Mistake No. 4: The dreaded Tori Spelling breast gap
Tori Spelling constantly tops the "worst plastic surgery" lists floating around the Internet for her gapped and drooping breast implants, and the common reactions have been to blame her doctor. However, Bayati says that the large gap between her breasts isn't due to the procedure; more surprisingly, it's due to the fact that she just happens to have a very wide and depressed sternum, or breastbone. And while that wasn't apparent when Spelling had small boobs, it is exaggerated with the addition of large implants over her chest muscles.
It's actually quite common for women to have irregular breastbones and rib cages, which is why four out of every 10 women with breast implants go back to the doc post surgery to have them changed.
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Mistake No. 5: You trust a shady medical spa
In a 2008 survey by the American Academy of Facial and Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, more than 75 percent of doctors said that they knew of a medical spa with a medical director who was nowhere to be seen -- not on-site performing, or even overseeing, medical procedures. That's a lot of risky procedures being performed by poorly trained employees in unregulated offices.
"Non-plastic surgeons are performing liposuction on patients in these medical spas and clinics and killing them," says Tachmes. Doctors at these spas give patients local anesthesia rather than general anesthesia (in most states, anesthesia cannot be administered in an office without hospital affiliation) and end up overdosing the patients because the pain gets too intense. The patients then die right there on the table from respiratory depression, says Tachmes.
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Mistake No. 6: You lie about your cigarette habit
If you are a smoker, most plastic surgeons won't operate on you. "Heavy smokers have low oxygen content in the blood," says Tachmes. "So when they have any type of cosmetic surgery that requires a pull or lift, like a breast or face lift, they suffer from poor wound healing, wound separation, or the skin can become necrotic, turning black and dying."
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Mistake No. 7: You don't tell your doc about the supplements you're taking
Many women don't realize dietary supplements can affect the way their body reacts to anesthesia, and that a bad drug/supplement interaction can kill them. Diet pills and over-the-counter stimulants like metabolic enhancers and fat burners make the heart muscle irritable and can cause cardiac arrest, says Bayati. She says women often don't report taking them before an operation because they don't consider them medication, as most are non-prescription. This can be a fatal mistake.
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Mistake No. 8: Skimping on the price tag
According to Miami board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Salzhauer, it's a case of "buyer beware" when a potential patient sees plastic surgery procedures in monetary terms. "There is a reason plastic surgery usually has high costs associated with it," says Salzhauer. "Sometimes when economic times are bad, surgeons will cut their fees for the sake of acquiring new patients. However, if you hear a dramatically reduced price from a surgeon, you should ask yourself 'what corners are they cutting to offer surgery at such a low price?'"
Tachmes agrees. With the economy the way it is, people "shop their bodies around" the way they would parts for a car. And there are plenty of non-plastic surgeons ready to take advantage of that fact. "There are doctors out there that go get a one day training or attend a three day seminar in Vegas on how to do liposuction, get a little diploma, frame it their wall, and just like that -- they are off and running," says Tachmes. "They are out there like cowboys doing whatever they want," she says, and reaping the monetary rewards at the patient's expense.
We all know about the plastic surgery horror stories of fatal blood clots or heart attacks, and have gasped at the pictures of notoriously butchered celebs like Michael Jackson and Courtney Love. But more often than not, we never find out about the other ways plastic surgery can go wrong -- ways that in some cases, aren't the doctor's fault.
"Plastic surgery is major surgery," says Semira Bayati, a board certified plastic surgeon in Newport Beach, Calif. -- and a lot of times, no matter how skilled the doctor, crazy side effects can happen.
Knowing about these less-talked about ways that plastic surgery can go wrong is more important than ever, considering the growing number of people in the U.S. who are opting for cosmetic procedures. According to a recent survey, 51 percent of the population approves of cosmetic and plastic surgery. "As the numbers suggest, people in every income bracket, single or married, male or female, view plastic surgery as a reasonable option today,� says Felmont F. Eaves III, MD, President of The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
So, before you sign up for a Botox session at your next dentist appointment or lust after a nose job when "Us Weekly" runs enviable before and after shots of Ashlee Simpson, read on. You'll want to know about these shocking ways that plastic surgery can leave you with less than stellar results. They happen more frequently than you might expect.
