Plastic Surgery and Unhappy Patients
Plastic surgeon and blogger Barry Eppley, M.D. notes that he often sees rejuvenation surgery patients who aren’t quite as thrilled with their cosmetic surgery as they hoped.
Dr. Eppley refers to these down-in-the-mouth patients as part of a plastic surgery psychological condition he calls “cosmetic accommodation.” (Learn more about less-than-thrilled cosmetic surgery patients in Dr. Eppley’s latest blog post.)
But his point is well made. What do you do if you are less than thrilled with the results of your cosmetic plastic surgery? Assuming, that is, the surgeon has done nothing wrong?
Ask during the initial consultation what happens if you don’t like your results. Some patients are happy with a minor touch-up. But you have to consider the costs of plastic surgery.
Many surgeons operate outside their offices and must book time at a surgical center. While the surgeon may include a touch-up in his fee, the surgery center must be paid for by the patient. (California Surgical Institute, however, operates its own fully staffed surgical centers.)
Most patients suffering “cosmetic accommodation” are women who feel their breast augmentation was not large enough. So spend extra time before surgery, making sure surgeon and patient are on the same page about the final size.
But before insisting on a touch up, there are a few things you can do first.
Call the surgeon to discuss your concerns. Any plastic surgeon will be happy to discuss this with you, because your new look is a walking advertisement for your surgeon’s skills. He or she wants you to look good and be enthusiastic with your surgery.
If you are completely healed — but unhappy — go back and look at your before pictures to see how much better you look now.
If you and your surgeon are still stuck, get a second opinion from another qualified plastic surgeon who does the same type of surgery. Let him see the before and after plastic surgery pictures while examining the patient.
It’s always possible that, medically speaking, a nose could not safely be made smaller during rhinoplasty or that eyes could not be made more open in an eyelid lift by removing more eyelid skin. (The ever present concern is that a patient won’t be able to close her eyelids!)
The completely wrong approach is:
- Anger
- Writing belligerent emails or letters
- Sulking
admin @ October 1, 2009