What questions to ask during your initial plastic surgery consultation?

In this episode of the best plastic surgery podcast "Big Butts No Lies", host and plastic surgery consultant Mavi Rodriguez shares expert insights on how to master your initial consultation for plastic surgery. 

Mavi walks listeners through the key questions to ask during initial consultations, from understanding the surgeon's qualifications and anesthesia details to post-op care and emotional readiness, Mavi provides a comprehensive guide to help listeners navigate the journey towards their desired aesthetic transformation. Tune in for practical advice and thought-provoking considerations in this enlightening episode.

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Transcript

Mavi Rodriguez [00:00:00]:
Hey, guys. My name is Mavi, and I've spent the last 14 years in the plastic surgery and beauty industry, working alongside some of the best plastic surgeons in the country. Now I don't work for anybody, so I have unbiased opinions about hundreds of surgeons from across the world, and I can help you achieve the body of your dreams.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:00:21]:
Hey, guys. Do I have the episode for you today? Remember we're taking it right to basics. So today I have the theme of the episode is your initial consultation gym, how to master your initial consultation. So I'm gonna walk you through what to expect, what you can what questions you can ask yourself, and also what questions to ask your surgeon. So okay, multiple consultations are necessary. Right? I already told you that you need to find at least 3 surgeons that you're like, yes, I love this, I love their work, I need to go see them, and then you go see them. Okay? So during your consultation when you go see them, this can be a really intimidating time because you have to undress in front of a different person who's never seen me before and stand there naked. Dun dun dun.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:01:17]:
Everybody hate this part. I can tell you from my personal experience whenever I went to my consultations, I worked for 1 of the doctors that did my surgery. And having to still get naked in front of him was so weird at the time that But he made it so he was so kind and so nice about it. I was literally, like, uncovered for Less than 30 seconds. He just needed to take a quick look and he already knew what he was gonna do to me. I told him I trust your judgment. I know you're gonna give me the best result. I've seen your patients.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:01:53]:
Please just work your magic, and he did. So when you walk in, they're gonna probably take a look at you. You're gonna have to get undressed, you're gonna have to be honest about your health history, about your goals, about what you really want from your surgery. And then the next step should be they give you a surgical plan. They take a look and they tell you what they can do to help you achieve the result that you're looking for. You might have some questions. Right. So here are some questions that I have for you to ask your surgeon.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:02:28]:
Okay. Let's start with question number 1. Are you board certified? And if you are, what specialty are you board certified in? Or if you remember last episode, I was talking to you about cosmetic surgeon, plastic surgeon, double board certified, board eligible, all of that stuff. If you don't know any of that information, go back to the last episode and you'll you'll learn. Okay. So this is question number 1. Are you a board certified plastic surgeon? If they say I'm a board certified cosmetic surgeon. Different.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:03:04]:
Not board certified plastic surgeon. If they say yes I'm board certified, you are gonna go home and do your homework anyway and go to the abs.org website and find out what are they certified in. Okay so if they don't give you the answer you can find the answer out on your own. The second question is what type of anesthesia will be used during my surgery And who provides the anesthesia? This is really important. Who will be doing the anesthesia? If it's the same plastic surgeon, run. Do not go there. You do not want to go have surgery with somebody who is also taking care of the anesthesia. Don't do it.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:03:48]:
And what you're looking for is for an anesthesiologist. Okay? You're looking for a anesthesiologist to be doing the anesthesia. 3rd question, how often do you do this surgery? If I'm talking to somebody about a tummy tuck or a face lift or a rhinoplasty or any type of surgery on my body, liposuction. I wanna know how often do you do it? Is this a surgery you do every day? Is this a surgery you do a couple times a month? Is this a surgery you do a couple times a year? I need to know because if this is not the surgery that you are doing day in and day out, one of your specialties, then you might not be the surgeon for me. Right? So let's think about that. So, for example, if you ask how often do you do tummy tucks? And they tell you a couple times a month, that's probably not enough. That's probably not enough. If they tell you probably 2 3 times a week, Yeah.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:04:47]:
That sounds about average for a body surgeon. Probably more if they specialize in just body, they might be doing more. But this is obviously to your own judgment. I'm just saying, if I'm having surgery with somebody, I wanna know that they do this surgery all the time, day in, day out. They have it mastered. Okay. This is a really good question, and it's almost like a trick question. Do you have hospital privileges? So why do I wanna know if he has if the surgeon has hospital privileges? So if you go to a surgery center most likely by with a cosmetic surgeon And you asked that cosmetic surgeon what privileges they have or if they have privileges at the hospitals.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:05:36]:
They could have privileges at the hospitals but they still might not be able to admit you. What does that mean? Hospital systems are super strict about what malpractice of course, hello, they're not gonna let surgeons do surgery that they're not supposed to be doing. So that's why a lot of cosmetic surgeons have their own surgery centers because the hospitals won't let them perform surgeries that are not within their skill set or their skills of whatever they are, dermatology, gynecologist. You wanna have a plastic surgeon who has hospital privileges, who can admit you. So if you have a tummy tuck and you start having wound issues or problems and infection, something needs to be done. Your plastic surgeon who has privileges at a hospital can admit you and take care of you. The cosmetic surgeon cannot admit you. He's gonna send you to the emergency room And he's gonna tell you, go through the emergency room and they're gonna get it figured out.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:06:39]:
Who what would you want? Would you want your plastic surgeon who can admit you into the hospital take care of you and already knows what they're supposed to be doing to handle this type of complication? Or would you rather see a cosmetic surgeon who's gonna tell you to go to the emergency room To go get triaged, and they're gonna figure out what's wrong and what to do. It's all I'm saying. It's all I'm saying. What do you want? Who would you want? Ask them. Do you have hospital privileges? If they say yes, what hospitals do you have hospital privileges at? It's a very easy question. If they get offended, if they get mad, if they're like start having an attitude, that might not be the surgeon for you. Okay. I'm sorry to tell you.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:07:22]:
