Bayside Plastic Surgeon
Dr. David A. Ross FRACS (PLAST)
Plastic & Cosmetic Surgeon
03 9596 8888

Beware of Cut-Price Cosmetic Surgery Deals

16 09, 2015

Beware of Cut-Price Cosmetic Surgery Deals

With the increased direct access of information to the public through the internet, more and more scams are taking place putting customers at risk.

Many people are sourcing information and shopping on the internet and people considering cosmetic surgery are looking at this forum as well.

However it is becoming increasingly apparent that poorly credentialed practitioners are offering procedures they are not qualified to perform at cut price costs by cutting corners in care and putting patients at significant risk.

Any surgery is a potentially dangerous undertaking for a patient and this particularly applies to Cosmetic Surgery. This is one undertaking where you do not want to take any risks and you should try to avoid complications.

Cosmetic Surgery should only be undertaken by a fully trained surgeon, with considerable experience (at least 5 years’ experience undertaking the procedure you are considering) In Australia, all surgeons will have a qualification of FRACS (Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons). Also if you are considering a Plastic Surgery procedure your surgeon should be a member of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons and better still a member of the Australian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. All these organisations have websites and their members are listed so you can verify that your surgeon is a member. Other so-called Cosmetic Surgery organisations are not legitimate.

Four reasons why not to undertake cut-price breast augmentation procedures either in Australia or internationally.

  1. Usually the procedure is performed by medical practitioner without surgical training, who is often trained outside Australia.
    Undertrained surgeons do not have the clinical experience to advise on the appropriate procedure and do not have the array of clinical skills to complete surgery properly or deal with complications and poor outcomes when they do occur. There are a high percentage of patients undergoing cut price breast augmentation surgery who require revisionary surgery within 5 years of their original procedure, often due to poor clinical judgement and/or poor technique from their original surgeon.
  2. To reduce costs, procedures are often undertaken in non-approved surgical facilities, such as a procedure room at the back of a clinic that does not have accreditation to undertake these procedures. Usually the doctors offering these services do not have adequate qualifications to be able to operate in true accredited facilities. Poor outcomes, including patient deaths, have occurred in Australia with patients having these procedures in non-accredited facilities in the past year.
  3. Also to reduce costs, procedures are usually performed with the patient awake under local anaesthesia administered by the treating doctor, without the presence of a specialist anaesthetist. This approach puts the patient under enormous additional risk and probably significant discomfort at the time of the procedure and soon afterwards.
  4. Also to reduce costs, these clinics often use substandard cheaper breast implants that have shorter lifespans and higher complication rates and come from countries with poor medical device standards.

 

If you decide you would like to consider a breast augmentation procedure, we recommend you closely look at the credentials and experience of your surgeon. An adequately experienced surgeon will be at least 15 years following his/her medical graduation and at least 5 years since his/her advanced surgical fellowship was achieved.

You should always meet with the surgeon personally to discuss your procedure and he/she should be able to show you examples of the implants they recommend for your use and clinical examples of other patients they have treated, who have similarities to your situation. Your surgeon should spend time discussing your proposed surgical procedure as well as other treatment options, the likely post-operative course and anticipated outcome in your case.

The surgeon should also outline the various risks and complications known to occur after breast augmentation surgery and how they can be managed in your case, particularly if additional surgery and costs may be required.

Finally, for most surgeons undertaking breast augmentation surgery in Australia, it would cost about $10,000 all up; including the cost of the surgery, anaesthetic fee, hospital fees and breast implant cost, including the GST contribution to the Australian Government.

Any clinic that is offering surgery for less than $8000 must be cutting corners in there patient care and therefore subjecting additional risk on their patients. These clinics are best avoided in the same way cut-price cosmetic surgery in Asian countries is very risky and is not recommended by Australian doctors.

If you would like to discuss any of these issues or want to find out more about the credentials and experience of your surgeon or proposed surgeon please contact our office staff directly at Bayside Plastic Surgery, Melbourne. Please be assured that our surgeon, Dr David Ross is highly trained and experienced in aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery and happy to discuss any of the issues raised in this article. Feel free to contact our office at 03 9596 8888.

David A. Ross FRACS(Plast.)

Bayside Plastic Surgery

September 2015

Posted on September 16, 2015 By , in
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Bayside Plastic Surgeon
Dr. David A. Ross FRACS (PLAST)
Plastic & Cosmetic Surgeon
03 9596 8888
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