Questions You Absolutely Must Ask Before Getting Plastic Surgery

Your body is your own. What you do with it will affect only you, so the choice is yours. You need to bear in mind potential risks, both regarding the procedure, anesthesia and the healing period.

Have you ever thought about having plastic surgery? A lot of people have. There are many strong voices out there that are either for or against plastic surgery.

The question isn’t really about whether it’s right for them though, but if it’s right for you. The questions below will hopefully help you answer that.

Will it make you happy?

beautiful girl looking at herself in the mirror

Life is a holistic thing where every part affects the whole. Whilst you might be happier to have one size larger breasts, a straighter nose, or less protruding ears, it’s not going to turn your whole life around.

For you to be happy you have to love not just your nose, but your job, where you live, your friends, your family, your personality and your past time pursuits.

Having a straighter nose is not going to help you to love yourself more either. You have to love yourself before you get plastic surgery.

You have to be happy with your life before you get plastic surgery, or at the very least not to think it will fix your life. Because it won’t.

The only thing that will change with a straighter nose, or larger boobs, is that you will be more pleased when you look in the mirror, or try on a new dress.

Plastic surgery won’t “fix” your self-image, your self-love, or your life in general. To ensure you make the right decision it’s worth fixing your overall life before you fix your body.

Will it help you with men?

man and woman flirting

If you think larger boobs will make men fall in love with you more easily, you are deluded. Speaking as someone with very small breasts I can attest to the fact that it’s quite easy to make men fall in love with you even if you have breasts the size of plums.

There is no denying there are some features that can make us more attractive however, but if you have a look around you will find that the women who are the most popular with men (past high school) have a certain type of behavior, as opposed to looks.

If you want to get more men, learn people skills. It won’t change your personality more than learning to say please and thank you, but just like please and thank you, it will change how people perceive you.

Are you prepared for the risks?

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Some plastic surgery procedures are completely harmless, whilst others can result in severe troubles, even death. With surgery comes the risk of inflammation and there’s always the risk of something going wrong.

Humans aren’t robots – no matter how good the surgeon, something could happen.

Before you decide to have plastic surgery google the risks for the specific procedure you want to have performed.

Will you need to take time off work? Will you suffer any pains?

woman sleeping in hospital bed

Personally I’ve had moles removed for safety reasons. I did this the first time in my teens. The doctor warned against sun exposure and movement, but I had a dance show and a sun vacation booked, so I didn’t follow instructions that well. I did, however, cover up against the sun.

When I came back to remove the stitches the doctor looked at me sheepishly saying it seemed I was allergic to the plastic thread used to stitch up my wounds and on top of it I was prone to scarring.

As a result I have scars all over my body that you will forever see. To me it didn’t matter in the least, as it wasn’t on my face, but if you don’t want scars – check you aren’t allergic to the thread they stitch you up with and follow the instructions.

And if you’re allergic to plastic, avoid the plastic bandaids too!

Do you know your surgeon?

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Some doctors are good at talking and marketing, but less skilled at surgery. Check out someone’s credentials properly before you go for surgery with them.

Whilst it can be tempting and sometimes wise to have plastic surgery done abroad as it’s cheaper and the quality is just as good, or better, there are also instances when people have been fooled. Do your research properly – check all the certifications someone holds and see if you can speak to previous patients.

Also make sure you have at least two skilled translators with you if you do not speak the language – there’s this story about a woman who went for liposuction abroad and ended up with her lips removed. Most doctors dealing with international patients will speak great English, but better be safe than sorry!

If in America, make sure the surgeon is board certified – i.e. certified by the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery. In America a licensed physician can perform plastic surgery with no prior training, so this certification should be non-negotiable when looking for the right surgeon.

Another thing to look into is how specialized the surgeon is. Do they perform all sorts of plastic surgery or have they specialized in one type of surgery? The more specialized they are, the better. Of course, they can have different doctors on their team doing the different procedures.

Also, ask how often someone performs a procedure. Just because they have a cosmetic surgery practice doesn’t mean that’s their main job – they might just as well spend most of their time at the local hospital.

Who will administer the anesthesia?

Unless a minor procedure, such as removing a mole, you want someone especially qualified to administer the anesthesia. Because if it goes wrong, it can go terribly wrong. Especially for larger procedures.

Ensure that the person administering it is a board certified physician (MD / DO) anesthesiologist, or a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), if in America. If elsewhere, check what the equivalent titles would be.

What are your options?

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Last, but not least, check what options you have regarding the procedure. Sometimes there is more than one option for the procedure. For example, I always wanted to have my eyes fixed.

Since I was a child people mistook me for being tired because I was born with fat deposits under my eyes, commonly referred to as bags. Most recently a doctor told me I looked like I had a sinus infection because of the bags, which with the years have come to look larger thanks to excess skin.

And whilst I don’t think it will make me more popular, or change my life in any other way, I’d love to look awake and healthy, so I always figured when I get rich I’ll fix my eyes. It’s far from the first thing on my priority list (I’m much more interested in a Canon 5D to be honest), but it’s something I will likely do one day.

As a result I’ve learnt a thing or two about the procedures available.

Once I was having dinner with a plastic surgeon and as we were chatting I told him I only had one wish in the plastic surgery department. He immediately told me I wished to fix my eyes.

He also told me if I removed the fat, I would end up with hollows under my eyes. So a few years later when I decided to look it, I checked my options. My finds showed that now you can use another fill if you have bags my size that can’t be removed without leaving a hollow.

However, I’m paranoid surgery would change the shape of my eyes and I don’t like doing anything invasive due to risks, so I’d likely just get rid of excess skin. It wouldn’t remove my bags, but it would help a lot.

Before someone removes bags under your eyes to leave you with hollows, check your options. That goes for any kind of plastic surgery. Many times there’s more than one option available.

Conclusion

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Plastic surgery might make you more attractive in your own eyes, but it will not make you more happy unless you sort out all other areas of your life. Nor will it make men fall in love with you – whilst physical attraction plays part in who we pursue, overall attraction is based on a plethora of different things.

You also need to find a qualified physician with a proven track record and the right qualifications. If going abroad, make sure to do a rigorous check of the doctor and bring translators along if their English isn’t flawless.

My advice? Once you are happy with your life and you know how to attract men socially, then you can contemplate plastic surgery because you know you aren’t using plastic surgery as some sort of fix for other problems.

About the author

Maria Montgomery

Writer. Social Entrepreneur. Foster mommy (twins). Change maker. Foodie. Health freak. Nature lover. Creative nutcase. Blogger (Confessions of a Dizzy Blonde). A friend of mine once described me by saying “One minute she’s like the Dalai Lama, the next a dizzy blonde” and maybe that does sum me up…

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