Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery is a general term for operative manual and instrumental treatment which is performed for functional or aesthetic reasons. The word "plastic" derives from the Greek plastikos meaning to mould or to shape; its use here is not connected with modern plastics.

The principal areas of plastic surgery include two broad fields.

• Reconstructive surgery, including microsurgery, focuses on undoing or masking the destructive effects of trauma, surgery or disease. Reconstructive surgery may include closing defects with flaps—that is, by moving tissue from other parts of the body.

• Cosmetic (or aesthetic) surgery is most often performed in order to change features the patient finds unflattering. In many cases, however, there are medical reasons (for example, breast reduction when orthopedic problems are present).

Reconstructive surgery
Reconstructive surgical techniques were developed rapidly in the period after the First World War when patients with survivable but disfiguring injuries required new approaches. The English military hospitals of the period trained surgeons from the world over in these new techniques. These surgeons then returned to the Americas, the Pacific and to Europe to propagate their advances. The main advances were with flap surgery—moving tissue from one location to another with an intact blood supply.

Ultimately, plastic surgeons have championed the use of microsurgical techniques to transfer remote tissue. They have for the past several decades been able to connect blood vessels that may be as small as 1-2mm in diameter to reperfuse the transferred tissue, thereby allowing coverage of a soft tissue defect when no local tissue is available.

Common cases of reconstructive surgery are breast reconstruction for women who have had a mastectomy, facial- and contracture surgery for burn victims, closing skin- or mucosa defects after removal of tumors in the head and neck region.

Sex reassignment surgery for transsexual people is another example of reconstructive surgery.

Foreskin restoration for men who have undergone circumcision is sometimes performed using reconstructive surgery.

There is a definite gray area between reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. For instance a "bat ear" correction is not considered cosmetic surgery, even though having prominent ears is not a debilitating or dangerous condition.

Cosmetic surgery
Cosmetic surgery is a very popular avenue for personal enhancement, as demonstrated by the 11.9 million cosmetic procedures performed in the U.S. alone in 2004. Although some may harbor a dim view of cosmetic surgery, seeing it as frivolous, the upsurge in number of procedures performed annually shows that cosmetic surgery has become acceptable to the mainstream American household.

However, it should be noted that elective procedures involve risk like any operation, and should therefore not be undertaken lightly. Within the US, critics of plastic surgery have noted that it is legal for any doctor (regardless of speciality) to perform plastic surgery; a practice which may lead to a suboptimal result. It is best to check a physician's credentials, looking for those MD's most commonly trained in cosmetic techniques (such as Board Certified Plastic Surgeons, Otolaryngologists, and Opthalmologists).

The most prevalent are listed below. Most of these types of surgery are more commonly known by their "common names." These are also listed when pertinent.

• Abdominoplasty (or "tummy tuck"): reshaping and firming of the abdomen
* Blepharoplasty (or "eyelid surgery"): Reshaping of the eyelids or the application of permanent eyeliner, including Asian blepharoplasty
* Augmentation Mammaplasty (or "breast enlargement" or "boob job"): Augmentation of the breasts
* Muscle sculpting: Removal of the fat layer that is on top of chosen muscle to reveal a more appealing look after surgery (ie: six pack abs revealed through muscle sculpting)
* Chemical peel: Removal of acne scars and sagging skin—not technically surgery and can be performed by a cosmetologist
* Mastopexy (or "breast lift"): Raising of sagging breasts
* Rhinoplasty (or "nose job"): Reshaping of the nose
* Otoplasty (or ear surgery): Reshaping of the ear
* Rhytidectomy (or "face lift"): Removal of wrinkles and signs of aging from the face
* Suction-Assisted Lipectomy (or liposuction): Removal of fat from the body
* Circumcision: Removal of the foreskin of the penis, esp. without any diagnosis
* Chin augmentation: Augmentation of the chin with an implant (e.g. silicone) or by sliding genioplasty of the jawbone.
* Cheek augmentation
* Collagen injections

Addiction to cosmetic surgery
Some people appear to become addicted to cosmetic surgery, possibly because of body dysmorphic disorder. Sufficient amounts of repeated cosmetic surgery can lead to irreversible damage to the normal body structure. However, due to the high cost of repeated cosmetic surgery, this disorder is generally one limited to the Wealthy.

Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Procedures ... ( various )

Botox
Blepharoplasty
Breast Augmentation
Breast Lift
Breast Reduction
Brow Lift (Forehead Lift)
Brachioplasty (Arm Lift)
Bariatric Surgery
Cellulite
Chin & Cheek Implants
Collagen
Dermabrasion
Eyelid Tuck
Forehead Lift (Brow lift)
Hair Removal
Laser for Wrinkles
Lip Augmentation
• Liposuction
Lipoplasty
• Mesotherapy
Nose Job
Pectoral Implants (Men)
Peels: Blue Peels
Peels: Deep Peels
Peels: Medium Peels
Peels: Micro Peels
Permanent Make-up
Photo Gallery
Rhinoplasty
Skin Care
Spider Veins
Stretch Marks
Tattoo Removal
Thermage
Tummy Tuck
Weight Loss Surgery
Wrinkles

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• California cosmetic surgery loan

Also see:
• Gastric Bypass
• Medicare
• Health Insurance

• Florida Plastic Surgeon
• Chicago plastic surgeon

• For financing of health procedures.
• For patient loans.

• This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Plastic Surgery".