Abdominoplasty, more commonly known as a tummy tuck, is one of the most popular plastic surgery procedures. If you’re considering a tummy tuck for yourself, be sure to select the right plastic surgeon for the job. Whether you’re just starting to learn about tummy tuck surgery or you’ve already booked some surgical consultations, keep this advice in mind to help you choose a plastic surgeon who’s a good fit for you.
Choose a Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon
This is a “how to pick a plastic surgeon” deal-breaker, no matter what procedure you want to have done. Board certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery ensures certain reassurances for you as a patient:
- Board-certified plastic surgeons must complete additional hours of education and experience in order to obtain board certification.
- Board-certified plastic surgeons must work under strict standards of safety, health and quality of care.
- To maintain board certification, plastic surgeons must submit to constant oversight and reviews by governing bodies. They must also fulfill ongoing education requirements.
- Board-certified plastic surgeons operate in hospitals and accredited surgical facilities. Further, they only employ qualified and accredited medical staff to attend or assist with surgeries.
Find Someone with the Right Experience
It’s always advisable to choose a plastic surgeon who has a good amount of experience performing tummy tucks. If you’re thinking about combining your tummy tuck with liposuction or another procedure, seek out a plastic surgeon who has done similar combination surgeries many times before. Due to the increased popularity in the abdominoplasty procedure, there are many plastic surgeons offering it as one of their services. However, not all have adequate experience. It’s perfectly fine to ask a plastic surgeon how long he or she has been doing tummy tucks, and how often.
Pick Someone Whose Aesthetic Philosophy Meshes with Your Own
Plastic surgery is as much art as it is science, so it’s important to understand how your plastic surgeon thinks about beauty. Talking to a plastic surgeon about this, and looking at his or her portfolio of before-and-after photos, can help you determine whether you’re on the same page. Therefore, if you don’t share any of the same ideas about what constitutes a great-looking result, you may want to keep searching.
While it’s important to keep your expectations realistic, it’s equally important to find a plastic surgeon who appreciates your idea of what looks beautiful.Your Plastic Surgeon Should Come Highly Recommended
Look for reviews and ratings on sites such as Yelp and RealSelf to find out what kind of experience others have had with a particular plastic surgeon. While nobody will have 100 percent perfect reviews, a good plastic surgeon should have built up a solid collection of consistently positive reviews. Further, you can also check his or her website for patient testimonials. If there are none available, it could be a red flag worth paying attention to.
Choose a Plastic Surgeon You Like as a Person
Personality might seem less significant than finding a skilled surgeon or one that’s board-certified, however, it’s still important to choose a plastic surgeon you get along with. You need to feel comfortable talking to your plastic surgeon about a lot of things, such as how to reduce stress during your recovery or whether you should make any lifestyle changes prior to surgery. The same goes for the rest of the staff at a plastic surgery practice. These are the people you’ll be working with before, during and after your tummy tuck and you should feel as if they are on your team.
Dr. David Kaufman earned a bachelor of science degree from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, graduating with distinction, the highest academic honor. As an active duty naval special warfare officer, he served our nation for four years, including duty in Operation Desert Storm. He then attended Harvard Medical School, receiving his medical doctor degree in 1996. From there, he entered and completed postdoctoral surgical training in a combined general and plastic surgery residency at Stanford University Medical Center.
A board-certified plastic surgeon and member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Dr. Kaufman’s diverse surgical experience and skill enables him to choose procedures and techniques to best suit each patient. Consider him and his practice, Kaufman Plastic Surgery, if you are looking for a plastic surgeon in the Sacramento area.
