The Anatomy of a Happy Patient - Part 1

Years ago, when the world was full of American built cars, the bottoms of pants resembled church bells, and disco was king, plastic surgery patients were routinely evaluated by a psychiatrist to make sure that they were in a good and healthy frame of mind before proceeding with surgery. Back then, plastic surgery was so very taboo. It would be done in back-office operating rooms and recovery required seclusion in virtual home confinement. Alias names would be used for surgery scheduling, and people would hide themselves away from the limelight for weeks at a time.

Fast forward thirty years, in the age of the internet and where information travels at the speed of discretion, we have made some amazing progress in social acceptance of plastic surgery. Today, especially in Orange County, California, plastic surgery is as common as the good weather. But still, on a regular basis, I will encounter patients who readily start our conversation with phrases such as "I don't mean to be vain but..." Or, another discussion may start out with words like "I never imagined that I would want to have plastic surgery..." This tells me that despite all of the progress that has been made with regard to our social acceptance of plastic surgery, there is something that seems to be inherent in people that says plastic surgery is still taboo. The question is why?

The desire for plastic surgery begins with our universal aspiration to be the very best person we all feel that we should aspire to. Inherently, it is no different than the desire to better ourselves by exercise, study, or religion. However, plastic surgery centers around our appearance. It is also the most aggressive and perhaps most radical way that we can change the way we look at ourselves and how others perceive us. While the decision to undergo the knife to change our appearance stems from the same inherent desire that motivates us to apply makeup, get a new hairdo, or wear nice clothes, plastic surgery is different in so many aspects. We will explore these differences in our next post.