What You Need to Know When Looking for Cosmetic Procedures Online

Before the advent of the internet, tablets or smartphones, any advice regarding any medical procedure. Would mean that your Local GP would be your first point of contact and advice - especially when it came to any sort of cosmetic procedures. Nowadays though, one search on Google with keywords, ‘Hair transplant Harley Street’ or ‘Rhinoplasty London’ or ‘Liposuction London’ is all it takes–‘Dr Google’ has become the most popular solution – or so it seems.

A quick scanning online, however, might actually seem easier than having to choose a potential clinic, from where you might want to get your procedures done. There are enough horror stories about what began as a breast-reduction London search and need up in a nightmare. After all, not all search engine results will lead you to the best, reputable and the safest medical practitioners out there.

So if sifting meticulously through the internet is not the answer to this problem, then how do you go about finding a trusted medical practitioner for let’s say Hair transplant Harley Street online. To help you with this dilemma, here are some tips that will help you find, exactly what you’re looking for and help avoid what you aren’t.

So let’s begin

·         Choosing Substance Over Style: The biggest trouble with the internet is that if a surgeon has a really fancy looking website, it doesn’t mean that he’s good necessarily. All it means, is that he has a good marketing team. All those high-resolution images labelled Rhinoplasty London or Liposuction London, might just be a front to dazzle you. The real material lies in laying out of all the key material that will help you make your decision in the most informed manner.

·         Qualifications are So Critical: If you’re thinking of a cosmetic procedure, it is best to seek advice from the most qualified practitioners in the area. There are certain governing bodies that have regulatory registrations and it is mandatory to have ben assessed by them. A quick research will let you know if the surgeon you’re planning to visit, has been inspected by them or is ascribed to them. Especially when it comes to cosmetic procedures you never want to take a chance, it can literally scar you for life both physically and mentally. Remember the breast reduction London example we cited - you really want to avoid such a scenario and outcome.

·         Be Wary of Deals and Discounts: There was an incident a few years ago where an advertisement offering Rhinoplasty London and Liposuction London at half the price if booked by midnight was ruled against by ASA. Rightly done, so as the governing body felt that it was an irresponsible advert, which might have forced customers to make that snap decision. If you ask about this practice from any reputable practitioner, they will tell you that it is a massive no-no.

Still, unbelievably so, these type of marketing tactics are quite common online and even unrealistic discounts like ‘buy one get one free’ or cosmetic procedures being given away as giveaway prizes on social media via competitions are still common. If you wouldn’t book a hair transplant in a Harley street clinic with a pushy salesman, then why should you ever let it happen online!

·         Companies that Play on Your Insecurities Should Be Avoided: Companies that offer celebrity endorsements or offer you incentives like makeover or photo-shoots in order to make you sign up must be frowned upon. Cosmetic procedures, should not be trivialised and by making claims like, if you get a certain procedure such as Liposuction done, you’d be happier or even more confident, should be enough to get the alarm bells ringing in your head.

·         Weeding Out Fake Reviews from Trustworthy Ones: As unfair as it is, but it still stands that there isn’t any real guarantee that a glowing review of a clinic is real and genuine. There really are a score of people who write fake reviews in exchange for free treatments or payments. You can have writers create multiple user names even, and make each review for Hair transplant Harley Street look like it was written by a genuine person from in and around London so that review sites can be fooled.

You need to develop a discerning eye for these scams. For example, if you see that a clinic which did not have any reviews or one review every couple of months, suddenly has a bunch of reviews saying something similar and positive about let’s say breast reduction London, then it’s a sure-shot sign that they’ve paid for a batch of fake reviews. To curb this, some reputed platforms have begun to post reviewable patient case studies that are unbiased and have access to before and after photos to verify the cases thoroughly.

With the advent of technology looking for aids online is something normal. Yes, you might want to do all your research online beforehand so that you are well prepared to meet up a doctor for a personal consultation. Having said that, however, believing everything that you read online, would be foolhardy. You need to understand that cosmetic procedures are something that needs to be given careful consideration too, as a bad cosmetic procedure is difficult to correct or reverse.

So before you make up your mind about a clinic through a quick online perusal, you must take into consideration the aforementioned factors and then go-ahead for a face-to-face consultation before committing to any sort of procedure.