One of the most common concerns from many before surgery patients is that they don’t want to look like they have had plastic surgery. In theory, what patient does? But yet many do and one only has to look to Hollywood to see many examples. Patients point them out all the time and often it is the same collection of well known names that are used as illustrations of ‘bad plastic surgery’.
Patients wonder why such celebrities who have no financial limitations and access to the presumed best of plastic surgery care can end up looking like they do. This perception is magnified when any of the reality shows that focus on plastic surgery in Beverly Hills and southern California show extreme and often overdone changes. (there is a reason it is a TV show…natural looking results or even ‘normal’ patients does not make good TV) It is important to remember that there are many more, thousands no doubt, of patients from these areas that have superb results and are virtually undetectable. It is just a small percentage that can distort the perception of the whole industry.
The answer as to why unnatural or obvious plastic surgery results exists is not a simple one. The most obvious answer and one that is often cited is that celebrities have to keep up their youthful appearance if they want to continue to find work. It is therefore very easy for one to keep getting a nip or tuck with some frequency to keep up the look audiences have come to know and to fight back the continuous effects of aging. If you add enough of these procedures over time, the balance between natural and unnatural looking can be crossed. Knowing when to say when is harder than most people think….particularly when you remove the money barrier and the lifestyle that you have come to know is threatened.
Anyone that appears on film or TV is exposed to an incredible amount of visual scrutiny. The lighting and camera angles are brutally revealing. This has been taken to a completely different level now with high definition. While make-up and editing can hide most flaws, computer-generated imaging (CGI) can hide anything. Even when not on the big screen or TV, celebrities are constantly being photographed at almost every hour of the day. These more natural photos can contrast with what is seen on film, TV or in magazines and the differences can be downright striking. (and not in a good way)
Even well done plastic surgery can be look a bit overdone or unnatural when exposed to this type of contrast. I suspect that many cases of plastic surgery, which look very natural and well done, might be exposed if the non-celebrity patient had tro endure the same level of scrutiny as that of the celebrity.
It is important for the typical patient considering plastic surgery that what happens in Hollywood and in celebrities should not be applied to them. While most patients are worried that their result may be overdone or look very obvious, the reality is that exactly the opposite is usually the more appropriate concern. Getting a satisfactory result that does enough is what most plastic surgeons are thinking and worried about for their patients. There are many more dissatiisfied patients because their results did not meet their expectations than in those that got ‘overdone’ surgery.
To achieve the most natural result from any plastic surgery procedure, it is important that the patient establish a good dialogue with their plastic surgeon. While your plastic surgeon may fully understand what you want, don’t assume. The perception of a good surgical result is open to a variety of interpretations. Explain what your concerns are and describe what you mean by an unnatural result. Show pictures that illustrate what you don’t want from the procedure. While every patient wants the best value for their money, most natural results are usually less rather then more.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana