Research Before You Breast Surgery Consultation
As a Patient we always recommend you do your research thoroughly before deciding on breast surgery so we thought we would share with you some of the routes to finding out what you need to know:-
Am I a suitable patient for breast surgery?
What look am I hoping to achieve?
What are my concerns?
What results can I expect?
Have I picked the right breast Surgeon?
What is the recovery time?
What should I ask at my Consultation?
What is the cost of my breast surgery?
1) Am I a suitable patient?
Generally speaking, you are a suitable Cosmetic Surgery patient if you are in good health, are a non-smoker and are NOT overweight.
If you have any particular conditions or are on any medication(s), then this should be discussed thoroughly at your Consultation to ensure you have the best care for YOU.
2) What am I hoping to achieve?
If you can be clear in your mind for e.g do you want your breasts to be simply bigger or do you think they should be higher? (This would mean including a Breast Uplift).
You could look at pictures of other people and bring in one or more (as they say a picture says a thousand words) so that you and your Surgeon are clear on what you would like to achieve, bearing in mind your own particular body before cosmetic surgery.
3) What are my concerns?
We all have thoughts going around in our head, some that repeat continually but are sometimes difficult to speak about. If you really want surgery, but are concerned about, for example, the time in the operating theatre or recovery time before a big event, then you should write down all your questions beforehand and ask them all during your time with Mr Lambe.
If you write them down it is more likely that you will remember to ask them when you are discussing your body and how you wish to improve it as it can be out of your comfort zone, especially if you are not used to discussing a body part that bothers you or showing that particular area to anyone.
You should also write down the answers so that you can look back and consider them carefully to give yourself plenty of time to make your decision once your questions have been answered.
Good Surgeons and reputable companies will NOT put pressure on you to make a decision quickly so please bear this in mind. Any time pressure put on you to book surgery or commit to any offers in a limited time frame should be seen as a RED FLAG and you should NOT HAVE SURGERY with them as they are driven by profits and not by care of the patient ie YOU.
4) What results can I expect?
You may be thinking about cosmetic surgery from looking at pictures in the newspapers, magazines or on TV, or your friends and family may have had the surgery you want and you like the results.
Either way, in the first instance it’s always good to ask your friend or family member lots of questions about what they had before and for example in breast surgery, what implant size and shape they had. They may even show you some before and after pictures and some women are so happy with their breasts that they show them at every opportunity so you can see first hand the results you could achieve.
However, you are likely to be another size and shape to your friend, therefore it makes sense that you would need another size and shape of implant to achieve similar results.
For this reason, we use Crisalix 3D Virtual Reality software so that you can be scanned and see yourself with a host of implant possibilities such as size and shape. This is the best indicator in Virtual Reality of how YOU could look after surgery and is included in your breast surgery consultation. You can also take the images away with you to think over it and discuss what looks best with your friends and family.
If there are some questions they cannot answer then there are a number of cosmetic surgery forums where you can ask questions and see pictures of other patients who have had a whole host of cosmetic surgery procedures. Click here to see a full list of procedures.
5) Have I picked the right Plastic Surgeon?
Some cosmetic surgery companies employ large numbers of surgeons or practitioners to carry out their surgeries so the person you see for your initial consultation will probably not be the same person who is carrying out your surgery and will probably not be the same person you see for your after care.
At Reflect Clinic, Mr Lambe will speak with you personally at your Consultation (or Consultations) and you can ask him your questions personally and in confidence. He will listen to your concerns and offer you his advice based on over 20 year’s experience working for the NHS and privately. He will give you an honest and understandable appraisal of what you have and how you can achieve the look you want.
Click here to see Mr Gerard Lambe’s Reviews. We are also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
All reputable surgeons are members of BAAPS, who promote excellence and best practise in Aesthetic Surgery with their Be Safe, Be Sure campaign. It is made up of more than 300 Member surgeons who follow a code of practice and ethics to improve overall safety standards, and to enhance the education of the public about aesthetic cosmetic surgery, and in particular the benefits and risks of different procedures.
BAPRAS is another organisation which is the “voice of plastic surgery in the UK”, whose aim is to raise awareness of the breadth of plastic surgery, to promote innovation in teaching, learning and research and to increase overall understanding of the profession” with their Think Over Before You Make Over campaign.
6) What is the recovery time?
Please give yourself enough recovery time by booking time off work and/or carrying out roles which are less physically demanding on your return to work.
Make arrangements with friends and family to not only look after you but to take on some of your responsibilities for a while such as picking the children up from school, dropping them off at clubs or entertaining them depending on their age, of course.
If you have a specific occasion such as a Wedding or Holiday for which you want to look your best and hence the reason for your surgery, then please give yourself weeks to recover and so that your have optimum results for photos or videos. This will also reduce stress on yourself if your timeline is too strict and will not help in your recovery process. You need to be calm, relaxed and have lots of TLC and support from friends and family.
Please discuss specific recovery times for you and your particular operation at your Consultation.
7) What should I ask at my Consultation?
As a first step you should ask friends, family, read up via the internet or magazines, or ask specific questions via a cosmetic surgery forum. These are for your general questions such as “How long does the operation take?”
Our website has a range of FAQs for each procedure so please look on the procedure first then click on the FAQs for that page eg Mummy Makeover.
Once this first step has been completed, you may also have more detailed questions that you would like answered and there will also be questions which are specific to you such as “What position is best for my nipples?”
8) What is the cost of my surgery?
We are frequently asked for a price for cosmetic surgery such as Breast Enlargement(or Boob Jobs), however, it is very difficult to give a price over the telephone for a lady before she has been seen personally.
As you can imagine, our patients are all unique and breasts come in so many different shapes and sizes with many variables such as body frame, skin elasticity, nipple size, nipple position, symmetry, asymmetry, volume of breast tissue, rib cage size, fat available etc etc and their needs and wishes are all completely different.
However, as a guideline, prices are
Breast Augmentation £4,500-£6,000
Breast Reduction £5,500-£7,500
Breast Uplift £5,000-£6,500
Implant Exchange £4,000-£5,500
If you have any more questions, or would like to book a Consultation, please call Jayne on 07434572794 during office hours who will be happy to talk with you.
You can also reach us out of office hours via our Contact page.
We look forward to hearing from you!