Simply having arthritis alone should not prevent you from having cosmetic surgery. Certain medications used to treat autoimmune disease can inhibit immune function and some plastic surgeons are apprehensive to do surgery with patients on those medications. When that’s the case patients may need to get medical clearance from the rheumatologist and may need to temporarily stop taking their auto immune medication‘s. It varies based on each individual patient, each plastic surgeon into some regarding each rheumatologist. Generally speaking having rheumatoid arthritis should not prevent you or stop you from having cosmetic surgery. That said all people were contemplating having this procedure should first and foremost confirm that they are in fact a good candidate for the procedure and secondly work diligently at finding the right provider. Delivering consistent high-quality Liposuction and fat transfer results is far more difficult than most people think. Likewise not everybody is a good candidate for the procedure. variables like age, history of weight fluctuations, skin laxity, cellulite, previous pregnancies, excess visceral fat, undesirable bone structure etc. etc. etc. can all limit what can be achieved with both Liposuction and fat transfer. The biggest variable by far is who does the procedure. The difference in skill and experience among all the providers offering this procedures is immense. Mastering body contouring takes decades of practice and enhance girl with a dedication to delivering consistent quality results. Mastering body contouring takes decades of practice and enhance girl with a dedication to delivering consistent quality results. . Outcomes from these procedures are permanent and irreversible so making sure you’re in the hands of someone who is really top of their game is paramount to minimize having undesirable outcomes. The following list of recommendations is aimed at helping you find the best provider and creating a positive experience when having cosmetic surgery especially a procedure like the BBL. 1. I recommend patients avoid traveling long distances for elective surgical procedures. There are of course instances where there is a lack of local talent and traveling to some degree is inevitable. If traveling for the procedure patients should be ready to travel to have the consultation, post operative appointments and follow up should there be issues or complications. Patients sometimes do not appreciate the importance of in person consultations, that complications do happen or the number of people who have issues with their results or need revisions. 2. Schedule multiple consultations with different providers in your area who seem to have a good reputation for the procedure you’re interested in. Starting with at least five consultations seems like a reasonable number to me. 3. Whenever possible schedule in person consultations. 4. During in person consultations ask each plastic surgeon to show all of their before and after pictures for the procedure you’re interested in. The goal is not to see the best results of their career but to get an idea of what average results look like and get some type of confirmation of how many of these procedures that provider has performed. Ask to see results that were not as good as the doctor would’ve hoped for and talk about the differences in outcomes. Honest and experienced providers should have no problems presenting this type of information. A highly experienced plastic surgeon should have hundreds of before and after pictures for the procedure you’re interested in. At a minimum at least 50+ 5. Read all the reviews on various physician review websites paying close attention and avoiding providers with any significant number of justified negative reviews. Providers with an abundance of reviews often have aggressive marketing campaigns. The plastic surgeons I respect most all have the single variable of not having justified negative reviews on their online profiles. In my opinion justified negative reviews are far more telling than an abundance of positive reviews. 6. Avoid scheduling for surgery or making a deposit on the day of the consultation. Give yourself some time to think about the decision and make sure you finished all scheduled consultations before committing to having surgery that will permanently and irreversibly change your body. When in doubt slow down and schedule more consultations. Choosing the right plastic surgeon is the single most important variable to having a positive experience. 7. Don’t go chasing after technology or names of certain equipment. Instead focus all your efforts on finding the most experienced and talented board-certified plastic surgeon. Best, Mats Hagstrom, MD