I read a recent article in a popular newstand magazine this
week on plastic surgery in everyday people. The fundamental
premise of the article was that plastic surgery today is
done on the 'average person', not necessarily the rich and
famous. They go on to cite five people who had differing
plastic surgery procedures and their stories.
This article was refreshing because they all had positive
experiences, which is usually the norm, as opposed to many
articles which talk about patient's problems and
complications which is not the norm. But the underlying
theme of the article is what is most poignant for me. The
large numbers of plastic surgery procedures done today
could occur for only one reason....that the typical plastic
surgery patient is just reflective of the average person in
society. There is only a very small fraction of society
that is famous or wealthy. The plastic surgery numbers of
today, which total in the millions of procedures (surgical
and non-surgical), could not come from that segment of
society. In the past twenty years we have seen plastic
surgery work its way into the mainstream of society and is
much a part of American culture as Starbucks, cell phones,
and My Space. The typical plastic surgery patient in my
practice is just a normal person from the middle fabric of
society, the range goes from the unemployed to a company
CEO. Nearly 40% of my patients now use financing for major
procedures, reinforcing the concept of the 'average'
patient having plastic surgery. That number is starting to
approach finance numbers for major appliances or other big
ticket home items.
You may ask yourself why.....why do so many people undergo
plastic surgery today? Is it the marketing hype from
surgeons, is it the media convincing us that me must look
better and younger through their projected images, or is
our society just so vain? Probably all three of these have
some responsibility, but there is one bigger reason. The
main reason, in my practice experience, is that most
plastic surgery procedures simply work and deliver what
they purport to do. Breast implants make breast bigger and
more shapely, tummy tucks really do flatten stomachs,
facelifts do turn back the clock and tighten that jaw and
neck line, and noses do get better shapes that look better
on one's face. Yes, plastic surgeons and plastic surgery
procedures are not perfect. Every result is not ideal and
some patients do experience complications. And yes
sometimes plastic surgery procedures are overhyped. But, on
average, most plastic surgery patients are very satisfied
and would repeat the experience. A phenomenon that I call
accompishment feedback. This explains why 30% of my plastic
surgery operations in any given year is 'repeat business'.
Such positive experiences very directly promotes plastic
surgery as a satisfied patient is very likely to consider
another procedure or tell a friend, who may then go on to
have plastic surgery themselves. Every business and
profession recognizes the tremendous influence of such word
of mouth referrals.
Plastic surgery today is and will continue to be for real
people. Its benefits are wide reaching and the ability for
all of society to benefit, from the child born with a cleft
defect to the middle-aged sales representative who wants to
look more refreshed, will continue to be more pervasive.
The propagation of plastic surgery has as much to do with
its overall effectiveness and high patient satisfaction as
it does with marketing and media promotions.
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Dr Barry Eppley, board-certified plastic surgeon of
Indianapolis, operates his private practice at Clarian
North and West Medical Centers in suburban Indianapolis. He
writes a daily blog on topics and trends in plastic surgery
at http://www.exploreplasticsurgery.com
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