Cosmetic Surgery Photography

Anyone who has undergone some form of plastic surgery will probably have had photographs taken, to record how they looked, before and after the procedure.

In fact there are some surgeons who will not contemplate picking up a scalpel unless comprehensive pictures have been taken.

Why is photography so important? - For the patient

When you make the decision to undergo some form of cosmetic procedure, whether simple fillers, liposuction, breast augmentation or reduction, 'tummy tuck', or facelift it is important to remember that things can go wrong.

Always have a record of how you looked before anything is done, the human memory is remarkable; but it can also be, totally unreliable and useless as evidence.

In these increasingly litigious times photographs provide evidence both of how things were and how they are now.

It's in your interest to have your own set of clinical photographs taken by an independent registered medical photographic practitioner.

Why is photography so important? - For the doctor

Your surgeon will probably take his own photographs prior to the surgery but these pictures will be for his own protection and possibly to teach students and promote his skills, not for your benefit.

Why should you go to the extra expense?

If you are a private patient, when your surgeon asks for consent to allow him to take photographs of you, these pictures will become his property.

You will have no control over how or where he uses them, nor will you have any right of access.

Many surgeons, particularly those in private practice do not use professional medical photographic services and will rely on their own photographic ability or that of a nurse or in some instances a receptionist.

If you need to make a claim your professionally produced, authenticated and independent photographs will be more acceptable in court.

The NHS in the UK is different

If your surgery is carried out in an NHS hospital, any photographs taken of a patient, immediately become a clinical record.

Regardless of who takes the picture, they automatically become the property of the hospital trust concerned and under the terms of disclosure of medical records, you have the right of access.

For further advice contact: info@medicalphotographer.co.uk