Want support during facial procedures? Bring a friend

When Cathy Vincent first decided she wanted a partial facelift in 2004, she consulted with friends in the medical field and chose her first doctor on a referral from her niece, who worked for a plastic surgery practice in California.

After her procedure, her doctor told her she’d need follow-up care and referred her to Baylor’s Facial Plastic Surgery Center.

“When I came home to Houston,” Vincent said, “Dr. Anthony Brissett was willing to take me on as a patient even though the work was done by another doctor.”

For more than a decade their relationship has thrived. Vincent said she has gone to Dr. Brissett, director of Baylor College of Medicine’s Facial Plastic Surgery Center, for procedures like fillers and Botox because she trusts his approach.

“He’s conservative with the treatment of your face and I appreciate that,” Vincent said. “During my appointments he studies how your face moves. He notices the creases in your face, the movement of your mouth and the furrowing of your brow. He doesn’t want you to look plastic.”

Vincent said her experience helped her daughter feel confident in choosing to have a procedure done.

“She was noticing creases around her eyes,” Vincent said. “Since she works with autistic children, she didn’t want to lose the expressiveness of her face.”

Brissett said Vincent and her daughter are not alone. When it comes to plastic surgery more couples, friends and relatives are choosing to have facial plastic surgery together.

“Many patients consider and contemplate plastic surgery over the course of many months or years and in some cases even decades,” he said.

When patients consider plastic surgery he said it’s important to consider motivations, desired outcomes and anticipated recovery times.

“Every procedure has its own inherent recovery time ranging from just a few hours in the case of Botox to several weeks or months in cases with facelifts or rhinoplasties,” Brissett said. “It’s important to give yourself adequate time to recover and heal so you can fully enjoy the benefits and outcomes of your procedure.”

Some people have plastic surgery for a confidence boost, but Brissett said he sees a boost of confidence prior to surgery in patients who have someone supporting their decision.

He said other benefits of patients having facial plastic surgery together include:

• Bonding
• Moral support
• Comfort
• Enjoyment

From her experience, Vincent says she agrees.

“There is nothing like going to the doctor for a procedure with someone who is going to hold your hand,” she said.

-By Audrey M. Marks and Julia Parsons