How Plastic Surgery Patients try to Hide a Procedure from Others

The desire to change the appearance of certain parts of the body is a popular one as a person ages. The skin can sag or droop and fine lines and wrinkles can appear to give a person an older look. While plastic surgery is a popular option for those looking to have a more refreshed and rejuvenated look, many plastic surgery patients do not want friends and family to know they had any type of procedure because they worry they will be judged or mocked by others.. They will go to great lengths to hide the fact that they had plastic surgery. Let’s take a look at some of the ways plastic surgery patients try to hide a procedure from others.

How to Hide Spending Money on Plastic Surgery

One of the final steps of the actual plastic surgery process is paying for the treatment before the patient leaves the office of the doctor. However, the method of paying for the surgery is one of the first steps handled by a patient.

Here are some of the most popular methods of “hiding the money” when paying for plastic surgery:

• If patients want to undergo multiple procedures, they often spread out their procedures so there will not be one large charge to their bank account or credit card. This makes it less obvious to a spouse that their loved one had plastic surgery.
• Some patients want to make sure their spouse doesn’t find out about the procedure so they pay for their plastic surgery in cash.
• Another method of hiding the charges for the treatment is paying part of the bill in cash and part of the bill on a credit card.
• Some patients use a payment plan to pay for their plastic surgery so they can make smaller payments over a certain period of time.
• Gift cards are a popular method of paying for plastic surgery as the charges cannot be traced because the specific amount of money was already on the gift card.

Planning Plastic Surgery on a Certain Schedule

The ability to hide plastic surgery from the public often depends on when the surgical procedure is scheduled.  In order to hide the procedure from the public, many patients plan to have plastic surgery while their spouse is out of town for work.

Patients also like to have their treatment during the holidays because they are more likely to have downtime during that period of the year. Since it is the holidays, patients are usually away from the gaze of their friends, neighbors and colleagues.

In addition, many people say they are going on vacation for a week when they are really having some sort of cosmetic procedure like Botox to erase fine lines and wrinkles. By the time their “vacation” is over, any swelling or bruising from the Botox treatment has been erased from their face.

Shift the Blame for Plastic Surgery to Someone or Something Else

In order to hide the fact that plastic surgery has occurred, many patients create a story where someone, or something, else is to blame for the changes in their appearance:

• Patients that suffer bruises or black and blue skin after plastic surgery can explain the issue away by saying they hit their head on a door or cabinet.
• Swelling of the lips after fillers is often blamed on an allergic reaction or food allergies such as shellfish, MSG or gluten.
• Scabs on the hands from a laser treatment can be dismissed as being the result of scratches caused while gardening.
• Skin that is red and peeling is often described as a bad reaction to a household cleaning agent or a new cream for the skin.

Distractions to fake out the Public about Plastic Surgery

There are times when the methods used to cover the fact that plastic surgery happened can actually be another change to the appearance of the plastic surgery patient.

Patients that want to keep their plastic surgery results “private” can make other changes that get the attention of family and friends such as a bold new hair color, a spray tan or bright lipstick. These changes are “new and fresh” and they distract others from noticing any alterations in the appearance of the body.

Be Quiet about Plastic Surgery

It’s also the case that some people don’t even notice changes in the appearance of another person. Sometimes the best distraction is no distraction at all since the changes in the look of the body might not be as noticeable as the patient believes. While the “new look” might be completely obvious to the person that had the plastic surgery, other might not even notice any changes and will never notice them if the patient does not say anything about the treatment.

In other words, don’t even address the issue until someone brings it up in conversation. There is a good chance that the public won’t notice anything which means the patient might be better off not saying anything at all.

MA