Plastic Fantastic. As a new report paints a frightening picture of cosmetic surgery. Alice Hart-Davis offers a guide to what’s good.

If it wasn’t all so serious, you’d have to laugh.

Last week’s report into cosmetic surgical procedures published by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) was damning – telling of operating theatres without the right equipment and of surgeons without sufficient skill for the procedures they were attempting – but worse was the news that almost three-quarters of clinics approached refused to partecipate in the study at all.

This report arrives in the wake of a new, voluntary register for cosmetic injectables, which has already been branded “toothless” by an exasperated Nigel Mercer, president of the British  Association of Aesthetic plastic Surgeons.

Meanwhile, the many private clinics offering non-surgical cosmetics procedures such as lasers, wrinkle-fillers, microdermabrasion and Botox continue, happily unregulated.

So how do you find a safe pair of hands? Two tips. Do your homework. Ask for a recommendation – from friends, colleagues, anyone you suspect has knowledge of this branch of the beauty business.

If you are considering a clinic, pay them a visit, ask to meet the doctor who will be treating you – you may have to pay, you are taking up his or her time – and discuss properly whether the procedure you are considering is relevant to you.

Prices are similar wherever you go (if they’re suspiciously cheap, it’s a bad sign)’ around £100 for peels, from £250 for Botox; from £400 for fillers and around £1,000 a go for the most sophisticated lasers and radio-frequency machines.

Dr Jessen’s rules for cosmetic surgery
- Have your initial consultation with the surgeon who will do your operation, no one else, and certainly not a salesperson.
- Expect to pay for the expert advice you are given during this consultation. Be wary of freebies – why does the surgeon have to tout for business?
- Don’t be talked into having procedures that you hadn’t ever considered.
- All the options should be discussed with you and you should be made fully aware of all risks and complications – no surgery is risk-free.
- Check your surgeon’s qualifications: they should be a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and ideally of BAAPs or BAPRAS too.
- Ask to see before and after photos of surgeon’s recent work.
- You should be given a definite cooling-off period for you to think about whether you really want to go ahead with the operation.
- Make sure you can afford the operation with money to spare should things go wrong. Be very wary about buying on credit. If you can’t afford it, you shouldn’t be having it.
-Remember that you can always change your mind, right up to the last minute, and you shouldn’t really be penalised financially for doing so, although this will vary according to circumstance.

The pick of London’s Practitioners
Dr Mike Comins
The Private Clinic
Still does Botox and fillers but more usually found with newer laser procedures such as laser lipo. 

Source: Evening Standard

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