How To Find A Good Cosmetic Surgeon
Finding a good cosmetic surgeon will require some time and effort on your behalf, but the results are well worth it. If you can find a good cosmetic surgeon then not only are you likely to receive natural looking results, but you are also likely to be treated well and looked after throughout your procedure.
A top plastic surgeon will also most likely work for a good cosmetic surgery company that has high standards of patient care. This means that you can rest assured knowing that you will experience excellent aftercare during your recovery period.
But with so many plastic surgeons to choose from, finding the best plastic surgeon can be a difficult task if you try and do it entirely by yourself. This it why it is important to get advice and opinions from as many different people as you can before you make your final decision as to which surgeons you feel could be the best.
In this article, we will look at some of the ways that you can get this advice and these opinions so that you can find the best cosmetic surgeon for the procedure that you want to have done.
Ask Friends & Family About Plastic Surgery
The best way to find a good cosmetic surgeon is to speak with people who have already had plastic surgery. If you know anyone who has undergone a cosmetic procedure ask them about their experiences, if they would go with the same surgeon again and any advice they can give you.
However, make sure you get opinions on several different surgeons rather than just one so that you can compare the different plastic surgeons with each other.
If you can speak to someone firsthand, then this is probably going to be your best source of information simply because you will be getting advice and opinions from someone who has already done what you are looking to have done.
As a result, you will be able to question them in much greater depth than you would be able to over the internet for example. Be careful though to make sure you get the right type of advice.
For example, if your friend or family member recently had a breast augmentation procedure but you are interested in having rhinoplasty, then the advice they give you on their surgeon may not be all that helpful. The reason for this is that ideally you would want to find out who the best rhinoplasty surgeon is and not who the best breast augmentation surgeon is.
Whilst it is true that you can get good general surgeons who perform a variety of procedures, you are likely to get the best results from surgeons who specialise in one particular type of plastic surgery. Of course, if the cosmetic surgeon your friend recommends is also known to be a good rhinoplasty surgeon, then their opinion will obviously carry a lot more weight.
But even though you may need a different type of surgeon, speaking with someone who has had plastic surgery before is still a worthwhile thing to do, as they will be able to give you lots of helpful advice such as how to prepare for your surgery and what to do/expect during the recovery period.
Note: If you are interested in having rhinoplasty done, I can recommend Dr. Ian Mackay from the Harley Street Nose Clinic. He is one of the best rhinoplasty surgeons in the UK.
Cosmetic Surgery Forums
If you don’t know anyone who has had cosmetic surgery, the next best thing to do is to read what other people have posted about their cosmetic surgery experience online by visiting a cosmetic surgery forum.
One of the advantages of visiting these cosmetic surgery forums is that if the forum has an active user base, you can get many different opinions on lots of different cosmetic surgeons and cosmetic surgery companies. As a result, you will quickly be able to read plastic surgeon reviews that people have left after having their procedure.
With these reviews, you then can draw up a short list of potential surgeons that you could have your surgical procedure done with. This is also an excellent way to discover who the bad plastic surgeons are and thus who to stay away from as they will likely have many negative reviews on the internet.
Another helpful thing about these forums is that you will also be able to post questions which will help you make an even more informed decision by picking the brain of those who have had cosmetic surgeries before you.
Finally, for those who are interested in having plastic surgery abroad, online forums can be an excellent way to get detailed information on what it is like to have surgery in another country, where the best medical facilities are and what foreign cosmetic surgeons are the best.
This type of information would be very difficult to get if you were not able to find out from people who have already gone overseas to have their procedure.
So whether you are interested in having a nose job, boob job or even just something as simple as Botox or liposuction, be sure to make use of these forums as they can be an invaluable tool in helping you to make the best decision as to where you should go for your nip & tuck procedure and who you should go with.
One forum that you may want to visit is this one.
Ask A Doctor About Cosmetic Surgery
Asking a doctor or General Practitioner (GP) about plastic surgery can be a good way to get professional and expert advice to help you make the right choice in terms of who you choose as your cosmetic surgeon and the procedure you are having done.
However, be wary of any medical doctor who offers to do the surgery for you, as if they have not been trained in plastic surgery then you are unlikely to get good results from them. Believe it or not, a medical doctor or physician, can do a weekend plastic surgery training course and then advertise themselves as a plastic surgeon.
Such doctors however, will usually not be board certified cosmetic surgeons, so if they are not and they offer to do your procedure, then you know that they probably do not have the adequate skill or level of training that you will require for a safe and successful surgical medical procedure.
Questions To Ask
If you do decide to ask your doctor for help and advice about plastic surgery, some questions you might like to bring up are listed below.
• If a member of your family was going to have plastic surgery, which plastic surgeon would you advise they go to?
• Is your recommendation a professional recommendation or a personal recommendation?
• Why do you think that particular plastic surgeon is a good choice?
• Looking at my list of potential plastic surgeons, is there anyone you would add or remove?
• What are the risks with the surgery I want to have done?
Here’s a good tip. If you know an anesthesiologist, ask them for a recommendation about a good plastic surgeon as they see a lot of surgery being done and so know who the good surgeons are.
