I Had My Face 'Morphed' By A Plastic Surgeon, And Was Shocked By The Results

Megan Willett/Business Insider

My personal "Before" and "After" pictures with the morphing technology.

In addition to risks from anesthesia and botched procedures, patients are taking a major gamble that they will share the same aesthetic ideal with their plastic surgeon.

Enter visual surgery, or "morphing" the use of technology during the consultation process so that the patient and doctor can agree ahead of time on the surgical end results.

I visited the plastic surgery office of Dr. Douglas Steinbrech in New York City, whose practice has been using morphing technology for the past seven years. I went to learn about the technology he uses to consult with patients -- I did not have any cosmetic procedures myself.

In short, morphing is the use of image manipulation software to give patients an idea of what they will look like once their surgery is complete.

The surgery visualization has a few upsides, Dr. Steinbrech explained. First, patients can get an idea of what they will look like after the surgery, and decide if they want to go more or less extreme than they had originally planned.

"Patients tend to be more conservative," said Patient Coordinator Bernadette Mahoney. "I think a lot of it comes from anxiety, and not wanting to take it too far. But we've actually found that when patients don't go as extreme as they want, they often regret it."

The process also helps Dr. Steinbrech determine whether a potential patient is ready for cosmetic surgery. If a patient has unrealistic expectations, it can raise a red flag. He said he might then choose to provide the patient with information on body dysmorphic disorder (an illness in which individuals are excessively concerned with body image, specifically "defects" they perceive in their own personal appearance), or simply tell them that working together wouldn't be a good fit.

But the biggest upside of all, according to Dr. Steinbrech, is that he can use the "morphed" before and after photos to make sure the results are exactly what the patient wants.

Read the original post:
I Had My Face 'Morphed' By A Plastic Surgeon, And Was Shocked By The Results