Doctor tells how to pick the best plastic surgeon

BusinessRockford.com

More and more of your co-workers are opting for plastic surgery.

The increase lately has been older workers who are not ready to retire or who are re-entering the work force and want to prolong their vitality, said Dr. Donn Chatham, president-elect of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

“It’s more a decision to maintain and protect,” Chatham said. “People are looking at their faces as an investment in themselves.”

But it can be a confusing process, he said, offering a few tips:

Go to a board-certified doctor who has expertise in the particular area you’re unhappy with. Trust your face to a face specialist, and so on. Those specialists are concerned with both the appearance and health of those particular areas.

Research the doctor’s credentials. Look for physicians who are well-trained and experienced in aesthetic procedures of the face and body.

There are nonphysicians doing some of these procedures, but they can be undertrained to administer less invasive treatments.

Doctors should be your advocates, Chatham said.

“(Plastic surgery) is not excessive vanity anymore than other things,” Chatham said.

“People feel better when they leave the hair salon, when they dress nicely. Most of us, men and women alike, want to look good.”