Experience Counts - Reviews in Plastic Surgery Research

One of the main tasks any patient who is interested in having plastic surgery needs to perform is research on the procedure and the surgeon of choice. Whether the plastic surgery treatment is breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, Brazilian butt lift (BBL), or another plastic surgery option, patients need to know what is involved in having the treatment along with the recovery time and the expected results. In addition, the research process needs to involve learning more about the background and experience of the surgeon. One of the best methods of learning about the level of experience of the surgeon is reading reviews from actual patients.

Another way to learn more about the importance of reviews when conducting plastic surgery research is to watch the latest video from Cosmetic Town News:

Plastic Surgeon Reviews – Approach Them with an Open Mind

Reviews of the services of plastic surgeons can come from a variety of sources including doctor review websites, Yelp, and the social media pages of the surgeon. While there are plenty of options when it comes to finding and reading reviews, it is important to know how to determine if a review is accurate as well as what to look for when determining the authenticity of the review.

Patient reviews are an important tool for potential patients as they can give an “up close and personal” insight into the medical procedure, the skills of the doctor, and how the surgeon and their staff interact with patients. While they are important, reviews should not be the only method used by a person to research the surgeon they have in mind to perform a procedure. There are certainly some positives in reading actual patient reviews but it is important to remember that each review only reflects the experience and opinion of one person so the feelings and views expressed in a review might not be an accurate representation of the medical services of the doctor. In other words, online reviews can be helpful, but they should also be combined with other research techniques such as viewing “before and after” photos of actual patients and asking friends and family members who have visited the surgeon in the past or have undergone the procedure with another doctor.

Plastic Surgeon Reviews – Can They be Trusted?

The leaving of reviews can also be a bit of a flawed process as it is now quite common for surgeons to ask their patients to leave them a review after their procedure. This request can make patients feel pressured into writing the review and also feel like they need to write something positive about the doctor and the office…even if their overall experience was not a positive one.

There are also companies who look through the reviews left for doctors and pick ones that favor the doctor and paint a picture of every patient being happy once they leave the office. These companies will sometimes reject or ignore reviews that are less than favorable when discussing the services of the doctor and the results that are gained after the procedure. The decision to not include unfavorable reviews misrepresents the overall opinions of patients who leave reviews and makes the number of reviews that are available for viewing an unreliable source of information.

Plastic Surgeon Reviews – Additional Review Resources

Even though patient reviews might not always be an accurate snapshot of the surgeon, the writing of patient reviews is not going away anytime in the near future.

There are other review sources beyond online reviews, and they include talking to family members or friends who had the specific surgery in the past and also the opinions and insights of other surgeons and medical personnel. By asking other surgeons who they would recommend for the performance of a specific plastic surgery procedure, new patients will get insights from a medical professional who has an inside view of what should be expected from a surgeon and which doctors have the skills, medical background, and education that all combine for a superior patient experience. The opinion of another medical professional can often be just as valuable as actual patient reviews.

Plastic Surgeon Reviews – Steps to Keep in Mind When Reading Reviews

Some of the elements of reviews to keep in mind during the research process include:

• Take a look at the dates of the online reviews. If there are multiple reviews released on the same date, they have likely been handpicked by an outside company and posted all at once.
• A surgeon will have a wide range of reviews that go all the way from very positive to extremely negative. Be sure and keep an open mind by not completely believing the super positive and very negative reviews as they can often be an extreme view of the patient experience.
• When reading the reviews, check the board-certification of the surgeon to make sure they are properly trained and board-certified in the procedure of choice.
• Instead of reading reviews that are only filled with general praise for the doctor or the staff, look for reviews that give specific examples of the surgical process and the way the doctor interacts with the patient.

Plastic Surgeon Reviews – Where to Find Accurate Reviews

While there are multiple sources for plastic surgeon reviews online, you can find accurate reviews on the “Doctor Reviews” page of Cosmetic Town. You can search for a specific doctor to learn more about the experiences of patients who utilized the services of the surgeon at an earlier time and get a more in-depth look into using the services of that particular doctor.

- MA