• Understand the limitations as well as the benefits of plastic surgery. No surgery can achieve perfection, and there is no guarantee that the results will look exactly as you envision them.
• Have realistic expectations. Plastic surgery can reshape your body, not your life. Although an enhanced appearance after surgery may improve your self-esteem, plastic surgery will not solve career, marital or emotional problems.
• Time your surgery at a point when you don't feel exceptional stress and when you have emotional support available.
• Be prepared to tolerate some discomfort during and after surgery, as well as the possibility of scars or other side effects.
• Understand that, like any surgery, plastic surgery has risks.
• Be able to pay for or finance the surgery if your insurance does not cover the costs, as is the case for elective, cosmetic surgery.
• Know that plastic surgery is not suitable for people who are prone to mood swings or erratic behavior, who abuse drugs or alcohol, or who are receiving treatment for clinical depression or other mental illness.

• answer all of your questions thoroughly and clearly
• ask for your reaction to recommendations
• offer alternatives, where appropriate, without pressuring you to consider unneeded or additional procedures
• welcome questions about professional qualifications, experience, costs and payment policies
• make clear the risks of surgery and possible outcomes
• give you information about the surgery you want
• leave the final decision to you

You also have the right to expect that your surgery will take place in a surgical facility or hospital that is safe and well-equipped. Facilities with accreditation from a recognized accrediting organization have demonstrated that they have appropriate equipment and staff to safely monitor patients and deal with potential complications. Ask whether the facility your surgeon uses is accredited, or is in the process of being accredited.
From: Find a plastic surgeon: www.plasticsurgery.org

Mesotherapy and lipolysis are different therapies
There are many misunderstandings about these two therapies

We frequently hear from doctors who confuse mesotherapy and injection lipolysis with each other. The main reason for this confusion is that business-minded mesotherapists think they can jump onto the lipolysis bandwagon without first undergoing the necessary training. Mesotherapy was originally developed over 50 years ago by the French physician M. Pistor. Injection lipolysis, on the other hand, ...

We frequently hear from doctors who confuse mesotherapy and injection lipolysis with each other. The main reason for this confusion is that business-minded mesotherapists think they can jump onto the lipolysis bandwagon without first undergoing the necessary training. Mesotherapy was originally developed over 50 years ago by the French physician M. Pistor. Injection lipolysis, on the other hand, is a relatively new aesthetic therapy. The three most important differences between the two therapies are as follows:

1. Mesotherapy is used for many different indications, with aesthetic applications representing only a small area. Injection lipolysis is exclusively concerned with achieving aesthetic improvements in body shape by dissolving smallish, defined zones of fat in problem areas.

2. Mesotherapy uses over 200 different substances and combinations of substances in allophatic and homoeopathic doses in order to achieve certain results. Injection lipolysis uses only phosphatidylcholine as the fat-dissolving substance, with clear standards and protocols that have been developed by members of the NETWORK-Lipolysis.

3. Mesotherapy injects very small quantities intracutaneously into the upper layer of the epidermis, i.e. at a depth of approx. 1-4 mm. Injection lipolysis injects larger quantities subcutaneously at a depth of approx. 12 mm into the fatty tissue which is intended to be got rid of. The standards developed by the NETWORK-Lipolysis are applied exclusively by the NETWORK members and guarantee high efficacy, very good and predictable results, and low side-effects.

From Network_lipolysis News 15 May 06