5 Things to Look for in Before & After Photos

September 20, 2019

When thinking about getting plastic surgery and narrowing down the right surgeon to perform the procedure, many people turn to Instagram to help make their decision.

As you’re scrolling through feeds, looking at plastic surgery photos, it’s easy to get wrapped up in liking and commenting on photos of patients that look beautifully transformed. As amazing as social media can be, make sure you don’t get misled.

Recently, we sat down with our expert plastic surgeon, Dr. Ryan Austin, to talk about what patients should look for in photos when browsing social media. For someone new to plastic surgery, sometimes photos might look beautiful and show a miraculous transformation when unfortunately, in reality, they’ve been altered so much that the results you are looking at would be technically impossible to achieve.

Dr. Austin helped us put together this list of the 5 things to look for in before and after photos on social media to help you as you browse.

1. Authenticity: Make sure the photos are real. The images should represent what a real result is going to look like. In today’s day and age, there are so many editing applications available such as Facetune, Photoshop, etc. to touch up your photos. Are there telltale signs of photo editing in the images?

2. Variety of Photos: You want to see a variety of photos that show different patients undergoing different surgeries and demonstrate which stage they are at in their pre or post-operation journey. Every patient is different and when undergoing surgery there are lots of questions to be considered. For example, in breast augmentation, there are different types of implants, different types of incisions depending on the patient’s preference, different implant placements and more. The more information and variety a doctor is able to provide on social media, the better for you to gain an understanding of the options they offer.

3. Timeline: Look for the course of time over the photos of a patient’s surgery. The way the results look at three days after a surgery is very different than what the results look like 3 months after surgery. It’s a journey that you’re going through, so you want to see that the photos are showing you that whole trajectory from beginning to end. This will give you an accurate portrayal of how things might look early on and what the final results many months or even a year later will resemble.

4. Avoid Photography Tricks: There are lots of ways to make an image or video look better by changing the angle, lighting, height, background and so much more. All these tricks can distort one’s perception very easily. When viewing the images, make sure the photos are taken from a standardized position because this will help you understand the result you’re seeing is the result of surgery, not the result of a photography trick, improved lighting, or a better angle.

5. New Content: Make sure new content is being posted consistently and it’s not the same image getting recycled or the surgeon’s best results. You want to see images and videos from all different types of surgeries offered, and you’re seeing the results across multiple different people. No two patients are the same and no two surgeries are the same. You want to see how different people respond to the same type of procedure, so you can get the best result possible.

We love that we get to share so much information with you across Instagram and Facebook but at the same time, we’re always looking out for the well being of our patients. These tips will not only help our patients but anyone considering plastic surgery or a non-surgical treatment. Doing your homework before your consultation or surgery can help you feel more confident in your decision.

Let us know what you think of our 5 tips and tricks about social media. You can join in by following us on Instagram and Facebook. Feel free to slide into our DM’s if you have any questions 😉