At his San Diego office, Alex Roher, M.D., relaxes wrinkles and plumps deep lines one face at a time. For years, he’s been administering vials of Botox and injectable fillers to patients eager to refresh their looks, but does the desire to look younger extend to industry professionals? Absolutely, Dr. Roher contends.
“Most plastic surgeons have gone under the knife,” says Roher. “The rate compared to the general public is much higher, from my experience.”
Cosmetic vs. Plastic Surgery
Before delving into the propensity of surgeons to undergo appearance-altering procedures, let’s get a handle on the differences between cosmetic and plastic surgeons. Although “cosmetic” and “plastic” are terms often used interchangeably, they refer to two different levels of training.
In general, surgeons who follow the training and certification process to become a board certified plastic surgeon are required to complete 150 cosmetic surgery cases as part of a rotation that includes surgical training for hands, reconstruction, trauma, congenital defects and other disorders. Plastic surgeons repair cleft palates and revise scars, as well as reconstruct limbs and breasts after surgery. However, plastic surgeons can perform surgical and noninvasive procedures that are strictly cosmetic, too.
Cosmetic surgeons are focused on enhancing the appearance of a patient’s face, neck or body with liposuction, tummy tucks, breast augmentations, facelifts and other cosmetic procedures. Cosmetic surgeries are considered elective, as are noninvasive procedures like laser resurfacing or Botox injections. To become board certified, cosmetic surgeons are required to complete 300 cosmetic surgery cases.
Surgery Rates Among Surgeons
So, do most plastic or cosmetic surgeons elect to enhance their appearance? And, do they do so at a higher rate than the general public?
“Yes and yes,” says Grant Stevens, M.D., fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and a clinical professor of plastic surgery at the University of Southern California.
The results of a study published in the December 2009 Journal of Plastic Reconstructive Surgery seem to bear out this anecdotal evidence. The study found that, of the 276 plastic surgeons surveyed, a full one-third have had at least one type of cosmetic surgery, while Pew Research Center statistics show that of the general U.S. population, only 4 percent of adults say they’ve had cosmetic surgery. Of the surgeons who’d had surgery themselves, the most common surgical procedure (18.6 percent) was liposuction of the trunk and/or extremities.
Interestingly, female plastic surgeons were less likely to have breast augmentation than the general population, but male plastic surgeons were more apt to have cosmetic procedures than men in the general population. It’s a finding that holds true for Glenn Vallecillos, M.D., a board-certified plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills.
“I continuously maintain and enhance my current features with the noninvasive treatments offered throughout my practice,” says Dr. Vallecillos. “I will treat myself to a laser, yet other times I will ask one of my nurses to inject a little Botox.”
Like Dr. Vallecillos, 62 percent of the plastic surgeons in the 2009 study had undergone at least one type of minimally invasive cosmetic procedure, less serious than surgery. The most common procedure was Botox injections (31.5 percent), and female plastic surgeons had significantly more minimally invasive cosmetic procedures compared with male plastic surgeons (84.9 versus 57 percent).
Very interesting subject , appreciate it for putting up. “Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been
Hello! Thanks for such an interesting article, I hadn’t even thought about it before. Although it is even very logical that plastic surgeons often use such services, because when you are constantly in such an environment, then it is more likely that you will want to correct something in your appearance. I do not see anything wrong with this, because we are all human and we want to be beautiful and attractive, because we are mostly arranged. And even animals also want to look better than other males or females.