Your Consultation with Dr. Papalian

Cosmetic Surgery | Palo Alto | Redwood CityWe look forward to meeting with you in our new office, The Plastic Surgery Center on Woodside, centrally located at the intersection of Atherton, Woodside, Menlo Park and Redwood City, which was designed by Dr. Papalian in order to provide personalized comprehensive cosmetic and plastic surgical care. Please Contact Us either by email or directly by phone to schedule your consultation appointment. When scheduling your appointment, please feel free to request informational material about the procedures you are interested in. Our website, additionally, has a wealth of helpful information and we encourage you to review the areas you would like to discuss with Dr. Papalian.

Prior to your visit, you should take the time to consider your personal circumstances regarding treatment areas of interest to you, and importantly the amount of time you are able to dedicate to proper healing, as these factors will guide your discussion. Dr. Papalian will want to know how much time you are able to allow for recovery, as this may change the focus of the consultation. For example, facial rejuvenation by a surgical Facelift procedure, while longest lasting, will have a commensurate longer healing time and therefore, you may be more interested in The “Personalized” Non-Surgical Facelift procedure.

Dr. Papalian typically sees patients at The Plastic Surgery Center on Woodside office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for consultation, pre and post op visits, office-based procedures such as Dermal Fillers, Botox Cosmetic, Laser Resurfacing, and minor procedures. Dr Papalian’s typical surgery days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Fridays. Dr. Papalian performs his outpatient cosmetic surgery procedures and certain insurance-based procedures at the Plastic Surgery Center in Palo Alto. Cosmetic procedures requiring overnight hospital stays will typically be performed at the Menlo Park Surgical Hospital. Major insurance-based procedures, requiring hospital stays are performed at Sequoia Hospital.  If you require alternate scheduling times, please let the office know in advance, in order for appropriate arrangements to be made. Office hours are Mon/Weds 9-5, Tues/Thurs/Fri 10-4.

Your consultation with Dr. Papalian begins your professional relationship with our office, when you learn what plastic surgery procedures or cosmetic treatments can do for you, and together we decide how best to help you achieve your goals. During your visit, we will want to get a thorough knowledge of your medical history so we can provide you with maximum safety for your procedure. Dr. Papalian will give you an accurate expectation of exactly what plastic surgery can achieve for you.

We ask that you arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment time to complete the registration process. The office takes great pride in our respect for your time. Registration and Medical History forms are available on our website. It is helpful to complete both forms at home prior to your visit. Feel free to fax or mail the completed forms to our office. Please also review our office Privacy Policy prior to your visit.

For patients interested in surgical procedures, the comprehensive consultation process will last approximately one hour, so please leave an appropriate amount of time in your schedule. You will have an opportunity to view video and be given informational material on your procedure(s) and first meet with one of our nurses, who will review your areas of interest. Dr. Papalian will then meet with you to begin your consultation. After a relaxed discussion of your history, areas of interest and importantly your time availability for healing, together you and Dr. Papalian will focus on which procedures might satisfy both your goals and your constraints. An examination of your area of interest will follow.

Following your examination, Dr. Papalian will then discuss with you which procedures or treatments are most appropriate considering all of your circumstances. You will be able to view pre and post operative photographs of Dr. Papalian's patients who have graciously allowed their photographs to be viewed by you as part of your consultation. Dr. Papalian will then discuss all the phases of the procedure you are interested in, including the period before the procedure, the details of the surgery itself, and the recovery. Your medical history will be reviewed and the need for pre-operative medical clearance will be discussed. The requirement for medical clearance and preoperative testing is individualized based upon your particular medical history and procedure. Pre-operative testing, including mammograms if needed, and medical clearance if required, should be completed before your “preoperative visit” for your safety. The office will help guide you through this process.

Prior to leaving the office, you will be able to receive a written quote regarding all the anticipated costs for your procedure.  In certain situations where multiple procedures are combined, the office will often need several days to provide you with the quote information, as there often are savings available by combining procedures and those savings will need to be determined before providing you with that information. You will not “be pushed” to have surgery. Dr. Papalian will ask that you “digest” the options discussed and consider getting additional consultations to ensure that you are completely satisfied with your decision. Should you decide to have your care provided by Dr. Papalian, when you are ready to schedule your procedure, you may contact our office to discuss scheduling and pre-operative planning. The fee for your cosmetic consultation is $100. Should you decide to have your cosmetic procedure by Dr. Papalian, the consultation fee will be deducted from the cost of the procedure.

We look forward to your visit!