F.A.Q

Plastic surgery has obvious and often dramatic benefits. You’ll achieve the best results from plastic surgery if you and your surgeon communicate openly and work together to achieve realistic goals. An understanding of your goals, expectations and motivation is essential to a successful partnership between you and your surgeon, helping both of you to determine whether plastic surgery is the right choice for you.

If you are considering plastic surgery, keep in mind the following:

• No surgery can achieve perfection, and there is no guarantee that the results will look exactly as you wanted or hoped for.
• Plastic surgery can reshape your body, not your life. Although enhanced appearance after surgery may improve your self-esteem, plastic surgery will not solve career, marital or emotional problems.
• Do it at the right time, when you don’t feel exceptional stress and when you have
  emotional support available.
• Do it for you, not to fulfill someone else’s desires or to try and fit any sort of ideal image.
• Be prepared to tolerate some discomfort during and after surgery, as well as the
  possibility of scars or other side effects.
• Understand the risks of plastic surgery.
• Prepare to pay for your surgery if your insurance does not cover the costs, as is the case for most elective cosmetic plastic surgery.
• Know that plastic surgery is not suitable for everybody, especially people who are prone to mood swings or erratic behavior, who abuse drugs or alcohol, or who are receiving treatment for clinical depression or other mental illnesses.
• Patients under the age of 18 need parental consent for surgery and must also have achieved certain milestones in growth and physical maturity.

Plastic surgery involved many choices. The first and most important is selecting a surgeon you can trust. If you begin the process with an understanding that, like any surgery, plastic surgery carries some risk, you will appreciate the importance of choosing a qualified surgeon.

A qualified plastic surgeon is not simply a physician with “good” credentials, but one with recognized credentials and specialized training specific to the procedure you are considering. Inquire about your plastic surgeon’s professional affiliations. Membership in the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) designates your surgeon as among elite members of the plastic surgery community. View Dr. Peck’s ASPS profile.

The ASPS is the largest plastic surgery speciality organization in the world. Founded in 1931, the Society is composed of board-certified plastic surgeons who perform cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery.

ASPS member surgeons like Dr. Peck meet rigorous standards:

• Board certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) or in Canada by The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
• Complete at least six years of surgical training following medical school with a minimum of three years of plastic surgery residency training
• Pass comprehensive oral and written exams
• Graduate from an accredited medical school
• Complete continuing medical education, including patient safety each year
• Perform surgery in accredited, state-licensed or Medicare-certified surgical facilities
• Adheres to a strict Code of Ethics

After child bearing, many women are dissatisfied with the appearance of their body.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding can have a negative impact on the breasts and abdomen. Many mothers find they have breasts that have changed in volume and are sagging. The abdominal skin may have stretch marks and be loose. Women who have undergone C-section deliveries often note a “shelf” of loose skin above their scar. Despite their efforts at dieting and exercise, these problem spots persist. Many women desire to return to their pre-pregnancy form. A mommy makeover is the plastic surgeon’s effort to achieve this goal.

The surgery usually involves improving the breasts by replacing the lost volume with a breast implant. If the position of the nipples has dropped too much, then a breast lift may be recommended. Sometimes both an implant and a lift are necessary to center the nipple, improve breast volume, and achieve better cleavage. The abdomen is improved by performing a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) which removes the excess skin and some of the stretch marks and tightens the abdominal muscles which may have been stretched apart by the pregnancy. Liposuction may be performed on excessively full fatty areas.

What it won’t do:
A mommy makeover is not a substitute for weight loss or exercising to achieve the appropriate muscle tone. While the results of a mommy makeover are technically permanent, your body’s appearance can be affected by significant weight fluctuation or additional pregnancies. Ideal candidates for a mommy makeover are women who have completed their childbearing, and who are at or as close as they can get to their ideal weight. The trade-off in improving your shape is the addition of permanent scars to your body. Stretch marks that are above the level of the belly button and lateral to the hips will remain after a tummy tuck, but because the surrounding skin is tightened, they may be less obvious.

The Loss of youthful contours in the face can be due to a variety of factors, including heredity, gravity, environmental conditions and stress. A facelift, or rhytidectomy, is a surgical procedure that improves visible signs of aging in the face and neck, such as:

• Sagging in the middle of your face
• Deep creases below the lower eyelids
• Deep creases along the nose extending to the corner of the mouth
• Fat that has fallen or disappeared
• Loss of skin tone in the lower face that creates jowls
• Loose skin and excess fatty deposits under the chin and jaw can give even a person of normal weight the appearance of a double chin

In general, good candidates for a facelift include:

• Healthy individuals who do not have medical conditions that impair healing
• Non-smokers
• Individuals with a positive outlook and realistic expectations

Rejuvenation procedures, typically performed in conjunction with a facelift, are a brow lift to correct a sagging or deeply furrowed brow and eyelid surgery to rejuvenate aging eyes.

What it won’t do:
As a restorative surgery, a facelift does not change your fundamental appearance and cannot stop the aging process. A facelift can only be performed surgically. Non-surgical rejuvenation treatments cannot achieve the same results, but may help delay the time at which a facelift becomes appropriate and complement the results of surgery.