June 17, 2025

Beauty Series #4: Right-Sized Beauty

Your beauty plan should be tailored to you—your goals, your timeline, and what you're comfortable with when it comes to recovery and results. 

Dr. Bass explains his idea of “right-sized beauty planning” and why having a personalized approach makes all the difference in plastic surgery.

Whether you’re looking to address one specific feature, maintain your look over the next year, or map out a long-term transformation, having a clear plan helps you prioritize, budget, and coordinate treatments more effectively.

Dr. Bass breaks it down into three types of beauty plans: one that focuses on a single area, one for short-term maintenance, and one that takes a long view over several years. Your plastic surgeon is key in guiding you through the process and making sure your plan fits your life and goals.

About Dr. Lawrence Bass

Innovator. Industry veteran. In-demand Park Avenue board certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Lawrence Bass is a true master of his craft, not only in the OR but as an industry pioneer in the development and evaluation of new aesthetic technologies. With locations in both Manhattan (on Park Avenue between 62nd and 63rd Streets) and in Great Neck, Long Island, Dr. Bass has earned his reputation as the plastic surgeon for the most discerning patients in NYC and beyond.

To learn more, visit the Bass Plastic Surgery website or follow the team on Instagram @drbassnyc

Subscribe to the Park Avenue Plastic Surgery Class newsletter to be notified of new episodes & receive exclusive invitations, offers, and information from Dr. Bass. 

 

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Welcome to Park Avenue
Plastic Surgery Class,

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the podcast where we explore controversies
and breaking issues in plastic

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surgery. I'm your cohost, summer Hardy,

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a clinical assistant at Bass
Plastic Surgery in New York City.

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I'm excited to be here with Dr. Lawrence
Bass, Park Avenue plastic surgeon,

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educator, and technology innovator.

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The title of today's episode
is Right-Sized Beauty. Okay,

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Dr. Bass, another episode in our beauty
series. What are we talking about today?

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I said a lot in this series
about making a beauty plan,

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the advantages to planning rather
than just doing something hit and run.

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That was another episode title,

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Hit and Run Beauty and why
it's a good idea to avoid that.

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So this is more about,

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that was what not to do and this
is what you should try to do.

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You should right size your beauty plan.

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Right? I remember that.

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Can you give a brief recap for our
listeners of the advantages of planning?

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So planning lets you focus
on the things that are

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priorities rather than
just whatever showed

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itself to you today.

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It allows you to have a long-term
vision of where you're going,

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and it allows you to
budget both from a planning

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point of view and from a
prioritization point of view,

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putting your money where
it counts for you the most.

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And it gives you an idea of what
to expect going forward because it

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coordinates everything that needs
to be done rather than just doing

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things piecemeal when they come up.

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It tends to be a more organized, cohesive,

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efficient plan that avoids duplication,

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that avoids overlap between
different treatments or

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that intentionally overlaps treatments
where each one will give you a little bit

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of benefit that accumulates into
an adequate degree of correction.

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Okay, so now that we've
reviewed the advantages,

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what else do we need
to know about planning?

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Well, it's not that simple
to say we need a plan.

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It's just not that simple because
life is never that simple.

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There are different types of
plans or put more properly.

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Some plans are more extensive than others.

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That makes sense. So what is right
size planning about in more detail?

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So this relates to multiple issues,

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which aesthetic features
should be targeted?

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That's obviously going to vary from person
to person and depending what stage of

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aging you're at.

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The range of options
available in medical science

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and in that surgeon's individual
practice that are going to chase those

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particular features that gets
selected. The recovery time,

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how much recovery time is acceptable,

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and then how broad a scope or
narrow a scope of features we're

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going to build into the plan.

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And how broad a time range
or narrow a time range

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in your future we're
going to plan to address

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issues.

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Let's take these one at a time. Dr. Bass,

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can you explain the features
and scope of plan please?

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So this goes to which
part of your appearance.

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You either notice at this time that
there's a problem with it or something

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that you desire to work on
either in a preventive or in a

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reparative fashion. And
there can be one thing,

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and eyelids are a
typical example for this.

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There could be one thing on the eyelids,

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but there are a number of aging
changes that occur in the eyelid area.

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And so you may say, well, crow's
feet really bug me. Or you may say,

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well, crow's feet bug me. The
extra skin that's hanging bugs me.

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Some of the bulging bugs me. I
want to fix all of that if I can.

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Skin surface things, we
call skin quality nowadays,

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is a composite of many different
features, texture, wrinkles,

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pore size, pigment, redness,

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the plumpness or turgor of the skin.

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And you may be concerned about
all of that. You may have an issue

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with a lot of those features or you may
only really have an issue with one of

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them.

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So picking that scope of what you're
going to chase or you may want

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to chase some of all of the
aging changes in the face,

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some of the skin quality changes,
some of the volume changes,

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some of the laxity changes,

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and all of those plans are right
if they resonate with you as what's

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important for your beauty.

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And if your experienced plastic
surgeon who is examining you

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and bringing their decades
of expertise also sees what

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you are seeing and has
meaningful ways to correct.

