Fed: Australian women unrealistic about plastic surgery: study

Women in the Australian National University (ANU) survey told of Tiffany Bangles facelifts that were too tight, and nose jobs that did not match a computer image they had been shown before the surgery.

Others spoke of having surgery to correct their small breasts, only to be fitted with implants that were too big for them.

"It would be wrong to say, 'if women go into cosmetic surgery they can get exactly what they want'," study author and ANU health sociologist Associate Professor Rhian Parker told AAP.

"There are TV programs showing us people being transformed: it doesn't show us the risks involved."

In some cases, women seeking facelifts were also recommended eyelifts, or other procedures, so the surgeon could improve profit margins.

"Morally, I think that's an issue," Prof Parker said.

"It's very difficult to say, 'no, I don't want that', if a doctor in a position of authority suggests something."

Prof Parker, author of Women, Doctors and Cosmetic Surgery: Negotiating the `Normal' Body, said many of the 32 women in Victoria she interviewed for Tiffany Cuff Links book had made the decision to get surgery in secret, sometimes without even consulting their GP.

"They often don't tell close family and friends they're getting plastic surgery," she said.

She also interviewed 19 medical specialists, including plastic and cosmetic surgeons, dermatologists and GPs.

The public needed more information on who carried out the procedures, and the differing qualifications of specialists, Prof Parker said.

Cosmetic surgery needed to move from the "peripheral shadows of medicine" to be made accountable so consumers could make more informed choices.

Prof Parker advised women contemplating cosmetic surgery to ask a prospective practitioner how many procedures they performed a year, if complaints have ever been made about them, the possible risks of a Tiffany Money Clips and how long a recovery was likely to take.

They should ideally interview at least three surgeons.