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By Mr Douglas McGeorge FRCS, FRCS (Plast) Recent years has seen an explosion in demand for and acceptance of cosmetic surgical and non-surgical procedures. We live in a young world where people are living longer and remaining active to a much older age. Feeling fitter, more and more individuals want to keep looking fresh to make sure they enjoy life, happy with the way they look.
These are procedures of choice, carried out to change or improve appearance. With treatments of choice it is even more important that patients fully understand the limitations of what can be achieved. We are bombarded with glossy images promoting improvements, to sell surgical services, but they may not always be in your interests. More so than ever, it is important that proper counselling takes place so that treatments are based on the needs of the individual, making sure that their aspirations can be matched by surgical interventions, fully informed of the limitations and possible complications that they carry.
So where does the public turn to receive proper counselling, away from the bright adverts and hard sell? This is not a commodity that can be returned with a full refund or swapped for a different model. As a starting point your own GP may have experience of good surgeons working locally. Friends and family may have insight themselves into treatment facilities, to help guide you through the process. Clinicians carrying out surgery must be on the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council. This registration can be checked. Most experienced aesthetic surgeons from the UK are members of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, (BAAPS), based at the Royal College of Surgeons in London. Their details can be found on the BAAPS website.
It is important to find a properly trained clinician, practicing in the right environment. Procedures should be for your benefit, to improve the quality of your life. You should be fully informed before embarking on treatments. They can be life changing and must be properly considered, without hard selling techniques. Never be rushed into decisions, do not be seduced into special offers and do not proceed with treatment if at all uneasy with the clinician or treatment facility. Cosmetic treatments, carried out well, can add enormously to the quality of life; carried out badly they can prove disastrous. Be sure. Be safe.Douglas McGeorge
President
British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons |
