Weighing the pros and cons of plastic surgery
When undergoing general surgery, in a vast majority of cases you will need to sign a consent form and the same is valid for plastic surgery. Why is this necessary? Plastic surgery is performed for aesthetic purposes mostly and sometimes to get increased functionality, but is it really surgery? You should know that plastic surgery is just as complex, if not more complex than any other type of surgery performed on your body to improve your health condition. Moreover, the plastic surgeon should be an artist in medical sciences and also in aesthetics to achieve good results and help the patient avoid severe complications.
There is no surgical procedure that is risk-free. There is always a risk of getting unsatisfactory results that can affect the appearance of your body permanently. Moreover, additional procedures might be required if complications occur or if you are not happy with the results achieved with the initial procedure. Aside from these, there are also the risks of undergoing the surgery itself. Some of these risks are common to all surgical procedures, such as infection, developing a hematoma or seroma, delayed wound healing, wound opening, vicious scarring, but also risks specific to certain plastic surgery complications such as capsular contracture in the case of breast implant surgery and implant displacement in the case of butt implant surgery.
Many patients spend quite some time researching on the Internet or talking to friends before going to meet the plastic surgeon for the pre-operative consultation. This is a good idea, and I am a strong believer in patients’ education. An educated patient is a patient ready to undergo plastic surgery. However, weighing the pros and cons of plastic surgery should only start after discussing all the details of the procedure with the plastic surgeon that you have chosen. Each procedure can be customized to all the finest details to cater to the particular needs of each patient. This means that you will find out all the pros and cons only after having the pre-operative consultation with the plastic surgeon.
Moreover, the cons can also depend on your health and emotional condition and also the things to be expected during the recovery period. In many cases, pain and discomfort can occur for a few days after the procedure and generally speaking, there is a period of a few days and up to two weeks that the patient should take time off from work to heal and restore after surgery. The risks involved, as well as the costs, should be weighed against the benefits. For many patients, if the procedure has a strong medical indication, it often means that the pros outweigh the cons.