I read an article in our literature recently about the Babe Ruth Syndrome. I must say, I don’t know much about baseball, so I had no idea what this syndrome meant. Intrigued, I read on.
For those knowledgable in things, Babe Ruth is famous for his baseball records. Homeruns. Lots of them. But he did not hit a homerun every time he went to bat. The article states “even this legendary slugger failed to get a hit more than 65 % of the time.”
So what does this have to do with plastic surgery?
The home run. When you want to do surgery, you go in wanting the home run. I get it. Elective plastic surgery is done on healthy people. For my Palo Alto Bay Area patients, most of you look pretty good despite the years and babies. So you come in with a list of things you don’t like. You want them all fixed, preferrably scarlessly and with no complications. For breasts you want your breasts to be even- nipple height, upper cleavage fullness, volume, position on your chestwall. Tight skin. No droop. And you want the home run in one surgery.
There are no homeruns in plastic surgery.
We aim for perfection. Perfection is a great goal. But we are not perfect to begin with. I point out to patients how their body is asymmetric. This areola is larger, higher. This breast is lower. The ribcage on this side sits out farther. Your chest is wider on this side. I don’t do this to torture my patients. I do this so they see it. Every plastic surgeon has a patient who has told them “you made my right nipple higher.” Then the doctor takes out the preop photos and shows them their right nipple has always been higher. It is common not to notice our body’s differences before surgery. I point it out because I can’t fix asymmetries. I can try to mute them. And the forces on your body are not equal. If you always sleep on the right side of your face, over time, expect your face may age differently. Again, we aim for perfection. It is the right goal. But we are not perfect to begin with.
Sometimes goals need to be achieved in staged surgery. You can’t liposuction the abdomen and tummy tuck the abdomen at the same time. So we tummy tuck first, and then liposuction second. Sometimes there is one major surgery and then a small touch up, which could be done in the office. Revising a scar that hypertrophies a little, a small dog ear after tummy tuck.
When you read testimonials about me as a doctor, you will hear I am blunt and honest. I show scars when they are red. I talk about complications. I want you to understand the surgery- the good and the bad, the pros and the cons.
The perfect result in plastic surgery is not perfection- it is you being happy with your result. The key to this is a realistic expectation and goal.
For more in depth on my philosophy, and your responsibility in the process, see my blog entry: You and I are a team.