No one can or should tell you why you should consider plastic surgery for aesthetic reasons. You should be able to clearly define your desire to improve aging or to enhance facial or body appearance. Others may support you in your decision, but the decision to have plastic surgery should be yours alone.

When most people think of complications from plastic surgery, they think of things like visible scars, asymmetrical breasts or infections. There is another type of complication, however, that can be just as painful as a medical complication. Psychological complications are often subtle and counterintuitive.

There are plastic surgery junkies who don't know when enough is enough. But it's the very rare person who allows herself to be turned into the Bride of Frankenstein ... a good plastic surgeon simply doesn't let you get an excessive amount of work done.

It is my personal philosophy regarding plastic surgery that you are much better off underdoing rather than overdoing something.

Regardless of its origins, plastic surgery is now firmly entrenched in our collective psyche. This is evidenced by a short trip to a newsstand or bookstore, or by "surfing" through television or radio stations.