If you are considering plastic surgery, make sure you carefully research all of your options. You can have procedures redone or undone, but it is not as easy as you might think.
Many,
many statistics are available indicating numbers of people turning to plastic surgery to improve their appearances, but what about those who head to the cosmetic surgeon to undo what they have previously had done? Is this even possible, or is a cosmetic procedure a permanent thing?
Most cosmetic surgeons will tell you that their patients are generally happy with their results, but that does not mean that there are not those who regret their decisions. Particularly, people who rush into a procedure before they take the time to thoroughly research not only the procedure, but also all of the options they have at their disposal, often find themselves sorry they took the chance. Sometimes emotions get the better of patients, for instance after a difficult divorce, and they decide to have a procedure they later regret. What can you do if this happens to you?
First, patients need to realize that some procedures are temporary in nature. The less invasive procedures, like Botox for instance, are designed to wear off over time. If the patient is not happy with the results, then just wait a while; they will disappear.
That said, some aspects of plastic surgery are not going to be reversible. Procedures, like tummy tucks and breast augmentation, leave scarring that patients will have to live with for the rest of their lives. If you are unhappy with your scars, there may be small steps you or a surgeon can take to minimize their appearance, but overall, you will have to learn to live with them. Similarly, the changes that occur after some procedures, like the stretched out skin after breast augmentation, are not easily remedied.
A good surgeon will take the time to carefully explain the risks, including the risk of scars, with each patient. This should cut down on the number of patients who are unhappy with their results, because they will be aware of what to expect.
Yet, there is still going to be the occasional patient who wishes to redo or undo a past procedure. Sometimes an unskilled surgeon leaves the patient with uneven or unattractive results, while other times a patient simply changes his or her mind. When this happens, the patient will need to return to the surgeon for a second procedure.
One cosmetic surgeon based in Michigan indicated that about 20 percent of his patients are coming for a redo procedure to correct or improve common procedures like rhinoplasty or breast augmentation. In 2010, over 21,700 women went to a cosmetic surgeon to have breast implants removed. These statistics indicate that “undos” or “redos” are more common that we might have thought. An exact figure for “undos” is not available yet.
So what is the bottom line? If you are considering plastic surgery, make sure you do all of the necessary research to ensure that it is, in fact, exactly what you want. If you are unhappy with the results at some point, you may be able to have them adjusted, but completely undoing the procedure is going to be challenging. Cosmetic procedures change the body, and changing it back is not that simple. Finding a quality surgeon will help improve the chances that you will be completely happy with your results, so take your time in you search.
