Today’s consumers have the luxury of being choosy about the professionals they work with, whether they are buying a new car, planning a vacation, or scheduling an elective surgery.
Men and women alike have the opportunity to evaluate these professionals on experience, friendliness, and even a “gut feeling” about them, among other criteria.
Having choices is a wonderful thing, especially when you’re planning something as serious as surgery, where your very health may depend on making the right decision. Plan your facelift procedure with the right facial plastic surgeon to ensure your satisfaction with your final results.
Do Your Homework on Board Certification
The very first rule of choosing a good surgeon to perform your facelift is board certification. There is absolutely no scenario where it is okay to work with a doctor not certified by the board. It could lead you to injury, bad results, post-surgical complications, and even fatal outcomes, so it’s not worth the discounted rate ever. Facelift surgery is a delicate process that requires fine-tuned skills that can only be acquired through the many hours of surgical practice and training needed to achieve board certification.
This elite credential must be earned by facial plastic surgeons who have graduated from an accredited medical school, completed a minimum of five years in surgical residency, plus three more years in an accredited plastic surgery residency program. Surgeons completing this vigorous training gain cosmetic surgery and reconstructive surgery training to develop their skills in facial procedures. Before board certification can be conferred, these plastic surgery trainees must also completed a comprehensive written exam and a written exam. All of these qualifications combine to provide surgeons with the tools they need to succeed in the field, something backed up but the board’s certification.
Prevent Needless Risks With the Right Surgeon
Every surgery has its risks and every procedure is unique and unpredictable, so wise patients will choose the surgeon they trust to perform their surgeries correctly. A well-trained and experienced facial plastic surgeon has the knowledge to navigate through your potential risk factors and any complications that may arise. Facelift surgery, specifically, can pose certain risks to patients, including infection, excessive bleeding, facial numbness, and more. Your carefully chosen facial plastic surgeon will already have developed the skills needed to minimize the chances of these complications. He has been trained for such scenarios and, if experienced in the field, he may have encountered problems and dealt with them before.
When complications do arise, these surgeons are the ones best suited to handle the emergency, taking immediate steps to protect their patients. With a solid understanding of anatomy and physiology, combined with his own practiced techniques, he can actively prevent infection, utilize drainage tubes to relieve fluid buildup, and much more.
Better Skills Mean Better Results
When your facial plastic surgeon has a medical degree, five years of surgical training, and additional years of in-depth facial plastic surgery training, plus a career filled with similar procedures, you have to expect that the quality of your surgical results will be top-notch. After hundreds or thousands of facelifts, it’s impossible not to have honed a skill set that reflects this incredible amount of experience. Every patient has unique needs, facial features, characteristics, and results they desire, as they may span a wide range of ages and ethnicities. Your surgeon will already have encountered patients with varying degrees of aging at the time of their facelifts as well.
When training for a career in facial plastic surgery, these doctors aren’t just learning how to place an incision or prevent infection; a large part of their training involves the aesthetic side of facial surgery, too. In cosmetic surgery, it’s impossible to distinguish between surgical and aesthetic techniques because the two must so often be one and the same. If your facial plastic surgery has been well-trained in these areas, he can take the information you give to him during your facelift consultation and turn that into real surgical result.
A Wide Range of Surgical Skills for Optimum Results
For some patients, a facelift surgery is just the beginning, but that doesn’t mean they plan to have two surgical procedures with two specialized surgeons. Facial plastic surgeons are well versed in many procedures specific to improving the look of the face, reversing the damage done by aging, and delivering the overall results their patients really want. Sometimes this does mean pairing a facelift surgery with another procedure, something a board-certified facial plastic surgery can easily do based on his experience and training background.
When you select the right facial plastic surgeon for you, be open about your plans for a complete rejuvenation, even if it involves multiple procedures. If your facelift consultation is your first meeting together, don’t be shy about the concerns you have about your sagging eyelids, hollow cheeks, or the volume lost from your lips. Your facial plastic surgeon might have the ability to correct all of your concerns with one surgery. Plus, you might get a fresh opinion on how to manage your aging signs. Not only will your surgeon have the ability to aesthetically critique your facial features to help you decide what could be done to reverse them, but he will also have the surgical skills to execute his procedural plan.
Making the Smart Choice of Surgeon
Understanding why your choice of facial plastic surgeon matters is the first step. Actually finding the right facial plastic surgeon is the next, an arguably more important, step. Once you know what you’re looking for from the surgeon you choose, it’s time to get started with your search. There are many practicing surgeons out there today, but don’t let yourself get distracted. Stick to this list of guidelines to navigate your way to the right office:
- A board certification from a reputable board, such as the American Board of Plastic Surgeons
- A significant number of facelifts performed each year
- The number of years spent actively performing facelifts
- The location where the surgeon’s facelift surgeries are performed, which should be an accredited facility. Call the facility to verify the surgeon’s credentials if possible.
- Whether a board-certified anesthesiologist or certified Registered Nurse anesthetist will be administering the anesthesia (no one else should be handling this important task)
- The surgeon’s steps for minimizing risks and his emergency plan should complications arise
- The before and after photos and patient testimonials of his previous patients, which should stand as proof of the surgeon’s ability to deliver results.
As the patient, you have the right to ask questions about your facial plastic surgeon’s history, training, and success rate among patients, along with other information that may concern you. A fully trained, licensed, and certified facial plastic surgeon should have nothing to hide about his ability to perform the facelift surgery you want. If you don’t feel right about a particular surgeon, it’s always okay to schedule a consultation with someone else who may be a better fit.
Find the Right Facial Plastic Surgeon Today
If you’re hoping to have your facelift surgery performed the right way, you need to schedule a consultationwith Dr. Robert Kessler, a board certified general and facial plastic surgeon, to learn more about what this surgery can do for you. Dr. Kessler completed his medical degree with honors from Tufts University in Boston as well as a distinguished General Surgical Residency with North Short/NYU in New York. Prior to that, he completed a Plastic Surgery residency with the US Air Force and the University of Texas.
Today, Dr. Kessler operates his surgical practice in California, has worked as a surgical consultant and surgical assistant on ABC’s Extreme Makeover, and has lectured nationally and internationally on topics including facial rejuvenation, plastic surgery, and body contouring. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Kessler, contact his office, located at 2121 E Pacific Coast Hwy #200, in Newport Beach, CA, by calling 949.644.6544.