But be careful who you ask, because if you ask a medical professional who is part of a large-multi specialty group for cosmetic surgery, they are likely to only recommend other surgeons who work within that group. This means they won’t tell you who they really think is the best cosmetic surgeon, but only who is the best surgeon in their group or hospital is.
Overall, when it comes to something as serious as having a medical procedure, getting advice from a medical professional is certainly something that is worth doing.
This is especially important if you are thinking of having your procedure done abroad as you are likely to find that different countries will have different rules and regulations as to how they perform cosmetic surgery, what medical devices are used and what drugs are given to their patients. Some of these medical devices for example, such as the fillers they use for breast implants, may in fact be banned or not yet approved in your home country due to safety concerns.
As a result, if you are going overseas for plastic surgery, be sure to speak with your overseas plastic surgeon so that you can find out as much as possible about the procedure that you have having done and anything they will give you during or after your surgery.
Once you have this information, you can then go back home and double check with your local doctor as to whether what you will be given, and how the procedure is done, is in fact safe.
Ask A Nurse
Getting the opinion of a nurse or health care professional can be an excellent way to find out who the good plastic surgeons are as they see the surgeons everyday.
As a result, their opinions are likely to be based on the results the surgeon produces and how they treat their patients.
If you don’t know a nurse, some of the places you can find one are:
• Surgery center – Any nurse working in a cosmetic surgery center.
• Hospital – Try and speak with operating room staff or nurses in outpatient recovery units.
• Recovery facility – Some surgeries have recovery facilities for cosmetic surgery patients. If you can speak with the staff who work in such facilities, you will be able to find out which surgeon gives good results.
When you find someone who is able to give you their recommendation, be sure to ask them the following questions:
• If you were having my procedure which cosmetic surgeon would you go to?
• Which cosmetic surgeon would you avoid?
• What do you like about the surgeon you have recommended?
Other Tips For Finding The Best Cosmetic Surgeons
Below are some general tips that you can use to help ensure you have a positive plastic surgery experience when going under the knife.
• Do the research yourself.
There is no substitute for looking up reviews and comparing different cosmetic surgeons by yourself. Don’t count on someone to do this for you, otherwise you could be in for an unpleasant surprise if you don’t have all the facts.
• Talk to people who have had the same procedure you want to have done and not someone who had a different procedure.
This is the best way to get first hand information and find out who would be good to go with and who you should stay away from. You can get this information both by speaking to someone in person, or by reading what people have written online.
• Call the medical board to check the surgeon’s background and past records.
Remember, as a bare minimum you want a board certified cosmetic surgeon. Also check to see if they belong to any plastic surgery societies and if they have hospital privileges. If your cosmetic surgeon has all three, then you can be fairly confident in getting a good result and having a good experience with them.
Note: Board certification is very important because it means that the surgeon has spent several years being trained in both general surgery and plastic surgery.
Any doctor can actually carry out plastic surgery legally, but because they have not had as much training as a board certified surgeon they won’t be as skilled and so the result you get won’t be as good. Board certified plastic surgeons also have to take a test every 10 years just to ensure that they are still maintaining the high standard that board certification requires.
You can find out more information on a specific surgeon and their background at the following websites:
Federation Of State Medical Boards (USA)
And some of the societies that you can check are:
The British Association of Plastic Surgery
The International Society Of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
The American Society Of Plastic Surgeons
Surgeons who are members of any of these boards and societies are fully qualified to carry out all types of cosmetic surgery such as rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, breast reduction, breast lift, abdominoplasty, facelifts, eyelid surgery and facial implants.
They are also fully qualified to carry out all types of non surgical procedures such as Botox, microdermabrasion, laser skin resurfacing, collagen injections and chemical peels.
• Go to at least 3-5 plastic surgeons before making your final decision as to who you will go with.
Seeing multiple cosmetic surgeons will allow you to make a comparison between how they treat you, how qualified they are and how they recommend your procedure is carried out. You will also get a lot more advice when seeing multiple surgeons which in turn will help you to make a more educated decision about your procedure.
• Take note of how you are treated by the staff. If you are treated poorly, you are unlikely to receive good quality treatment or aftercare.
You should be treated well during all your contacts with the company. This includes when you first contact them for information such as for prices or a brochure, when you contact them to book a consultation with the plastic surgeon and finally when you contact them after your consultation to request any follow up information or any pictures they took of you.
• Ask patients in the waiting room about their experience.
Some patients will be willing to share with you how they have been treated by the cosmetic surgeon and may also discuss with you any other cosmetic surgeries they have had before. If they are having a second but different surgery done with the same plastic surgeon, then that probably means they were very happy with their first procedure and so went back to the same surgeon hoping for another happy result.
Some patients in the waiting room may be back to see their surgeon for a check-up after their procedure has been completed. In such cases, you will be able to see up close the type of results you can expect to get from that surgeon which in itself can be very reassuring.
• Look at before and after pictures. Will there be any visible marks after the surgery?
Cosmetic surgery scars are something that all people worry about, and the extent of scarring will vary depending on the procedure that you have done.
Looking at before and after cosmetic surgery pictures will enable you to see how skilled a particular cosmetic surgeon is at concealing these scars, and if they are not very skilled at doing so, then you can go to another plastic surgeon who will be able to give you better looking results.
