There are many things to look for when trying to find a liposuction surgeon in your area who will produce the outcome you want while minimizing the risk of side effects, severe complications or undesired results. While there is no way to completely eliminate all risks, choosing a qualified and experienced surgeon who truly cares about the well being of their patients is the perfect start. You want someone with proper training, relevant experience and a set of ethical standards that they practice by.
Training of the Surgeon
When shopping for a liposuction surgeon it is important to carefully examine their credentials to get a clear picture about their training. A board certification in a surgical specialty is important for the plastic surgeon to have but for different reasons than most people are led to believe. It is also important that the surgeon undergoes both didaction and hands on training programs and knows how to handle particular situations that are common during any surgical procedure.
Board Certification
A surgeon will have undergone rigorous training and examinations to receive their certificate and should have no problem showing it off to their patients. The thing to keep in mind is that the particular specialty is not really the most important factor behind the certification since any specialty would train the plastic surgeon for liposuction and related treatments. It is simply the proof that the surgeon is trained in proper sterile surgical technique, knows how to recognize certain responses from the patient’s body and can manage an acute surgical emergency situation.
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Other Certifications
Every liposuction surgeon should also have a Certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) which needs to be renewed every two years. Optimally, you want every staff member in the operating room to have gone through the training. This is especially important for liposuction surgeries that require general anesthesia where the risk of related complications is much greater. Training in how to respond to an emergency cardiac arrest can mean the difference between a patient’s life and death.
Liposuction Specific Training
There is also the classroom training on liposuction from an accredited program that every liposuction surgeon should have to complete. This ensures that the plastic surgeon has detailed knowledge of every aspect pertaining to the liposuction procedure in particular such as potential complications and undesired results, special techniques, the use and reactions of combining prescription drugs and post-surgical care. The surgeon should also have sufficient hands on training in the operating room.
Just as important as it is that your liposuction surgeon is trained in diagnosis and emergency response procedures in case something goes terribly wrong during surgery, the surgeon should be trained in preventive measures as well. This minimizes the opportunity for having to be in emergency situations.
Safety
Whether a liposuction surgeon displays a safety first consciousness can be generalized into a few key points. It is important that the primary concern of the plastic surgeon is the safety of their patient and that they use precaution when approaching any surgical procedure rather than aggressively trying to get as much done in as little time as possible. The basic idea is to take it slow and minimize the amount of stress inflicted on the patient by doing one treatment at a time.
There is some disagreement over how much fat can be safely removed in a particular period of time. To somewhat settle the debate and create a guideline for the safety of liposuction patients, the Medical Board of California decided to set the limit the quantity to 5 liters of aspirate per day. Aspirate is the fatty substance and fluids that is removed during liposuction surgery. Some liposuction surgeons will go up to that limit while others who are more cautious will set their own standards below that restricted point. It is a good idea to look for a liposuction surgeon who will limit themselves to less than 4 liters per day.
To reduce the amount of stress on the patient’s body, it is a good idea to avoid excessive treatments in a single day. That includes unrelated procedures that a patient might desire in conjunction with liposuction such as a facelift or breast augmentation. Any additional surgical procedures should not be performed the same day.
For large treatments that require multiple sessions or for treating multiple areas of the body, it is also important that the surgeon is willing to schedule the surgery days at least a month apart. It is a good idea for the patient to come into the office for a regular check up to ensure that recovery from the last session is going well before proceeding to the next, but the next surgical session should not be until the patient’s body is ready for it.
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Experience of the Liposuction Surgeon
Checking the qualifications of a liposuction surgeon for your desired treatment goes beyond looking at the certificates. While that is an important part of filtering through the less qualified plastic surgeons, you also want to make sure that the person who will perform your surgery has sufficient experience in liposuction surgery in particular. There are surgeons who will be experts in other types of treatments and might perform a few liposuction procedures in a year but a better choice might be someone that performs several treatments per week.
Most plastic surgeons will maintain a portfolio of past patients that they can show their future patients. This will contain before and after photos which will give you a good idea as to the type of results and quality you can expect from this surgeon.
When asking about the liposuction surgeon’s experience, it is important to pay careful attention to the terminology. Some might intentionally use deceptive ways to describe their experience such as telling you they have performed one hundred procedures when it really means only a handful of patients receiving treatment to multiple areas.
Another factor worth taking a closer look into is how many patients the surgeon treats on a regular basis. You would rather have a surgeon who treats three patients per week rather than another surgeon who is equally qualified on paper but only treats a handful of patients in a year. This goes back to the expertise concern.
Reputation of the Liposuction Surgeon
There are ways to check the reputation such as following up past patients who volunteer themselves to serve as references for the surgeon. Be sure to take down any contact information available and get in touch for a firsthand account on what the experience is like with this surgeon and to hear their personal stories.
Another way to check the reputation of a liposuction surgeon is to ask other physicians and medical professionals in the community what they think about that particular surgeon. Most professionals who have been in the industry for a long period of time will know at least something or heard some story about another surgeon in the area if they have been around long enough.
Intangible Qualities of a Liposuction Surgeon
There are some valuable skills and characteristics that is preferable in a liposuction surgeon that cannot always be defined in terms of certificates and cannot be taught such as the actual skillfulness of the surgeon’s hands. Liposuction is the sculpting of a particular area of the body through careful removal of fatty tissue which is both a medical science as much as an art. The quality of the results from liposuction surgery truly depends on the artistic and aesthetic sensibilities of the person performing the procedure.
Just as the artistic abilities of the surgeon is important, so are some personality traits that makes one surgeon a safer option than another. Things like integrity, humility and ethical standards are characteristics that cannot be taught but essential to being a good liposuction surgeon. For example, some surgeons have a history of patients that require hospitalization due to a complication during or after the procedure. While this might not be such a bad sign because it could also mean that the surgeon cares more about the safety of their patients than their own reputation since there are some that might delay sending a patient to the hospital for the fear of damaging their own reputation.
The plastic surgeon is the knowledgeable professional which why patients will rely on them for making the right decision regarding the type of technique to employ. A good surgeon will be able to distinguish between what are the facts and what is marketing hype when it comes to new liposuction techniques.
The surgeon must always keep the patients well being at the forefront of every procedure and avoid putting the patient at more risk than what is necessary to get the job done. There is something to be said about a liposuction surgeon who knows the limits of plastic surgeries. An overconfident surgeon who believes his training making him infallible might attempt excessively risky procedures and put the patient at much greater chance for irreparable harm.
Getting Started
There are many things to look at when trying to pick the right liposuction surgeon but knowing what to look for can make the process less overwhelming. Remember during the consultation session to ask for their credentials, check certifications, and references to follow up on. You can begin by scheduling a consultation with a liposuction surgeon today by filling out the email form or calling the phone number listed.