10 Questions to Ask Your Plastic Surgeon (and 3 to Avoid)

Patients are always surprised to learn that there are very few laws governing the practice of medicine.  In fact, a physician certified by his state medical board—whatever the specialty—can legally prescribe just about any drug and perform any procedure.

    

Legally, a pediatrician could operate on a senior citizen’s knee.  An orthopedic surgeon could prescribe chemotherapy for lung cancer.  And an adult cancer expert could vaccinate a baby against chicken pox. 

    

Obviously, these three examples are ludicrous.  But, then, why do women get their Botox at their gynecologist’s office?

    

Don't assume that your doctor has the right credentials or the right equipment to perform high quality plastic surgery and to keep you safe.  Ask him the following 10 questions:

    

    

1.    “Are you certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery?”

    

Make certain that the doctor is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

The American Association of Medical Specialties recognizes only one organization to certify doctors in the specialty of plastic surgery.  That organization is the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

    

Certainly, there are other surgeons who are well-trained and who do excellent work.  However, unless that physician has been certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, you can’t be sure.

    

    

2.    “What training did you have after medical school?  Was it actually plastic surgery?”

    

By some estimates, there may be as many as 60,000 doctors in the United States who perform some type of cosmetic surgery.  However, there are only 6,000 Board Certified Plastic Surgeons!

    

Therefore, 90% of cosmetic physicians do not have formal training in plastic surgery.

    

To become a plastic surgeon requires 6-8 years of a rigorous surgical residency, after 4 years of medical school, which is after 4 years of college.  A weekend course is no substitute.

    

Body Contouring after Weight Loss: A Conversation Via Email

I thought that post-bariatric patients who are interested in body contouring may find this electronic conversation informative.

    

    

“Anna L.” and I got to know each other after she used the “contact us” function from my web site…

    

At this moment I'm researching costs before I book an appointment.  I would like to have a high and a low estimate for a complete body lift and breast enlargement surgery (1 cup size larger with silicone gel implants). I understand that the estimate will be very “rough” without a proper consultation.

    

Please understand that I live in Edmonton, Alberta, so even the initial consultation will entail a large cost for me due to the travel.

    

I think that excess skin will need to be removed from my abdomen, thighs, arms, back, and buttocks. A breast lift is not needed; there is no sagging there.  In addition I would like to have the muscles repaired/tightened in the abdomen. The excesses skin removal is needed due to a weight loss of 160 pounds.

    

Second, I would like to know if these procedures can be done at one time, rather than separated over weeks or months.  Please e-mail me!

    

Thank you for your time and take care,

Anna

    

    

My long-winded response (with information about body lifting, breast augmentations, pricing, and staging procedures):

Plastic Surgery Scars: Simple Techniques to Fade Visible Reminders of Surgery

One of the most common concerns among plastic surgery patients is scarring.  "I really want a facelift [or breast augmentations or a tummy tuck or...] but will there be a scar?" Unfortunately, I must answer, "Yes."

All significant injuries scar.  Whether the result of horrifying accidents or of precision scalpels, breaks in the skin will heal with scars.

A plastic surgeon's goal, then, is to minimize surgical injury to maximize the likelihood that the scar will heal favorably.  Nevertheless, patients occasionally have untoward results.  The following patient from the East Coast emailed me for my opinion:

Hi.  I had surgery about 11 months now, and my scars are still real red and purple.  What is the cause for this?  And around my belly button I developed some blood blisters that left nasty scars.  This area remains very hard and numb.  How can this be corrected.  My plastic surgeon can not give me answers to why this happened.