It has been about half a month since I had surgery at one clinic. Before the surgery, I visited exactly 15 clinics over a month and a half.. It was to the point where I thought I could probably work as a plastic surgery consultant myself. I realized that going around for consultations is closer to filtering out clinics that do not suit you than finding one you like.
When you ask, “Do you have many cases of side effects?” no clinic answers, “Yes, many!” Instead, I think there are more things than expected that you can pick up from the context of what they say.
I’m writing a few lines in case it helps those who have not had surgery yet make their choice. Below are comments from directors that made me think, “I need to leave this clinic right now,” while I was visiting clinics.
1. “These days everyone is in an uproar over bottoming out.”
I have constricted breasts. Each clinic suggested a different solution for this. One clinic said they would reshape the glandular breast tissue, and another said they could create the shape without touching the glandular tissue. The reason was “double fold.” If the existing inframammary fold is distinct, there was concern that two breast folds could form together with the newly created inframammary fold. This double fold becomes more likely the more the inframammary fold is lowered. Another issue when lowering the inframammary fold a lot is “bottoming out.” The more the fold is lowered, the more serious this problem becomes. I visited Clinic A, and at this clinic they said they would lower the inframammary fold by 3 cm from my existing fold. I think they thought that way because they only considered the position of the nipples. At the same time, this clinic would not allow a transaxillary approach. The reason was that “these days everyone is in an uproar over bottoming out.” On the other hand, most of the other clinics said I did not need to worry too much about bottoming out. Looking back now, I think Clinic A would have lowered the fold especially a lot, and bottoming out from that would inevitably have been common. At the clinic where I had surgery, they said they would lower it by 1 cm and then allow another 0.5 cm to descend naturally. As a result, I am satisfied with the shape now. If it had been lowered by 3 cm, I think it would have been positioned too low. I also think I would have been very worried about bottoming out. -> If you have characteristics similar to mine, I think it would be good to ask how many centimeters they plan to lower the inframammary fold.
2. “This is all experience too. I’m not ashamed.” “I also tear the chest muscle every day and wonder whether this is right.”
Honestly, I sometimes think about the director at Clinic B. I wonder what state of mind would allow someone to say things like that. The director was quite cheerful and humorous, but it only increased our anxiety. This was a clinic I visited when I was deciding between subfascial placement and dual-plane placement. The director was against subfascial placement and showed me photos of a patient who had surgery at Clinic B. Even to me, it looked like it would have been very upsetting. The breast position and the degree to which the implant was visible were more serious than I had expected. But when I looked at this patient’s photos and became flustered, the director said, “I don’t feel embarrassed at all about showing failure cases like this. This is all experience too. It’s fine as long as I learn from it.” I was really shocked inside. What if I became another “failure case to learn from”? It seemed like this director was thoroughly judging whether it helped themself before considering the feelings of an upset patient. Also, when I mentioned subfascial placement and said I felt burdened by splitting the pectoralis major muscle, they said, “I also tear the chest muscle every day and wonder whether this is right.” They said it as a joke, but from a patient’s perspective it was the worst possible comment. I think they should have had at least a minimum sense of responsibility as a doctor. They had a lot of experience and the name came up often, so I went, but I came back only feeling shocked.