{"id":631177,"date":"2019-03-04T08:21:25","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T12:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/?p=631177"},"modified":"2019-07-17T15:08:17","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T19:08:17","slug":"dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Careaga\u2019s Advice for Plastic Surgery Consultations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Any surgery\u2014elective or not\u2014is not to be taken lightly, and patient safety is of utmost importance. This requires doing a bit of homework before scheduling a plastic surgery consultation so you know the essential questions to ask\u2014as well as the \u201cright\u201d answers you want to hear from your prospective surgeon.<\/p>\n

Double board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Careaga of Coral Gables, Florida<\/a>\u00a0believes the initial consultation is one of the most important parts of the plastic surgery process because, \u201cThis gives the patient and the surgeon a chance to get to know each other, and make sure they are both on the same page about the patient\u2019s needs and desired outcomes. The consultation is when the surgeon determines if there are any issues that can affect the surgery and ultimate results\u2014and when the patient decides if he or she feels comfortable putting their appearance and their health in the hands of this physician.\u201d Yet there are some cases when patients leave their consultation with questions they hadn\u2019t considered before or feel uneasy about their interaction with the surgeon, and Dr. Careaga shares his advice for these not-so-uncommon situations.<\/p>\n

I met with a surgeon who rattled off a bunch of board certifications, and I have no idea what they mean\u2026 What credentials should I look for in a plastic surgeon?<\/strong>
\n<\/em>Board certification can definitely be confusing, and Dr. Careaga explains, \u201cA doctor is not required to be board-certified, and completing the extra training and evaluation necessary to become board-certified is voluntary. However, selecting a board-certified plastic surgeon is the only way to be sure the doctor has the appropriate training and experience to perform a surgical procedure.\u201d The American Board of Plastic Surgery is the only\u00a0<\/em>recognized board for aesthetic surgeons\u2014and there are no substitutes. \u201cThere are many surgeons who will tell you they are certified by the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery, but it\u2019s important to keep in mind this board is not recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, which oversees 24 types of specialized medicine,\u201d he adds. When considering a plastic surgeon, board certification from the American Board of Plastic Surgery is the minimum standard\u2014and double board-certification in general surgery and plastic surgery indicates a physician is even more extensively trained. According to Dr. Careaga, \u201cLess than one-percent of plastic surgeons pursue double board-certification, and this is a solid indicator that you are in good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Operating<\/p>\n

I had a consultation with a doctor who performs surgery in his office. Is this OK?<\/strong>
\n<\/em>Similar to board certification, surgical facilities can voluntarily seek accreditation from several organizations. \u201cIn addition to a board-certified surgeon, an accredited in-office surgical suite or outpatient surgical center should be a top priority,\u201d says Dr. Careaga. \u201cThis is assurance that the facility is equipped to handle any unexpected events if a problem arises during surgery.\u201d Look for accreditation from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgical Facilities (AAAASF) or the Joint Commission, which is the organization that oversees hospital operating rooms and has the most stringent requirements for accreditation, according to Dr. Careaga.<\/p>\n

I went for a liposuction consultation and I only met the doctor for 10 minutes. He said his nurse could answer my questions\u2014is this normal?
\n<\/em><\/strong>There is no set rule about the amount of time a surgeon is required to spend with a potential patient during the consultation. Yet every case is different, and some patients and surgeons require more time than others to ensure that their expectations are aligned. \u201cA consultation is complete when the surgeon understands the patient\u2019s goals, and the patient feels confident that the surgeon can help him or her achieve them. I never leave surgical questions to support staff. They can handle anything related to finances or scheduling, but any questions that pertain to the actual surgical procedure should be addressed with the surgeon,\u201d Dr. Careaga adds.<\/p>\n

