And now for the most important question of all: what will you look like after cosmetic surgery? Earlier, doctors had rather unsatisfactory methods of giving you a sneak preview: inking in alterations on your photograph, drawing rough-and-ready 'before' and 'after' sketches, or verbally describing what you could expect. Because of this imperfect communication, several patients ended up feeling sorely dissatisfied and cheated, when the results were out : their expectations had been quite different!

      Today, the communication chasm has been dramatically bridged by that wonderful instrument of precision: the computer. Using it, a cosmetic surgeon can produce 'before' and 'after' images of his prospective client right there in his consulting room, at the first sitting itself. First, a video camera captures and projects duplicate images of the patient on the computer screen. Then, keeping one image constant, the cosmetic surgeon electronically alters features on the other image: removing under-chin fat, soothing out wrinkles, changing nose shape, lifting eyelids, and so on, to give the client the closest approximation to what he can expect post-operation. A scrupulous surgeon will, of course, not allow his imagination to get the better of him by producing absurd or exaggerated computer modifications that are not realistically possible on the operating table.

      As a matter of routine, the cosmetic surgeon will also take "before" photographs of the body part on which surgery is scheduled to be done (where necessary, both front and profile shots); after the surgery he will take 'after' shots so that you can see the alteration - and sometimes the virtual transformation - that has been achieved. The camera, as stated at the beginning, does not lie!

ARE YOU CONSIDERING  
 
SOME WRONG REASONS  
 
LOOKING FOR DR.  
 
THE NEW-LOOK YOU