Questions to Ask Your Plastic Surgeon

You'll achieve the best results from plastic surgery if you and your plastic surgeon communicate openly and work together to achieve realistic goals. An understanding of your goals, expectations, and motivation is essential to a successful partnership between you and your surgeon, helping both of you to determine whether plastic surgery is the right choice for you.

Use this checklist as a guide during your consultation:

• Are you certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery?
• Are you a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons?
• Were you trained specifically in the field of plastic surgery?
• How many years of plastic surgery training have you had?
• Do you have hospital privileges to perform this procedure? If so, at which hospitals?
• Is the office-based surgical facility accredited by a nationally- or state-recognized accrediting agency, or is it state-licensed or Medicare-certified?
• How many procedures of this type have you performed?
• Am I a good candidate for this procedure?
• Where and how will you perform my procedure?
• How long of a recovery period can I expect, and what kind of help will I need during my recovery?
• What are the risks and complications associated with my procedure?
• How are complications handled?
• What are my options if I am dissatisfied with the outcome of my surgery?
• Do you have before-and-after photos I can look at for each procedure and what results are reasonable for me?