Be Skeptical of Procedures That Promise Pain-free, Zero-down time benefits
Let's face it, surgery is scary for most people, and "going under the knife" is a proposition most sensible folks would decline if a suitable alternative exists. Anesthesia adds to the scare factor, even more than the surgery itself for some, even though the riskiest part of the day of surgery is probably the drive to the surgery center. So efforts to develop quick, minimally invasive procedures with shortened recovery times are gaining momentum. Phrases like "lunchtime lipo" and ‘weekend facelift" invoke promises of pain-free, zero-downtime recovery.
One plastic surgeon in Texas has even trademarked the term "24-Hour RecoveryTM & Out to Dinner Breast AugmentationTM." Patients are advised that return to normal activity after a day is to be expected. As a marketing ploy it is no doubt effective but it doesn't seem to have gone mainstream as far as I can tell.
Facelifting has been accelerating too. Time was that patients were told to plan on hiding out for several weeks and come up with a good cover story to explain their absence and refreshed look. Now it seems that it can be done in an hour with hardly a pause to catch one's breath. According to the website for the QuickliftTM, it is "often called the ‘weekend facelift' because some people have the procedure performed on a Friday, return to the office on Saturday for a quick follow-up appointment, and return to work on Monday or Tuesday. Although this may be true for some patients depending on their occupations - the downtime associated with the Quicklift will vary from patient to patient." (There is always the disclaimer isn't there?) Another one called the Lifestyle Lift® recently settled with the attorney general for the state of New York over filing false testimonials about the procedure on internet sites.
There is no question that spending less time on the operating table usually translates to a faster recovery, but when I mention the idea of doing a facelift-type procedure under local anesthesia, a key to getting these procedures done quickly, most of my patients say "no thanks." Nevertheless, improved techniques have dramatically shortened recovery time for facelifting, brand name or not.
And with the magic of lasers, liposuction is now able to remove gallons of fat faster than a speeding bullet, with recovery in a single bound of only a day, or at least so we are led to believe. One chain of liposuction clinics (a novel concept in itself) promised a patient who subsequently saw me that they could remove 11 liters-about 20 pounds or so-in a single session under local anesthesia and she would be able to return to work in a day. Don't even get me started on that one; the American Society of Plastic Surgeons has long held (for good reasons) that 5 liters is the sensible safety limit for an outpatient.
Maybe it's our fast food society, maybe it's just overheated competition, maybe there's actually something to all this. But whether you go for the quick fix or not, don't rush the time it takes to make an informed decision.