\"Credit<\/p>\n

I went for a tummy-tuck consultation and the doctor only had three older-looking sets of before-and-after photos to show me. He said he was in the process of updating them, but this seemed a little strange. Should I find another plastic surgeon?
\n<\/strong><\/em>Dr. Careaga says, \u201cTimes have definitely changed thanks to social media and websites that review doctors. In the past, word-of-mouth and before-and-after photos were the main tools in the patient\u2019s decision-making process.\u201d But with that said, there\u2019s no excuse for a surgeon not\u00a0to have a current gallery of photos. \u201cThese photos are essentially our portfolio, and it\u2019s important for a patient to be able to find a \u2018before\u2019 body or facial feature similar to theirs in order to understand the realistic results that they can expect to get,\u201d he explains. As for reviews, \u201cYou can\u2019t take one positive or negative review as gospel. It\u2019s best to look at the overwhelming majority, and if a surgeon doesn\u2019t have many reviews for the procedure you\u2019re interested in, they might not perform it a lot\u2014and this is a reason to move on and look elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"shutterstock_262750391\"<\/p>\n

I had a breast-augmentation consultation yesterday, and the surgeon told me she\u2019d give me a 20% discount if I scheduled surgery by the end of the week. I liked her, but I feel a little pressured. Do a lot of surgeons do this?<\/strong>
\n<\/em>\u201cSurgery is a big decision, and high-pressure sales tactics should never be part of the process,\u201d Dr. Careaga warns. There are many variables involved when deciding if and when to undergo surgery, including taking time off of work, securing help during recovery and getting support from a spouse or other family members. \u201cIt is highly unethical for a surgeon or their staff to pressure a patient to schedule a procedure. If a patient feels comfortable with a surgeon and they are ready, they\u2019ll book it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Any surgery\u2014elective or not\u2014is not to be taken lightly, and patient safety is of utmost importance. This requires doing a bit of homework before scheduling a plastic surgery consultation so you know the essential questions to ask\u2014as well as the \u201cright\u201d answers you want to hear from your prospective surgeon. Double board-certified plastic surgeon Dr.…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":631184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1398,1402],"tags":[4316,4314,4313,4315,4312,4311,4319,4310,4029,3628,4317,2324,1382,4318,2152],"class_list":["post-631177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cosmetic-treatments","category-doctors-talk","tag-aaaasf","tag-aaahc","tag-accreditation-association-for-ambulatory-health-care","tag-american-association-for-accreditation-of-ambulatory-surgical-facilities","tag-american-board-of-cosmetic-surgery","tag-american-board-of-plastic-surgery","tag-before-and-after-photos","tag-board-certification","tag-consultation","tag-dr-daniel-careaga","tag-joint-commission","tag-liposuction","tag-plastic-surgery","tag-surgical-center","tag-tummy-tuck"],"yoast_head":"\nDr. Careaga\u2019s Advice for Plastic Surgery Consultations - Haute Beauty by Haute Living<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Daniel Careaga shares his advice for how to prepare for a plastic surgery consultation and handle five of the most common questions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dr. Careaga\u2019s Advice for Plastic Surgery Consultations - Haute Beauty by Haute Living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Daniel Careaga shares his advice for how to prepare for a plastic surgery consultation and handle five of the most common questions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Haute Beauty by Haute Living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"facebook.com\/insiderbeautybuzz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-04T12:21:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-17T19:08:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/shutterstock_650888758.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paige Herman-Axel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@twitter.com\/ibeautybuzz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paige Herman-Axel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/\",\"name\":\"Dr. Careaga\u2019s Advice for Plastic Surgery Consultations - Haute Beauty by Haute Living\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/shutterstock_650888758.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-04T12:21:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-17T19:08:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/#\/schema\/person\/e8b2b86b65920e3ee2fd76caf8642cc3\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Daniel Careaga shares his advice for how to prepare for a plastic surgery consultation and handle five of the most common questions.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/shutterstock_650888758.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/shutterstock_650888758.