The Texas Society of Plastic Surgeons recently ran an ad campaign that, as surprising as it may sound, had a lot of truth in it. The ad? "Unfortunately Some People Are Pickier About Shoes Than About Who Does Their Plastic Surgery." This honestly scares me, not just as a plastic surgeon, but also as a consumer, a parent, and a grandparent. There is so much information out there that is misleading at best, and medically irresponsible at worst. The "lunch hour nip / tuck" has become commonplace. As the Texas Society points out in their ad, there are many doctors doing plastic surgery today, but not all of them are plastic surgeons. Some doctors take brief courses to learn cosmetic surgery and then begin to advertise their remarkable promises. As a board certified plastic surgeon, I see the aftermath of under-prepared surgeons taking on more than they're trained to do.

Poor healing
Infection
Muscle paralysis
Filler leaving clearly visible ridges under the facial skin

I'm often called on to try to un-do the damage that has been done and then do the right procedure to achieve the results the patient wanted initially. Becoming a board certified plastic surgeon takes years of intense study. It's simply not reasonable to have a surgical procedure done by someone who hasn't studied, trained and been certified to do the surgery.

This is surgery, not a manicure. It's important to consider what it is you want to accomplish and the best and safest way to do that. Do your own due diligence. Check with more than one plastic surgeon. As boring as it may sound - and it's actually worse than it sounds - but read the surgeons CV. This listing of training, education, accomplishments, publications, etc., will let you know how serious your surgeon is about becoming the best possible plastic surgeon. There is no safe way to stop learning for a surgeon. The procedure that was cutting edge a few years ago has long since become antiquated by the newest standards of excellence. When it comes to your health, your safety, your body, your life - you're only cheating yourself to settle for anything less than an excellent plastic surgeon. Be picky! Don't short change yourself and in the haste to save a few dollars, lose something that can never be replaced.

By now we've all learned in varying degrees that some of what we read online isn't exactly "fact". Now there's absolutely nothing wrong with people posting or blogging using opinions or even writing and sharing fictional stories online - as long as it's clear to the readers that what they're reading isn't "fact".

One of the most effective ways for doctors to get new patients is through word of mouth advertising and in this age of computers and the internet, that translates into posters going onto various websites with comments and stories about the wonderful experience they had with their doctor or the remarkable results they got from a certain cosmetic procedure. The good news here is that this could be one of your best tools when researching a specific treatment or when looking for a plastic surgeon, as these personal reviews tend to carry a great deal of veracity with them. The bad news is that some companies are attempting to generate business by duping consumers.

In 2009, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo settled a claim resulting in a $300,000 settlement against a company doing just that by using "...cynical, manipulative and illegal" methods. Lifestyle Lift was the first company to be penalized for using these "Astroturf marketing" techniques, so named because their aim is to create bogus grassroots buzz about a product. The company admitted it required employees to pose as satisfied customers in their online ads. As if that wasn't bad enough, they also went so far as to create websites to highlight these reviews as legitimate, unsolicited testimonials. In a company e-mail, Lifestyle Lift instructed employees to "...devote the day to doing more postings on the Web as satisfied clients..." and in doing so violated consumer protection laws.

So how do you as a consumer know which reviews, which patient/client comments to believe? That's a great question, and I wish there was an easy answer to it. There is no magic bullet here. Don't rely solely on patient comments, but don't discard them either. Rely on as many tools as there are available, with patient reviews being just one of those. Some of the other things to look for:

MUST BE a board certified plastic surgeon
"CV" or "curriculum vitae" which is their professional resume - where/what did they study?
active in the profession in a teaching and learning capacity
review their personal before and after pictures
consult with more than one surgeon

When all of the items are compared, then you have to rely on what you feel. If you're comfortable with what you're experiencing when at the doctor's practice, you've probably found the best doctor for your care. As simple as that sounds, IF everything else is equal, trust your gut!