"How scary plastic surgery is, you don't even know what happened to..." 

This is something we have all heard and unfortunately many have witnessed.

There are two fears in cosmetic surgery: one is that of putting your health at risk and the other is that of not getting the result you are looking for and looking like someone else. For both the solution is the same: Choose your surgeon well. Just as for your wedding you will not go with just any makeup artist because you do not want to take risks on such an important day, it should be more important when it comes to our body, which is how the world see us.

We will talk about the most important risk, which is the risk of losing one's health. In general, in medicine, the risks of death or disability are very low, so low that they are in the order of 1 in 1 million. They are so low that they have been called "micro-mortality" risk: micromort. But what does a micromort mean or what does a 1 in 1 million risk represent? To make it easier to understand, comparisons have been made with activities of daily living.

We all know that from before we are born we are exposed to the difficulties of life and every day we are survivors. Being born is perhaps one of the most risky events we experience in our lifetime. Being born is equivalent to 2900 micromorts, and this is equivalent to driving for 160,000 miles, or riding a motorcycle for 3,400 miles, or riding a plane for 2,900,000 miles, or jumping 48 times from a parachute, or doing 96 scuba dives, or running 70 marathons. Let's go back to more everyday risks, for example: who drives a car for 1 hour a day has a risk of 2 micromorts or 2 out of 1 000 000 to die because of having driven his car for 1 hour. The one who smokes a cigarette has a risk of 1 micromort which is equal to the risk of traveling 1000km by plane or the risk of skiing for 1 day.

Let's go back to our topic, which is cosmetic surgery. When talking about surgery, very often the biggest fear is about anesthesia. But did you know that the risk of receiving a general anesthesia is equal to the risk of smoking 7 cigarettes, or the risk of doing two scuba dives, or the risk of doing a parachute jump or running a single marathon. If we look at it that way maybe it's not so scary anymore.

It's okay, after all, anesthesia is not such a big deal. But what about cosmetic surgery? Now that's dangerous! Let me tell you, not so much. For example, did you know that approximately 234 million surgeries are performed every year and that cosmetic surgeries are the least risky of all. Let's take as an example a very specific and very frequent surgery within the range of surgeries that are performed in cosmetic surgery: the placement of implants in the breasts. Breast augmentation surgery to define the cleavage is requested and performed by approximately 1,300,000 women per year and its risk is 2 to 4 micromorts, that is, less than running a marathon or equivalent to driving for 1 hour or skiing for 2 days. I'm sure you are surprised, that's right, usually cosmetic surgeries have a maximum risk of 100 micromorts. The most risky cosmetic surgeries are abdominoplasty (tummy tuck)  and BBL (buttock enhancement surgery with your own fat). They are approximately 2 times less risky than having a caesarean section and I assure you that you know many friends or family members who have had a caesarean section without any problems.

Of course, all these data are valid in the hands of plastic surgeons, who are qualified to perform these surgeries. That is why the price is the last factor in choosing who will help you achieve that aesthetic dream you have. The most important thing is to continue with your good health.  That is the importance of choosing a plastic surgeon and verify well that he/she is not a charlatan.

Generally we want to make the decision that has the highest probability of success in getting what we want. To make the best decision we must consider what we can do, what we know and what we want. Then to overcome the fear of the risk of your choice it takes courage. Only in you is that decision.

The purpose of cosmetic surgery is to make you feel good to look better and in certain treatments to have a better life. How willing are you to achieve this? We see that the risks, even though they are present, are not huge.