Part 4: Surgical Outcome Evaluation, Postoperative Precautions, and Dispute Resolution
★How can the effects of cosmetic surgery be correctly evaluated?
(1) Objective and reasonable requirements: Every cosmetic surgeon comes with the good wish of becoming more beautiful. It should be understood that the basis for becoming beautiful is to further improve the conditions that the patient already has, which is often referred to as "adding flowers to brocade". Cosmetic surgeons cannot put a celebrity's face on another person's face.
(2) Surgery with obvious effects and minimal trauma: When there are multiple surgical methods to achieve a certain effect, the first consideration should be to choose the surgery that causes the least damage to the body to obtain the best results. Sometimes cosmetic surgery is not always beneficial to health.
(3) Good prognosis: After choosing the appropriate and necessary surgery, the surgical scars will fade in about 6 months, at which point the ideal surgical result will appear. A satisfactory answer should be obtained by comparing your pre-operative photos and various measurements.
★What precautions should be taken after cosmetic surgery?
(1) Necessary rest: Cosmetic surgery is mostly subcutaneous surgery. Unless otherwise required, 24 hours of bed rest or quiet recuperation is usually necessary. During this period, sports activities or labor should not be carried out.
(2) Reasonable diet: After cosmetic surgery, there is sometimes a short fasting period. Usually, you should not eat within 4 hours. After that, you can eat some nutritious and warm foods. Avoid eating spicy, pungent, or irritating foods, as well as blood-activating drugs such as ginseng and angelica.
(3) Avoid bad habits: Smoking and drinking are prohibited within one week after surgery. You should not watch TV for a long time or stay up late.
(4) Take medication on time: Take medication as prescribed by the doctor after surgery. Do not stop taking medication on your own.
(5) Protect the surgical site: Do not loosen or remove the bandages from the surgical site without authorization. Remember: Under no circumstances should the surgical site be washed with water before the stitches are removed!
(6) Follow up on time: If there is any unclear or uncomfortable situation, contact the surgeon immediately.
★Is a follow-up examination necessary after surgery?
Regular follow-up examinations after surgery are the primary method for doctors to monitor the healing progress of the surgical site. Human tissue typically takes about a year to fully heal histologically, during which time doctors will provide proper guidance on certain issues related to the healing process, such as massage after breast augmentation with implants.
In the initial postoperative follow-up, the cosmetic surgeon provides reasonable explanations for some normal postoperative reactions, which helps to soothe the patient's anxiety. Sometimes, a doctor's comment that the surgery went well can give the patient tremendous confidence and encouragement, the effect of which cannot be replaced by any medication.
Postoperative follow-up examinations are of great clinical value for doctors to judge the prognosis and effect of surgery. They are beneficial to doctors in improving their surgical skills and sometimes provide guidance on whether to choose to perform a second local surgery to correct certain deficiencies.
★What should I do if there are complications or disputes during cosmetic surgery?
This is the last thing anyone wants to happen.
Newspaper reports frequently feature cases of cosmetic surgery disputes ending up in court. A closer analysis reveals that most of these cases stem from surgical errors or mishandling by the surgeon, leading to serious consequences. If patients were more cautious in choosing their cosmetic surgeons and researched their qualifications and experience, such painful outcomes might be avoided. How can one assess a cosmetic surgeon's experience? As I mentioned earlier, simply look at before-and-after photos. These photos reflect the surgeon's experience. If a surgeon doesn't provide such before-and-after photos, please carefully consider your decision before undergoing surgery.
In the event of a cosmetic surgery dispute, immediate intervention is crucial to prevent more serious complications. Repair procedures should be performed within an appropriate timeframe, ideally at least one year after the initial surgery. Forcing a doctor to perform surgery within a year, exceeding the necessary timeframe for tissue repair, will likely result in unsatisfactory outcomes.
The way to resolve surgical disputes is to file a complaint with the local health authority. The relevant department will investigate, collect evidence, and organize a medical malpractice expert committee to conduct an assessment, the results of which are legally binding. Even if the case goes to court, it will require a medical malpractice technical assessment or forensic examination. Once the assessment results are available, a fair and just judgment will be made according to law.
Attempting to settle matters through private transactions will leave behind potential problems.
Liposuction
★How does fat grow?
Fat is a unique tissue in the human body, distributed in various subcutaneous areas and near internal organs. Adipose tissue is mainly composed of adipocytes, a small number of fibroblasts, and a small amount of intercellular collagen. Adipocytes consist of 80% fat, 18% water, and 2% protein. The average diameter of an adipocyte is 80 μm. Each adipocyte contains 0.6 μg of fat. A normal adult has 30 × 10⁹ adipocytes.
Under normal circumstances, between the ages of 2 and 5, preadipocytes, similar to fibroblasts, can differentiate into adipocytes. Some cells differentiate into adipocytes, while others become "stem cells," i.e., the preadipocyte pool. During this period, some factors, currently unclear, drive the preadipocytes to eventually differentiate into adipocytes. After sexual maturity between the ages of 11 and 14, the number of adipocytes no longer increases; subsequent weight gain or loss is due to the increase or decrease in the size of adipocytes. Because the number of adipocytes varies in different parts of the body, and the rate of cell enlargement also differs, this often leads to variations in the degree of obesity in different parts of the body.
Subcutaneous fat is typically divided into three layers: the subcutaneous intrinsic fat layer, the superficial fat layer (halo layer), and the deep fat layer (lamellae). When a person gains weight, it is mainly the deep fat cells that increase in size, which can differ from the fat cells in other layers by many times. In the human body, some areas only have the subcutaneous intrinsic fat layer and lack the other two layers, while other areas have both the subcutaneous intrinsic fat layer and the deep fat layer but lack the superficial fat layer.
★How do people gain weight?
While a person's weight doesn't increase at an average rate throughout their life, the majority of people do tend to gain weight. There are many reasons for weight gain, but for adults, the main reasons include:
(1) Eating too much and not exercising enough;
(2) Insufficient exercise and lack of physical activity;
(3) Endocrine disorder, suffering from a certain disease;
(4) Genetic factors, family history;
(5) Mental factors: a relaxed mind leads to a healthy body.
It's not that every case of weight gain is caused by a single factor; it's often the result of several factors working together. At different stages of life, various factors contributing to obesity play different dominant roles. Simply suppressing any one factor cannot completely stop the weight gain process, which is the main reason why relying solely on weight loss methods isn't always effective.
In terms of diet, the main components of food that can be synthesized into fat in the body are carbohydrates, which are absorbed into the bloodstream after being digested in the intestines and then converted into fat in the liver. Animal fats, after being digested in the intestines and absorbed into the bloodstream, are only present in very small quantities and are not a major cause of obesity.
Another issue is eating habits; overeating and binge eating are the main culprits behind obesity.