a personal recommendation for a good rhinoplasty surgeon, Dr. Ian MacKay in the UK is worth serious consideration.

General Vs. Specialist

This brings up another very important point when it comes to choosing a plastic surgeon. Some surgeons will specialize in different types of surgeries, for example, they may do only rhinoplasty or breast surgery procedures.

These are known as specialist surgeons and tend to be the most expensive and operate out of private small cosmetic surgery companies.

The other type of surgeon that you can choose does all types of procedures. So rather than just specializing in one procedure, they will do whatever they have been trained for such as facelift surgery, abdominoplasty, liposuction, rhinoplasty, breast augmentation and breast reduction.

These surgeons, who also known as general surgeons, are usually quite easy to find because they practice with large national cosmetic surgery firms. They also tend to be the cheapest, so they can be good for those who are on a tight budget.

The problem with choosing a general rather than a specialist surgeon, is that unlike a specialist who does the same procedures all the time, a general surgeon practices a variety of procedures and so they will have far less practice than a specialist at any one type of procedure.

Basically, what this means is that you are likely to get a better result from a specialist surgeon than you would do from a general surgeon simply because they do what you want to have done more often and so have got really good at it through years of practice.

For this reason, whenever someone talks about the top or the best plastic surgeon, they will usually be referring to a specialist surgeon who operates privately and independently.

So if money is no object for you, or you really want to ensure that you get a good result, then go with a specialist surgeon.

They will probably be a few thousand dollars more expensive than what you are quoted by other surgeons, but if you want a good result, then this extra cost will be more than worth it.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that a general surgeon is going to give you a bad result. There are many excellent general surgeons around, you just have to look a bit harder to find them.

2 – Qualifying Cosmetic Surgeons

By the time you reach this stage you will have already selected at least 3-5 potential cosmetic surgeons which you feel could give you good results.

What you need to do now is to decide who amongst those surgeons will be the one for you, and the only way you can do this is by meeting them in person by booking a consultation.

It is recommended that you see at least 3 cosmetic surgeons, but no more than 5, as this will allow you to compare the different cosmetic surgeons and the different cosmetic surgery companies they work for.

Most people will know when they find the right cosmetic surgeon because they will feel comfortable being around them, are given lots of time and attention and know that they are in capable hands.

When you do meet with your surgeon during your plastic surgery consultation, keep the following points listed below in mind as they will help you to sort out the good from the bad.

Level Of Expertise

Look for a plastic surgeon who has performed the procedure you want to have done before and gives consistent results. Can the plastic surgeon show you examples of past patients and the results they have got?

The level of expertise can be assessed in many different ways.

To begin with, make sure the surgeon is a board certified cosmetic surgeon and has been practicing for a minimum of 5 years.

This will ensure that you are dealing with someone who is well qualified and who also has a reasonable amount of experience behind them.

Expertise can also be judged by speaking to other surgeons and seeing who they recommend.

However, be careful that they are not just recommending other surgeons within their own practice, as this is likely to be a biased recommendation and therefore not one that should be trusted entirely.

Finally, you can judge a surgeon’s level of expertise by speaking with people who they have already operated on. In other words, past patients.

You may be able to get this information from the surgeon directly, but your best bet is probably looking online as that way you will be able to hear both the good and the bad things that people have to say.

Be warned though, that you are likely to hear bad things about a surgeon no matter how highly they come recommended, as no plastic surgeon is perfect and so will occasionally produce a less than satisfactory result.

But if you overwhelmingly hear positive feedback, then there is a good chance that you will also have a positive experience with them.

The Cosmetic Surgery Facility

Look for a certified medical facility that offers broad anesthesia options.

If you are having a major procedure such as a facelift or rhinoplasty, you will need such a hospital facility to ensure that your surgeon will have adequately trained support staff and access to the right drugs and equipment needed to carry out your procedure.

In addition, being in a certified medical facility means that if anything does go wrong during your procedure, then there will be a much better chance of the surgeon being able to ensure that you are ok and do not suffer from any serious complications.

If a plastic surgeon says that they have hospital privileges to perform cosmetic surgery in a hospital then this is something definitely worth having.

Basically, it means that the hospital believes they are a good plastic surgeon, are well trained and are properly qualified. It is like a formal recommendation and acknowledgement of the surgeons skills and abilities.

