A short conversational transcript from a YouTube video featuring Robert Whitfield MD advising patients on key questions to ask a plastic surgeon. Core advice covers choosing implant size appropriate to the patient’s frame, deciding implant placement (above vs. below the muscle) with trade-offs (visibility, ease of later explant), and considering starting smaller to avoid dissatisfaction and difficult reoperations.
What are the top three questions that they should be asking a plastic surgeon to see if they're a good one?
What size fits my frame?
Okay, what size fits my frame?
And then for the placement, they're going to recommend behind the muscle because that's going to help hide it. And that's, you know, later on, if I or someone has to do the explant, that's a harder explant to do.
So do you recommend getting it in front of the muscle?
The short answer is a smaller one above the muscle. When you. The situation is right is is probably the easiest. You'll have a lot of people who don't like having implants right away after having them. And that's, you know, can you imagine you built this thing up in your head and you go, have it done, and then you're like, oh my God, I don't like this.
Yeah.
Not easy to go and, and get a redo a do over.
What? And then the last question, if we're doing three questions to make sure your surgeon's going to be good.
Yeah. I always like folks with a lot of experience and some experience as it relates to cancer. Go out on a limb and say they're a little bit more empathetic and understanding. Maybe not so quick to make recommendations without going through a pretty lengthy discussion. Anytime I had a cancer discussion that related to reconstructive techniques or what options we could have those things hour, hour and a half long. I think that's the issue.
