jani lane

Does Plastic Surgery Conflict with the Notion of Women's Empowerment?

I read a great post on another blog this morning about a young woman who had lost her way and didn't feel the confidence and exuberance she had once thought she did. You can find the post here:

http://www.blogher.com/own-your-beauty-i-look-different-when-we-got-married?from=hot

This poignant and thoughtful piece about her struggle to learn that it's hard to love until we learn to love ourselves had me wondering to what extent my chosen profession contributes to the problem of women losing sight of their individual beauty and defining themselves based on outward appearance and others' reaction to them.

I realize that, because it is not possible to require providers of aesthetic medicine and surgery to pass some sort of "Integrity Test", that there will always be predatory behavior in our world, and that this behavior does, indeed complicate the journey to peace and happiness for some women.

How any young woman struggling with an eating disorder must feel and what she must think when she sees an irresponsible advertisement promising she could "Lose 3 gallons of fat..." or "Lose 9 inches in an hour" makes me wish the system did have a way of more strictly limiting the kind of people allowed to finish medical school. It seems to me our nation used to be better at ensuring graduating doctors were uniformly people of high integrity.

And while I know I can feel positive about my own approach to my profession, my patients, and my marketing, I also realize that the behavior of these less scrupulous people necessarily affects my own reputation, and that of the entire field of Plastic Surgery, by association.

I do believe (very strongly) that under the right circumstances, and in the hands of a responsible, ethical, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, the pursuit of aesthetic surgery can be a very positive thing....

Women seeking to have their external appearance reflect the way they feel on the inside- to present the beauty to the world that they feel... are uniformly happy and grateful for the opportunity and intervention.

When pursued with concerning motivations, unrealistic goals, or for the satisfaction of someone else, aesthetic surgery is rarely gratifying for the patient or the surgeon.

This deeper understanding of the psychology of plastic surgery, as well as the nuances of human form and anatomy, delicate surgical techniques involved, and details of postoperative care all have contributed to the advancements in outcomes and safety all patients have benefitted from over the past 40-50 years....

And which no ER doctor, eye doctor, or gynecologist could possibly hope to attain after a few weekends at a resort learning about "Smart" lipo, "Body Jet" lipo, or any other machine....

By allowing irresponsible doctors who haven't gone through the rigorous and disciplined training that Board Certified Plastic Surgeons go through to perform surgery on our sisters, wives, mothers, and daughters, our society is abandoning the benefit that Plastic Surgeons' training and good judgement brings to the relationship. And this is fundamentally the cause of the deaths and injuries we read and hear about every few months.

Love yourself enough to seek intervention for the right reasons, have realistic expectations, and respect yourself enough to only place your safety and happiness in the care of someone with the education, training, and integrity to make it worthwhile.

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Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Plastic Surgery is Real Surgery... Make Good Decisions

I was very happy to find this old video on one of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons sites...

The point is that responsible and well trained surgeons certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery would not resort to hyperbole or irresponsible promises in order to gain your interest or business...

You've seen the ads... I know I have- "satisfaction guaranteed!" "Lose 5 gallons of fat in one hour without anesthesia!" Some even show people who have had a tummy tuck and represent them as liposuction patients...

Does this really sound like responsible health care delivery to you?

Here's why you, as a prospective patient, should be very worried about this....

If a doctor is willing to compromise their Hippocratic Oath, their ethics and their morals by making these ridiculous and irresponsible advertising claims, what else might he or she be willing to compromise in order to make money?

Realize this- any operation (and yes, liposuction is an operation) is a series of small but important decisions... if you have placed yourself in the hands of someone like this, how can you be confident that as the operation proceeds and these decisions are being made, that the decisions are made based on what is in your best interests and not on what is best for the doctor- who has already proven they are willing to compromise themselves to make a buck??

Plastic Surgery is Real Surgery- be safe. Be sure you have someone in control of your safety and happiness who has actually completed Plastic Surgery Residency training (not ER training or ophthalmology training or Family Practice Training) and is certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery.

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Safety and Quality are Free.... The Monthly Safety Report

First of all, I would like to thank the reader who correctly reminded me that the proverbial jury is still out with regard to the true risks of taking hormone replacement therapy for management of peri-menopausal symptoms, and that the symptomatic benefit of doing so (for many women) is undeniable. I have adjusted the headline of the post accordingly.

Please also note, however, that it is our policy not to publish comments left anonymously.

I encourage and appreciate your thoughts but have found that, as a favorite old professor of surgery used to say, "When data is poor, emotions run high"... and posting comments anonymously seems to encourage a certain lack of responsibility.

Now on to today's post-

I recently came across a great book after reading about it on another blog- the book is called Quality is Free, and was written by a guy named Philip Crosby. The bottom line is that idea that doing things right (whether you are a plastic surgeon, an architect, or a plumber) the first time adds nothing to the cost of the service, while cutting corners or taking risks to save money up front always does, in terms of client dissatisfaction and the costs of repair or revision.

He also says that the major obstacle to high initial quality is the up-front cost... In other words, quality DOES cost more- but in the long run saves you money.

I meet so many women struggling with this lesson after making poor choices in their health care... I wish we were better at communicating the importance of searching for the best quality possible before proceeding (especially with elective health care like aesthetic surgery).

We've obviously been quite successful communicating to the average woman that it is acceptable to negotiate with your doctor and look for the lowest price (as evidenced by the most common question asked of my staff- "how much does it cost?"), but I'm afraid this mentality is the root cause of most of the unhappy and disfigured women out there...

By shifting the goal from achieving the most beautiful and natural outcome to achieving an acceptable one (to the surgeon) at the lowest cost, patients are unknowingly increasing their risk of being forever regretful they had surgery in the first place, as they end up in the hands of doctors untrained to safely and artfully complete their desired improvement.

And, as most of these unfortunate women would tell you (as they do me when they come to me for corrections), they would gladly spend twice what they were charged if they could just go back in time and have the procedure done right by a surgeon certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery in the first place. In fact, they often do end up spending much more than the initial procedure cost, as the procedure I need to do to correct their problems is often of a greater magnitude...

So by choosing their initial surgeon for all the wrong reasons, they saved a small amount of money... only to end up unhappy or deformed- and now needing to spend a lot more money not to be happy, but just to look normal again.

If you or someone you know is interested in aesthetic improvement, and whether or not I am one of the surgeons you consider, please share these important principles:

In the hands of a well-trained, experienced, and ethically minded surgeon certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery, aesthetic care and surgery is extremely safe, and associated with a very high rate of patient satisfaction
If you choose someone not described by the above, all bets are off and your chances of being safe and happy greatly reduced
Spend your time and energy finding a surgeon you like and feel you can trust (and who can be described by the above) and who's outcomes are pleasing and natural... In other words, look for QUALITY- then consider what that quality may cost... and also consider what the alternative may cost in both the short and longer terms.

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