A brief transcript of a YouTube video in which Robert Whitfield MD and an interviewer discuss the top questions to ask a plastic surgeon. Primary advice in this excerpt centers on choosing an implant size that fits the patient’s frame and the trade-offs of implant placement: submuscular (behind the muscle) hides the implant but makes later explantation harder, while a smaller implant placed above the muscle (subglandular) is often easier and sometimes preferable. The exchange also notes that redoing surgery is straightforward if the patient is unhappy.
Questions this video answers
A smaller implant placed above the muscle (subglandular).
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 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, 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, 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. Are they going to take time to speak with you or is this just to be like, oh, we're going to talk to your coordinator, we're going to get you hooked up and you're on the schedule.
