INFORMATION PLASTIC SURGEONS WON'T TELL YOU: NUMBER 10

10. “Those who need surgery the most will benefit from it the least.”

Most people turn to plastic surgery when they feel age has finally caught up with them and nothing else will rid them of that troublesome bulge or crease. But the dirty little secret of plastic surgery is that with many procedures, the more you need it, the less of an impact you can expect.

Those who have damaged skin, more common as we age, can expect some serious complications. Skin stretched by weight gain, for example, loses its elasticity; following liposuction, skin may not snap back into place but instead will hang like an apron over the area that was suctioned. Because smokers have poor circulation to the epidermis, their skin can die after surgery, meaning months of unsightly scars and possible additional surgery. And procedures such as a face-lift done on sun-damaged skin won’t last as long and may result in more-prominent scarring. Likewise, those hoping for dramatic weight loss from liposuction are looking in the wrong place; surgeons say it’s meant only to shape a certain part of the body in conjunction with diet and exercise.

Ironically, those who need cosmetic treatments the least — generally, those who are younger (say, in their late 30s or 40s) and opt for a little tweaking here and there — are going to fare the best. What’s more, while plastic surgeons sometimes downplay the role that lifestyle can play in one’s looks, a growing body of evidence suggests that overall health and appearance are indeed related, Sarwer said.