RealSelf

RealSelf has responded to my review with false information. I never created multiple profiles and post multiple reviews for the same doctor. That is a brazen lie that you are publishing online to attempt to destroy a patient's credibility. I contacted you saying that your website perpetuates fraud by not authenticating users as real patients. Your response and retaliation to me inquiring about the safety of consumer information on your website -- when in fact you are clearly perpetuating fraud related to dangerous medical procedures so that you can profit -- is, like, super gross and super pathetic.

You guys are liars and your business model is inherently unethical. It is my hope that the FTC will come after you.

I first found RealSelf years ago when I was looking into a tummy tuck. It was very difficult finding prices, real reviews, doctor information, photos, etc and this site has it all! Since then, I've used this site for other cosmetic options ranging from non surgical to surgical. I'm back on again documenting and gathering information for another procedure I'm having done. It is very comforting to see real reviews on the doctors you're considering opposed to just what they want you to see. It has saved me a ton of time and money in consults alone by being able to narrow my selection down to a few doctors and feel comfortable with doing so. I highly recommend this site to every single person I come across that is researching something such as cosmetic surgery. It's a serious lifesaver!

This website is the bible for doing your research on plastic surgery procedures. It has personal accounts, with pictures, of various types of surgeries and also experiences with particular doctors. You can't put a price on being able to read first hand accounts from others who have already gotten the procedures you are considering. Also, it is an incredibly supportive community, where people post updates on their recovery and others give advice and support. It lets people know they are not alone and gives them a place to share what they are going through with other people who understand. I love that a website like this exists!

Hi, I am a RealSelf insider and I have had many procedures done. Before I had one thing done, I was a member for 3 years doing research and talking with other Real Self'ers about their procedures, surgeries, outcomes and aftercare. I learned a lot before I started. It is a friendly place where people help each other and doctors answer any questions you may have. It has been the most supportive place for me and I value the connections I have made there. A great place!

When I first started looking at realself I found it on accident from searching on google. I made an account and started researching other women's reviews about breast augmentations the good and the bad. Overall it took me about 5 years of building up the courtesy to get a consultation then surgery. I love the realself community. I would have given it five stars but some of the website can be frustrating to search and I wish they had more emojis and an option to edit your post after it's been posted. Other then that I absolutely love this site! I always recommend this website to anyone looking to get any work done.

This company is trying to take over internet reviews of facial plastic surgeons and body plastic surgeons. They only promote the doctors that pay to belong to the group and provide untrustworthy content.
If you're not aware of them, it is difficult to distinguish when doing an internet search to get honest reviews of surgeons.

The problem is that doctors put up tons of their own glowing reviews, written by everybody in the office, but negative reviews get removed if the doctor pays for "premium" listings. Realself a huge scam. Just like Yelp is, but at least Yelp is no longer so obvious about it.

I reached out to a few review writers when I was trying to select between a couple of doctors, and the responses I got were NOT from happy former patients, as their reviews wanted you to believe, but from office coordinators in the doctors' own office! Shady, shady, shady.

Also, RealSeld lets basic MD's call themselves plastic surgeons, even when they don't even have ANY specialty skills in surgery, let alone plastic surgery credentials. You can be a dentist and still advertise your Liposuction business on RealSelf - they don't require any kind of actual plastic surgery board certification.

I was initially impressed with the content, level of engagement and information available on this website. Therefore I signed up to be a member but sadly find out that all what they care about is getting doctors to sign up for various levels of membership and get the money. Before signing up I was receiving regular calls from their advisors on how to "optimise" you profile to maximise visibility... etc. These phone calls stopped as soon as I signed up a 6 months contract which turned out to be extremely overpriced with delivery close to nothing.
Surgeons: I would not recommend you spend any penny on this platform. You would get much more for any money you spend on other marketing campaigns.

RealSelf was a good tool when it originally started before doctors figured out how to cheat the system and use it to lure patients. If you are on the site for any length of time you start to see a pattern emerging of fake reviews mixed in with real reviews which result in a doctor's overall scoring being higher than it really is. They have started marketing a new "verification" system to show all reviews are legit, but its nothing but smoke and mirrors. I flagged 5 reviews I found written by my doctor for himself which were clearly fake and RealSelf never looked into it nor did they remove any of them.

I paid 20,000 pounds to a surgeon based on the 5 start reviews I read on RealSelf. Just a few days before my procedure, I came across a thread of comments on RealSelf itself which were not posted under the surgeon's reviews but posted separately elsewhere of patients whose operations were botched by this surgeon, two of whom I contacted and met in person, who said that their negative reviews of the surgeon were deleted. I cancelled my surgery but of course did not get my money back. Realself can be a useful research too for potential patients but it is largely and mostly a PR tool for cosmetic surgeons. You will hardly find any surgeon with reviews that put a practitioner in bad enough light to deter would be patients. It is obvious that there are unhealthy links between RealSelf and cosmetic surgery practitioners whose real costs are being paid by unsuspecting vulnerable people. Sooner or later they will be caught but many people and households will be ruined till we get to this point.

I based my decision to use a Beverly Hills ocular surgeon based on the hundreds of mostly positive reviews on this site. As the scheduled surgery drew near I began to look also at his negative reviews which included lack of communication, poor results and even hostile behavior. I ended up following through with the surgery feeling very uneasy. Well, I did experience all of those negative consequences.I had a less than optimal result and when I criticized his work, legitimately and respectfully, he became stunningly hostile and evasive. It was exactly as one reviewer had described. When I went back to look again at the reviews, the reviews by this patient had disappeared from the site. I also noticed a pattern in the positive review of questionable legitimacy. I think the model is corrupt. Doctors pay for sponsored ads and they are able to have negative reviews removed by convincing RealSelf's that the negative reviews are fake and "violate the terms of the agreement ". Consumers are being harmed here, and they are mostly women.