I’ll bet you didn’t know that there are good candidates and bad candidates for plastic surgery. I don’t necessarily mean if you are physically a good candidate. There are a lot of questions that you need to ask yourself to determine whether or not you are going to be a good candidate for surgery.

For the person who has had multiple surgeries – you need to ask yourself whether or not you are addicted to the surgeries. If you are, then there is a very good chance that there will never be enough that the doctor’s can do to turn you into your picture perfect self. If you are considering surgery for a psychological problem – you need to deal with that problem rather than trying to solve it with a physical change. Are you having plastic surgery because of things that someone else is telling you?

I think you get my point. Here are some additional questions you may want to ask yourself before going under the knife:

Do the advantages exceed the possible complications?

Every single medical procedure – no matter how routine or how experienced your doctor is – have complications. All potential patients should be getting more than one medical opinion on the positive and negative consequences to your surgery.

What about alternative approaches?
Having a medical procedure is often much easier than going the longer, more traditional way of diet and exercising. But what about other alternatives? Is there an injection that could be used? Most issues do have alternative treatment choices.

Where does your self-esteem come from?
If your self-esteem is going to rest on the outcome of your surgery, you may not be a good candidate for plastic surgery. The procedure will change the way you look, and that may affect the way you feel about yourself for a short time – but this will wear off and you will still need to confront the problem that causes the lower self esteem.

What are your expectations?
Have you thought about what you expect from the surgery? Do you think that you will be able to look like you are 18 again? Be realistic in what you are hoping to achieve with your surgery. Do you think the surgery will have a positive impact on your life?

Will the procedure help you reach your goals?
Sometimes people choose surgery to correct or alleviate a problem. For example – people try to alleviate their back pain with a breast reduction surgery. Be realistic about your goals – not only with yourself but also with your surgeon.