After Cosmetic Surgery: A 2nd Opinion
Stuart Linder, M.D. (“Dr. Body”) and Robert Kotler, M.D. (“Dr. Face”) tell what to do if you have unsatisfactory cosmetic surgery anywhere in the world.
The key to getting the look you want? Cosmetic plastic surgeons have a saying, “A happy patient brings at least three more eager patients; but an unhappy patient turns away 10 others who would have knocked on your office door.”
Thus, most plastic surgeons are willing to go the extra mile to make sure you join their lists of happy patients.
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Dr. Face (Dr. Kotler): People find bad plastic surgery fascinating. More pictures of celebrities with less-than-perfect or awful results are shown than the millions of people who come away with an improved facial or body procedure and a renewed sense of self-confidence.
Dr. Body (Dr. Linder): But if you think you have an undesirable result from cosmetic surgery, the last thing you want to do is get hot under the collar, flame the plastic surgeon or his staff with contentious email or make angry phone calls.
Dr. Face: Sure, because you, the consumer, have an edge with your rejuvenation surgeon, just make an appointment, go in and talk with him or her. Any surgeon wants all this patients to look good because future patients will be looking at your before and after plastic surgery pictures to judge the surgeon’s skills.
Dr. Body: First thing to ask is: does your complaint has anything to do with the normal healing process.
Dr. Face: Correct, given that some healing process can take a full year to settle in. But you should already know that before undergoing the procedure. If you are using a board-certified cosmetic plastic surgeon, he or she has probably explained the after surgery process toward getting the look you want. Many plastic surgeons will urge you to have pre-surgery consultations with two, three or even four surgeons so you have a complete picture of what can be done and how you can expect to look. If you haven’t had surgery yet, ask during the initial consultation what happens if you’re not happy with the results and who – the surgeon or the patient – covers additional touch up or redo costs.
Dr. Body: If you do need some touch-up work or a small nip or tuck, your surgeon may offer to do a correction at no charge. You can at least ask and give the doctor a chance at converting you into a happy patient.
Dr. Face: In many cases, a touch up can be done in the doctor’s office. If you have to undergo surgery again, it may involve another fee for the surgery center and an anesthesiologist. According to the Healthy Woman Blog, about 15 percent of cosmetic surgeries require some touch up work or a minor do-over.
Dr. Body: Try looking at your before surgery pictures and compare those with the way you look now. People become accustomed quickly to seeing their own faces in mirrors and often forget how they looked before surgery.
Dr. Face: If you and the surgeon can’t make any progress, try getting another opinion from a board-certified surgeon who does the same type of surgery. After making sure the second surgeon is neutral, show him or her your before and after plastic surgery pictures while the second doctor takes a look at your surgical treatment area. It just could be that, for instance, an upper eyelid reduction case could not trim the eyelids any more than what has already been done. The major risk to upper blepharoplasty is that too much of the eyelids are taken away and the patient is left unable to close the eyes.
Dr. Body: Or, perhaps a nose can’t be made any smaller without affecting the patient’s healthy breathing.
Dr. Face: And, remember, be sure to get copies of your pre-op photos plus the operating doctor or doctors’ medical records including operative reports. The more the consulting specialist knows about what did or did not happen, during and after surgery, the more valuable the consultation.
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Doctors Face and Body are both specialists in a field of surgery known as revision surgery. A revision is done to correct surgical imperfections performed by another surgeon somewhere else.
View some of Dr. Body’s breast revision before and after pictures.
Here are some of Dr. Face’s before and after pictures of nose job revisions
