Why you need to keep your documentation if you have surgery

 It is not uncommon for us to see people here at the clinic who have had surgery many years before.

Typical examples would be patients who have breast implants and may now have some problems with them or would like a different size or shape, or maybe a patient who had a breast lift many years ago and the tissues have sagged again and perhaps needs another lift.

As a surgeon, it is important to have as much information as possible.

This is particularly true when treating patients who have had surgery before and this is why it is important to keep as much information as you can, even though you may not think it is relevant at the time.

We now have a national database of breast implants and we encourage all our patients to sign up to it (it is voluntary) and this has not been the case for many years, so it can be difficult to find details of your original operation.

Sometimes patients forget who their original surgeon was or their original surgeon might have retired or moved on.  Clinics tend to come and go and so it may not possible to approach the original hospital or organisation who did your surgery.

So if you do have any information about your surgery I would encourage you to keep it.

We give all our patients copies of the clinic letters that we write to your doctor and we also give details of the breasts implants that they have.

It may not seem that these letters or details are relevant at the time, but they can be very useful in the future.

If you are changing your breast implants it is always nice to know the size and shape of your current breast implants, particularly if you want to go bigger or smaller, because then we can give you a reasonable expectation of what sort of size you can change to.

Similarly, if you have had a breast lift or a breast reduction in the past, this operation involves isolating the nipple and there are many different ways you can isolate it, and if you are going to have another breast lift or reduction, you must isolate in the same way in order for it to maintain its blood and nerve supply.

This will usually require a copy of the operation notes and so it would be great if you knew where your original operation was held so that we could approach them, as most hospital are very accommodating in giving details of surgery.

If you have had surgery with us and you have not got details of your operation, let us know because we would be happy to forward them to you and of course, you can rest assured that we will always be here so if you do need anything in the future, you or your new provider can always approach us and we would be happy to provide them with details of what you have had done (with your consent of course).

If you have any questions and want to get in touch, then contact us on the website or on Facebook where I do a live Q and A on Facebook every Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Feel free to leave a comment below, or drop us an e-mail.

If you want to come for a free no obligation consultation with one of our plastic surgeons, please call or email us or fill in the on-line contact form.