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(Best Syndication) Cosmetic surgery is a medical procedure where either a surgical or non-surgical technique is used to change the appearance of the patient. It is commonly referred to as plastic or reconstructive surgery, but these two types of procedures can be done for functional reasons as well.

It is called “plastic” surgery because the doctor molds the body or tissue, not because a plastic substance is involved. The doctors can shape bone, cartilage, muscle, fat, or skin. The practice dates back to at least 700 BC where physicians in India conducted skin grafts.

History of Plastic Surgery

Due to the extreme pain involved, these surgeries were not popular until the advent of anesthesia. In 1827, an American named Dr. John Peter Mettauer operated on a cleft palate with instruments he designed himself. In 1891, American otorhinolaryngologist, John Roe, performed a nose-job to reduce the hump on a young woman’s nose.

Techniques used in Plastic Surgery

Incision

Excision

Microsurgery

Chemosurgery

Electrosurgery

Laser surgery

Dermabrasion

Liposuction

Types of Skin Grafts

There are three types of skin grafts including Autografts, Allografts and Xenografts.

Autografts: Skin grafts taken from the patient.

Allografts: An Allograft is a skin graft taken from a donor of the same species.

Xenografts: These are skin grafts taken from a donor of a different species.

There are alternatives to natural skin tissue including:

Cultured Sheets of epithelial cells in vitro.

Synthetic compounds (e.g., Integra--a 2 layered dermal substitute consisting superficially of silicone and deeply of bovine tendon collagen with glycosaminoglycans).

Skin grafts are taken from one location and sutured into another. The arteries and veins, which measure as small as 1 or 2 mm, must be connected and sutured in a delicate manner.

Types of Reconstructive Surgeries

Plastic surgeons are charged with reconstructing various parts of the body from the head to toe. Some common operations include:

Mastectomy

Cleft lip and palate surgery

Contracture surgery for burn survivors

Difference between Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgeons are dedicated to the repair of defects of shape or function. Cosmetic surgery is a type of plastic surgery, but is limited to improve the appearance only. In the United States not all cosmetic doctors are qualified as surgeons, but they may perform some cosmetic procedures. Any doctor can perform “cosmetic surgery.”

Common Cosmetic Procedures and their Familiar Names

Abdominoplasty (or "tummy tuck"): Procedure to reshaping and firming of the abdomen

Blepharoplasty (or "eyelid surgery"): Procedure to reshape of the eyelids or the application of permanent eyeliner, including Asian blepharoplasty

Mammoplasty Breast augmentation (or "breast enlargement" or "boob job"): Augmentation of the breasts involving either saline or silicone gel prosthetics.

Breast reduction: Removal of skin and glandular tissue. This procedure can reduce back and shoulder pain and can benefit the woman psychologically with macromastia.

Breast lift (Mastopexy): This procedure lifts and shapes the breasts to make them less saggy, often after weight loss or pregnancy. This involves removal of skin.

Buttock Augmentation (or "butt augmentation" or "butt implants"): Enhancement of the buttocks. This procedure can be performed by using silicone implants or fat grafting and transfer from other areas of the body.

Chemical peel: This minimizes the appearance of acne, pock, and other scars as well as wrinkles (depending on concentration and type of agent used, except for deep furrows), solar lentigines (age spots, freckles), and photodamage in general.
Chemical peels commonly involve carbolic acid (Phenol), trichloroacetic acid (TCA), glycolic acid (AHA), or salicylic acid (BHA) as the active agent.

Labiaplasty: Surgical reduction and reshaping of the labia

Rhinoplasty (or "nose job"): Reshaping of the nose

Otoplasty (or ear surgery): Reshaping of the ear

Rhytidectomy (or "face lift"): This procedure removes the wrinkles and signs of aging from the face

Suction-Assisted Lipectomy (or liposuction): This procedure removes fat from the body

Chin augmentation: Augmentation of the chin with an implant (e.g. silicone) or by sliding genioplasty of the jawbone.

Cheek augmentation

Collagen, fat, and other tissue filler injections (e.g. hyaluronic acid)

Laser skin resurfacing

Injection of dermal fillers (collagen, hyaluronic acid, fat, and others)
By Dan Wilson
Best Syndication News Writer