It may drive you a little nutty to admit your parents were right all these years later, but they were when they said that moderation is the key to happiness. According to several well-known plastic surgeons, the same adage holds true for cosmetic procedures.
Plastic surgery can produce such spectacular results that there’s no need to push different surgeries beyond their healthy limits. When plastic surgeons (and their patients) practice moderation, the benefits are multi-faceted. There’s nothing wrong with wanting great cheek bones, plump lips or reconstructing a damaged feature, but it should have its limits.
“Moderation is the way I think you should approach life,” shares board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Charles Messa. “I don’t think you should be pure vegan. I don’t think you should be just a meat eater. It all has to do with balance, and the same holds true for good plastic surgery – too much of a good thing is way too much.”
Lots of a Good Thing Can be Bad
Though he wasn’t referring to plastic surgery, if patients listened to the great Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero when he said more than 2,000 years ago, “Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide,” they would likely be happier and healthier.
The overdone look is probably more known to the general public than are the natural, conservative results many, if not most, patients receive. “Just because someone can afford Botox and a filler doesn’t mean you keep using Botox and a filler all the time,” explains Messa. “To the point where it’s going to look completely unnatural and it will take another two years to look good.”
That’s right. Two years to settle your looks back down. That is a steep price to pay for going for that little bit extra.
When it comes to plastic surgery, the question “how much is too much?” is seen as a news headline today more frequently than perhaps any time in recent memory. In addition, there are more websites catering to those who are intrigued, or morbidly curious, about plastic surgery gone wrong than there are plastic surgery procedures themselves. This is a trend the most experienced and best plastic surgeons are attempting to unravel, for the sake of their patients who look natural after procedures.
Dr. Messa takes pride in his practice’s refusal to employ “blanket formulas,” or general procedures applied to every patient asking for similar results.”You have to take each patient, address their concerns, look at their individual anatomy and do what it takes to make them look aesthetically rejuvenated and enhanced. Not overdone. Not too tight. Not too pulled,” says Messa.
Trust is Essential
If you develop a trusting relationship with your plastic surgeon, it will be much easier to hear if he or she tells you not to either rush into this procedure or that treatment. A plastic surgeon who says “no” is the exact kind of person looking out for their patients’ best interests.
“Maintaining that trust with the patient, maintaining that sincerity of I’m going to do what’s best for you so that you can look your best self – natural, but enhance you such that you feel better about yourself externally as well as internally, that’s what is much important.”
The Bigger the Procedure, the More Moderation Matters
Dr. Messa shares that the moderation is key approach to aesthetic treatment does not just apply to non-surgical approaches. “You can apply that to facial rejuvenation, breast augmentations, abdominal contouring – everything in plastic surgery,” he explains. “If you put breast implants that are too big, eventually it’s going to come back: there’s going to be rippling, stretch marks, pain. You’ll suffer all these things. And maybe even more complications, headaches and second thoughts.”
Things can take a turn for the worst when a patient experiences the traumatic ordeal of a botched surgery. Many horror stories have emerged from the operating table, usually from surgeons who are inexperienced or negligent. This can lead to a patient seeking more beauty enhancements in order to fix the mistakes, which can either worsen the outcome or make it slightly better. Both of which are not what the patient was expecting, creating a never-ending cycle. This could’ve been avoided originally with moderation and an honest surgeon.
“In this vein, it’s incredibly important to select a surgeon who is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and who has the credentials to be approved because that documents they have the expertise and experience to work on purely aesthetic and cosmetic procedures,” explains Messa. “And we know when enough is enough.”