This is the first of a two-part series concerning various common but serious pre-existing medical conditions patients who want to undergo cosmetic surgery are faced with, and how those conditions interact with cosmetic surgery. The information presented here is intended as a general overview. It is not intended, and should not be taken, as applicable to any specific patient or situation, due to the number of individual and clinical variables in play. Every patient, body, and case is unique, and must be evaluated and treated as such. However, the staff of Atlantic Coast Aesthetics hopes this information can help patients with the conditions described in this series understand what is possible within the realm of cosmetic surgery and what limitations and concerns exist.
In this first part of our series, the founder and Chief Medical Officer of Atlantic Coast Aesthetics, Dr. Thomas Pane, is going to discuss HIV and hepatitis. These conditions, which only a few years ago were considered both a death sentence and a bar to elective surgeries of all kinds, are now eminently treatable. As such, they are viewed and evaluated cautiously, but not as immediate disqualifiers for cosmetic and other elective procedures.
Dr. Pane says, “If you have either of these, and some people have both, it is not a disqualifier for cosmetic surgery in my practice. Technically speaking, practices are not supposed to turn people down on the basis of them having these conditions. The fact that it does happen in real practice is a different topic altogether. In [Atlantic Coast Aesthetics’] practice, EVERYONE is welcome.”
The trick, Dr. Pane notes, is to ensure the issue is being properly managed and treated. “What we do is make is sure the issue has been adequately controlled. For hepatitis, some of it is basically food poisoning, as with Hepatitis A. They can cure that. Hepatitis B, there’s a vaccine available. Hepatitis C is something that used to be much more of a problem in the past, and [researchers have] done remarkable work and it’s treatable now. The basics for that are, if you have that condition, we’re going to have to interface with your primary care and infectious disease specialist that manages you, and make sure the condition is under control. If it’s adequately controlled, then there’s no big issue and you’re a candidate. Simple as that.”
However, Dr. Pane cautions not to get your heart set on same-day outpatient procedures. “If you have any issues as a result of [Hepatitis C] that would make you not[be] a candidate in an office-based surgery setting [like Atlantic Coast Aesthetics], but you are a candidate at a hospital or in an ambulatory surgical center setting, I have [treatment and surgical] privileges in all three settings. Then we might take a look at that because maybe we’d have to do your surgery somewhere else [other than at ACA’s offices].”
For HIV, the basic protocols are essentially the same, Dr. Pane says, but there are some crucial differences. “HIV was something that was a real big, scary problem when it first emerged. The work that the researchers and pharmaceutical industry and so forth have done to essentially transform this into a controlled medical problem is nothing short of amazing, actually. Now, people can have it controlled so well that they essentially can’t transmit the infection. So again, like with hepatitis, if you have HIV and you’re otherwise a candidate for cosmetic surgery, that’s not a problem. What we need to do is get you cleared with your primary care doctor and the infectious disease specialist to make sure that everything is set. Again, if those things are in place, there’s no problem with having cosmetic surgery.”
Again, we cannot stress enough that this information is intended as a general guide and may not apply to every patient or treatment situation. Each patient must be individually evaluated and assessed for their suitability for undergoing cosmetic procedures. However, if you have any pre-existing medical issues and want to know more about whether cosmetic surgery or procedures are right for you and your situation, we encourage you to click here to contact us through our website; call us at (561) 422-4116; or reach out to us through our social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Please stay tuned for Part 2 of this series, and remember, at Atlantic Coast Aesthetics, the only bad question is the one you DON’T ask!