Risks – All surgeries, including cosmetic procedures, carry risk. If your body mass index is 30 or higher (obesity) or you have diabetes, you might be at higher risk of developing complications such as blood clots in the legs or lungs. Smoking also increases risks and interferes with healing.
Complications related to anesthesia, including pneumonia, blood clots and, rarely, death Infection at the incision site, which may worsen scarring and require additional surgery Fluid buildup under the skin Mild bleeding, which may require another surgical procedure, or bleeding significant enough to require a transfusion Abnormal scarring due to skin breakdown Separation of the surgical wound, which sometimes requires additional procedures Numbness and tingling from nerve damage, which may be permanent
Is cosmetic surgery worth the risks?
What are the benefits of plastic surgery? – For most people, the benefits of cosmetic or reconstructive surgery outweigh the risks. There’s a lot you can gain from pursuing these procedures, including:
Better quality of life. Enhanced body image and self-esteem. Improved safety, such as seeing better after removing extra eyelid skin. More natural appearance. Pain relief and greater independence after correcting defects that make it difficult to move. Restored functioning, like eating solid food after recovering from jaw surgery.
Why you shouldn’t get plastic surgery?
Understanding the Risks of Plastic Surgery Cosmetic surgery, like any type of surgery, is not without risks. Plastic surgery procedures can result in complications ranging from an unattractive or unnatural final result to scarring or even death. Many people mistakenly assume that elective (optional) procedures, such as cosmetic surgery, aren’t as serious as other types of surgery.
- But all surgeries, even simple dental procedures, present the possibility of,
- In addition to the, there’s always the possibility of issues arising due to anesthesia.
- In some ways, cosmetic surgery can be more challenging than more standard surgeries if the patient doesn’t tolerate surgery well.
- Many of these procedures are done in surgery centers or an operating suite in the physician’s office.
For most patients, this isn’t a serious concern. For the patient who becomes critically ill during surgery, being in a facility with an ICU and extensive resources for the very sick patient can make a tremendous difference in the outcome. Poor Cosmetic Outcome: This may be the greatest fear of a plastic surgery patient: a result that not only fails to improve appearance but actually makes one’s appearance worse than before the surgery.
- Scarring: One of the greatest risks to achieving an attractive outcome, scarring is not always predictable, but can be controlled in most cases.
- Patients can decrease the risk of scarring by not smoking, eating well after surgery and following the surgeon’s directions during recovery. Nerve Damage or Numbness: In some cases, or severed during any surgical procedure.
The result is more obvious, however, if it is a facial nerve. When those nerves are injured, the outcome can be the inability to make facial expressions or drooping of the eyes (ptosis) or mouth. Infection: All surgeries carry a risk of infection. Proper and frequent can minimize or prevent an infection.
- Hematoma: A hematoma is a collection of blood outside of a blood vessel.
- A hematoma can develop after surgery; this typically results in an area being swollen and bruised in appearance, with a pocket of blood beneath.
- In some cases, this is minor, but a hematoma can be large enough to cause pain and even decrease blood flow through the area.
In the case of a large hematoma, the surgeon may choose to remove some of the collected blood with a syringe or other similar method. Necrosis: Tissue death can be caused by surgery or by issues that arise after the procedure. In most cases, is minor or completely absent, and normal wound healing removes any dead tissue from the incision area.
- Bleeding: As with any surgical procedure, bleeding can and will occur.
- Bleeding becomes an issue when it is excessive, or continues after the wound should have healed.
- Post-surgery bleeding can be a sign that the patient is being too active too soon after the procedure.
- Death: Every surgery has a,
- While that risk may be less than 1% it’s possible for death to occur during the most minor of surgeries.
Seroma: A seroma is similar to a hematoma: it’s a collection of lymphatic fluid around the site of injury. In a seroma, clear fluid builds up in a pocket near the surgical site. If a large amount of fluid accumulates, the surgeon may choose to reduce the pocket by removing the fluid with a syringe.
- Seromas are common with more invasive cosmetic procedures, such as a tummy tuck.
- Blood Clots: A blood clot is a common risk of many procedures, not just cosmetic surgeries.
- The most common type is a, a clot that develops in the leg.
- Most DVTs require medical attention but are not life-threatening unless the clot begins to move through the veins toward the heart and lungs.
A clot that moves to the lungs is a medical emergency and must be treated immediately. With any surgery, the patient has the ability to reduce the risk of complications. The best way to reduce the risk of a bad outcome is to who performs the procedure frequently.
Such as quitting smoking, are extremely important before surgery, as non-smokers heal faster and have less scarring. Some plastic surgeons will not perform surgery on current smokers because the final outcome may not be as good. In addition, eating a healthy diet before and after the procedure can speed healing and improve wound closure, which also minimizes scarring.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Khunger N., J Cutan Aesthet Surg,2015;8(4):189-90. doi:10.4103/0974-2077.172188 Heeney A, Hand F, Bates J, Mc Cormack O, Mealy K., Surgeon,2014;12(3):121-8. doi:10.1016/j.surge.2013.07.005
Additional Reading : Understanding the Risks of Plastic Surgery
Is it wise to seek cosmetic surgery?
Improved body confidence and mental health – Plastic and cosmetic surgery can help people align their bodies with the way they want to look. For example, a 2022 study suggests that cosmetic surgery can help improve body confidence, self-esteem, and symptoms of mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression,
How often does plastic surgery go wrong?
