15 Questions to Ask at a Plastic Surgery Consultation

Ask people who are unhappy with their results what they'd do differently, and the answer is rarely about the surgeon they chose. It's about the questions they didn't ask. One put it plainly: "I just wish I'd asked a thousand questions."

So here are fifteen. They're grouped so you can work through them in order, and a couple of them are ones people only learn to ask after the bill arrives.

The reframe that makes this easy: you are not auditioning for surgery. The surgeon is auditioning for you.

01 · CREDENTIALSQuestions 1–4

1. "Which board certified you?" The answer you want for surgery is the American Board of Plastic Surgery — the only ABMS member board for plastic surgery. Anything else isn't automatically disqualifying, but it means the credential doesn't carry the meaning most people assume. Verify it yourself in about a minute: the 5-minute check.

2. "Is this facility accredited, and by whom?" This is the question that actually protects you — more than privileges, more than the certificates on the wall. You want AAAASF, AAAHC, or the Joint Commission, or a licensed ambulatory surgical centre. Ask for the accrediting body by name and the most recent inspection date.

3. "Where do you hold hospital privileges, and what's the transfer plan?" Worth asking, for a specific reason: a hospital credentials surgeons independently, so privileges mean a second organisation checked the work. But a surgeon operating in a properly accredited facility is not disqualified by lacking them — that's a common overstatement, and we used to make it on this page. What you're really listening for is the transfer plan: if you need a hospital mid-operation, what happens?

4. "Who will actually perform my surgery?" In some practices, the person who markets the procedure isn't the person holding the scalpel. Get the operating surgeon's name — then run questions 1–3 on them.

02 · EXPERIENCEQuestions 5–8

5. "How many of this exact procedure did you perform in the last 12 months?" Recent frequency beats career totals. You want a surgeon in current, regular practice in your operation — not "hundreds, over my career."

6. "What's your complication rate for this procedure, and what were the complications?" Every honest surgeon has complications. The red flag isn't the number — it's a claimed rate of zero, or an unwillingness to discuss it at all.

7. "Can I see before-and-afters of your own patients who started where I'm starting — and when were the photos taken?" The second half of that question is the one almost nobody asks, and patients in surgical communities are blunt about why: "Results are relevant a few months after surgery, not on the operating table." An immediately-post-op photo shows swelling and positioning, not a result. Ask for similar starting anatomy and photos taken months out — and treat a practice that has no before-and-afters at all as a real question mark.

8. "Am I a good candidate — and what would make you decline to operate on me?" The second half is the whole question. A surgeon who never declines anyone is selecting for revenue, not outcomes.

03 · SAFETYQuestions 9–11, and the one about nicotine

9. "Who administers the anesthesia — and are they present the entire time?" An anesthesiologist and a CRNA are both legitimate. What you're confirming is that a dedicated, qualified anesthesia provider — not the operating surgeon — is managing you throughout.

10. "What is the emergency plan if something goes wrong in the OR?" Accredited facilities have transfer agreements and rehearsed protocols. The quality of this answer tells you more than any brochure. A vague one is your answer.

11. "Given my health history, what are my specific risks?" Bring everything — medications, supplements, prior surgeries, and honest nicotine use. Then judge whether they engage with your history specifically or wave it through.

04 · MONEYQuestions 12–15

12. "What is the all-in cost, in writing — and is it binding, or an estimate?" The second half is the question people learn too late. One patient described being billed for an increase in operating-room fees, plus $2,500 of fat grafting that "was not included in the original quote." Ask for surgeon's fee, anesthesia, facility, implants or materials, garments, and every scheduled follow-up — then ask what could change it, and by how much.

13. "What does the revision policy actually cover, and what would a revision cost me?" In writing: what qualifies, within what window, and — the part that gets skipped — which costs you still pay (facility, anesthesia) even if the surgeon waives their own fee.

14. "What's the deposit, and what's refundable?" Ask before you pay anything. Patients who went ahead with a surgeon they had real doubts about frequently mention the non-refundable deposit as the reason they didn't walk away. Don't let a deposit make a decision you'd otherwise reverse.

15. "Who do I call at 2 a.m. if something feels wrong?" You want a specific answer — a surgeon's line, a named covering physician. "Go to the ER" as the only plan is not an aftercare plan.

05 · CHOOSINGWhat the room is telling you

Pay attention to pressure, because it's the most reliable signal in the building.

Patients describe clinics pushing for a fast deposit to "lock in" a price — and, when asked why the price would change, being given no answer at all. A plastic surgeon quoted in the press called that kind of pressure a psychological tactic that "has no place in medicine." Surgery prices do not expire.

And the quieter version: people who went ahead with a surgeon they didn't quite trust almost always describe noticing it at the consultation and proceeding anyway — because of a deposit, or momentum, or not wanting to seem difficult.