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Okay, I'm following.
So what about recovery?

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So recovery planning is
about knowing in your

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mind how much recovery you're targeting,

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but also you need to be a
little flexible and think about

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the maximum you're willing to accept.

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We've talked about recovery previously
and what the types of recovery are.

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There's sort of no activity recovery where
you just have to lie in bed or on the

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sofa. There's social recovery where you
feel pretty well you can work from home,

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but you don't really want
to see people face to face.

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And then there's being back
a hundred percent for total

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recovery. It's all in the rear
view mirror now. So first,

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as I said,

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having that flexibility is
important because if there may

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be a meaningful option that has no
recovery but requires a few treatments

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and another meaningful option
that has some recovery,

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but is the single treatment,

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and we can pick between those two.
But you may be showing a feature that

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you say,

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the most recovery I'm willing to have
is two days where I have to stay out of

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the office, but there may not
be a good option that fits that.

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So you have to think about if
you really want to chase that,

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what's the maximum I could accept?
And it's okay to say, well,

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I can't do more than two days.

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But then you may not have a good option
and you have to leave that alone for the

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timing.

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So we said recovery is
these various features.

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It's not a single number of days
or weeks. It's not a single issue.

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So depending how severe your features are,

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you may have to accept some recovery
depending what options are available.

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You have to pick the whole
package of whatever treatment

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you select, the good and the bad things,

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the improvement it's going to give you
and the recovery it's going to require

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because the treatment is the whole meal.

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You have to eat the whole meal.

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You can't push the peas to the side of
the plate because you don't like those.

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And in the apple pie,

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it's all baked in and
inextricable for each

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treatment option.

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That makes a lot of sense. So what does
that leave to factor into planning?

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So the final item is the
time scope of the project,

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what features to work on now because
they're visible or because you looked at

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your mother or your grandmother and
you can see what's coming and you don't

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want to go there or go there
any sooner than you have to.

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But you can also plan over time
for what's likely coming and lay

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out a program,

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preventative and reparative as
well as maintenance activities.

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And you can do that in the short
term or over a longer period of time.

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Okay. And you mentioned this is
mostly about patient preferences.

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Should the plastic surgeon also have
input here or is it all about what the

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patient wants?

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So of course it's mostly
about your preferences and the

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plastic surgeon's willingness
and ability to be responsive

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to you,

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your needs and your desires
and right size the plan for you

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rather than giving you some kind of
cookie cutter option that they like to

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deliver. So partly that's
about customization.

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Partly it's about having a good
range of options in his or her

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practice and not just a
single option that allows

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the surgeon to rightsize the plan for you.

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Okay, so Dr. Bass, can you bottom
line right size planning for me?

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So there basically ends up being three big

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classes or categories plans.
The way I think about it,

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there's the specific or focus plan,

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some single or single feature
or small group of features

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for immediate treatment.

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That might be like going and getting
Botox in your upper face or Botox in your

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upper face and fillers in your nasolabial
folds or having your upper eyelid

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surgery, you know, want to
do it. You're ready to do it.

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Your aesthetic needs when the
surgeon examines you say it's

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appropriate focused plan. Simple, right?

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There's also managing
your beauty for this year.

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What am I going to need
this year to keep myself up?

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And it's good to make a plan
for that. It lets you budget.

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It lets you budget not only your
money but your time for getting these

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things done and keeps things from
getting out of hand just like you plan

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maintenance on your home, your car,

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other things.
It's the same idea.

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So it's a short-term plan for
specific features in the coming months

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when those things are going
to fit into your schedule.

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And the final category
is thinking long-term.

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We make a comprehensive plan for
all features over let's say the next

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few years based on the expected
timeline of what's going to happen.

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Once you're examined,

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then the surgeon can advise you
what they expect you're likely

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going to be ready for in the
next few years if you want to

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keep your appearance up. So
it's important to remember,

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there's no clear cut boundaries.

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It's important to customize
and blend some repair steps

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with some preventive steps.

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Always a good idea to know your
options now and your options

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for future.

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But future options are of course
going to relate to how you age going

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forward, which is in broad
terms can be predicted,

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but the exact timeline varies a
little bit from person to person.

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And this points up why a
long-term relationship with a

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plastic surgeon lets
you lay out a rough idea

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of that comprehensive plan.

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And then as time goes
on and aging unfolds,

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you refine it based on what happens,

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but at least you have
a starting point. Okay?

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You're not starting from scratch
every time you walk into the doctor's

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office. Overall, no one
knows what the future holds,

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but an experienced plastic surgeon
can give you a good idea of what to

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expect. So make a plan and right size it

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to suit your needs and preferences.

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Thank you Dr. Bass,

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for sharing this intriguing explanation
of how to right size your beauty plan.

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Thank you for listening to the Park
Avenue Plastic Surgery Class Podcast.

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Follow us on Apple Podcasts,

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write a review and share
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coming your way. If you want to
contact us with comments or questions,

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send us an email at
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