Useful information

How to choose the right plastic surgion?

You should follow some practical rules to find the surgeon who will make your life better:

1. Consider first-hand information from friends who have already had this surgeon perform an operation and are satisfied with it. If you cannot get such direct information, use media resources like the internet and magazines. Usually, professional surgeons or clinics place ads in the last pages of women’s magazines, with their own website or that of the clinic they work in; these may contain testimonials of former patients, organizations you can contact.

2. After finding and comparing such information, choose which clinic(s) you prefer to have a consultation with. You can even consult with several clinics before making your final choice

3. When calling a private clinic, you should expect to hear the kind voice of the clinic’s Administrator, who should be able to arrange a convenient time for your consultation, and clarify all the general information you request, such as their prices for operations, however these prices should also be listed on their web-site. 
 

4. If you do not know who to consult with, you should turn to the clinic’s Administrator, and request consultation with the leading surgeon, or Head of Department, whom, as a rule, are knowledgeable about every kind of medical question. If necessary, they will recommend which medical specialist you should consult with concerning specific details.

5. When you are in the clinic, you should take note of important things like: the neighbourhood the consultation office as well as clinic’s treatment rooms are in; the appearance and state of maintenance of the rehabilitation and cosmetology department; the type of equipment utilized, and occupancy of the clinic. In fact, the more patients there are in a clinic, the more experienced the doctors working there should be. In recent years, laser technology is widely used in esthetic medicine. This equipment is rather expensive, and only well-established clinics can afford several types of lasers. Still, such equipment is not indispensable for nor does it guarantee good and optimal treatment.

Ну и одно из самых важных качеств профессионального пластического хирурга – это возможность правильно поставить диагноз и предложить путь наиболее оптимальной коррекции. Не во всех случаях это должна быть операция. Хирург должен владеть всем спектром знаний в эстетической медицине. И если пока достаточно прибегнуть к консервативным методикам, то они должны быть вам предложены или назначена дополнительная консультация косметолога. Порой бывает, что хирург владеет только одной методикой операции, например редукционной маммопластики, и предлагает ее Вам, объясняя, что все другие методики плохие. У каждой из методики есть свои преимущества и недостатки и именно это и должен объяснить Вам доктор. Опытный хирург покажет Вам результаты своих операций для Вашего случая и обычно несколько вариантов.

6. When consulting with a surgeon, find out how professional he or she is. The first thing you should get to know is the period of time the surgeon has been performing plastic surgery, which, for optimal care, should be more than five years. You should know how many operations the surgeon has conducted; the annual numbers of operations; and the amount of operations similar to yours s/he has already performed. The best indicator is when over 200 hundred operations a year are performed, in which case the doctor is reputable and reliable. A doctor can perform standard type operations easily and competently after doing twenty of them. Additionally, surgeons must always be developing and improving their surgical expertise. In addition, you should know the associations or organizations the doctor is affiliated with. They can be national and international organizations of plastic surgery. In order to validate the information about a surgeon, you can verify it in the internet and/or look at the certificates displayed in the clinic. Try to find out about the doctor’s scientific articles, and participation in any international conferences; in as much as they have gained international recognition, this speaks for their professionalism.

7. The core competence in plastic surgery is diagnosing properly, and proposing the optimal ways for correction, which are not necessarily by surgical operation. The surgeon should possess broad, comprehensive knowledge of esthetic medicine. You may only need some simple non-surgical treatment for your problem, in which case you will simply be recommended additional consultation with the cosmetologist. Occasionally, when the doctor is a master of one method (for example mammoplasty surgery methods), s/he may propose their system to you, pointing out the drawbacks of other, appropriate methods. Each method has its pros and cons, and your doctor should always inform you of them. Experienced doctors show the results of the operations they have performed on their patients, and more than one type of treatment may be suitable in your case.

8. Possibly the most crucial factor between a patient and a doctor is a relationship of confidence and trust. Never forget that when you put yourself in a doctor’s hands for surgical operation, you are entrusting him / her with your appearance, your health, and even with your life. If you don’t feel sufficient trust in your doctor, it is better not to risk so much – even when the surgeon seems to have all possible and desirable recognitions from associations.

9. When you are reaching agreement with the surgeon you should also find out: who your anaesthesiologist will be; where the hospital is situated, and what the conditions are like there. Additionally, Is there constantly some doctor on duty or at least a nurse? How fast the doctor who performed the operation can come if there is some urgent condition (eg high temperature, pain)? The surgeon should provide you with a list of the health tests you are obliged to take before the operation. If it turns out you have contra-indicative test results, the doctor must not operate on you. Moreover, they should prescribe you what additional medical investigation your health condition requires and, sometimes, what course of medical treatment is necessary. 

 

Let us conclude by wishing you success and good health!