Quote:
Originally Posted by Salika
Can you give an example?
And is that really the best test? I mean plastic surgeons are already getting a certain population to begin with. If you look at the general public, I'm sure someone has a gripe or two, but those who actually go to plastic surgeons are already a level above.
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Sure.
One surgeon that I worked with did a lot of post-bariatric surgery work. These were patients who had lost 100+ lbs. Now, these people, while far healthier than before, still have issues, the worst of which is excess skin. The fat is gone, but the stretched skin remains, empty. It not only looks very unattractive, but for many people it gets in the way (imagine running with a mass of redundant skin hitting your legs with every step) and can lead to fungal infections, etc. Once you get to a certain amount of weight loss, that skin simply won't go back on it's own. But once you go to a plastic surgeon, they aren't just going to hack it all off. They make sure it looks neat, everything's symmetrical, and that it looks as good as it possibly can.
Another example is post-mastectomy reconstruction. After a mastectomy, you could argue (and for many years, insurance companies did) that a reconstruction has no medical benefit. The reconstructed breast can never be functional, and it's form can be substituted by prosthetic devices. However, reconstruction clearly has psychological benefits for patients.
Generally, though, it's impossible to get a decent looking result by just operating on the affected breast - the other one usually needs a lift and/or reduction to get anything approaching a "normal" appearing chest. So, not only have you reconstructed something that arguably didn't need to be reconstructed, you've also operated on a perfectly normal breast as well. But as a woman, try even thinking of whether you could deny another woman that right, especially one who has already suffered through cancer.