Plastic Surgeons Reveal Procedures They'd Never Get

Buzz Feed

11-06-2025

Although I grew up with quite a few doctors in the family, I've always been scared of surgery — and that includes plastic surgery. Maybe it's that the two surgeries I've had in my life were too much for me to handle...or more likely, perhaps I've seen one too many botched surgery videos on the internet.
And I guess that isn't gonna change. Because recently, Reddit user Topgunner85 asked, "Plastic surgeons of Reddit, what body-altering surgery would you never get and why?" and the answers have low-key transformed my reluctance into an absolute "no." That, and they're just really freakin' interesting. So here's what people said:
"Brazilian Butt Lifts (BBLs) carry a surprisingly high mortality rate and the recovery is brutal."
"I would never get a 'nonsurgical' or 'liquid' rhinoplasty. Most of the time that's just filler injected into the nose. There is a risk of filler in this location causing you to go blind."
"My sister is an opthalmic surgeon, and her take on LASIK is terrifying."
"I would never have an operation to change height — for example, leg lengthening. This is one of the most traumatic and painful operations, with long recovery, risks of complications, and all for the sake of aesthetic or social conformity. The operation involves bone fracture, their stretching with the help of devices and months — or even years — of pain and rehabilitation. At the same time, the result may be unstable, and expectations may be inflated. For me, it would be too high a price for trying to meet external standards. I'd rather work on accepting myself and finding an environment where growth doesn't matter."
"Iris depigmentation laser surgery. The risks of blindness or complications are quite high. And it looks shit."
"Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, awake and present. I would say fox eye lift, threads lifts, and rib removal."
"As an injector, I hate consulting for thread lifts, and was so glad when our medical director said we weren't offering them anymore. Most of the clients wanting threads just need to get a facelift."
"I'm just a nurse, but I'll say liposuction is a popular answer. It's horrible on the body, with a high risk of infection and bleeding and embolism. And better results with diet and exercise."
"360 lifts and abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). Basically anything that involves removing large amounts of skin and tissue. It's even worse if they combine it with liposuction. Because I think the complications are serious enough to warrant very careful consideration from people that do need it. Just because a surgery can improve a person's quality of life doesn't mean we should ignore the potential risks."
"My quick answer is rib removal and buccal fat removal. But also: there is a space for discussing procedures as being awful, but what's more important is WHO is doing the surgery. The aesthetics community is riddled with non-plastic surgeons doing procedures beyond their scope of practice. Oral surgeon doing BBLs? Dermatologists doing breast implants? Uncertified people doing invasive facial injection procedures? That's just skimming the top of what is going on in my city."
"I'd stay away from anything that involves going to another country to get something discount. One of the issues with surgery, any surgery, is that they often have complications. You could either find yourself paying insanity-level money for correction, or simply live as whatever monster a shady butcher left you as."
"My cousin is a surgeon, and he said, 'Don't ever get a nose job unless you've got at least $30,000 ready in case you need a revision.'"
"Med tech here. I'd say Botox in any form, unless medically necessary. You are injecting a paralytic toxin from bacteria which along of the desired effects of smoothing out wrinkles can also lead to a host of neurological issues that far outweigh the perceived benefit."
"Honestly? Rib removal surgery — just to get a smaller waist or 'Barbie' silhouette. As someone who's been around medical tourism and seen both great and terrible results, I've noticed that anything messing with internal structure like that is playing with fire. It's not just about aesthetics — your ribs protect your organs. Removing them is risky, painful, and recovery can be brutal. I've seen people fly across the world for cheap procedures like this, only to end up with nerve damage or breathing problems."
"I'd never get tongue splitting — it's permanent, can mess with speech, and just isn't worth the risk. I'd rather not gamble with how I talk or eat."
"A DIEP flap for breast reconstruction. It's a much bigger surgery than they expect, and it's got such a difficult recovery that takes so long. My patients who opt for the tissue expander to implant instead have a much easier recovery."
"Hair implants. The implants are definitely visible, the donor area always gets rare, and if you don't take finasteride (a drug that has impotence as a possible side effect), the hair between the plugs WILL fall. It may be a good procedure for some, and I know many people who are happy with the results, but I'd rather keep my penis functioning than my hair. And yes, I know, not everyone gets those side effects. But many do, and in some cases, they are permanent."
"I work in surgery, and TBH, I would basically not get anything done unless it's medically necessary or going to significantly improve my quality of life after exhausting all other options (like to relieve pain, make breathing easier, etc)."
If you're a medical professional, tell us which procedures you'd never get done! Submit your response in this form, or write it in the comments below. Either way, we wanna hear it!
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