Turn on the radio in Los Angeles, and within an hour you’ll hear at least one commercial for body enhancing procedures, whether it’s Lipo-Zap, a way to reduce cellulite with the help of pulsing lasers, or Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery, “Where every patient is treated like a celebrity.” This is our culture. And it’s not just in Los Angeles. In our Savvy poll, 62 percent of women admitted they have had or would consider cosmetic surgery.

Even one of my friends, who sat on her plastic-surgery-is-unnatural pedestal, recently caught me off guard when she mentioned “getting just a little botox isn’t so bad” as she examined the developing wrinkle on her forehead.

So with more and more women considering it, I wanted to find out what women are getting themselves into, and if they would do it all over again, given the chance. Plastic surgeon Dr. Youn from E’s hit show Dr. 90210, Body Image Specialist Dr. Kirstin Moerk Ph.D and Savvy readers shed light on life post operation.

Risky Business.

Everyone knows that going under the knife has risks (brain damage, stitches, blood clots), but for some reason, many of these risks are overlooked, perhaps because of cosmetic surgery’s increasingly light hearted portrayal in pop culture. Regina Spencer experienced one of these repercussions—blood clots—and posted her story on a message board:

I noticed my right breast began to swell quickly and the pain was increasing. I tried to touch my breast but it hurt too [much] …The [plastic surgeon] said it was definitely a massive hematoma and he had to do immediate surgery to evacuate it.