Plastic surgeon on US reality show Botched shares his most unforgettable patient

Plastic surgeon on US reality show Botched shares his most unforgettable patient
Dr Paul Nassif from US reality show Botched
PHOTO: hayu

Most people look at plastic surgery as a vain cosmetic upgrade, but Dr Paul Nassif might just be the one to give that opinion a makeover.

From what he told AsiaOne, the television personality is looking to change lives for the better one case at a time.

In a short phone interview last week, the 57-year-old American-Lebanese plastic surgeon said that one of the patients he remembers the most is a woman who was hit by a drunk driver, suffered a severe injury to her face, and had to wait all night in the emergency room.

For the uninitiated, Dr Nassif is on the American reality show Botched where he and fellow plastic surgeon Dr Terry Dubrow remedy extreme plastic surgeries gone wrong. The series made its debut in 2014 and has six seasons so far.

Dr Nassif added that the woman's story is also one of the most shocking experiences in the upcoming season because the plastic surgeon made her wait for around 13 hours despite her injuries.

He said: "When you're in the emergency room, usually the plastic surgeon will come within an hour. [The doctor] had her wait all night long... probably for a good 12 to 13 hours until the doctor showed up to help stitch her face. That's something that's unheard of and the doctor should not have done that."

It is not known why Dr Nassif had to rectify the woman's surgery. 

In an E! Online interview, Dr. Dubrow said: "We decided this season to take on those patients that normally we would pass on, that weren't considered fixable. But because we've been doing this for so long, we have sort of special operations and special skills for these incredibly difficult cases."

Don't overdo it

While plastic surgery can have an emotional and mental impact as a means of self-enhancement, it's not something that people should go too far with.

Dr Nassif cautioned that people who go too far can become plastic surgery addicts or have body dysmorphia disorder. There's also the possibility of a complication, "to the point where something horrible can happen". As such, he tells his patients on the show that they have to be "conservative" and they "shouldn't overdo it".

On that note, one of the hardest things that Dr Nassif has had to tell patients — whether on Botched or in his office — is "no", especially when they've "flown all the way out" to see him. That's because the patients aren't good candidates for plastic surgery, "for whatever reasons".

Another "heartbreaking" experience is when he detects some health issues in his patients during their check-up and has to reveal the diagnosis to them.

But he said the "opportunity to help patients" is what keeps him and Dr Dubrow going and they're "operating on some of the hardest patients in the world".

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLYsJRqHC_4[/embed]

When plastic surgeries make patients look ridiculous

Of course, we couldn't help but pick his brain on what he thinks on the stigma surrounding plastic surgery and Dr Nassif said: "I think the stigma has faded in our country but I don't know about in Singapore. You know when people overdo it... and their breasts are way too large or they overdo their face, I mean, that's what gives plastic surgery a bad name.

"[It's] the patients who overdo it, and the doctors really should not be doing it. They should try to prohibit surgeries that make [patients] look ridiculous."

All episodes of Botched (until season 6B) are available on Hayu, with season 6C premiering on August 11.

bryanlim@asiaone.com

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