How to choose a plastic surgeon: 7 questions for your consultation
From checking authorisation to the risks: what to ask before you trust a surgeon, and the warning signs.
The result of plastic surgery depends largely on one decision: whom you trust. Price and pictures on social media are a weak basis for that decision. Ask the seven questions below at your consultation. A good surgeon will not be offended by them; on the contrary, they show that you are taking this seriously.
1. Is your name on the Ministry of Health list?
In Azerbaijan, plastic surgery may be practised only by doctors who have completed a residency in the specialty and whose documents have been confirmed. The Ministry of Health publishes the list of authorised plastic surgeons on its official website. Checking a doctor's name there takes a minute and is the most important step.
2. Where will the operation take place?
The operation should be done in a licensed medical institution, in a clinic with an intensive care unit and an anaesthetist. A cosmetology office or a flat is not a place to operate. Complications are rare, but when one occurs the means to deal with it within minutes must be there.
3. How often do you perform this operation?
Plastic surgery is a wide field. Ask the surgeon about experience with the operation you are interested in, and ask to see before and after photographs of similar cases. When you look at them, pay attention to the patient who resembles you, not only to the best result.
4. What are the risks in my case?
The answer "there are no risks" should worry you. Every operation carries risk, and an honest surgeon lists them unprompted: bleeding, infection, scarring, asymmetry, risks related to anaesthesia. The ones that apply to your state of health should be explained separately.
5. What happens if I do not like the result?
A revision operation is needed in a certain percentage of cases everywhere in the world. Knowing in advance how that is handled, and who pays for what, protects both you and the surgeon.
6. Who will follow me after the operation?
Recovery is half of the operation. Ask how many follow-up visits there will be and whom you call if something worries you at night.
7. Do I need this operation?
This may be the most important question. A good surgeon sometimes says "you do not need this operation" or "this technique will not give the result you want". A doctor who agrees at once to everything you ask is thinking of their own interest, not yours.
Warning signs to watch for
- Pressure such as "there is a discount if you decide today"
- A promise of a guaranteed result
- An operation recommended from photographs alone, without an examination
- An operation without tests and an anaesthetic review
- Short, irritated answers to your questions
