A question many patients have is whether or not plastic surgeons themselves have surgery, too. Whether or not they ask during consultation is one thing, but the question remains – do surgeons perform or have the same surgeries they provide their patients?
The answer is: yes! Non-surgical procedures in particular are often utilized by surgeons and their staff, a testament to the power of such procedures. Botox and fillers – while dogged often in the media based on poor, outlier results – are truly game-changing procedures that most everyone takes part in. If not for personal desire, many surgeons will test these procedures out on themselves before providing the services to patients.
Board certified plastic surgeons discuss on the latest episode of No Spin Live!
Surgeon Guinea Pigs
When it comes to the burgeoning world of non-surgical and non-invasive devices, surgeons will often use themselves as guinea pigs to try them out. This “sacrifice” ultimately may be what decides whether or not they provide the treatment for their patients.
“The first thing is, I’ve tried every device in our office,” shares board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Jason Pozner. “When we got it, I at least fire it on myself to see what it does. I’ve tried CoolSculpting, I’ve tried SculpSure, I’ve tried Vanquish, I’ve tried UltraShape. Those are 4 fat removal technologies. Not that I have a lot of fat! But I tried it all on areas.”
“What’s your favorite?” asks board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Ashley Gordon. “CoolSculpting worked the best,” says Dr. Pozner.
Surgeon Families and Staff Routinely Have Procedures Performed
The benefit of having a board certified plastic surgeon as a family member or to work for one seems to have a number of benefits. The No Spin Live panel agrees that they have operated on family members and staff routinely, yet another comforting sign for their patients.
“All plastic surgeons besides themselves have operated on most of their family members,” shares Dr. Pozner. “I had a patient come in here once and they said to me, ‘You know what, you guys do all the surgeries to all the patients and none of your staff or family members has this done.’ I kind of laid into them! All of our staff has had work done, all our family members have had work done. Frankly, if I don’t believe in something and I wouldn’t do it to myself or a family member, I would do it to a patient.”
Dr. Gordon agrees, “I won’t do anything to a patient that I won’t do to myself.”
Board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Dustin Reid, practice partner to Dr. Gordon, has his own theory. “I have a variation of Ashley’s theorem,” he shares. “I won’t do anything to a patient that Dr. Gordon won’t let me do to her!”
Is Self-Surgery a Thing?
When it comes to surgical procedures, surgeons may or may not have procedures performed – but it won’t be by their own hand. Trusted colleagues perhaps, but self-surgery is more an extreme fascination to surgeons rather than something that happens often.
“I think self-surgery is a book I’ve always wanted to write,” shares board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Dan Del Vecchio. “From the medical student who took his own appendix out, to the guy who has a tree fall on his arm and has to cut his arm off. There’s certain types of self-surgery that are cosmetic and some that are life-saving. I think it’s probably worth a book.”
So while your board certified plastic surgeon probably hasn’t given themselves a breast augmentation or liposuction, they absolutely wouldn’t perform a surgery on a patient that they didn’t believe in. Patient safety and outcomes are always top priorities; untested procedures or devices would never be used on a patient in the offices of board certified surgeons.