How to Choose a Clinic

What Patients Commonly Worry About

Deciding to have surgery takes a great deal of thought.

Even choosing a clinic alone involves far too many options. And even after choosing a clinic, various worries arise, such as side effects and the effect of the surgery.

Seeing the people who visit the clinic for consultations or surgery, I have come to know the concerns that they commonly share.

The most important thing is to obtain a satisfying result while minimizing side effects. Also, even if a problem does arise, they hope that it will be resolved smoothly.

In a way, these are natural expectations and hopes. But because they hear stories through various channels that suggest otherwise, the reality is that it is not easy for them to feel confident about this.

Even with a Lot of Information, Judgment Is Hard

Visiting several clinics to gather information and compare is a good thing to do.

What is unfortunate, though, is that you obtain far too much information, get buried in the flood of information, and find it harder to make a judgment.

When I listen to people who have had consultations at several clinics, they have a lot of information and knowledge about surgery. But there are far too many people who are confused because they find it hard to judge what is important and what is not.

In most cases, when you listen to them, what they were told is not very different.

So What Should You Do?

So, what should we do?

minimize side effects,
achieve a satisfying result, and
resolve any problem smoothly if one does arise, without creating a major problem?

The Consultation Before Surgery Is Decisive

First of all, the consultation stage before surgery is what matters.

The consultation before surgery plays a decisive role in planning the surgery. Surgical methods and degrees of correction vary widely.

Doing a lot of large surgery does not necessarily lead to a satisfying result. Making the surgery obvious at all costs is not necessarily good either.

The specific surgery is decided according to the patient's temperament, preferred shape, recovery period, concerns, and so on. These can be appropriately judged only after a thorough consultation in person.

Questions We Ask in the Consultation

How high a double eyelid fold you prefer
Whether you like a glamorous look or a natural one
Whether you want to change your impression dramatically or keep it as much as possible
How high a nose you prefer
What kind of relationship between the nasal tip and the nasal bridge you like

When I take enough time to listen, I can eventually get a sense of the specific things you want and proceed.

That is why the consultation before surgery is not simply a stage for deciding the content of the surgery. It is an essential stage for sensing the specific aesthetic sensibility.

Hearing each patient's personal story is very important. This is impossible without a thorough consultation stage before surgery.

The Process After Surgery Prevents Big Problems

Not only during the surgery but also the process after surgery is very important. It sounds obvious, but it is a process that is truly difficult to put into practice.

Before surgery is the stage of finding out and understanding in detail, through a thorough consultation, what the patient wants. The process after surgery is a little different.

Through the visits after surgery, side effects and problems can be identified and resolved. This allows problems to be identified as early as possible and resolved at the appropriate time.

The reason this matters is that problems can occur with any surgery. In most cases, they are very simple problems or ones that can be resolved easily.

But if such problems are left alone or ignored, they gradually become bigger. Problems that could have been resolved simply can turn into big, troublesome problems.

In other words, the process after surgery is the most important process for preventing major side effects or problems.

Patients Need to Be Seen More Often After Surgery

A patient must never be left unattended.

The same goes for the patient. You must not ignore your own symptoms. If anything feels even slightly wrong, you must tell the medical team right away.

This too is a form of neglect. It is neglect not on the part of the medical team but on the part of the patient. This too can cause a big problem.

Seeing patients often after surgery is the best measure for discovering even small problems in advance and, going further, for preventing bigger problems.

It Must Be Treated as a One-Time Chance for the Patient

In war there is no next chance. Once a war has begun, it must be won, and there is no halfhearted compromise.

In this sense, surgery is similar. There may be cases where one chooses not to operate, but there is no halfhearted compromise, and one must aim to obtain a good result in the end.

Doing a rough job this time and doing it again next time is out of the question. One must operate thinking of it as the patient's one and only chance.

A Doctor Must Never Recommend Unnecessary or Excessive Surgery

Only surgery that is truly necessary should be performed.

Of course, in most cases doing even a little more produces a better result. Still, one must avoid recklessly recommending surgery that is truly unnecessary.

Whenever possible, it is better to operate with a simpler method.

Plastic Surgery Is Not Art. It Is Medicine

It is not like sculpture or clay, where you can enlarge or reduce any place you want.

The areas that can be operated on are limited, and the range in which surgery can be done safely is also limited. Operating within that range is what is stable and safe.

Therefore, a good result is not obtained through an aesthetic eye alone. Proper anatomical knowledge and a thorough prediction of the surgical result are essential.

Nor can everything the patient wants be done. Even to pursue the goal of beauty, medical practice must be applied, within its limits.

“I thought it was just swelling, so I just waited”

I hear this often after surgery.

"I had surgery, so I thought it was supposed to be like that."
"I thought it was swelling, so I just waited."
"They told me it was swelling and to just wait."

Of course, in most cases after surgery, the statement above is correct. However, there are occasionally cases where it is not.

There can be cases where simply waiting, as in the thinking above, leads to something even bigger.

If you feel even slightly uneasy or something seems off, the best way to prevent a major side effect is to visit the clinic quickly at any time and have it checked. It is advisable to choose a clinic where you can do this.