Cosmetic Surgery: More than Extreme Makeovers

Many men and women imagine cosmetic surgery as something that will change their appearance in a very big way. TV shows like Extreme Makeover and celebrity makeovers still seen in the tabloids at the checkout stand help to reinforce these ideas.

But in reality, very few people who have cosmetic surgery are seeking a dramatic change in their appearance. The best cosmetic surgeons recognize that most patients will be happiest with cosmetic enhancements that focus on bringing out the best in their faces and bodies, not in completely changing them.

Although an increasing number of men and women pursue cosmetic procedures every year with beautiful, natural results, negative impressions about plastic surgery stubbornly remain in some areas. Breast augmentation is too often associated with a fake shape and disproportionate size, while a facelift is presumed to leave patients looking obviously tight and stretched. Results like this are far from the norm in plastic surgery, but unfortunately they are usually the ones that are publicized the most.

A facelift, performed properly, leaves you looking refreshed, not “done.” After surgery, the most typically heard comment should be along the lines of “You look amazing. Did you just come back from a vacation? Or have you lost weight?” While your results should definitely be noticeable, the specifics of how that improvement was achieved should remain your secret to share. I’ve had several breast enhancement patients mention that their renewed self-confidence following surgery is often the first thing others notice, rather than the actual physical change in their figure.

For well over a decade now, nonsurgical treatments such as dermal fillers, laser resurfacing and BOTOX® Cosmetic have been performed more often than cosmetic surgery procedures. These nonsurgical solutions give people more control over the aging process for a more graceful, gradual maturation. They also can be a great way to maintain the results of a facial cosmetic surgery procedure.

Like a well-performed surgery, minimally invasive cosmetic procedures offer improvements that are far from obvious, yet are no less effective for their subtlety. BOTOX® smoothes away crow’s feet and dynamic forehead wrinkles, while dermal fillers can minimize pronounced laugh lines. Resurfacing treatments reduce the appearance of age spots and restore a more youthful tone and texture to the skin’s surface for a radiant glow. The air of optimum health and beauty that’s revealed through nonsurgical treatments feels authentic because it is: the results are gained from accentuating your natural appearance, not by changing your look entirely.

The true job of a cosmetic surgeon isn’t to make patients look completely different. Instead, it’s to bring out the best qualities throughout the face and body while minimizing cosmetic concerns that cause a person to feel self-conscious. Whether this means enhancing a natural hourglass figure with some judiciously placed liposuction just around the waistline, or performing breast enhancement for a mom who wants her pre-baby body back, the ultimate goal is one of a customized, individualized approach that reveals rather than transforms. While cosmetic surgeons are the artists, it’s the patients themselves who offer the underlying canvas of inner beauty that radiates outward before and after any procedure. Without that foundation, any physical changes remain merely cosmetic.