Plastic surgery revisions rising?

FOXNews published a health article in January titled “Plastic Surgery Regret on the Rise, Fueling ‘Revision’ Practices”. In typical Fox fashion, the article was rather alarmist. The blurb featured one plastic surgery horror story from a woman who was unhappy after two nose jobs, followed by a quote from respected surgeon Andrew Jacono stating that 1 in 3 surgical procedures is a revision.

Can this be right? Or is there a better explanation for all the revisions going on in American operating rooms?

Here are three practical reasons we propose that may explain the “1 in 3″ statistic - and only one of them is a fear mongering idea:

• Rise of “cosmetic physicians.” This is the single most interesting issue in cosmetic surgery today. Technically, there is only one accreditation that ought to be fully trusted for plastic surgeons - a residency and board certification in Plastic Surgery. But legally, any medical doctor can call themselves a Cosmetic Physician, and any surgeon can be considered a Cosmetic Surgeon. It’s becoming more and more prevalent to see OB/GYNs, Emergency Medical physicians, even Pediatricians pursuing the all-mighty dollar as cosmetic doctors despite a lack of specialist training and skills.
  • Solution: Check your surgeon’s credentials thoroughly before signing on the dotted line, including contacting the relevant boards that have certified him/her.
• Revision rhinoplasties. It’s important to note that rhinoplasties - like the one mentioned in the article - are the most common cosmetic surgery revisions by a large margin (followed by breast revisions). Procedures like revision liposuction and revision tummy tucks occur far less often. It’s simply the nature of the procedure, and it’s not uncommon for surgeons to specialise in revision rhinoplasties for this reason.
• Money. No, we’re not talking about the alarmist views that doctors will mess up your surgery just to get revision costs; rather, we’re referring to the patients themselves. While it’s true that there are some legitimate revision cases stemming from improper surgical technique, in many cases it is also the pursuit of beauty and perfection that has patients going back for more, and the patients who could afford the first procedure (i.e. upper middle class with expendable incomes) are more likely to be able to afford a second surgery, or a third, or…

Deciding to undergo plastic surgery is a big a decision and one that must be carefully considered. Mistakes happen, revisions are sometimes necessary, and not all patients are satisfied with the end result. If that is the only lesson taken from FOXNews’ account, fair enough; but if the real goal was to promote plastic surgery as a shady, back-alley business, shame on them.