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dr. Careaga\u2019s Advice for Plastic Surgery Consultations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/\",\"name\":\"Haute Beauty by Haute Living\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/#\/schema\/person\/e8b2b86b65920e3ee2fd76caf8642cc3\",\"name\":\"Paige Herman-Axel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/007e9f434e78baab69f4896d7a33070c1051d62f70f35e5f604dba4cd40f3baa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/007e9f434e78baab69f4896d7a33070c1051d62f70f35e5f604dba4cd40f3baa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paige Herman-Axel\"},\"description\":\"The brain behind the beauty blog InsiderBeautyBuzz.com and the innovative self-tan remover, Bronze Buffer, Paige Herman-Axel has two decades of experience writing about beauty and skincare. The former editor of NewBeauty, Paige is now a freelance writer and consultant for various publications and websites, skincare companies big and small, dermatologists and plastic surgeons. In the rare time spent away from her computer, Paige can be found on a Pilates reformer, shuttling her 10-year-old son to and from basketball practice, or playing fetch with her Havanese, Nugget.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.insiderbeautybuzz.com\",\"facebook.com\/insiderbeautybuzz\",\"instagram.com\/insiderbeautybuzz\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/twitter.com\/ibeautybuzz\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/?post_type=member&p=628556&\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dr. Careaga\u2019s Advice for Plastic Surgery Consultations - Haute Beauty by Haute Living","description":"Dr. Daniel Careaga shares his advice for how to prepare for a plastic surgery consultation and handle five of the most common questions.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dr. Careaga\u2019s Advice for Plastic Surgery Consultations - Haute Beauty by Haute Living","og_description":"Dr. Daniel Careaga shares his advice for how to prepare for a plastic surgery consultation and handle five of the most common questions.","og_url":"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/","og_site_name":"Haute Beauty by Haute Living","article_author":"facebook.com\/insiderbeautybuzz","article_published_time":"2019-03-04T12:21:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-07-17T19:08:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/shutterstock_650888758.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Paige Herman-Axel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@twitter.com\/ibeautybuzz","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paige Herman-Axel","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/","url":"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/","name":"Dr. Careaga\u2019s Advice for Plastic Surgery Consultations - Haute Beauty by Haute Living","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/shutterstock_650888758.jpg","datePublished":"2019-03-04T12:21:25+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-17T19:08:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/#\/schema\/person\/e8b2b86b65920e3ee2fd76caf8642cc3"},"description":"Dr. Daniel Careaga shares his advice for how to prepare for a plastic surgery consultation and handle five of the most common questions.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/shutterstock_650888758.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/shutterstock_650888758.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/631177\/dr-careagas-advice-for-5-serious-plastic-surgery-scenarios\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dr. Careaga\u2019s Advice for Plastic Surgery Consultations"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/","name":"Haute Beauty by Haute Living","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/#\/schema\/person\/e8b2b86b65920e3ee2fd76caf8642cc3","name":"Paige Herman-Axel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/007e9f434e78baab69f4896d7a33070c1051d62f70f35e5f604dba4cd40f3baa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/007e9f434e78baab69f4896d7a33070c1051d62f70f35e5f604dba4cd40f3baa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Paige Herman-Axel"},"description":"The brain behind the beauty blog InsiderBeautyBuzz.com and the innovative self-tan remover, Bronze Buffer, Paige Herman-Axel has two decades of experience writing about beauty and skincare. The former editor of NewBeauty, Paige is now a freelance writer and consultant for various publications and websites, skincare companies big and small, dermatologists and plastic surgeons. In the rare time spent away from her computer, Paige can be found on a Pilates reformer, shuttling her 10-year-old son to and from basketball practice, or playing fetch with her Havanese, Nugget.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.insiderbeautybuzz.com","facebook.com\/insiderbeautybuzz","instagram.com\/insiderbeautybuzz","https:\/\/x.com\/twitter.com\/ibeautybuzz"],"url":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/?post_type=member&p=628556&"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hauteliving.com\/hautebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}