October 08, 2026 | Plastic Surgery Consultation, Social Media
Before your consultation with me, watch the work. The daily feed, not the highlight reel.
Marc McKee of This Is My Journey asked me why I film surgery. What follows is the exchange, in my words as I said them.
The Consult Before the Camera
Marc: What made a Mayo-trained plastic surgeon decide to show the public what happens in an operating room?
Me: For a long time everything was behind doors, and everybody questioned what really is going on there. I think that also made the whole subject of plastic surgery give people anxiety, because they didn’t know what to expect.
Me: Before, I would have a consultation with a patient in front of me and they were so anxious and worried, and I was giving them all this information, and I think it just went in one side and came out the other. At the end of the consultation they were more confused than before.
Why I Broke With That in 2014
Me: Around 2014 a few surgeons started doing some social media. A lot of them were criticized. My wife was really behind me, telling me, hey, you should really put yourself out there and start sharing your results, I think people would really like it. I was apprehensive, because that’s the way you were trained, to keep it kind of behind the curtain. But I went ahead and started showing the surgeries, the before and afters, what patients were saying, how they were recovering.
The whole story is in the full post on drworldwide.com. This post is about what it means for your visit.
The Consult Now
Me: What it became is a way of educating patients even before they saw me. They got to know me, they got to see my results, they got to see how everything is very consistent, how we treat patients. I think it took the fear factor away.
Me: Now they come in and they know what’s going on. They’re telling me what they want. I start explaining and they’re like, yeah, yeah, I know, I know. It’s a lot more comfortable, and I think they are better for it.
That is the whole difference. In one side and out the other, or they’re telling me what they want.
What to Watch For Before You Come In
Marc: What do you most want people to understand about surgery that before-and-after culture online hides?
Me: I would stay away from anybody that has one or two or three amazing before and afters and that’s it. You want to see a surgeon that’s posting before and afters every day, and they’re all consistent, and they’re all getting good results. They’re not going to all be home runs, because it depends how the patient comes in. You can’t get a home run out of everybody, but you can definitely get them to a better place as long as the expectations are set.
Me: The before and after doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t tell you about the patient’s psychology, if they’re happy or not. You don’t know that from a photo. Some patients get amazing results and they’re still not happy; they have these little things they want to perfect. It doesn’t tell you about the recovery, everything they had to go through, or any complications there could have been.
Consistency, not the single best result. Watch the recoveries too. Those are the weeks you will live through.
Realistic Expectations Start Before the Visit
Marc: How do you handle it when someone wants something surgery can’t give?
Me: That’s the toughest part of my job, telling patients that’s not possible. Realistic expectations. We have to set that from the beginning, otherwise nobody’s going to be happy. I’m not going to be happy, the patient’s not going to be happy, it’s going to be a sad story. Thankfully, with social media and the way we’ve been educating patients, less behind the curtain, patients are having a lot more realistic expectations. Some patients bring wish photos and you have to coach them. You have to tell them, this patient you’re showing me is 20 years old, you’re 40. Or this patient’s BMI is 20 and you’re still at 30. You look much better than you did before, but we can’t compare apples to oranges.
A patient who has watched my daily results already knows what my average looks like. That is a better wish photo than a stranger’s.
Who Should Watch First
Anyone considering a first procedure. Anyone who had surgery elsewhere and is nervous about a second. Anyone flying in from out of town who wants to arrive already knowing the team. The feed is at @RealDrWorldWide on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, and the written version of most of it is on this blog.
Marc: Where can people find you?
Me: On Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok it’s @RealDrWorldWide. From there you can go everywhere else. My main website is agulloplasticsurgery.com. The reason I started doing this social media was to educate patients. Education and knowledge is power, and it gives you more options as you go through life and this journey.
Why Choose Dr. Agullo
Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery. Plastic surgery fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Castle Connolly Top Doctor thirteen consecutive years, 2014 through 2026. My work has been public, every day, since 2014, and Haute Living profiled that practice this month. The rest of the podcast is in the earlier post.
Ready to Talk?
Watch first. Then bring your questions, and your wish photos, and we will plan from there.
Call (915) 590-7900, text 1-866-814-0038, or book online at agulloplasticsurgery.com. #StayBeautiful
Find me at @RealDrWorldWide on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, @Agullo on X, or @AgulloPlasticSurgery on Facebook.
