Avoiding Bad Plastic Surgery: The Smell Test

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If someone you care about is considering plastic surgery and you’re not sure it’s a good idea, you can be in a tricky position. Who are you to rain on her parade? Even if you’re not a fan of plastic surgery in general, you acknowledge it’s her choice to do what she wants with her body.

But within reason, right? What if you suspect that the procedure she’s planning simply doesn’t make sense for anyone? That your friend could soon end up an example of plastic surgery gone wrong? Here are four ways to tell when plastic surgery plans just don’t pass the smell test.

1) Inspiration from Celebrity Plastic Surgery

If your friend is enamored of a current celebrity and is considering cosmetic surgery to get “the look,” it’s worthwhile to have a serious conversation about the idea. Many patients are ultimately very disappointed with their results for a couple of reasons.

First, the favorite celebrity’s prized feature, such as Angelina Jolie’s famous lips or Jennifer Garner’s dimples, may not be so easy to attain. Lips and dimples are famously difficult to reproduce. Second, patients sometimes find out that a feature that looks right at home on a celebrity face looks strange on their own. You just can’t expect to manipulate body parts like Mrs. Potato Head and look normal.

It’s even worse if your friend is inspired by celebrity plastic surgery. Stars are famous for going overboard—witness Heidi Montag’s 10 procedures in one day. Remind your friend that stars who are known for their surgeries are almost universally criticized. The usual observation is that the celebrity looked better before going under the knife, more like a real person. It’s something to consider.

2) Going to Extremes

Chances are your friend isn’t looking to create the biggest breasts in the world. But even if she’s just planning generous breasts, let’s say size D or double D, make sure she evaluates the risks and drawbacks.

Two leading reasons for saying no to large breasts come to mind. First, unless your friend has the right frame, large breast implants will not look natural. An experienced plastic surgeon can create and execute a great surgical plan, including choosing the right implant shape and placement, and the outcome may still look like nothing Mother Nature intended. Second, the extra weight of large implants will inevitably cause increased/earlier sagging, not to mention the possibility of neck and shoulder pain down the road.

3) Non-Mainstream Surgery

If many plastic surgeons do not do the procedure your friend is considering, there’s a reason for it. One example is butt augmentation with implants. Many surgeons feel that the risk of infection and poor placement is not acceptable, and indeed many patients are ultimately unhappy with the results of butt implant surgery.

Sometimes surgeons won’t do a procedure if it’s fairly new. Fat transfer is a good example of this. Although it’s becoming popular quickly as a way to augment breasts, buttocks and even faces, there are some risks and unknowns to consider. Fat doesn’t always survive the transfer very long, for instance, and sometimes results are asymmetrical. Make sure your friend has all her questions answered if she’s considering fat transfer, including what happens if there’s a poor outcome.

4) Unacceptable Risks

Make sure your friend proceeds with extreme caution if the surgery she’s considering carries a high degree of risk. This can be the case with revision rhinoplasty, for example. When a nose is operated on, its fundamental foundation and structure are modified. With each additional surgery building on—or in this case, taking away from—that foundation, the nose can look more and more unnatural. Have your friend think about how she will feel if her second or third rhinoplasty makes things worse instead of better.

There are several Web sites dedicated to people who’ve experienced plastic surgery gone wrong. If you think your friend might be headed for bad plastic surgery, help her conduct her own smell test by weighing these factors and more. Help her with research. Consider going to consultations with her. Then, vow to forget those three little words, "Told you so!”

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We value and respect our HERWriters' experiences, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice, although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.