How Safe Is Plastic Surgery? Dangers of Cosmetic Procedures

Many people wonder every day whether plastic surgery is truly safe as well as how safe a cosmetic surgery procedure truly is. The fact of the matter which one must always keep in mind is that a cosmetic surgery procedure is just that, a surgical procedure and although it is no longer considered to be experimental, it still caries with it certain risks and possibilities of various complications. The only real difference between it and other forms of surgery is the fact that it is elective. What this means is that it is not a necessary surgical procedure which offers any real form of medical health improvement. If it does, then it is not considered plastic surgery but rather reconstructive surgery.

Furthermore, much like any surgical procedure, the safety issues which have brought up a number of concerns is usually attributed to the patient's selection of surgeons. All to often a story comes up in the newspaper that this person or that person underwent a plastic surgery and it was botched. Upon further digging, in many cases it was found out that the patient in an attempt to save some money chose a not so legitimate person to perform the procedure. This is even the case in many high profile persons and their close family members. On top of all of this, you have to check the background of the surgeon. Selecting an inexperienced surgeon is probably the worst thing you can do. An inexperienced plastic surgeon has a higher possibility of messing things up and botching the plastic surgery.

So basically, the concept of plastic surgery being safe all comes down to you, the patient. When looking into surgery it is important to interview several surgeons. Much like an employment interview, your goal is to find the most qualified surgeon you can get and attempting to cut corners in the cost department by selecting a surgeon who may be less than qualified is no one's fault but your own.

Make sure that the surgeon has performed the procedure in the past, check out the before and after photographs of their past patients. From these photographs you will be able to judge the surgeon's artistic skills. Furthermore you will want to make sure that the plastic surgeon is a certified member of the Board of Plastic Surgeons and that his or her certification is in the particular field of surgery that you want performed. All of these things will help you ensure that the surgeon is capable of performing the procedure without any major issues which leaves the only real possibilities of complications to you body's own anatomy.

By Dr. Jim Greene