Considering a cosmetic surgery procedure? A recent article from CNN health offers a multitude of tips and guidelines that can help you get a safer experience. We organized them into 7 basic rules to follow.

Do.

1. Ask about your plastic surgeon’s experience, credentials and hospital privileges.

As ASPS president Phil Haeck says, “Good surgeons expect you to research them and won’t be afraid to answer personal or tough questions.”

2. Ask about board certification.

Find out what board has certified your surgeon and what standards must be met to receive that certification.

3. Find out if your surgeon has a prevention plan for complications such as DVT.

Deep vein thrombosis is a possible plastic surgery complication. Your doctor should take steps to minimize the risk and be prepared to see early signs of its occurrence.

4. Research your procedure thoroughly.

Yes, your doctor should be a trustworthy, knowledgeable authority, but you still need to seek out more than one resource for information. Research will help you protect yourself and help you decide if elective cosmetic surgery is truly in line with your personal values.

5. Find out if the facility is accredited/certified.

If the surgery isn’t done in a hospital, your plastic surgeon is using an outpatient facility. Find out if that facility is considered safe by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care.

Don’t.

6. Don’t seek out unapproved cosmetic procedures.

If a board certified plastic surgeon or the FDA tells you to forgo a procedure, that’s advice you should heed. According to sources for CNN, Argentine beauty queen Solange Magnano, who died of complications from cosmetic surgery, requested (and was denied by one surgeon) silicone injections for a buttock augmentation – a procedure that is not approved here in the U.S. nor in Argentina.

7. Don’t be careless or take the process lightly.

When you walk into a plastic or cosmetic surgeon’s office, it won’t feel like a hospital, but it’s definitely not a spa. This is real surgery, with real risks you need to consider.