Aftercare & Support

How much support will you receive from the staff before and after the procedure is also another important consideration that can affect your decision as to which cosmetic surgeon you choose.

Some cosmetic surgeons for example, will visit their patients every day while they are recovering in the facility just to check on how they are doing.

This will most likely happen with private specialist surgeons though, as you are likely to receive less individual attention if you are operated on by a general surgeon due to the amount of patients they have each day.

The level of care you receive after the surgery has been completed is often a direct reflection of the level of quality you will receive from the surgeon operating on you so be sure to take this into serious consideration.

However, the level of aftercare you receive will also depend on the procedure that you are having done. For minor non surgical procedures such as Botox, you will usually be able to return home fairly quickly after the procedure has been completed.

For surgical procedures, such as abdominoplasty, you will need to stay in hospital for longer in order to recover before you are able to go back home.

This will usually be only for a few days at most, but it is nice to know that you will have some amount of time to recover after your operation rather than just being kicked out immediately as has happened to some people.

Watch Out For Suspect Plastic Surgeons

In some countries, any doctor with a medical degree can carry out surgery. This means that you may find a doctor who advertises themselves as a plastic surgeon, but who has not actually undergone any training in plastic surgery or has had minimal training such as doing a weekend plastic surgery course.

For this reason, be absolutely sure that the surgeon you choose is board certified and experienced in the procedure you want to have done.

Another thing to look out for is pushy cosmetic surgeons. These are surgeons who try to pressure you into having surgery by a particular date. They act more like salespeople rather than medical professionals.

Believe it or not, this is actually quite a common practice amongst general surgeons operating in large firms or amongst smaller start-up surgeons.

The general surgeons may have a quota they need to fill each month and the start-up surgeons may just be eager for some business.

One of the most common tactics that are used to pressure you into having plastic surgery is to offer you a reduction on the cost of the surgery, but this reduction in price is only valid until a certain date. If you choose to have your surgery after that date, then the price will go back up.

As you might imagine, being able to get plastic surgery cheap can be a major temptation for people who desperately want to change their appearance but currently do not have the finance to do so.

The result, is that some people accept these offers without taking the time to research the surgeon or find out anything about the procedure that they want to have done.

Unfortunately, this can end up in that person getting a bad result, suffering from a medical complication and then later requiring a revision surgery in order to correct the first surgery.

If you end up requiring a revision procedure, then essentially you are paying for your surgery again. So even though you may have been able to get your first surgery at low cost, in the long run, you end up paying much more than you should have done.

Suspect cosmetic surgeons will also not talk about the risks of surgery very much, not talk about the risks at all or downplay the risks so that they don’t seem like such a big deal.

All surgery, no matter how minor or major it is, carries a certain amount of risk with it. If your plastic surgeon is not making you aware of these risks, then you are probably better off looking for another surgeon as they are likely to be motivated by profit rather than your safety and satisfaction with your cosmetic surgery result.

Finally, a good surgeon will give you plenty of time to ask them questions during your consultation to make sure that you are fully aware of what the procedure involves and that you still want to have it done.

You may not however, be able to discuss everything during your first consultation as all surgeons will have other people to see and so you will only have a certain amount of time with the surgeon during your initial consultation. Usually, this will be about 30-60 minutes.

A good cosmetic surgeon will offer to meet you again at a later date if you still have additional questions that you would like to ask, because no decent surgeon would operate on someone who doesn’t fully understand what the procedure entails.

Cosmetic Surgery Checklist

Use the following checklist to quickly remind you of the important points that you should be thinking about when choosing a plastic surgeon.

•    Are they board certified?

•    Are they a member of any societies?

•    Have they been recommended by other people?

•    Are they are general or specialist surgeon?

•    How many times have they performed your procedure?

•    How long have they been practicing?

•    What type of training have they had and how long was it?

•    Can you speak to previous patients?

•    Can you see before and after pictures?

•    How would you rate their level of expertise?

•    Do they operate from a certified medical facility?

•    Do they have hospital privileges?

•    What type of aftercare & support will you receive?

•    Do they act like a salesperson or medical professional?

•    Do they offer you a limited time price discount?

•    Do they make you aware of the risks of surgery?

•    Have you verified what the surgeon has told you about themselves?

If you follow these guidelines then you should find choosing a good cosmetic surgeon a whole lot easier and vastly increase your chance of having a positive plastic surgery experience.