Living Well

Woffles Wu: Futile quest for perfection

The uncertainties of plastic surgery and people with unrealistic expectations are beyond a doctor's control

ST ILLUSTRATION : MANNY FRANCISCO
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Most people considering plastic surgery to change their looks and their lives do so with little regard for the consequences if something were to go wrong. They are so preoccupied with achieving the desired result that they do not register or remember what complications have been discussed. They have the notion that plastic surgery is incredible transformative magic that works all the time and that nothing untoward would happen to them.

As plastic surgeons, we are duty-bound, as part of the process of obtaining informed consent, to tell patients the potential complications that could occur, for which they have to sign and acknowledge that these have been discussed.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 27, 2019, with the headline Woffles Wu: Futile quest for perfection. Subscribe