10 Things to Consider Before Getting Plastic Surgery

As celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Ariel Winter, and Iggy Azalea come forward about their plastic surgery, one thing is clear: Cosmetic surgery is on the rise. Just last year, 1.4 million women got cosmetic surgery and 12.5 million women had cosmetic minimally invasive procedures, according to the 2015 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons
10-things-to-consider-before-getting-plastic-surgery

“When women come into my office, sometimes they’ll say, ‘Oh, what do I need?’ and I’ll tell them, ‘There’s no such thing as need. It’s just what’s bothering you.”

As celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Ariel Winter, and Iggy Azalea come forward about their plastic surgery, one thing is clear: cosmetic surgery is on the rise. Just last year, 1.4 million women got cosmetic surgery and 12.5 million women had cosmetic minimally invasive procedures, according to the 2015 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

But before you decide to have surgery or alter your appearance, there a few things you should learn.

Cosmopolitan’s Elisa Benson joins relationship guru Patti Stanger, Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Cat Begovic, and Cosmopolitan.com’s senior sex and relationships editor Ali Drucker to find out some of their best plastic surgery tips and secrets:

1. With some procedures, your results won’t be immediate.

Ali has firsthand experience with cosmetic surgery, since she got lip injections live on Cosmopolitan.com’s Facebook page. “I’ve been taking pictures of myself nonstop, and the photos I took the day right after are nowhere near the way I looked the next day or even today.” She says that it’s normal to swell up more the next day, and you’ll see your permanent results settle in after about a week or so.

2. Be sure to ask a lot of questions.

As Ali says, you can only really do this once. Sure, some procedures can be tweaked afterward, but better to nail it the first time. “Ask questions first because you might not be able to ask them later. And understand that you’re beautiful, and you look great as you are now.”

3. Have no shame.

It might seem natural to want to keep your procedure a secret, but Patti Stanger says, why should you? “If you look good, who the fuck cares? Why is it so wrong to say, ‘I want to look better at my age’? We’re all going to get old.”

4. Men are getting in on the trend too.

Plastic surgery isn’t just gaining popularity with women, despite what bros are willing to admit. “What happens is these men come in, like, ‘I’m an athlete, I lost my six-pack, I just want to freeze the fat,'” says Patti. “Then that leads to oh, my chin is dropping, oh, I need a brow lift, oh, I need some Botox on my forehead. But they’ll never admit to it.”

5. You might prefer your procedure be done by a woman.

Before becoming a doctor, Dr. Begovic was a plastic surgery patient, so she knows a thing or two about what kind of doctor you want. “No matter how confident you are, there’s just something about having a guy pinch your fat or try to evaluate your body, where there’s a little bit of a loss in communication or comfort level. And I think as women, we happen to be our own worst critics and not only that, we just see things differently. Women see every single little detail, and I certainly see it on myself, and I see every little detail on my patient,” she says.

6. Most plastic surgery patients are just like you.

Of all the patients Dr. Begovic sees, most of them are normal, everyday women. “And they’re doing it for them, just like they would go to the gym and take care of themselves so they can get in their best possible shape to feel energized and feel confident and feel good about themselves.”

7. Don’t think of plastic surgery as something you need.

Just remember, it’s not a necessity. Dr. Begovic says, “When women come into my office, sometimes they’ll say, ‘Oh, what do I need?’ and I’ll tell them, ‘There’s no such thing as need. It’s just what’s bothering you, and what do you want to do to make yourself feel better?'”

8. One of the most popular trends right now is vaginal cosmetic surgery.

“I don’t know if it’s because I happen to specialize in that so I see a lot,” Dr. Begovic says. “I’m very vocal about it because I just think it’s something that’s so life-changing for women.” She notes that while it’s not a medical necessity, there are many women who feel more comfortable after having the surgery.

9. Patients are sometimes turned away.

Your doctor should be looking out for your best interest, which means they might tell you no. “[I turn patients away] up to 10 percent of the time, if not more,” Dr. Begovic says. “It’s usually for a variety of reasons. The number-one reason is, my job as a doctor is basically to always help guide a patient to the best decision for themselves … If someone’s going to have a surgery, you want it to be something where it’s going to make a significant amount of difference, that it outweighs any potential risk.”

10. Be careful about who does your Botox.

Even though this kind of preventative procedure can seem common, you should still be conscious of who does it. “Botox is still a technical art,” Dr. Begovic says. “You do have to understand the underlying anatomy. You can’t just look at a pattern book and do the same thing on everyone if you want it to really be amazing.”

To hear even more about the intricacies of plastic surgery and what you should know before going under the knife, listen to the full podcast below.

Written by Cosmopolitan’s Ashley Feller. This story was originally posted on Cosmopolitan.com

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