Holistic Plastic Surgeons spring up in New York

A new medical trend is developing in New York – plastic surgeons who offer ‘holistic’ plastic surgery.

The very idea of it may seem a misnomer, and certainly the surgeries themselves are no different to others that aren’’t labelled holistic, but what it’’s actually referring to is the addition of peripheral therapeutic extras.

Patients will receive other treatments in order to create a holistic or all-round approach to cosmetic surgery.

The idea is to combine traditional surgical treatment with extras that are designed to cater for a patient’’s overall needs.

So, for one surgeon who operates in New York City, this means extra therapies such as counselling, reiki (energy healing), acupuncture and manual lymphatic drainage following surgery.

For surgeon Shirley Madhere this means her patients are getting more care and that the needs of the patient go beyond mere aesthetic changes. She said:

““Beauty is still wellness, and everything in the body is connected. Even though you’re operating on one part, the whole body is experiencing it.”

”Another convert, Steven Davies, a surgeon based in New Jersey, puts it down to the desire of the surgeon to offer a complete service to the patient, to make sure that their emotional needs are met just as much as their physical needs: “because there are other things that impact the results of the procedure besides the surgery itself.”

Whilst all good doctors discuss overall emotional care throughout the cosmetic surgery process, holistic treatments are often overlooked by the medical industry, so some may find some of these approaches are juxtaposed with the services of a medically trained doctor.

Some patients themselves may even feel alienated by this, preferring instead to have surgery performed quickly, discreetly and with minimal fuss.

Shafer’’s response to this is to treat all patients individually: “”You have to read the patient and get an understanding of what they are looking for when they come to your office.””

He also encourages patients to exercise caution when visiting a holistic plastic surgeon, as some may use the approach exploitatively, as a means of making more money for more services.