Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, Jackson, who was on a three-day visit to the city, said, ``One has to be very careful about choosing the patients for cosmetic surgery. It is essential to know that the patient is a stable individual and has a good reason to go in for an operation of this sort. Otherwise, he could undergo numerous surgeries and never feel satisfied. And such patients can do a great deal of harm to doctors through legal suits.''

The greatest misconception among patients undergoing plastic surgery, he said, was the expectation of an instant correction of problems. ``Once the surgery is performed, it could take months or even over a year for the results to set in. However, the healing process is something which most patients do not even anticipate despite the fact that it is a crucial stage for achieving the final results,'' he said.

Asked about the limited access to the poor for reconstructive surgery due to high operation costs, Jackson suggested that a fund be created by voluntary and government bodies. ``In fact, a city the size of Vadodara could offer the ideal set-up for such funds to be created so that at least some with a major deformity can be operated upon,'' he said.

Speaking on the occasion, city-based plastic surgeon Hiren Bhatt of Nishtha Clinic, specialising in carniofacial and cosmetic surgery, said that while reconstructive surgery still constituted a last part of treatment by plastic surgery in the country, the demand for cosmetic operations were on the rise, especially among men from the corporate sector.

Jackson, however, stressed on the ``judicious'' use of cosmetic surgery. ``On my meeting with patients here, I came across the case of a six-year-old girl who had a minor ear deformity. That her parents wanted to have her operated to ensure a bright marital prospect for her as a young woman, was something shocking. My message to such parents and individuals is that values and attitudes are changing the world over. They have to learn to live with some of these things and not feel that every little problem needs to be corrected,'' he said.