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When Does ‘Done’ Mean ‘Done’?

When Does ‘Done’ Mean ‘Done’?

Bad plastic surgery seems to be the “face” of plastic surgery in the media. We’ve all seen it. The horrors of good surgery gone very bad by way of having too much done. Television series have been born out of these ‘too-much-of-a-good-thing’ nightmares.

One of the fundamental questions that always should be on the minds of patients and plastic surgeons is pretty basic: When do you say, “That’s it, we’re done.”?

by John Hammarley
and The Plastic Surgery Channel

How Things Can Get Out of Hand

It could start innocently, and successfully: one procedure to change one thing. A tummy tuck, for instance, can return a woman’s figure after having kids. Then, other procedures are considered: a breast lift, nose job or something to improve that chin. Especially in the atmosphere where there’s “magic in a bottle” and “lunchtime makeovers,” says Dr. Stafford Broumand, a New York City-base, board certified plastic surgeon. “It takes an experienced surgeon to know when the job at hand is complete. And more is not necessary.”
How much is too much? At what point has someone gone too far? Knowing if there is a problem starts with figuring out why someone wants the surgery in the first place.
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If One is Good, Is More Better?

It’s common for people to have two or three procedures done at once, but there have been examples of some practices that “up-sell” procedures and offer financing plans over extended periods of time. Many people are tempted by today’s “airbrushed world” where everyone we see in the media is perfect. Judging and determining what procedures can and can’t be done safely is the responsibility of your surgeon, and the calling card of an expert in the field.

Distorted Body Image

Experts estimate about two percent of the population in our country is so critical about their own bodies that it’s considered a mental health condition known as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). People afflicted with BDD obsess on flaws, real or imagined. Katharine Phillips, MD, director of the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Program at Rhode Island Hospital, says people with the disorder look normal, and are often considered beautiful. But they don’t see themselves that way. Instead, they obsess about their perceived flaw. “It is very distressing and can sometimes make them housebound,” she says.

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People who have BDD sometimes have the same body part operated on multiple times. Phillips says that surgery is rarely effective since mental health is the root of the problem. The American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery trains its members to recognize people who may have BDD, who often have multiple surgeries on the same body part. They will sometimes try to hide the other surgeries, or they will claim previous procedures have been botched.

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Plastic Surgery is an Art

Dr. Shaun Parson, a board certified plastic surgeon in Scottsdale, AZ, and Dr. Daniel Maman, a board certified plastic surgeon in New York City both agree the goal in any cosmetic surgery is to achieve an end result that is “aesthetically pleasing” and both also say that going beyond that point with too many surgeries or the same surgery multiple times can send surgeons and their patients “down a slippery slope” very quickly.

It maintains that researching and seeking out a board certified plastic surgeon is paramount in order to avoid issue. An expert has your concerns and best interests at heart, looking to improve who you are, not to transform you continually into someone else.

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