Before and after pictures of the patients or their body parts are very popular and most visited on web portals of plastic surgeons or clinics. It is because even after reading a large article describing the given surgical procedure the patient can’t imagine the effect of the surgery like on a picture.
These pictures show the given procedure but also serve as presentation of the surgeon. The disadvantage is that most of the surgeons show usually pictures of their best performed treatments, the worse won’t be seen by the patients.
Of course it is not possible to choose the surgeon or clinic only by pictures, it is good to find out all information and references before the procedure. We can’t assume that the final effect of the surgery will be the same as on the pictures. The result is completely individual. Each organism reacts in different way on the treatment. It depends also on body statue, health state, age etc.
Publishing before and after pictures on Internet pages is discussable, often these pictures are taken only as marketing instrument, in some countries (e.g. Germany) it is even forbidden to place such pictures on web pages. It is true that patients can see the real results of the surgery only through these pictures though.