The Happiness Hypothesis and Plastic Surgery

The Happiness Hypothesis and Plastic Surgery

A great book that I read last year was Jonathan Haidt’s The Happiness Hypothesis in which the author outlines many parameters for happiness.  One of his points in the book is that great happiness that can last for years following cosmetic surgery.  Unlike many books on happiness and peace that decry cosmetic surgery as vain and pointless, this book argues that in fact it is something that can fundamentally shift one’s self perception and through that transform one’s life in profoundly favorable ways.

An example is a lady that I worked on who at the age of 73 had recently lost her husband.  She underwent a facelift and facial fat transfer.  According to her daughter in whom I also had done a fat transfer, her mother became an entirely different person.  She went from a reclusive, disheartened individual that never left the house to a gregarious and happy individual.  She bought a whole new wardrobe and started to see herself in an entirely different light.  It is sometimes amazing to me what emotional transformations can occur with beautiful cosmetic enhancement.  That is what makes my job so wonderful every day.

Sam M. Lam, MD, FACS is a board certified plastic surgeon in Dallas, Texas. To schedule a consultation please call (972) 312-8188. To Learn more about Dr Lams’ facial plastic surgery procedures or to ask Dr Lam a question please visit his plastic surgery forums.

Mastery Is An Asymptote:  My Plastic Surgery Journey

I am constantly refining my work so that you have a better and better result every time you see me. An example is I started to use microcannulas for facial fillers in November 2010. Since that time I have advanced in my skills with my cannulas to do more and more creative facial injections to simulate a fat transfer. I can now even do lip injections without blocks and without needles with no pain, bruising, and swelling. It is truly a miracle. I have many patients whom I have not seen in a year and who return to me surprised at how many new advances that I have personally developed.

I believe that true mastery is never attainable. You always strive to be better next year than the year before. Think of the technological breakthroughs with the iPhone. Each model is a major or minor step forward from the last one. I now have ways to do facelifts without incisions that are a far cry from the threadlifts of a bygone era. I am always seeking new and better ways to enhance a face. When you never accept what you have is good enough, you will get better toward an elusive asymptote. It all starts with a passionate drive to become better tomorrow than you were yesterday.

Mastery is an Asymptote in Plastic Surgery

Samuel M. Lam, MD, FACS is a board certified plastic surgeon in Dallas, Texas. To learn more about Dr Lam’s facial fillers please visit our website www.LamFacialPlastics.com or call (972) 312-8188 to schedule a consultation.

The Road to Mastery in Plastic Surgery is an Asymptote

The author Malcolm Gladwell argues that you need 10,000 hours doing something to become a master at it.  An example is to be a world-class chess player who no matter how good he is or could be does not achieve mastery until he has been practicing his art for 10 years.  I have certainly put my 10,000 hours into my profession.  However, I believe that mastery is achieved only if you desire that mastery and push toward it.  I am constantly attending meetings, lecturing, thinking, writing, speaking, and inventing new methods.  Patients who have not been into my practice for 3 to 6 months are astounded that I have developed another small technique improvement.  The reason for this is that I am constantly working on getting to become better and better at my craft.  It all starts with a deep level of passion and desire that drives me to become better at what I love to do.

enso

I believe that no matter how much mastery you achieve, you can never be perfect enough or have attained a level of perfection that there can be no room for improvement.  Think of Apple, Inc.  The iPad 2 is much better than the iPad and I am certain the iPad 3 will be leaps and bounds in quality over the second-generation model.  Technology changes and how an individual can leverage that technology can improve as well.  An example is last year I started to use these wonderful French microcannulas that have literally revolutionized my ability to perform injectable products like Restylane.  Recently, I switched over to a Japanese version that is even better.  During this time I have invented multiple different techniques that leverage the benefit of these cannulas in astounding ways.

Accordingly, no matter how good you can become at your practice, the ongoing development of new technology and new ways to harness that technology makes mastery an elusive goal.  At least I would say that we strive toward ongoing improvement and we get closer and closer to an ideal but never arrive there.  Remember the asymptotic line we learned in high-school math.  We approach the line but we do not ever arrive there.  I created the enso logo for my spa that in Japanese culture symbolizes this concept very well.  The open circle means that life is a journey of constant movement but it is open because we never achieve completion.  Always starting with passion can drive an individual to be better and better to get closer to that asymptote even though we never reach it.

Samuel M. Lam, MD, FACS is a board certified plastic surgeon in Dallas, Texas. For more info, or to schedule a consultation please call (972) 312-8188. If you would like to ask Dr Lam a question please visit our plastic surgery forum.

Forgiveness in Cosmetic Surgery

Many times I have individuals who come to me who are very depressed about a previous cosmetic surgery procedure that they elected to have done.  I can see that for me to help them with anything new that I would first have to help them overcome their previous relationship with their plastic surgeon and what they perceive as a negative outcome.

What I focus on is the concept of forgiveness.  Many times these patients have a lack of forgiveness toward their previous plastic surgeon due to a perceived bad outcome and/or a bad relationship.  Either way they can’t get over it.  What is also interesting is that the lack of forgiveness needs mainly to be directed at themselves, i.e., many times individuals are simply sad and angry that they did not do sufficient research on the cosmetic surgery procedure or the surgeon to let them be duped resulting in their untoward outcome.  I typically say to the patient that 25% of their forgiveness needs to be directed at their previous plastic surgeon and 75% needs to be directed at themselves.

Without being able to get over a previously bad relationship, there is almost nothing that I can do to “fix it”.  The reason for this is that a patient’s regret almost always clouds his or her judgment to the point that the defect is perceived to be present regardless of whether in fact it is or it is not still there.  Oftentimes a previous problem cannot be entirely corrected but just improved so therefore it is important to emphasize this, because without doing this the patient will never be fully satisfied.  Offering forgiveness to oneself for making a previous mistake and forgiving one’s previous surgeon are the first steps to healing so that a new relationship and new intervention can properly flourish.

Samuel M. Lam, MD, FACS is a board certified plastic surgeon in Dallas, Texas, specializing in facial plastic surgery procedures. For more info, or to schedule a consultation please call (972) 312-8188. If you would like to ask Dr Lam a question please visit our Plastic Surgery Forum.

Flow and Passion in Facial Plastic Surgery

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi came up with the concept of flow, the time when skills and passion intersect and the person gets lost in his work.  Think of a great sports player who is completely in sync with his work.  That flow is what drives me deeply.  I am entranced with facial plastic surgery, and my work supports my passion.  I aim always to get better because I love what I do.  I am driven by that.  I always say when you are meeting a surgeon for the first time, look in his or her eyes and see what stares back at you.  If you see no passion in his or her eyes, leave.  If you are focused on the deep passion in your heart for what you do, you cannot help but deliver excellent work (if you have sufficient talent to support that passion) and you cannot help but continue to excel.  My patients always wonder why does Dr. Lam have again something new and better when last year it was already pretty darn good.  The answer is flow and passion.  I am constantly looking to improve my game, get better, and deliver better results.  It is a never ending journey of improvement for you, my dear patient.

Samuel M. Lam, MD, FACS is a board certified plastic surgeon in Dallas, Texas, specializing in facial plastic surgery procedures. For more info, or to schedule a consultation please call (972) 312-8188. If you would like to ask Dr Lam a question please visit our Plastic Surgery Forum.