A 2018 retrospective published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery looked at over 26,000 outpatient plastic surgeries between 1995 and 2017, and found that complications occurred in less than 1 percent of cases. Common complications following plastic surgery include infection, necrosis, wound separation, fluid collections or abscesses, and blood clots.
Will plastic surgery change my life?
In summary, plastic surgery can have many positive health benefits for people who hold realistic expectations. While it can potentially improve confidence, it is not a remedy to greatly change a person’s life.
Is depression common after plastic surgery?
What Is Postoperative Depression? – Postoperative depression is a common side effect of surgery, and it doesn’t just affect patients who have had cosmetic surgery. People who have had surgeries for their health, such as removing their appendix or heart surgery often experience strong emotional reactions.
- Often, it’s caused by a combination of a feeling of loss, experiencing the physical pain of recovery, increased dependency on others as you heal, and worry about how the surgery will affect your life moving forward.
- Postoperative depression for patients who have had cosmetic surgery also shares similar qualities to postpartum depression.
With both experiences, patients expect they will feel happy and don’t understand why they don’t. Common feelings include:
Feeling regret or second-guessing the decision to have the procedure; Irritability and heightened sensitivity; Anxiety over what you’ll look like once all the swelling has resolved and you heal completely; Anxiety over what normal recovery experiences are and when you need to call your doctor; Difficulty sleeping, often associated with discomfort from recovery; Missing your daily routine, such as working out or sexual activity as you heal.
What age group gets the most cosmetic surgery?
Most Common and Practical Age Range for Plastic Surgery – The ASAPS statistics note that patients ages 35-50 received the most procedures, equating to 43% of the total surgical procedures performed. This trend directly mirrors what my practice experiences.
Of course, we do treat many patients well under and over that age range, but 35-50 is typically the most common. I believe the reason this age group receives the most cosmetic surgery can be attributed to a combination of factors. A lot of women prefer to wait until after they are finished having children before going on to “repair” the “damage” that may occur from childbearing.
Plastic surgery can also be costly as insurance does not typically cover elective procedures, so financial considerations generally take effect. Additionally, I believe that after a certain number of years, some people decide they have come into who they are and may grow the confidence to undergo a surgical procedure to alter something that has bothered them their entire lives.
What is the failure rate of plastic surgery?
🩺 Plastic Surgeon | Head & Neck Surgery | Breast Surgery | Reconstruction | Hand Surgery | Aesthetic Surgery | Face Surgery | Transgender | 🏨 Nuffield Plymouth & 🏨 Duchy Truro | ☎️ Call 07494 250277. – Published Feb 17, 2023 A 2018 retrospective published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery looked at over 26,000 outpatient plastic surgeries between 1995 and 2017, and found that complications occurred in less than 1 percent of cases.
- Common complications following plastic surgery include infection, necrosis, wound separation, fluid collections or abscesses, and blood clots.
- The most common issue? Hematomas, which are essentially very bad bruises.
- When recognised right away, many of these problems can be successfully treated.
- However, these and other problems can also become much more serious.
Complications occurred in less than 1 percent of cases
Can plastic surgery change your face completely?
A Change To Your Identity? | Allen Aesthetic Surgery There’s a common trope in soap operas and movies, the person who has completely changed their identity through the use of plastic surgery. This has left many people wondering whether this bit of Hollywood Magic is actually possible, or if it’s all just part of the lucrative world of cinema fantasy.
We’re going to take a moment to address this question and explain what is, and isn’t, possible with plastic surgery. If there is a feature that is more recognizable than the face, we’d be hard-pressed to tell you what it was. Asking a plastic surgeon to completely erase all vestiges of who a person is through this practice is a daunting task that borders on the impossible.
In order to do this, you’d have to successfully change every aspect of a person’s face to such a degree as to render it unrecognizable. Rhinoplasties can do a lot for a person’s nose, changing a large or even misshapen nose into one that is shapely and slender by reducing its size and width.
- The scars that occur as part of the procedure are cleverly hidden so as to be unable to be found following the procedure.
- Chins are another thing that plastic surgery can alter.
- If you have a particularly prominent chin, then your surgeon can reduce it.
- If you have no chin at all, then there are implants that exist to enhance it.
Even minor changes in this area can have dramatic effects on a person’s overall appearance. The cheeks can be altered as well. Chubby cheeks can undergo a reduction, those without dimples can have them added, and thin cheeks can be plumped up, which can make a distinct change to someone’s features.
The lips are another feature of the face that can easily be changed with a few procedures, some permanent, some temporary. With all these options of changing our appearance, it is theoretically possible to change your appearance so much that those who don’t know you well wouldn’t be able to recognize you.
That being said, it would require an immense amount of surgery to actually completely change your face. But with surgery to change your ears, eyebrows, cheeks, lips, nose, dimples, and more it is within the realm of possibility. For the most part, however, these kinds of procedures are best kept to the realm of movies and cinema rather than reality.
That being said, there’s a lot that can be done to enhance problem areas and make you feel great about your new look. If you’ve got questions about plastic surgery and what can be done to change or eliminate some of the imperfections that bother you, give Dr. Amber Allen a call at Allen Aesthetic Surgery.
With her expertise and artistry, she’s been serving the Raleigh, NC community for all their cosmetic surgery needs. It doesn’t take a full alteration of your face to make a positive impact on your appearance. : A Change To Your Identity? | Allen Aesthetic Surgery