In medicine today, the concepts of a holistic practice and the credo of integrative medicine are growing rapidly in virtually all fields for physicians. As traditional medical practices pivot to include more complementary therapies, the question that becomes rather natural to ask in my specialty of medicine is:How does Plastic Surgery fit into a world of holistic and integrative medicine? It’s a great question and here is how I see it from my perspective.
As a plastic surgeon, I have always applied a holistic and integrative approach to my own health and wellness as well as for my family. It really just stems from my thinking that we should not treat everything with medications or medical procedures and that we can incorporate complementary and holistic approaches at the same time. Given this perspective, several years ago I began incorporating into my plastic surgery practice the same perspective with my own surgery patients.
The field of medicine and individual people are striving to take better care of themselves both internally as well as externally, with modern medical technology and aesthetics, cosmetic surgery is here to stay. This is what I refer to as “consciously aging”. So how do I take a holistic approach to Plastic Surgery with my patients? I often use techniques to complement procedures with natural preparations and post-surgical healing strategies. The art of plastic surgery procedures is not just in the medical procedure itself, but alsoin the way patients prepare themselves for procedures and the way they take care of themselves when healing, including their bodies and minds.
What does that really mean? I encourage my patients to begin preparation four- to-six-weeks prior to surgery. A typical prep could include working with a nutritionist for weight loss, using lymphatic drainage for detox, swelling and bruising, begin meditating for stress reduction, and IV therapy and homeopathicmedicine pre and post-surgery, all intended to improve overall healing. How I
approach each patient differs, but my experience over the years is that using complementary therapies prior to procedures usually results in a quicker, less painful healing experience.
I also am a fundamental believer that as important as the procedure is in plastic surgery, the healing process is just as important. From the beginning of patient contact, our office is proactive in introducing these integrative approaches to both pre-surgery treatments as well as for overall wellness and healing. Using these techniques as an adjunct to cosmetic surgery procedures can set any plastic surgery practice apart . The key to achieving the best results still lies in taking the same big picture holistic approach, body, mind and soul.