Once you've made the difficult decision to have cosmetic surgery, you'll have many more decisions before you and choices to make. Many people, believing that a surgeon need only be technically proficient to produce a superior and pleasing result, neglect to place appropriate importance on making the necessary preparations in choosing a procedure, picking a surgeon and following through with thorough aftercare.
Following these five directives, you should be able to avoid some major pitfalls of plastic surgery - and hopefully avoid looking like an emaciated, alien bobble-head doll.
#1 - Know what plastic surgery can and cannot do
Plastic surgery can reshape and redefine you face or body's entire aesthetic. There are many things, however, that plastic surgery cannot accomplish. Perhaps most importantly, if someone suffers from a body image disorder (called body dysmorphia), the odds are they will not be pleased with the results of cosmetic augmentation. Body dysmorphia distorts one's mental perception of their own body. Ethical surgeons will refuse to operate on someone suffering from a body image disorder and refer them instead to a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Also, cosmetic surgery cannot hold back the hands of time, nor can it promise to erase decades of lines, wrinkles and sagging skin from your face. Certainly, plastic surgery can make a patient look fabulous and younger through the removal of certain lines and wrinkles, but there are no guarantees and surgery becomes progressively more difficult with each successive surgery - the surgeon will have less fresh tissue to work with and will have to deal with more scar tissue.
#2 - Have a plan and stick with it
If you have one or two things that bother you about your body or face, that's normal. To avoid having unnecessary surgery, you should make a list of everything you wish to address and stick to those areas only.
Cosmetic surgery is a big ticket item and, as with other high-priced items, there can be a great deal of sales and salespeople involved. If you go in not knowing what you want to address, then you may be sold on unnecessary procedures. You might also become more insecure as you will most likely be viewing images of former patients who have benefited from the surgeon's skills. It's important to maintain your individuality and not let momentary insecurity cloud your reasoning.
#3 - Consult directly with the surgeon before you choose to have the operation
Many clinics and surgeons today hire consultants and salespeople with little to no medical training to juggle their busy schedules. Sales is a part of capitalism and consumers, whether they realize it or not, are being pitched to several times each and every day. Still, it's the surgeons skill and talent you're paying for. You need to be able to speak to the surgeon before you choose to go under the knife. You need to be able to ask questions about what she or he will do if things go wrong, what sort of plan they have for giving you optimal results and what kind of guarantees they can grant you if you're not pleased with the outcome.
#4 - Follow all aftercare procedures you are assigned
Aftercare might the most important part of insuring a favorable result. The surgeon will almost certainly proscribe medication, give direction in changing bandages and their removal and give you tips on how to know if something is going wrong - i.e.: how to spot an infection in its early stages, how and when the incisions should heal, etc.
#5 - Be open and honest about your surgery
There are many benefits to being honest and telling others about your surgery. Most of these benefits are social; you can make it more socially acceptable to go under the knife and battle the age-old anti-body enhancement stigma and you may open a dialog about the condition that made you wish to have cosmetic surgery (premature balding, obesity, skin damage due to UV radiation, etc.) One of the personal benefits about telling others of your surgery is that it will enable you to better hold your surgeon accountable for the results. Some unethical surgeons depend upon the silence of patients to continue performing below expectations and, sometimes, operating in a dangerous manner. A surgeon that realizes you will be vocal about your operation and its results are more likely to perform at an optimal level and guaranty that, should you have less than desirable outcome, they will consolations and fix their mistakes.
Celebrities are not immune to making bad decisions, as is evidenced by Mike Rourke who is pictured above. If you make your choices in a wise and educated way, you can avoid the mistakes of others who've seen a surgeon's scalpel. Make the right choices and you can look and feel fabulous after your procedure.
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