As most people are fully aware these days, plastic surgery is by no means for everyone. Despite the fact that cosmetic procedures across the board have evolved enormously over the years to become safer and more effective than ever before, there will always be those for whom the plastic surgery simply is not a good idea. Suffice to say, this can be a tricky point to get across to those that have decided they will indeed go under the knife but have reached a decision for all the wrong reasons.
Of course, freedom of choice is important and trying to tell people what to do and not to do isn’t always what you would call effective. Nevertheless, the experts at American British Surgical & Medical Centre in London have shared several guidelines on the subject of how to determine whether or not you should in fact be going under the knife for a cosmetic surgical procedure at all.
Should you tick any of the following five boxes, it may be time for a serious rethink:
1 – You Were Pressured Into It By a Partner
First of all, the only person who should ever be able to influence your decision when it comes to cosmetic surgery is you yourself. It’s one thing to have the support of those around you, but it is something else to have been pressured or bullied into surgery by somebody else. What you should basically be asking yourself in this instance is whether you would still be considering the surgery were it not for the pressure or suggestions of your partner, or anyone else for that matter. If you suspect for one minute that the decision is based more on what they want than what you want, there is absolutely no way you should be considering going ahead with it.
2 – You’re Doing it to Combat Depression
Perhaps the single most common reason why adults of all ages opt for cosmetic surgery is as a means by which to improve their body in a way that will make them feel happier. However, there is a very big difference between a cosmetic procedure slightly improving your confidence and one that completely combats unhappiness and depression. The simple fact of the matter in this case is that the latter does not exist. Diving into cosmetic surgery as a means by which to combat depression or unhappiness is strictly advised against by surgeons across the board. Not only is it incredibly unlikely that the surgery will in fact improve your life in such a manner, but depression and unhappiness can cloud your judgement to such an extent that perhaps you shouldn’t have even decided to go ahead with the procedure in the first place.
3 – You Expect It to Completely Change Your Life
In a similar vein, it is important to be wholly realistic when it comes to what exactly you expect the cosmetic surgery to do for your life in general. For example, if you expect to walk out of the surgeon’s room an entirely different person with a new outlook on life, a spring in your step and all your problems solved, you are fooling yourself. While cosmetic surgery can make a difference to your life, it cannot and will not change your life in a huge way or transform the person that you are. If in any way you believe you have your expectations set too high, you need to rethink things entirely.
4 – A Plastic Surgeon Pushed You Into It
It is of the utmost importance to never under any circumstances allow a plastic surgeon to push you into making a decision or to give you the impression that you absolutely need cosmetic surgery. In literally 999 cases out of 1,000, plastic surgery and cosmetic treatments in general are 100% optional and should therefore be decided entirely by the patient without any kind of persuasion from the surgeon. So again, ask yourself whether or not your decision has been swayed in any way by the advice of the surgeon and if the answer is yes, take extra time to think about things.
5 – You Decided on a Whim and Haven’t Thought it Through
Last but not least, there are so many people these days who treat cosmetic surgery as if they were having some kind of tiny tattoo and dive into things on a whim without giving themselves time to think. In fact, some deliberately rush things in order to ensure that they don’t change their minds knowing fully well that the more they think about it, the less likely they would be to go through with it. Suffice to say that when it comes to cosmetic surgery, this is an absolutely unacceptable approach to take as you are looking at a process that could potentially change your life. If you have not given yourself sufficient time to think about it and have even 1% of doubt in mind, you should not be going anywhere near a plastic surgeon’s office for the time being.