If they get an attitude because you're asking them what hospital privileges do you have or what hospital do you have privileges at, that might not be the man the surgeon for you. Okay. Here's another question for your plastic surgery initial consultation. Can you show me exactly where the incisions will be? And I would even take it a step further and bring a permanent marker with me to my consultation so that they can mark on my body exactly where my incision would be, And I can go home and look at it and see how am I gonna feel having this scar here or this incision here. I'm talking about tummy tucks, But it goes to breast as well or even liposuction. Where are my scars gonna be? This is a really important question for you to start wrapping your mind around. Right. Is it gonna be low? Is it gonna be high? Is it gonna be hip to hip? Is it gonna have to go all the way around? Give me give me some give me something to work with.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:08:22]:
I wanna know. So then the next question is, how long will my recovery be? That'll be depending on what surgeries you have and how your healing is and what speed it is, but asking them to give you a realistic time frame will really help you in your decision making. Another question you can ask is who will I be seen for my post op appointments? This is an important question because Sometimes you don't get seen by your surgeon and you see you're seen by ancillary staff, which is okay if it's a registered nurse, a nurse, a PA, a nurse practitioner, another surgeon, that's fine. What you don't want is to not be seen by your surgeon for weeks, like, that's it. You never see it. After the surgery, you never see them again. Yeah. No.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:09:10]:
That's not what you want. Okay. Continuing the list of what questions to ask at your initial consultation. So the next one being, what complications can arise from this procedure. And this is really important because whatever your surgeon answers can really give you an idea of how they are. If they go into detail about what could happen and give you a plan of what how they would handle complications, that's a great answer. If they brush you off and they're like, you know, we don't wanna about that or we don't talk about complications or any of that, I would think twice. Okay.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:09:46]:
And then here's another question. I have a few, so we're get buckle down. Will this procedure give me the results I am expecting? That's a really important question. I I I want you to hear your doctor's response. Okay? And this goes back to I know you've heard it through the seasons of allowing the surgeon to give you their best recommendation even if it's not the procedure you thought you were gonna get. For example, you go in there thinking you're only gonna have 3 60 lipo and you come out realizing maybe you need a tummy tuck. How soon will I be able to work out? This is a really important question while you're planning for your surgery and for your recovery. This lets you have a better idea of how much help to arrange for during your recovery and, also lets you know when you're gonna be able to get back into the gym.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:10:46]:
Here's another question for you to ask. Will this procedure be done in a hospital or in a surgical center? Write your answers down. Here's another question. Do I need an overnight stay? This is really really interesting. If you're at a hospital or a surgical center, you can stay overnight. It's totally dependent on your surgeon's specific considerations. Here's last 2 questions. What blood work will be required? And will you provide garments? On top of that one, also ask, what is your post op care recommendation? This is when we're gonna know, do they require massages? Do they not require massages? What is their take on it? Okay.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:11:34]:
Now let's move on to the questions to ask yourself before you book. So before you put that deposit down, I need you to ask yourself these questions. Was it easy to communicate with the office? This is important. Did you feel rushed during your consultation? Was everything explained to you? Do you feel like you really understand everything? How was the surgeon's bedside manner. Does your quote include anesthesia and facility? Don't put your deposit down until you know for sure. Is this my whole price or am I missing something? Am I gonna have to pay somewhere else? Figure this out before you leave that deposit. Do you have support at home? You guys know. I talk about how much support you need at home during your recovery.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:12:20]:
So make sure you ask yourself that And figure out whether you have it or not before you go ahead and book that deposit. And lastly, are you Ready for surgery emotionally and physically. And be honest with yourself. The only one that you can hurt by not being honest is yourself. So are you really ready? Ask yourself, am I really ready? If you are, I'm here for you, girl. Whatever you need, send me a message on Instagram and I'll help you get started. So if you enjoyed this episode, I want you to send me a DM and tell me what was the question that really surprised you that I gave. Tell me what you're thinking.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:13:10]:
Alright. So that's our episode for today. Questions to ask yourself during your initial consultation so you can have the body of your dreams. I'll see y'all next week.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:13:22]:
Hey, guys. So I thought I was done for the day. But okay. You guys know I'm reading this book, and I'm sharing it with you as I'm learning and growing. So let me read this paragraph. We all have a deep yearning within our hearts to be happy. And we have amazing fantasies of how we wish to express that happiness, whether through travel, romance, or arriving at a milestone life goal. If you think about it long enough, you will realize there is definitely somewhere you would like to get.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:14:00]:
Some are seeking to meet the person they will marry so they can finally settled down, have children, and be happy within a secure partnership. For others, they won't allow themselves to feel freedom until they finish paying off their debt. And for many, they are anticipating retirement so they can finally have the time to relax and enjoy life. Unfortunately, most of the time, these fantasies become a grand way of projecting our happiness outside of ourselves as something that we have to get to, thus setting us up to suffer in the meantime. Yet it isn't the dreams themselves that are the problem. Life is meant to be an adventure of possibility and fun. Our visions and inspirations are gifts to explore. The origin of the problem is in the belief that life will only be better when.

Mavi Rodriguez [00:15:01]:
So the reason why I wanted to read this was because I feel like a lot of times, we get stuck in the surgery planning process thinking about after. It's like, I can only be happy after I

Mavi Rodriguez [00:15:17]:
get this done after I get this done. And I've talked

Mavi Rodriguez [00:15:20]:
to you guys a plot about the slippery slippery slope of body dysmorphia. So I wanted to read this to you guys. I hope you enjoyed it.