cosmetic surgery doctor consultation

The Pre-Operative Consultation

The outcomes of cosmetic surgery can be very satisfying to both patient and also the surgeon. Before you decide to have any kind of treatment, an appointment with the doctor should occur, involving a complete discussion with no obligation. All of your questions ought to be answered satisfactorily and you should get time to consider what has been said as well as what may be proposed.


Undoubtedly, the single most important stage in a cosmetic surgical treatment is the pre-operative consultation. It’s at this stage that the necessary guidelines are set down. Additionally, both you and the surgeon ought to form a good amicable relationship based on integrity, honesty as well as trust. In the event that such a relationship is not created at this stage it is best in the long term that you should seek help elsewhere or that the doctor declines treatment simply because the likelihood of an unsatisfactory outcome is very much increased.


In an ideal world, cosmetic surgery should consist of 2 parties just you and the surgeon. All things considered, it is the doctor who has the duty of identifying your expectations, performing the actual operation or procedure, taking care of you post-operatively and taking full responsibility for all post-operative difficulties, problems or unfavourable consequences.


A cosmetic surgery consultation visit is essential since the surgeon also has to ask you about your previous health background in order to find out if there are any particulars that might influence an operation. Once the surgeon understands more about you physically, he is then in a stronger position to operate successfully and safely. The doctor will usually communicate with your GP after the cosmetic surgery consultation, as long as you have given him or her permission to do this.


At the preliminary cosmetic surgery consultation the surgeon has a duty to determine if you have an issue that can be enhanced by a surgical procedure. Sometimes your feelings about what you appear like tend to be very different from what other people observe. The best results in cosmetic surgery tend to be obtained once the surgeon and the patient agree about the issue in the first instance. Then your surgeon needs to ask themselves whether there is an appropriate treatment that will enhance it.


It’s obviously useless to undertake a treatment that might not really work or might even worsen the situation. In order to be successful, an operation needs to be performed on the right individual using the correct technique. When the surgeon has decided that there’s a treatment which will work, he or she should let you know fully about the operation and also the post-operative span of events, for example when the stitches are likely to be removed and when you will probably be ‘presentable’ again following the operation.


Cosmetic surgery is not invisible. But, through careful surgical technique and also the accurate placement of the incisions, the scars can be nearly invisible and only detectable on the closest of examinationa. Patients on their part ought to realise that some skin heals much better than others. This, of course, ought to be fully talked about in the preliminary cosmetic surgery consultation – as should just about all likely problems. The more knowledge you have about the procedure because everything has been very carefully explained to you, the more likely you should be pleased with the end result.


This preliminary cosmetic surgery consultation may take up to an hour or so, in order for the surgeon to inform you enough about the procedure or operation for you personally to be able to make a valid decision. The initial consultation is a shared process: you and the doctor will be attempting to assess one another. You will be trying to decide whether or not to allow the doctor to treat you. Most doctors these days give away printed information sheets that may be studied very carefully later.


3 Requirements Essential to the Evaluation Process

You will find that there are three requirements that are essential in this evaluation process:


  • Does the surgeon fully understand your problem? Did he make the appropriate reactions when you described the problem? Comprehending the patient’s issue is vital, if the doctor never quite empathised with the patient, chances are an effective outcome will be a fluke. You have to consider whether the treatment suggested by the doctor is actually what you are really seeking as well as whether it is highly relevant to your problem.
  • Did the surgeon convince you that he can find a solution and do something about your problem successfully? At the consultation, the majority of surgeons display photographs of previous patients, which should provide you with a good idea of what the doctor is likely to accomplish. You should make sure that the pictures are highly relevant to your own situation If you are unconvinced by the pictures of the doctor’s previous patients, you should not proceed.
  • Has anything put you off from wanting to be a patient of this specific surgeon? Occasionally the pictures reveal how the surgeon’s as well as your ideas of what will be a successful outcome are significantly different. Your own judgement shouldn’t be solely based on the reputation and qualifications of the doctor. Not all doctors are right for all patients and the other way around. To have an aesthetic operation carried out by any particular doctor is a very individual choice. You should establish a great rapport. If you’re put off for any reason you should look for another doctor.


Of course, you might decide not to go ahead after hearing all about the operation. The actual cosmetic surgery consultation may still have been very useful and saved you a lot of stress as well as worry — and money! Tthere shouldn’t be any pressure in order to come to a decision at the consultation itself. On the contrary, hard decisions, for example deciding whether to have a procedure or not, ought not to be rushed.


The surgeon’s job at the pre-operative interview is very simple. There is just one criterion: regardless of whether he believes you are going to end up being pleased if you have the proposed treatment. The doctor himself ought to of course carry out the initial cosmetic surgery consultation, the surgical treatment and all the post-operative treatment, and should be available to you all the time during the treatment process.


If the surgeon feels that there is a substantial risk of disappointment then he would be unlikely to offer the procedure in the first place.


Most doctors will offer you a number of consultations, anticipating that you will often only think about important questions that you wish you had asked once you have given the matter a good deal of thought. Some patients may wish to book their surgical treatment at the preliminary cosmetic surgery consultation in a wave of enthusiasm, and then regret it later. Commercial clinics and greedy doctors have definitely put pressure on patients to decide rapidly and have provided inducements to do this. This is a very unprofessional exercise.


Some doctors use pc imaging in order to illustrate or even emphasise feasible results or outcomes of surgery. This method may work nicely and be successful for some doctors and patients. This practice is not recommended however, nor should it be adoped routinely, because a doctor is only too aware that it’s not always feasible to precisely match the final long-term post-operative appearance of a part of your body by simply modifying features on the computer screen. The body does not always adhere to the before and after pictures illustrated by pc graphics for reasons already explained. It is, therefore to be stressed, that extreme caution should be taken by all patients who’ve experienced an appointment where pc imaging was used — the end result shown might not necessarily match the result accomplished by surgical treatment.


It is a good idea to see a number of doctors before going ahead with an operation. This makes it easier to evaluate individual doctors against one another, and to choose which surgeon will be most appropriate for you personally.


One Final Important Point

It cannot be stressed enough that the pre-operative consultation visit is perhaps the most important part of the entire process of having a cosmetic surgical treatment.


The relationship between the patient and surgeon is of the utmost importance. To make the point once again: beware of establishments or medical clinics that offer the expertise of such individuals, and no other adviser, so-called counsellor or any other party should interfere or be involved in the guidance stage.