Patient Education
Second Opinion Guides
Honest, plain-language guides to independent reviews in plastic and aesthetic surgery. Each explains what an opinion based on records can establish, how the reading is carried out, what you receive, and the limits that no review can remove.
All Guides
9 guides to second opinions and how to use one
- What a Second Opinion Actually IsSecond Opinions Explained
- When a Second Opinion Is Worth SeekingDeciding to Ask
- What Records and Images to SendPreparing Your Records
- How a Review Is ConductedInside the Review
- What You Receive from a ReviewThe Written Opinion
- When a Second Opinion Disagrees with Your SurgeonTwo Views
- A Second Opinion Without Damaging Your Relationship with Your SurgeonWorking with Your Team
- Confidentiality, Fees and TimingThe Practicalities
- Remote Second Opinions: What Can Be Reviewed at a DistanceDistance and Limits
Start with your records, not a decision
Send the notes, images and the plan you have been given, and ask your questions in writing. A surgeon who was not involved in your care will read them, set out the options and the reasoning behind them, and state plainly what the records do not show. A review may confirm the plan you have; it may raise something that was not discussed; it cannot guarantee a better outcome, and the decision remains yours.