Beauty comes from an overall balance among facial features

 

 

Therefore, Dr. Song tries to identify a patient’s uniquely attractive features and create an overall balance. She also pays attention to the changing trends and attitudes toward plastic surgery.

“With the advent of smart phone, people now take selfies and analyze their own face.  Also, uploading air-brushed or photoshopped photos of oneself on a social network site is a widespread fad now. This has exposed our patients to their own flaws such as rounded jawline or jowls, and volume loss in the under eye or cheekbone areas, etc. They used to just want to look like a celebrity but now can identify flaws in their own face and want to correct them.”

As a plastic surgeon, this change is not always welcome.

“It is encouraging that more patients can now clearly identify their needs during consultation. As the younger generation often digitally enhance their own photographs, they have become very aware of where they need correction. However, many expect the surgical outcome to resemble the photoshopped image, which is a bit of a problem. I worry that higher expectations may lead to lower satisfaction with the actual outcome.”

 

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Patients with higher expectations can benefit from extensive consultation. Dr. Song finds a middle ground with the patient after examining and discussing about the facial bone structure, drooping of the soft tissues, and the range of movement of expression muscles.

“Plastic surgeons have the unique ability to change the patient’s facial structure. However, one must understand that plastic surgery cannot correct all defects. Very often, surgery cannot address the very foundation that needs to be corrected to bring the desired aesthetic improvement. I communicate such limitations clearly to the patient in the early phase of consultation. Doctors should also understand what can and cannot be corrected and strive to achieve optimal results within their ability. I try to improve my skills by analyzing pre- and post-surgical photos of each patient along with their individual facial structures.”

 

-To be continued-