Why Do You Want Plastic Surgery? Understanding “The Why” Before Making Your Decision

In this blog, Mr Pacifico delves into the questions patients should ask themselves when deciding if plastic surgery is the right choice for them, including their motivations, aesthetic goals and expectations.

Table of Contents

• Why Your Reasons for Considering Plastic Surgery Matter
• What Are You Hoping to Change?
• How Is This Concern Affecting You?
• What Do You Hope Plastic Surgery Will Change in Your Life?
• Are Your Expectations for Plastic Surgery Realistic?
• How Do You Know If Plastic Surgery Is Right for You?
• Why Your Plastic Surgery Consultation Should Be a Conversation
• Questions to Ask Yourself Before Plastic Surgery
• Choosing the Right Plastic Surgeon for You
• Arrange a Plastic Surgery Consultation in Tunbridge Wells

Why Your Reasons for Considering Plastic Surgery Matter

Fundamentally, the links that tie most of my patients’ motivations together relate to body confidence, self-image and self-esteem.

For example, someone might arrange a consultation to discuss a breast lift. If we take a step back and understand why this procedure matters to her, it might be that my patient’s feelings about her breasts are stopping her from enjoying holidays, or are causing her to change her habits and behaviour (such as no longer swimming with her children or preventing intimacy). So in this example, whilst treatment goals would include lifting the breast, raising the nipple position and improving the shape and structure of the breast, the “bigger picture” treatment goals are to give my patient the freedom to enjoy going on holiday, to take her children swimming and to enjoy intimacy without the hang-ups and issues that are affecting her self-confidence.

The same patterns of behaviour can be seen in all areas. Patients will describe avoiding having their photographs taken, or even going through their phone and deleting photographs of themselves. I have had patients describe starting to wear neck scarves and other clothing to hide their neck, or consciously positioning their head to hide their neck laxity.

Considering the Functional Goals of Plastic Surgery

The emotional benefits of plastic surgery often come to mind first, but the function of a procedure matters, too.

After pregnancy, core abdominal strength is affected by both muscle separation (diastasis) and attenuation (thinning and weakening) of the abdominal wall. A tummy tuck aims to correct this and can help with core strength, lower back pain and symptoms of incontinence.

Deep neck lifts have been shown to improve obstructive sleep apnoea by lifting and supporting the base of the tongue and floor of mouth.

Breast reduction surgery can have a huge impact on the symptoms heavy breasts produce, such as neck, back and shoulder ache and bra strap shoulder grooving.

What Are You Hoping to Change?

You will inevitably have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about the part of your body that is impacting you and prompting you to explore potential surgical intervention. If possible, it helps to identify what about that area bothers you before coming in for a consultation.

As a plastic surgeon, I am a doctor first and foremost. Therefore, understanding what concerns someone, as well as how it is impacting them, is key to being able to work out what treatment options might be possible.

Sadly, plastic surgery is often seen as a commodity that can simply be asked for by a patient — for example, someone might come in and say to me, “I want a mini-facelift.” They might have read about this procedure and like the idea of the approach. However, this might be a wholly unsuitable operation for them. My role and expertise are to understand what is affecting you and how, and then determine how I can help, while also understanding your hopes and goals.

How Is This Concern Affecting You?

As I said above, if you are able to spend some time reflecting on how this area of concern is impacting you, it really helps us discuss the more holistic goals of surgery during your consultation. Understanding the burden you might feel, the situations you dread and the activity-modifying behaviour you might display are all key to appreciate.

Anyone considering aesthetic plastic surgery should be doing it for themselves — not for anyone else. They are the one making the big decision, accepting the risks associated with surgery and putting their trust in me to deliver an outcome laden with hope.

What Do You Hope Plastic Surgery Will Change in Your Life?

One of the key parts of my consultation process is asking my patients the following: What would you say if you were confiding in your best friend about the surgery you are considering and they asked, “What are you hoping this would do for you?” What would you say?

The answers I get from this are really important — they cover the patient’s emotional and psychological hopes and aspirations, and I note them all down.

Following surgery, often several months later, I revisit these answers and talk to my patients about whether they feel we have achieved these goals. One of the most rewarding moments of my job is watching their expression as they almost remember their old self, having forgotten how they used to be affected.

