Medical Trust Issues: When Doctors Refuse Their Own Medicine

Do Doctors Trust Doctors? Why We Don't Let Each Other Touch Our Faces or Our Guts

1. The Hypocritic Paradox: Doctors Avoiding Their Own Specialties
There’s something oddly fascinating about a plastic surgeon who won’t touch Botox, or a bariatric surgeon who politely declines a gastric sleeve. And let’s not even get started on how many anesthetists avoid general anesthesia like it’s a game of Russian roulette. The elephant in the OR is this: do doctors actually trust each other with procedures? And if not, why?

2. Behind the White Coat: We Know Too Much
Doctors have a front-row seat to medical imperfection. We’ve seen the fillers that migrated. The stomas that leaked. The “simple” appendectomies that ended in ICU stays. That informed perspective turns into deep skepticism—especially when it comes to allowing someone else to poke, cut, or inject us.

There’s a well-known saying in medicine: “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” But in our case, it’s a lot of knowledge—and it’s terrifying. We don’t see the filtered Instagram result; we see the granulomas and abscesses.

3. The Aesthetic Doctor Who Won’t Inject Herself
You’d think that a cosmetic doctor, surrounded by syringes of botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid, would be the first in line for a little personal enhancement. But many of them don’t. Why?

• Hypercritical Eye: Doctors, especially in aesthetics, are perfectionists. Injecting yourself is like trying to perform microsurgery while holding a mirror—it just doesn't work. And asking a colleague? That means giving someone else permission to mess with your face, and that’s a trust leap many aren’t ready to take.
• Fear of Complications: Vascular occlusion is real, blindness is a documented risk, and asymmetry can turn into a week-long existential crisis. Aesthetics is both art and science, and most practitioners know just how easy it is to go from “refreshed” to “regret.”
• Also, They’re Tired: The average aesthetics doctor is running a clinic, a social media page, online webinars, and a full appointment schedule. Ironically, they have less time than their clients to indulge in self-care.

4. Bariatric Surgeons Who Stay Big
It’s a quiet, unspoken truth: many surgeons who perform gastric bypasses or sleeve gastrectomies remain obese themselves. Is this hypocrisy or something deeper?

• Surgeon Ego and Identity: “Surgeon, heal thyself” is easier said than done. Many physicians tie their identities to being the healer, not the patient. To need surgery, especially one with lifestyle overtones, feels like failure.
• The Hidden Fear of Judgment: Doctors face an invisible layer of scrutiny. If a bariatric surgeon gets bariatric surgery, it sparks whispers about willpower, image, and professional credibility. So they avoid it—even when it’s clinically indicated.
• Cognitive Dissonance: Some surgeons believe in the surgery for others but not for themselves. They convince themselves they can diet harder, exercise better, or simply "wait" until a magic solution appears. It's the professional equivalent of self-denial on steroids.

5. The Trust Gap: It's Not Just Personal, It’s Cultural
In theory, the medical community should be the most trusting group—after all, we’ve trained together, suffered through 36-hour shifts, and bonded over arterial blood gases. But when it comes to procedures, trust is surprisingly thin.

• “I’ve Seen How You Operate” Syndrome: Let’s be honest. If you’ve witnessed a colleague struggle through a straightforward gallbladder or botch a simple injection, would you let them touch your body? Even the friendliest scrubroom chats can’t erase bad memories.
• Doctors Gossip, A Lot: Referrals in medicine can sometimes resemble high school social circles. Who’s “really good” at laparoscopic suturing? Who rushed that rhinoplasty? Word gets around. That awareness breeds caution, even among friends.
• Malpractice Isn’t Just a Legal Term, It’s a Fear: Most doctors are very aware of how even a small slip can turn into a permanent complication—and a lawsuit. So we hesitate to engage with procedures unless we fully trust the operator's track record. And often, we don’t.

6. When Doctors Do Let Other Doctors In
There are, of course, exceptions—those brave or pragmatic doctors who do go under the knife or needle.

• The “Star” Surgeon Effect: There are a handful of colleagues everyone swears by—those with god-tier technique and reputations to match. These are the people doctors line up to see when they need surgery or cosmetic work.
• Reciprocal Trust: In tight-knit departments, some physicians build deep trust. A cardiologist might let their long-time surgical buddy handle their hernia repair. But even then, it’s often after intense vetting.
• Emergency Situations: When a doctor becomes a trauma patient or ends up in the ICU, there’s no time for ego or preference. Suddenly, we become patients. And often, that’s the first time a doctor truly experiences the vulnerability of surrendering control.

7. The Culture of Invincibility
Doctors are notorious for ignoring symptoms, delaying checkups, and minimizing their own health issues. There’s a pervasive myth of medical invincibility: if we understand the body, we can outsmart it.

• Self-Diagnosis Is a Drug: Doctors often convince themselves they don’t need help because they “know what this is.” That mindset leads to under-treatment, late diagnosis, and ironically, worse outcomes.
• Being the Patient Is Humbling: Many doctors dread becoming patients because it means losing control. Having to wear a gown, lie on a table, and listen instead of talk—it’s psychologically jarring.

8. Vanity vs. Reality: Why Many Avoid Cosmetic Work
Even in specialties where aesthetics is the bread and butter, many practitioners avoid it for themselves. They’ve seen the overfilled faces. They know how fleeting results can be. And they’re hyper-aware of the slippery slope from a “refresher” to addiction.

Plus, there's the risk of being judged by peers: “You inject everyone else, but you did that to yourself?” Aesthetics is a perfectionist’s nightmare.

9. The Irony of Preventive Avoidance
Most of the time, doctors avoiding procedures isn’t a philosophical stance—it’s practical avoidance. We're too busy. We tell ourselves we’ll get that mole checked “next month,” we’ll fix that deviated septum “after the conference,” and we’ll finally get Botox when the schedule frees up (spoiler: it never does).

Sometimes, it’s just easier to say no than to face the vulnerability of yes.

10. What Would It Take to Build Trust?

• Better Peer-to-Peer Transparency: More open conversations about skills, complications, and experience would help.
• Reduction of Ego: Recognizing that needing care doesn’t mean weakness, but rather awareness.
• A Cultural Shift: From competition and self-reliance to collaboration and support.

Until then, we’ll keep seeing dermatologists with sun damage, ENTs with untreated snoring, and endocrinologists with unregulated HbA1c.

Because in medicine, sometimes knowing everything makes us the worst patients of all.