The face and neck lift patient who no longer feels withdrawn and invisible (“I am now the first to get served at a crowded bar, whereas before I was ignored” was a great comment from one of my patients); the breast patient whose husband had not seen her naked breasts for 10 years and now has the freedom and body confidence to be undressed in front of him; the 25-year-old tuberous breast correction patient who has gone on a beach holiday with friends for the first time in her life — these are all real life examples of how plastic surgery can change lives.

Are Your Expectations for Plastic Surgery Realistic?

Realistic expectations and expectation management are crucial for anyone undergoing surgery. Plastic surgery is not magic. It cannot give you someone else’s anatomy or body part. It cannot undo the effects of pregnancy, age, breastfeeding, genetic changes and more. Therefore, one key to realistic expectations is understanding and educating yourself about that part of your body before surgery. Appreciating the inevitable asymmetries, the quality of your tissues and the impact of surgery are part and parcel of the patient education part of the consultation. As a plastic surgeon, I can change a part of your body, but I can only work with the tissues and anatomy you have to start with.

Another key to realistic expectations is to ensure that if you are looking at before and after photographs online or on social media, you do your best to look at “before” photos that closely match your body type. The best way to do this is to have someone else photograph your area of concern (ideally from the same angles you see in clinical photographs on plastic surgery websites). Then keep them open next to you while you look at other photographs. If the “befores” you are looking at are not similar, then move on, as the “afters” will not likely be achievable.

How Do You Know If Plastic Surgery Is Right for You?

Thinking about why you want plastic surgery and what you hope a certain procedure might do for you is fundamentally important. If I learn that you are going ahead for reasons I feel are not appropriate (such as doing it to please a partner, or hoping the surgery will mean you have more success dating), I will likely explain why we shouldn’t move forward.

I work closely with Penny Mandich, an expert psychotherapist, who talks to virtually all of my patients prior to surgery. She sometimes elicits details that have not come up in my consultation. As an independent third-party expert, working with a psychotherapist has proven invaluable for both my patients and for me. This added level of care can really help determine whether plastic surgery is right for you.

Why Your Plastic Surgery Consultation Should Be a Conversation

If you have gotten this far in this blog, it has probably become apparent that a plastic surgery consultation should not be like a typical surgical consultation. It encompasses psychological and emotional aspects and expectation management, as well as the surgical side of things (medical history taking, clinical examination, discussion of treatment options and associated risks).

Therefore, the consultation is in part a conversation — a slightly philosophical and nuanced one at times. I have evolved this approach over the years, and in fact my consultations now take almost twice as long as they used to. But I think this is time well invested. It might mean that I have a higher rate of patients deciding not to go ahead, but surely that is a good thing — the right thing.

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Plastic Surgery

Ask yourself the questions outlined above before your first consultation. You should be honest with yourself. Sometimes this means making yourself vulnerable, as you may have to admit certain things that make you uncomfortable.

You may also have “red lines” you would not cross — the deal breakers. Some of my patients would not contemplate having a breast implant, some would not want scars on the breast, and some might not want me to undertake deep neck work as part of their facial rejuvenation.

The implications of these red lines might be that surgery should not go ahead, as it might be that I would advise that there is no way of achieving a satisfactory result without crossing these lines. Alternatively, it might be that an appropriate compromise can be reached, but the result will not be as good as it otherwise might have been.

Choosing the Right Plastic Surgeon for You

You are putting all your trust in your surgeon. You need to have the confidence that your surgeon will do their absolute best for you, whilst also appreciating there are no guarantees with surgery. We are working with soft, unpredictable biological tissue, not hard material that can be cut, shaped and bolted together in a stable way.

No surgeon in the world can give you cast-iron guarantees. However, when you find an experienced expert surgeon in their field, the probability of a good outcome is much higher. And remember, a good outcome is not just the objective before and after picture comparison. It is how you feel about yourself after surgery, how the issues that led to that pre-operative area of concern have been alleviated and how much freedom you derive from the surgery.

Arrange a Plastic Surgery Consultation in Tunbridge Wells

Mr Marc Pacifico is an expert plastic surgeon with extensive experience in breast and facial surgery. Book a personalised consultation with Mr Pacifico at his office in Tunbridge Wells or Harley Street in London to discuss aesthetic possibilities and determine if plastic surgery is the best next step for you.

To discuss your options and learn more, call +44 (0) 1892 536 960 or complete the online contact form.